It was the day of our visit to the next school on Charlotte’s list. This was the one we both felt would be a good fit for her. It is a specialist music college, and whilst Charlotte wouldn’t be studying music per se, she is very musical and it offered the Drama and Theatre Studies A Level that she wanted to take.
Charlotte woke up this morning, having slept really well. She was a little nervous about her visit, and was still very tired from working a nine hour day the day before. I was excited though. This was the school I wanted her to go to. It sounded lively, loud and somewhere I felt that Charlotte would fit right on in.
We met with the head of the sixth form at 230 in the afternoon. A lovely woman, she shook our hands and took us straight to her office. What we hadn’t realised was that this visit was also an interview to see if they would be willing to offer Charlotte a place. Charlotte was asked lots of questions, and the head was particularly impressed that she had achieved 2 A* for GCSE’s in English and English Lit she took two years early, and was much more pragmatic about Charlotte’s lack of ability in maths than the last school had been 🙂
Together, we were able to look at the subject blocks from which she could choose her A Levels. There was so much choice! Charlotte was then able to ask her any questions.
One of the questions was with regards to Charlotte’s ME (which we are convinced she has been completely healed from), and the fact that some people suffer from relapses. At one point the head turned to me and said she thought that probably Charlotte would make a terrible patient. I laughed, really pleased that she seemed to understand Charlotte from the off.
When she was giving us a tour, she was chatting to Charlotte about the debating club, which has about 40 students. Charlotte was delighted! Each class room we visited it was obvious the rapport she had with all her students. She delighted in them, and commented that she believed she had the best job in the world. As a mum, that is so good to hear. I wanted to sign her up straight away!
After the tour, we went back to her office, and we chatted some more, letting Charlotte ask any other questions she had. I then hesitatingly asked whether she had a guaranteed offer of a place. Not being sure of how this all usually happened, I wasn’t sure if I should even be asking! It was all alright though. She grinned, made a big tick at the bottom of the form she had been filling out in the time we’d been there, and said that she would be delighted to have such a bright, enthusiastic girl at there school! Yay! So long as Charlotte passes her GCSEs this summer she has a guaranteed place at the school.
I can’t express how happy both she and I are. I feel completely at peace with her starting there in September. There are apparently lots of large personalities just like Charlotte, so she will fit right in!
In September my younger twin will be starting school for the very first time in her life, and studying three and a half A Levels in English Literature, Theatre and Drama studies, History and an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) which she will do on some aspect of the Classical Civilisation (Roman and Greeks).
Today I am one happy and proud mummy.