Taking Action!!!

I will be delivering this letter (as shown below) to the head teacher at Little Prince's school when I drop him off tomorrow morning. I will not be bullied into acting in a way that is not good for Little Prince, especially by people who have absolutely no comprehension of what he has been through and how the effects are life long - love does NOT cure all, although it can help a great deal.

It took a long time to settle Little Prince in bed tonight, not usual behaviour - he usually goes to bed very happily. I apologised to him for me and his teacher getting mixed up and him having lunch at school. I told him I was writing a letter to school to tell them that he would be coming home for lunch, so that no more mix ups happen. He instantly relaxed, gave me a huge hug and asked if he could take the letter every day. Why can't school believe me???

Dear Mrs X,

With reference to our telephone conversations with you on today's
date, we are, as agreed, relaying to you the results of our
discussions about how we and the school can ensure Littly's stress
free entry into X Primary School.

We would first like to point out that Littly only had the benefit of
returning home for his lunch for two days (Monday 17th and Tuesday
18th September). On Wednesday 19th September 2007, he stayed in
school for his lunch as it had been discussed with his class teacher
Miss Y, that we would see how he managed as he was seeing Janet
straight after lunch, due to the church celebration service.

We feel that Littly still needs the comfort of having the short break
at home during lunchtime, and will continue to collect him at 11.55am
to facilitate this. On the two days that Littly has already returned
home for lunch, his whole attitude to the coming school day was
completely different. He eagerly made his way to school, without
showing his previous reluctance. He entered the school much more
confidently, without crying and clinging. And once collected after
school he was happy to talk about what had happened and did not refuse
to even have school mentioned. We feel that as he is still only 4
years old we want him to learn to enjoy and look forward to school.
If the simple act of bringing him home to eat his lunch helps him
enjoy the rest of the day, we feel that school should be more
supportive of this action.

However, due to the total lack of both sympathy and knowledge shown by
the lunchtime supervisor, we will not be returning Littly until school
restarts at 1pm as we do not feel he will be adequately supported
under her care. If we continue to feel that Littly's needs are not
given the appropriate level of attention we will have to withdraw him
from school completely until such care is available.

I have enclosed books and articles (and marked the relevant passages)
that explain the lifelong impact of both early neglect, inadequate
care and changes of primary caregiver on the growing child's brain and
subsequent behaviour. We would appreciate the return of these once
you have made any copies you feel would assist in making everyone
aware that this is not a trivial matter and requires careful handling.

Yours sincerely