The Letter I Received From My Son With Down Syndrome's First Teacher

I still remember the first day of Neil at the mainstream Primary School. He was dressed smart with a brand new maroon school jumper over a white collar and ironed grey trousers, along with his blue glasses and two blue hearing aids attached to his jumper with a string. Just like all of the parents, I took his first picture in front of his classroom — rainbow fish class. I knew we were different. I knew people were looking at us. That heavy heart I can still remember beating in me.

It was the first parents-teachers meet. I met the class teacher and straight bursted into tears. I had lots of questions. How he will be on his own? How will the teachers know what he wants? How will he manage the lunch on his own? The class teacher told me that he would be with his 1:1 teacher. I came home and called my dad. I was so anxious, cried a lot to feel alone in this world and fearing him being alone in his world.

My dad replied, “You are not alone, did you not notice the whole government is with you and him? He has his 1:1 teacher with him.”

I smiled!

I didn’t meet her until the next day, when the most important person in Neil’s life came to meet us. Days passed on and every day Mrs. Cherry would greet us in the morning with her smile and Neil went happily with her. The boy who used to enter the class with an anxious face, now started going in with a jump and greeting everyone. Whether it’s the sports day or any performance day, Mrs. Cherry made him more and more confident; holding his hand when he needed and letting him go to be independent when he was ready.

Reception year went off so quickly. She continued to be Neil’s 1:1 even in year 1. Teachers started believing in him that he can be taught in this “normal” environment. We were lucky to add another very important person, Neil’s year 1 class teacher, Ms. Jones. She was ready to take this challenge to another level. She had the will to make the inclusion possible. We had a special bond in bringing Neil up to this level. I was involved in the syllabus on an every day basis. Neil’s confidence even improved more as he was ready from home for the next new day. He gained his special place in his school. He brought more kindness and compassion in the class. We removed the reception certificates from his wall, and soon he filled it back with year 1 certificates.

Soon it was the end of year 1. The biggest question was whether to continue his journey with Mrs. Cherry, but the fear was he would become dependent on her. She couldn’t stay with him throughout life, so we said goodbye to her. That day we knew Neil had made a special place in his heart for her.

She wrote us a beautiful goodbye letter, here it is:

“I can’t believe the time has come and I won’t be looking after Neil anymore. I am incredibly sad, but at the same time very proud of what we have achieved together. At first, I was petrified, I knew so little about him and was so unsure whether he would even take to me. How wrong I was. We bonded straight away! It was difficult in those early weeks, especially when he didn’t speak to me but slowly and surely we built up a wonderful little relationship…wherever I went, Neil went too!

The pinnacle moment being the day I opened a cupboard and everything fell on top of my head. Neil immediately laughed and laughed and said, Mrs. Cherry are you OK? From that moment on I knew his funny sense of humor and giggly personality would be all he needed to get through Rainbow fish class. In year 1, we had our challenges along the way but he has been a very spinted member of our class. We’ve been to the space dome, had our weekly cooking sessions, been on our trip to Greenwich Park and even rocked our odd socks together.

I am so proud of our little partnership. Never did I imagine he would do some of the things he has done: singing and signing in our nativity show and wanting to be center stage. I was so chuffed when he told me “I can do it” when taking part in this years sports day. He didn’t want my help! I am so proud of him becoming independent day by day and what he is achieving. He has become very vocal and wants the world to see it too!

So our journey together is now ending, I have no doubt he
will thrive in the coming years. Thank you for putting your trust in me to look after your precious son.”

Mrs. Cherry will continue to stay in our hearts forever. He continues to make another wonderful lifelong memory with his new 1:1 teacher, Mrs. Clarkson along with his class teacher Ms Jones.

Do you remember your child’s first teacher? Tell us about them in the comments.