'My School Journey' -Logan Richards
My school journey When I first started primary school things were great at first. I made some friends, got invited to the occasional birthday party and yes, pretty much enjoyed the early years at school. Something changed though and the friends I did have drifted away.
It was when I went in Year 4 that things started to get really tricky for me. It was a mixture of things really, with the main thing being that I didn’t get the support I needed in the classroom to help or accommodate my sensory needs. At this stage I hadn’t been diagnosed with autism but my mum and others knew I was. Unfortunately, my autism and dyslexia weren’t officially diagnosed until 2019 therefore I wasn’t really supported and my needs became more evident. Some people didn’t know how to correctly support me which made things harder for me in the classroom and generally during my school life at primary school. Lockdown, due to the COVID -19 epidemic, was particularly tough. There were many challenges along the way.It was in this year, 2020, that my mother made the decision to apply for a specialist autism school as I was due to start secondary school in the September. She felt that going to mainstream school would not be the right environment for me and that my needs would be met better at a specialist school. I had been experiencing trauma from being at primary school, the autism assessment taking so long which ultimately resulted in missing out on the help I should have had so I believe these were the contributing factors towards my mother making this decision.Hide quoted text 
Going to a specialist school felt like the right thing as I seemed to settle right in. The class sizes were much smaller which really helped. I had a male teacher in year 7 whom I connected with and had a great rapport with which was defintely a real positive for me. The school was good and I received many interventions to manage my rituals that had become intense. After about a year or so I spoke to my parents about going back into a mainstream school. They told me this would be a huge task and that it would involve many professionals. They advised me to wait as it wasn’t something that could be rushed. I waited for quite some time but I still was adamant about going back into a mainstream school. I wanted to take more GCSEs than what the school I was at were offering. My long term goal was to be able to go to college and perhaps study at university so I knew I would need more GCSEs under my belt. I think my parents thought I would change my mind but no, I knew exactly what I needed to do. One Sunday I spent time researching schools with my PA and she suggested Trinity Academy. I went on to their website and I liked what I saw. It looked very strict and I loved the idea of doing a parade every morning as it was a Naval school. The uniform was so smart and the schools ethos was incredible. I just knew this was the school for me. I wrote a letter to the local authority later that week and the ball started rolling. It was by no means easy as my parents had to attend attend lots of meetings and send letters/emails to fight my corner. I had so much to offer the school as well as I’d been elected as a member of UK Youth Parliament, had high grades in singing and acting and was an avid chess player for the Hull Chess club. My parents were right though, as it took around a year and a half from me first mentioning about moving schools until it actually happened. I was absolutely elated and thrilled to be going there at long last. I was so grateful to my parents, Northcott and my PA for helping me grow and helping me understand myself. The new school had its challenges as I was the new boy and also it took time to for me to adjust and navigate myself around the building. I also was keen to know what sets I would be in and what I had missed out on by being at a specialist school. I worked so hard and pushed myself to get my grades up and move up sets as my goal of going to college was still at the forefront of my mind. Doing my work experience in July 2024 work at Guildhall with Democratic services and Logistics/Planning. This was a fantastic experience and I thoroughly enjoyed gaining an insight into how things work. I really want to study Politics at college and university so this was an invaluable time for me. I’ve studied so hard over the last 12 months. I’ve spent hours revising around my other commitments and have had many a late night and early morning but I know all of this hard work will pay off for me. I have recently just finished taking the following exams: GCSES *GCSE Maths*GCSE English*GCSE Combined Science trilogy*GCSE Geography*GCSE Photography*BTEC Enterprise*NCFE Level 1/2 Health & Fitness award I am so excited to begin my next chapter in my education at Wyke sixth form college in September.
