A special day for my Son

Today was my son's final day at Playgroup. I hadn't really prepared for the emotion of the event. Parents were invited along at lunchtime for an indoor picnic and for a short ceremony where each child was presented with a record of their time with the group and a gift of a pencil case which of course is symbolic of their early school years. As each child was presented with their gift,  they gave the head teacher a hug. As we sat watching, I could see eyes filling up with tears and a lump gradually rose in my throat as it dawned on me the significance of the occasion. Of course this was lost on my son who saw it simply as a slightly unusual day when parents were allowed in school. But for my wife and I, this was an enormously significant occasion. I began to realise just how long he had spent attending the playgroup and how much of his early development was due, almost entirely to his time there. I realised also the dedication and professionalism of the teaching staff and particularly the very special relationships that had been built between them and the children. For one of the staff, this day had particular poignancy as she had looked after our son since he was about a year old, before joining the group as a full-time member of staff. This was reflected in her face as tears began to stream down her cheeks, the emotion of the moment clearly too much to contain. We hugged and promised to keep in touch.
For my son, it will be many years before he is able to understand how special today has been. We have an excellent paper record of his time there, with many photographs charting his development. I am indebted to the staff for producing this and shows the enormous amount of effort that the staff put into their work and the level of care and attention afforded the children who attend.

It is very odd to think that my son won't be attending playgroup ever again. He has six weeks between now and when he begins 'big school'. I will certainly make the most of it as I know that when I start work again, my hours will mean that I will see far less of him than I do now. This I know is going to be difficult for him as he has become so used to me being around. I know for sure that it will be very difficult for me also. I will miss him dearly though I hope there will be times when my wife can bring him to meet me from work or to even ride with me during the day on one of my buses. He'll love that. We'll see what happens...

A very important period of my son's life ended today. Where did all the time go? He's too young to understand why his Mummy and Daddy were so upset... I hope that one day, he will discover for himself

Thanks but no thanks

So my application to teach IT skills has been knocked back. 'Hugely interesting' and the 'skills are certainly there', but not quite got everything needed to teach. Oh well, another in a long line I suppose.
Back to Plan A then and I am continuing my fight to get my money back so I can continue with my master plan. This time, I have contacted my wife's magazine 'That's Life'. They have a consumer complaints section headed by their 'consumer warrior' Anne Hunt. I did them a brief email explaining how I had paid the £1,140 for the course back in March 2010 and that I am still waiting... Hopefully they will be interested and their consumer warrior will take on my case.
I signed on this morning. This time it was with one of their special advisers. You get pushed up an attention level the longer you remain jobless. The guy was actually pretty good - he took an interest in my past and why I had become jobless. He could see that I was once a high earning IT management guy and that health problems had taken their toll. I explained that I wanted something completely different and wanted to be a PCV driver. It turned out he had an interest in passenger transport like me so we spent some time talking about our mutually favourite subject. This made a nice change and restored my faith in the welfare system here in the UK. Maybe things aren't as bad after all...

Taken the plunge

Yesterday evening, I took the plunge and sent my CV with a covering letter to a teaching agency based in Rutland. I had been debating the idea for sometime and teaching certainly isn't my first choice but it's something I am confident I can do. I explained the fact that for the past nearly 20 years, I have been an IT professional having ended my career in 2009 due to poor health (stress). I could very easily turn my back on my IT career and the skills I've amassed over the years but it may be possible for me to pass on some of those skills to young people or those with special learning needs. I've had experience of this so I am more than confident in the company of disabled people.
It would be nice if I get a response. Most of those I've contacted can't be arsed to reply and it's rare to hear anything back. I'm quietly optimistic, though I'm anxious not to get my hopes up as I've had these dashed so many times in the past. Oh well, it's worth a try...