Tom started mainstream school when he was 7. Tom struggled with behaviour problems and then he developed epilepsy and it was clear that his ability to learn was not the same as his other peers. After many meetings and talks with the mainstream school and acceptance on my part, it was decided that it would be best for Tom to go to a specialist school so the hunt was on. Tom’s old head teacher found St Elizabeth’s and recommended it so we took Tom for a trial overnight stay. By all accounts Tom seemed to enjoy this and was interested in this as he felt that he was like one of the other peers.
So Tom left his mainstream school when he was 10 for St Elizabeth’s and never looked back. Tom soon found out that he had a peer group and liked being with the carers too. His confidence that he had lost at mainstream was starting to come back. Tom was a boarder for weekdays only at the start but soon wanted to stay all the time. He was happy to be in the St E’s world, he felt safe and he progressed well over the years until he was 19 when he had to leave to try to find a career.
After a lot of thought Tom decided he wanted to be a carer to try to give something back in the community that had given him so much, but he also wanted to do sports. So with the help of social services, an Apprenticeship was formed to cater for his needs and aspirations for which St E’s became his employer.
Tom has been working for 2 months now and he loves the routine of going to work, living independently in a cared house in Bishop’s Stortford and is finding his independence fast which as a parent is how we want our children to grow up to be.
As a parent it was a relief to find St E’s and I will always remember deeply in my heart what the centre has done for Tom and continues to do so.
I am truly grateful to St E’s for giving Tom the confidence in life to grow and find he can be independent and achieve what he needs to achieve to be satisfied with life.