Hell no we won’t go…overseas for a special needs school!

So in discussions about our situation, my aunt said she had been advised that there is a shit-hot school in California that would be perfect for wee cuz. She would probably get a scholarship and it would be a brilliant education. OMG I thought- so far away??? She’s only 11! Who knows her there, who cares about her there? We can’t get on a plane and just go see/fetch her should anything happen. Even the UK is better but I am still not comfortable with that idea. Apparently she had been encouraged to send the kids to boarding school in grade 1 OMG seriously???? That sounds horrendous. Now I didn’t exactly hate living at home but I don’t think I would be the person I am now if I had been in boarding school from such an early age. Independence is good but is it necessary to do it THAT way? I don’t think so.

Anyway so off we went to look at another few schools. We decided that Harare International School would probably be good despite the eye-wateringly high fees (we still don’t have an exact amount). We arrive just before lunch to be told we need an appointment (they don’t do chibhoyi of just turning up!). So the security guard gave us a nice letter telling us to call up the office for an appointment.

Aunty had been told of a school called St. Christopher’s somewhere in Alex Park near Hellenic so we decided to try there. It was like finding a secret entrance to a secret cave! We had been told it’s off Harry Pichanick. We asked passers-by, gardeners, maids and just about anyone else we saw and no-one had a clue. (I have heard that Varungu keep ‘their’ places quite secret for obvious reasons). We finally found a guard outside Hellenic who told us to go round. Which we did and Ta-Da! There it was, no signposts or directions, at the end of a dusty, dry cul-de-sac. We went in to the school office where we were told they don’t really have visual impairment type students, but it is a school that caters for children with Dyslexia, ADD, ADHD and other concentration difficulties. It was a very white school- as in I saw not one person of colour except the security guy at the gate. The lady did however give us the name and number of a lady at Silver Linings (at Hellenic) who might be able to help us.

So we went back round to Hellenic and eventually found the brown ‘marata’ gate at the Grade 7 block. We met Kirsty as she was going out but she took some time to speak to us and show us some things. Silver Linings has some school lessons with Hellenic mainstream classes and has about 8 children per class. There are children with various impairments and they us a direct instruction method of teaching. She even gave us the details of a psychologist who did IQ tests for the school enrolment process (obviously for a rigoddam-diculous fee) but necessary since we did not have our own results.

Looks like Kirsty is a front runner so far…but only for a special school