(no subject)
Feb. 20th, 2018 09:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fry_sandhuThe day before he goes to visit Oaking, Fry gets mixed advice from others at school.
"You're not going to leave before Year 6 are you?" Noah asks him, at break. "Year 6 is the best bit, we'll finally be top of the school."
Fry shakes his head. "I don't think so. They say I can't join the program because I'm only nine."
"But if they say you can, will you?" Tommy asks. "I mean, they wouldn't take me last year when I was only nine, but you're smarter than me."
"I don't know." Fry admits. "I don't really feel challenged here any more. I mean comprehension is still my hardest subject, but everything else just feels... mundane."
Ben, overhearing, throws a rubber at the back of Fry's head.
"You're such a nerd." he scoffs.
"You're the most mundane thing here." Fry retorts.
Ms Owlswick calls Fry over for her own words of wisdom before he and Ben can get into another fight.
"Fry, tomorrow the whole day is a test, and that doesn't mean just the written exam. They will be looking to see if you can behave yourself. Showing off and calling other people 'mundane' is not the sort of behaviour they are looking for. Nor do I want to hear of you getting into any fights. You are representing the school, so mind your manners."
The next morning, when Dad drops him off at Oaking, the first thing that strikes Fry is that it's very big and very noisy. He is slightly surprised when Dad drops him off at the main gate, and nobody comes to show him where to go. For a moment, he looks around in confusion. Surely Dad has made a mistake here? How is he expected to find his way in this huge school?
The whole day is a test
He stands at the side of the path, puts his hands over his ears, and scans the area. Eventually, he spots a sign for 'Main Reception', and follows it.
"My name is Alexander Sandhu and I'm here for the test." he tells the lady at the front office. She shows him into a room where there are five other kids, also wearing their own school uniforms rather than the Oaking one. Each one has a name badge with a number on their front. Fry gets his badge - 'Alexander - 6' - and sits down next to 'Maurice - 3'.
"Are you here for the test?" he asks Maurice, who looks incredibly nervous. The boy next to him nods. Then they sit quietly until a teacher comes in.
The teacher explains that they will have four tests, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, and that the questions get harder and harder and you're not expected to be able to answer them all. And then they'll take them away and send your own teacher the score which shows you what age you are performing at in different subjects.
"But I only have one age." Maurice says, looking confused. "I'm nine."
"What I mean is that if you can do maths as well as a twelve year old, we'll say you have a maths age of 12." the teacher explains, kindly.
It isn't clear whether Maurice understands this. Fry finds himself wondering whether Maurice loses points for that.
The first test is maths, which Fry is pretty confident about. That's the whole point of being here, after all. He finishes nearly all the questions, much to his satisfaction, though he would have rather done the whole thing. After a short break, the second one is English, and that one rapidly gets a lot more difficult. There are still a lot of pages left when he runs out of time.
Then the teacher gives them all a map.
"It's now lunch time. There is a free lunch for all of you in the dining hall. You must be back here by two o'clock."
The teacher leaves. Four of the kids take their maps and disappear. Fry is about to do the same, when he sees Maurice is just standing there.
"Your map is upside down." he says, helpfully.
"I can't read maps." Maurice says. "I don't know where to go."
"Well follow me, then." Fry says, shrugging. "I'm pretty sure all the big kids will be going to get lunch so we probably just have to follow the crowd."
They find the dining hall, but it's so crowded that Fry doesn't dare join the queue. Back at his usual school, he drops his tray so often because he's been knocked and jumps that one of the teachers usually helps him.
"I'm not that hungry." Maurice says quietly.
Fry is hungry, but he can't see a gap. He doesn't want to drop his tray in front of all these people. He looks around at Maurice, but Maurice has disappeared back out of the hall.
The noise in here is horrible. He's tempted to do the same.
But he's hungry.
Eventually he spots a teacher watching him. The teacher makes no move towards him. Ten minutes pass, and then unable to deal with being hungry any longer, Fry goes up to the teacher.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes?" The teacher smiles at him.
"I have autism, please will you help me?"
And just like that, she's helping him. Okay, that probably wasn't the answer to this test, but it results in him getting his lunch, which he takes to the emptiest table. The other four test candidates are all chatting on another table.
When he's finished lunch, there's still an hour of time left. What do they expect him to do now? He looks at the map. Should he go back to the room they were in this morning, or go for an explore? He decides on the latter.
It's certainly a magnificent school. He walks around and peeps in the windows of all the science rooms, and the music block. He has a look at the tennis courts that Tommy was so excited about, but they're pretty ordinary. And then he goes to have a look at the library.
In the library there is a little bit of clicking noise, which he gravitates towards. It's a chess club, and students are industriously playing.
"Check mate!" a girl of about sixteen says to a slightly younger student. Fry glances over. And suddenly recognises her. Boldly, he walks over to the table.
"You're Carla Martinez, the under sixteen girls' Holby chess champion." he says. "I recognise you from tournaments. Please can I play you?"
"Who are you?" Carla asks.
"My name is Alexander Sandhu but I like to be called Fry." Fry says. "I'm nine years old and I currently rank second in Holby in the under 11s." He looks at his watch. "I have thirty four minutes before I have to go back to my test."
Carla resets the board and invites him to join them. The rest of the chess club watches in interest. After an intense battle, she narrowly beats him, but he agrees to shake her hand.
"You're good!" she says. "Well played! Couple of years, and you'll be beating me I'm sure. Do you need help finding your way back to your test?"
"No, I've got it. Thanks." Fry says, taking his map and abruptly leaving.
The afternoon tests are a mixture too. The first one is a combination of science and logic and Fry finds it relatively easy. The second one has a lot of weird questions about what is the right thing to do in different situations and tells him just to pick the 'best' answer. He struggles with that one and isn't half way through when the bell rings.
Mum is waiting for him outside the room when he finishes. But then, as an afterthought, he turns back and approaches Maurice.
"Can I get your number?"
Maurice looks startled.
"Who, me? Why?" he asks nervously.
"You're going to apply here, right?" Fry asks. "When you're old enough. And I don't know many people like me."
"Like you?" Maurice asks.
"You know. On the autistic spectrum." Fry says.
"What's autistic?" Maurice asks.
Now it's Fry's turn to look startled.
"Never mind." he says, after a moment. "Can I have your number?"
"I don't talk on the phone."
"Me neither. I'll text you." Fry says.
Maurice does exchange numbers, and Fry joins Mum outside the room.
---
He keeps a close eye on the mail. If anyone is going to get the results of this thing, it's going to be him. Not Mum or Dad or a teacher. As it is, there's no need; Mum sends him next door to collect a parcel from the neighbours, and he recognises the stamp of Oaking school on it.
"Why's Oaking writing to you?" Rowan asks, handing the parcel over. "Going to join the gifted program and become even more boring?"
Fry glowers at him and takes the parcel. He takes the back door to avoid Mum, and goes upstairs. Inside the parcel are two text books, a letter for him, and a letter for his parents.
He opens the letter for his parents first.
'Dear Dr and Mrs Sandhu,
It was a pleasure to meet Alexander on test day. We have now analysed the results of both the written tests and the staff feedback.
As you are aware, this was not an entrance exam and the test was for advice purposes only.
Alexander scores very highly in maths (13.5), logical reasoning (12.5) and science (11.0). He scores below average for his age in comprehension (8.0) though above in spelling and grammar (10.5). He scored further below average for his age in the situational judgement paper (6.5) however he completed so little of the paper that we suspect this is not a true reflection of his ability so much as difficulty understanding the expectation of the test. His practical problem-solving during the day was good; he required some help with ADLs but asked for it appropriately.'
Fry reads the first part twice. He's still not sure what ADLs are. But he reads on.
'In our opinion Alexander is neither academically nor emotionally ready to start secondary school in September 2018 and we strongly recommend that he remains at his current primary school. We have included some advanced texts for Alexander to work on in class as I understand that he has surpassed what his school has available.
In terms of what Oaking could offer Alexander (subject to success in the 2019 entrance exam) we would suggest that rather than him trying to join the Gifted and Talented Program that he instead takes the exam for the main cohort of students in Year 7. An exception could then be made allowing him to join the Gifted and Talented group for his maths and science lessons, rather than him trying to take advanced classes in subjects he struggles with at an ordinary level.
If you choose an alternative secondary school for Alexander, we would suggest that you ensure that they can cater for a child who will, more than likely, be ready to take GCSE maths by the age of 12.
Kind regards...'
Fry puts the letter back in the envelope and glues it shut with a glue stick. On one hand, he's disappointed. A part of him had always hoped that he might just make it into the Program. On the other, what they're suggesting does kind of make sense. It would be hard to take advanced classes in subjects where he struggles to keep up with the ordinary class. He can't really argue with that.
He opens his own letter, which is much shorter, and says that he's good at maths and science, needs to work on some other things, and here are some free books. And then, entirely forgetting to take the parcel down to his mother, starts looking at the books with interest.
"You're not going to leave before Year 6 are you?" Noah asks him, at break. "Year 6 is the best bit, we'll finally be top of the school."
Fry shakes his head. "I don't think so. They say I can't join the program because I'm only nine."
"But if they say you can, will you?" Tommy asks. "I mean, they wouldn't take me last year when I was only nine, but you're smarter than me."
"I don't know." Fry admits. "I don't really feel challenged here any more. I mean comprehension is still my hardest subject, but everything else just feels... mundane."
Ben, overhearing, throws a rubber at the back of Fry's head.
"You're such a nerd." he scoffs.
"You're the most mundane thing here." Fry retorts.
Ms Owlswick calls Fry over for her own words of wisdom before he and Ben can get into another fight.
"Fry, tomorrow the whole day is a test, and that doesn't mean just the written exam. They will be looking to see if you can behave yourself. Showing off and calling other people 'mundane' is not the sort of behaviour they are looking for. Nor do I want to hear of you getting into any fights. You are representing the school, so mind your manners."
The next morning, when Dad drops him off at Oaking, the first thing that strikes Fry is that it's very big and very noisy. He is slightly surprised when Dad drops him off at the main gate, and nobody comes to show him where to go. For a moment, he looks around in confusion. Surely Dad has made a mistake here? How is he expected to find his way in this huge school?
The whole day is a test
He stands at the side of the path, puts his hands over his ears, and scans the area. Eventually, he spots a sign for 'Main Reception', and follows it.
"My name is Alexander Sandhu and I'm here for the test." he tells the lady at the front office. She shows him into a room where there are five other kids, also wearing their own school uniforms rather than the Oaking one. Each one has a name badge with a number on their front. Fry gets his badge - 'Alexander - 6' - and sits down next to 'Maurice - 3'.
"Are you here for the test?" he asks Maurice, who looks incredibly nervous. The boy next to him nods. Then they sit quietly until a teacher comes in.
The teacher explains that they will have four tests, two in the morning and two in the afternoon, and that the questions get harder and harder and you're not expected to be able to answer them all. And then they'll take them away and send your own teacher the score which shows you what age you are performing at in different subjects.
"But I only have one age." Maurice says, looking confused. "I'm nine."
"What I mean is that if you can do maths as well as a twelve year old, we'll say you have a maths age of 12." the teacher explains, kindly.
It isn't clear whether Maurice understands this. Fry finds himself wondering whether Maurice loses points for that.
The first test is maths, which Fry is pretty confident about. That's the whole point of being here, after all. He finishes nearly all the questions, much to his satisfaction, though he would have rather done the whole thing. After a short break, the second one is English, and that one rapidly gets a lot more difficult. There are still a lot of pages left when he runs out of time.
Then the teacher gives them all a map.
"It's now lunch time. There is a free lunch for all of you in the dining hall. You must be back here by two o'clock."
The teacher leaves. Four of the kids take their maps and disappear. Fry is about to do the same, when he sees Maurice is just standing there.
"Your map is upside down." he says, helpfully.
"I can't read maps." Maurice says. "I don't know where to go."
"Well follow me, then." Fry says, shrugging. "I'm pretty sure all the big kids will be going to get lunch so we probably just have to follow the crowd."
They find the dining hall, but it's so crowded that Fry doesn't dare join the queue. Back at his usual school, he drops his tray so often because he's been knocked and jumps that one of the teachers usually helps him.
"I'm not that hungry." Maurice says quietly.
Fry is hungry, but he can't see a gap. He doesn't want to drop his tray in front of all these people. He looks around at Maurice, but Maurice has disappeared back out of the hall.
The noise in here is horrible. He's tempted to do the same.
But he's hungry.
Eventually he spots a teacher watching him. The teacher makes no move towards him. Ten minutes pass, and then unable to deal with being hungry any longer, Fry goes up to the teacher.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes?" The teacher smiles at him.
"I have autism, please will you help me?"
And just like that, she's helping him. Okay, that probably wasn't the answer to this test, but it results in him getting his lunch, which he takes to the emptiest table. The other four test candidates are all chatting on another table.
When he's finished lunch, there's still an hour of time left. What do they expect him to do now? He looks at the map. Should he go back to the room they were in this morning, or go for an explore? He decides on the latter.
It's certainly a magnificent school. He walks around and peeps in the windows of all the science rooms, and the music block. He has a look at the tennis courts that Tommy was so excited about, but they're pretty ordinary. And then he goes to have a look at the library.
In the library there is a little bit of clicking noise, which he gravitates towards. It's a chess club, and students are industriously playing.
"Check mate!" a girl of about sixteen says to a slightly younger student. Fry glances over. And suddenly recognises her. Boldly, he walks over to the table.
"You're Carla Martinez, the under sixteen girls' Holby chess champion." he says. "I recognise you from tournaments. Please can I play you?"
"Who are you?" Carla asks.
"My name is Alexander Sandhu but I like to be called Fry." Fry says. "I'm nine years old and I currently rank second in Holby in the under 11s." He looks at his watch. "I have thirty four minutes before I have to go back to my test."
Carla resets the board and invites him to join them. The rest of the chess club watches in interest. After an intense battle, she narrowly beats him, but he agrees to shake her hand.
"You're good!" she says. "Well played! Couple of years, and you'll be beating me I'm sure. Do you need help finding your way back to your test?"
"No, I've got it. Thanks." Fry says, taking his map and abruptly leaving.
The afternoon tests are a mixture too. The first one is a combination of science and logic and Fry finds it relatively easy. The second one has a lot of weird questions about what is the right thing to do in different situations and tells him just to pick the 'best' answer. He struggles with that one and isn't half way through when the bell rings.
Mum is waiting for him outside the room when he finishes. But then, as an afterthought, he turns back and approaches Maurice.
"Can I get your number?"
Maurice looks startled.
"Who, me? Why?" he asks nervously.
"You're going to apply here, right?" Fry asks. "When you're old enough. And I don't know many people like me."
"Like you?" Maurice asks.
"You know. On the autistic spectrum." Fry says.
"What's autistic?" Maurice asks.
Now it's Fry's turn to look startled.
"Never mind." he says, after a moment. "Can I have your number?"
"I don't talk on the phone."
"Me neither. I'll text you." Fry says.
Maurice does exchange numbers, and Fry joins Mum outside the room.
---
He keeps a close eye on the mail. If anyone is going to get the results of this thing, it's going to be him. Not Mum or Dad or a teacher. As it is, there's no need; Mum sends him next door to collect a parcel from the neighbours, and he recognises the stamp of Oaking school on it.
"Why's Oaking writing to you?" Rowan asks, handing the parcel over. "Going to join the gifted program and become even more boring?"
Fry glowers at him and takes the parcel. He takes the back door to avoid Mum, and goes upstairs. Inside the parcel are two text books, a letter for him, and a letter for his parents.
He opens the letter for his parents first.
'Dear Dr and Mrs Sandhu,
It was a pleasure to meet Alexander on test day. We have now analysed the results of both the written tests and the staff feedback.
As you are aware, this was not an entrance exam and the test was for advice purposes only.
Alexander scores very highly in maths (13.5), logical reasoning (12.5) and science (11.0). He scores below average for his age in comprehension (8.0) though above in spelling and grammar (10.5). He scored further below average for his age in the situational judgement paper (6.5) however he completed so little of the paper that we suspect this is not a true reflection of his ability so much as difficulty understanding the expectation of the test. His practical problem-solving during the day was good; he required some help with ADLs but asked for it appropriately.'
Fry reads the first part twice. He's still not sure what ADLs are. But he reads on.
'In our opinion Alexander is neither academically nor emotionally ready to start secondary school in September 2018 and we strongly recommend that he remains at his current primary school. We have included some advanced texts for Alexander to work on in class as I understand that he has surpassed what his school has available.
In terms of what Oaking could offer Alexander (subject to success in the 2019 entrance exam) we would suggest that rather than him trying to join the Gifted and Talented Program that he instead takes the exam for the main cohort of students in Year 7. An exception could then be made allowing him to join the Gifted and Talented group for his maths and science lessons, rather than him trying to take advanced classes in subjects he struggles with at an ordinary level.
If you choose an alternative secondary school for Alexander, we would suggest that you ensure that they can cater for a child who will, more than likely, be ready to take GCSE maths by the age of 12.
Kind regards...'
Fry puts the letter back in the envelope and glues it shut with a glue stick. On one hand, he's disappointed. A part of him had always hoped that he might just make it into the Program. On the other, what they're suggesting does kind of make sense. It would be hard to take advanced classes in subjects where he struggles to keep up with the ordinary class. He can't really argue with that.
He opens his own letter, which is much shorter, and says that he's good at maths and science, needs to work on some other things, and here are some free books. And then, entirely forgetting to take the parcel down to his mother, starts looking at the books with interest.
