S

E

L

E

C

T

_

Y

O

U

R

_

C

O

L

O

R

PAGE 3

School Time Line

August 2003 (Age 14)

At last I am updating this. It is now the Summer Holidays and I have finished my first year at Charterhouse. I still do everything on my laptop and I really feel that I could not function without it! I have now chosen my options for my GCSEs. I am not doing any languages but I did have trouble making my choices. I really wanted to do ICT as it is probably my best subject but I could not fit it in unless I gave up History, Geography or RS. I am not very good at History but the course sounds very interesting as it is all about the World Wars and other events that have happened in the 20 Century. I thought that it would be better probably to learn History while I had the chance. I have made a list of the ones I am taking:

• Maths
• English Language
• English Literature (I will have to listen to the books on tape or I hope we might read them in class as a group)
• History
• Science x 2
• Geography
• RS

I have made lots of friends and I think I am really lucky to be at such a good school. Being dyslexic seems to be of less importance although I certainly have the same old difficulties but I have worked out ways of living with them. My friends and teachers are also really helpful and don't make fun of me too often! Actually I did have one comment on my report at the end of this term about all the typing mistakes I made in my exam - I don't think that teacher actually realised quite how bad I am at spelling when I don't use a spell check. Actually I must try and find out if I can use a spellchecker in my GCSEs - I hope I can as it makes my work so much easier to read - I can't really see why the examiner (eg in History and Geography) would be interested in trying to decode words instead of looking at the content of what I have written. Everyone at work and everywhere does use a spellcheck nowadays so I must ask about this.

I have very long holidays and I have spent quite a long time helping at The Abbey School which is a Special School in Farnham. Quite a lot of the students find spelling and reading very difficult and many of them find them both much more difficult than me. I know my software is used in quite a few schools but it has been really interesting to actually watch students using it and it has really helped me to develop and think of new ideas. I have absolutely masses of entries for my quizzes and I have used these students to set the level. Every now and again I try and have a harder level 2 maths question but it is never as popular. I really enjoy working at the school and I have learnt a lot about learning difficulties. Many of the students lack confidence and at the school they are getting lots of help and the school is actually fun.

I have also listened to students reading to me - You hear politicians and people going on about how to teach reading but I think most lucky people learn to read however they are taught (probably even if they are not taught).

It is the rest of us who have certain learning difficulties who need very careful help mainly to make sure we do not feel useless. Once the feeling of failure has set in it becomes even more difficult to learn. If only teachers and parents could help students to keep positive and keen and not feel stupid I am sure that many more people could learn to read better. There is still so much negative talk when people do not reach the expected standards - why can't teachers try and understand how the student is feeling rather than keep trying to force an unmotivated pupil to learn? Do they really think that a student doesn't want to read? I have heard that Special Schools are not as common as they used to be. The Abbey School seems such a positive place and the students get loads of praise and you can tell that they are happy to be there and they really have a chance with the teachers believing in them.

These holidays I am working on a new piece of software - it is very similar to Simple Sums but it makes random problems and it can also do other things - more information coming soon!. Thank you to everyone who has given me feedback. It is very helpful and makes it much easier to improve the software.

Over the last year I have learnt lots about computers. I can now put them together and rescue bits from old computers, upgrade and generally fix most hardware problems. I have also set up 2 networks which has been fun and I realy find that I enjoy these sort of things as well as writing software. Anyway I think this is enough for an update - I will try not to leave it so long next time!

January 2004 (Age 14)

I have just come back from a fantastic holiday in South Africa and I thought I would try and update this page before I go back to school. South Africa is such a different Country from ours and I was very interested in their way of life. During our holiday we travelled from Cape Town along the South Coast to Knysna and back to spend a week in George before flying home.

One of the strange things was that where ever we were their always seemed to be many more white people than black people - eg on the Waterfront in Cape Town, the beaches on The Garden Route, the restaurants, the bicycle routes and even in the shops we used. We met many South Africans but almost everyone was white. We did have black waiters, black assistants at the garages, black cleaners at our b&b and we saw black people trying to sell things by the road. We also saw many black communities on the outskirts of the towns. These people lived in the worst conditions you could imagine - families lived in tiny huts and you really can't imagine this way of life could still exist in such a civilised Country.

Althouh South Africa now recognises that all people are equal, whatever their colour, there is still a long way to go before the majority of black people really have a realistic chance to fulfill their potential. I think that until there is real equality of Education it will be difficult to change. I discovered that at least Education is now available for everyone and black and white students are bussed around to different schools to try and make the schools a 'good mix' - whatever a good mix is. I think that quite a lot of students (both black and white) whose parents can afford to pay for their education go to Independent Schools. In England I never even notice or think about the colour of someone's skin and I am lucky to live in a society where everyone has a chance. You cannot begin to compare my education with one of the boys living in one of the 'huts' I have mentioned - where is the equality or the fairness? I think competition in life is fair but this is NOT fair competition.

Now to change the subject - my GCSE courses are going well and I am enjoying all the subjects. We had exams at the end of last term and luckily they went OK. I was really pleased as I managed to come top of the year in the Maths exam - Maths is my best subject but we do not take the GCSE early at Charterhouse but we learn a lot of extra things instead.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award is going well and I have almost completed the Bronze Level - I just have to complete the Expedition next term. I am now starting the Silver Award and I will continue to go to The Abbey School each Thursday afternoon for the 'Service' part of the award.

____	____
1989 --> 1999	1999 --> 2002