About Me

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A unique model - Asian, Alternative and Art Nude all rolled into one petite 5"2 (3/4), 8-10 bundle of joy :) I am a creative individual always on the look out for the new and interesting. I love to play with my environment, experiment and drown in art.

10 January 2012

So where's it all going?

*sigh*
It's so annoying when I see models who can 'spare' a couple of hundred pounds to buy one latex outfit, or spend a fortune on their hair and nails and holidays and complain they are skint.  There's been one or two that's really been getting on my nerves recently with it. And they get lots of work, seemingly anyway.

I suppose this is more of a venting area than anything else at the moment.  Basically, my modelling earnings is having to stretch further than ever at the moment - and it's just so frustrating :(

On top of the usual rent, bills and house-hold expenses that everyone has to pay, it's when the extra expenses kick in. Basically - I pay out £120 a month on my daughter's piano and dancing lessons.  It's kind of a luxury I suppose, but she doesn't do games consoles, buying regular sweeties, magazines or treats. We spend weekends going for long walks or playing board games, not going to the pub, eating out or shopping. I buy all our clothes from charity shops, and food-shop at all the local produce shops, greengrocers, butchers as they tend to be cheaper. We're not lavish by any means!  Instead of coming home and plonking in front of some cartoons, she'll do a house-chore to earn her pocket money, do her homework and read a book for a while.  She'll help me with dinner and then maybe watch the news.  She's not only a good kid, but she's incredibly intelligent.  We're talking - not a bright kid in her mother's rose-coloured glasses perspective - a proper bright kid.  She's seven years old, can name you what different planets are made of, can relate the billion's of years of the Universe's history, can multiply and divide all the numbers of the times-tables, is reading at a 12 year old level...even started picking her way through basic philosophy - ontology, existentialism, Wittgenstein, Plato...

I joined the NAGC - the National Association for Gifted and Talented Children a little while ago after her end of school report which stated she was exceptionally above the national expected average levels for her age, and took a mini-educational report to explore whether or not it was possible that the kid is one of these GnT kids. It's 86% likely.  So I went to speak to her teacher, who also happens to be the SEN co-ordinator for the school, thinking that I could get some advice and help with the kid's educational stuff.  Instead - I was refused the school's educational psychologist on the grounds that 'her behaviour doesn't cause concern in the classroom'. I disputed this reason - I insisted that the teacher would at least allow me to appeal this decision and that I was referred to an educational psychologist.

This naturally upset me - feeling like the kid was being penalised for being well behaved, that I was being penalised for being a good parent. If I allowed the kid to act like a little sh*t - then I'm sure they'd declare ADHD or Learning difficulties or whatever other excuse they come out with these days. (Don't get me wrong - I work with SEN kids, but I don't appreciate when labels are just falsely thrown at them).  Basically, if she was disruptive in the classroom, then there would be reason to get an educational psychologists' assessment.  but because she doesn't, there's no need to.

Ever since then, the kid's teacher has been holding my kid back, where other teacher's had done nothing but encourage her, keep her focussed and challenged, never letting her just sit there and wait for other kids to finish work, she was allowed to do something extra, allowed to do extra work if she chose to (which she often did) instead of playing at break time.  They were great, and the kid excelled.  Now however, the kid's coming home with a huge temper, attitude and angry.  She's now hating school, saying that she did the work, and 'just sat there doing nothing'.  Saying that the teacher has now moved her into lower ability groups, that she can't do the harder work..... funny that.  The lower ability groups (I work in this school too, and have trained in SEN) can barely recognise letters in this year-group.  So - hmm... am I wrong in thinking that perhaps the teacher is behaving a little unfairly?

Anyways - what I'm getting at, is now, due to the bloody school refusing me access to the psychologist services, I now have to find £400 to pay for an educational psychologist who can assist, advise and support us.  That's just for the initial consultation - let alone follow-ups.  I don't have that kind of money.  So far I've managed to save £50 in the last three months of what I earned from modelling after daily expenses. It seems so impossible to get there - to save up enough to pay for this report - why should I be doing this when it's the LEA should be listening to the needs and providing the appropriate support?

The stupid thing is that terminology is restricting a lot of parents and children with the services they require - for example SEN - Special Educational Needs - is defined by the LEA as 'learning difficulties'.  SEN in most cases is defined as a 'different learning need' - something other than mainstream.  In this case - yes, she is, but not in difficulty learning.

So there you go, there's my rant of the day/week/month.