Te Kauwhata College

Our Y9 child is a gifted, high functioning autistic. Tk College has a Student Learning Centre with teachers specifically catering to the Centre. My child can go there when he is feeling triggered, anxious, or needs to chat with an adult who understands his level of thought. Because of this, he has grown in confidence and his anxiety levels have dropped. They fully encourage him to express hinself, give him a shoulder when needed, and keep the doors of communication open to us, his parents. Certainly, more funding for Learning Support Assistants would improve classroom support for the College, especially as it grows. Re the food, our child is usually very happy with it. The only feedback I'd give the school is that its handout needs to be monitored better as my son tells us that some students take more than their fair share and many of them aren't the students the free food program is trying to target

I'm a high functioning autistic but also rather advanced for my age. I get neither the help nor the extension I need and need to constantly nag my teachers for more work. The school is unable to cater to advanced students in many ways and lacks the resources.

The teachers don't care about me at all compared to other students. I never get the help I need and I'm always ignored when I try to participate in class. My strengths are never accommodated for and instead of helping me reach new levels I'm pushed back down to the same level as everyone else even though the work is too easy and repetitive for me.