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Aug. 24th, 2014 10:58 pmThey called it the strategy meeting - the time at the beginning of each academic year when Guppy and Fran sat down with the school and tried to work out how to keep Fry from becoming a miniature super-villain.
Guppy's hopes of the new teacher, Mrs Pink, were not as high as he would like. It was all very well her assertion that Fry was 'just adorable', but it didn't entirely fill him with confidence of her ability to handle him.
"He's adorable now." he says, out of the corner of his eye noticing Fran about to start laughing. "Because he's settled. But he's still very much capable of challenging behaviour, and he's about to move into a new class."
Max, Fry's psychologist, nods in agreement, before chipping in.
"I think we've covered the usual strategies with Fry - it really narrows down to the four Ss - Sensory, Social, Specific and Surprises. Mr Walker has done well with Fry and can give you lots of individual tips. I think the immediate problem you were having was with the seating arrangement."
Guppy smiles slightly. He and Max earlier went through Mrs Pink's classroom with her permission, installed a clock that doesn't tick, and cleared one of the notice boards of distractions, so at least there was a spot in the room Fry would be able to concentrate from.
"Oh yes." Mrs Pink says. "I had a wonderful idea - we have a boy in a wheelchair starting so I thought I'd put them together, as they have something in common being disabled."
There is a pause while everyone around the table processes this.
"May I suggest, if you want a quiet life, not putting him with a stranger?" Guppy asks. "Fry is more disability aware than most kids but that doesn't mean they'll get on."
"Also, Fry isn't 'disabled'." Fran puts in. "He has special educational needs, yes."
"May I suggest that you put Fry with Kasha?" the headmistress chips in. "Since he sat with Teddy last year, and he gets on well with them both."
Mrs Pink, who has turned a colour to match her name, nods and makes a note in her book. Mrs Patel moves on.
"Now Dr Sandhu, you had some concerns with Fry's maths?" she says.
"Yeah." Guppy grimaces. "He's managed to get hold of some material from one of his... sort-of-cousins, the oldest is in year five. I was hoping he wouldn't get too far ahead because I don't think he's socially able to skip any more academic years."
Max nods. "I would definitely not recommend Alexander skipping any more years. He needs a lot of social input to catch up even to his current class and that's going to get a lot worse when he hits secondary school."
"I think the current strategy was to almost hold Fry back with his maths." Mr Walker says. "But that hasn't really worked and I think may be detrimental to him. All the children work from maths books at their own pace, so even not allowing him to take it home Fry has progressed to book 4 in class. The rest of his class are reaching the end of book 2 and the start of book 3."
"My concern is that if he runs out of material before secondary school he's going to be disruptive." Guppy says.
Mrs Patel smiles. "Well if Fry manages to work his way to the end of book 6 before year six, I promise the school will purchase book 7 and 8."
"It'll all be fine." Mrs Pink gushes.
He's a five year old child, she reckons. How hard can it be?
Guppy's hopes of the new teacher, Mrs Pink, were not as high as he would like. It was all very well her assertion that Fry was 'just adorable', but it didn't entirely fill him with confidence of her ability to handle him.
"He's adorable now." he says, out of the corner of his eye noticing Fran about to start laughing. "Because he's settled. But he's still very much capable of challenging behaviour, and he's about to move into a new class."
Max, Fry's psychologist, nods in agreement, before chipping in.
"I think we've covered the usual strategies with Fry - it really narrows down to the four Ss - Sensory, Social, Specific and Surprises. Mr Walker has done well with Fry and can give you lots of individual tips. I think the immediate problem you were having was with the seating arrangement."
Guppy smiles slightly. He and Max earlier went through Mrs Pink's classroom with her permission, installed a clock that doesn't tick, and cleared one of the notice boards of distractions, so at least there was a spot in the room Fry would be able to concentrate from.
"Oh yes." Mrs Pink says. "I had a wonderful idea - we have a boy in a wheelchair starting so I thought I'd put them together, as they have something in common being disabled."
There is a pause while everyone around the table processes this.
"May I suggest, if you want a quiet life, not putting him with a stranger?" Guppy asks. "Fry is more disability aware than most kids but that doesn't mean they'll get on."
"Also, Fry isn't 'disabled'." Fran puts in. "He has special educational needs, yes."
"May I suggest that you put Fry with Kasha?" the headmistress chips in. "Since he sat with Teddy last year, and he gets on well with them both."
Mrs Pink, who has turned a colour to match her name, nods and makes a note in her book. Mrs Patel moves on.
"Now Dr Sandhu, you had some concerns with Fry's maths?" she says.
"Yeah." Guppy grimaces. "He's managed to get hold of some material from one of his... sort-of-cousins, the oldest is in year five. I was hoping he wouldn't get too far ahead because I don't think he's socially able to skip any more academic years."
Max nods. "I would definitely not recommend Alexander skipping any more years. He needs a lot of social input to catch up even to his current class and that's going to get a lot worse when he hits secondary school."
"I think the current strategy was to almost hold Fry back with his maths." Mr Walker says. "But that hasn't really worked and I think may be detrimental to him. All the children work from maths books at their own pace, so even not allowing him to take it home Fry has progressed to book 4 in class. The rest of his class are reaching the end of book 2 and the start of book 3."
"My concern is that if he runs out of material before secondary school he's going to be disruptive." Guppy says.
Mrs Patel smiles. "Well if Fry manages to work his way to the end of book 6 before year six, I promise the school will purchase book 7 and 8."
"It'll all be fine." Mrs Pink gushes.
He's a five year old child, she reckons. How hard can it be?
