P.T.O

So our tribunal has come and gone and while I dont think it’s appropriate here to go into to much detail what I can tell you is my wife is amazing.

A limited back story. Both myself and my wife have worked within SEND schools forever. So the system (from one point of view) is known to us but this experience has highlighted many short comings that we haven’t experienced before.

On the day of the tribunal I was at work my wife telling me I was not needed (she is the brains behind this) we had opted to go it alone.

The morning starts with myself waking up at 4am to start my day, thinking I was helping I emptied the dishwasher loaded it with the previous evening’s dirty dishes, emptied the washing machine and loaded it, loaded the faithful tumble drier and hung any delicate clothes to dry turned them on and left. Waiting for the the day to to start.

My parents had come to help with the days child care of taking our daughter to the days sessions but to make it more complicated our youngest was home so they had their hands full.

10am comes and the tribunal started. I’m added to a WhatsApp group that my wife set up that includes all of our witnesses and I await the tribunal comfort breaks for updates from the team to keep me in the loop.

What feels like hours pass and I’m trying to work efficiently at the clients site. Luckily I was onsite early enough that I was able to get the majority of work done before it started to get busy.

WhatsApp pings it’s my wife the judge has been changed without notice… Oh my fucking god what does that mean?

Another ping… The LA have appointed a barrister last minute again something else we weren’t informed about…

Ping none of the updated paper work appears to have been added to the latest working document, the latest annual review, OT report and other reports not included wtf is going on. (I have no idea but can telly wife is pissed off with the situation)

Ping… The LA would like to call a their witness the OT. Err sorry the LA haven’t listed any witnesses we have called the OT as a witness and paid for her services out of our pocket… So fuck off.

Ping.. the LA conceded on section “I” no named school we have secured EOTAS for our daughter. We now have to come back in a couple of weeks with more details for the judge.

I almost cried at my clients I definitely swore out loud (in an empty staff room).

With that great news I get a call fromy GP askinge to go in for a consult that day. Fuck my life a quick econsult and away we go. To be fair having a prostate exam was nothing compared to the stress of the tribunal.

One day this would make a great podcast or detailed blog… Not the prostate exam.