Education is extremely essential in the development and growth of a child as it prepares them for their future life. As such, teachers are incredibly important figures in a child’s life and there are some teachers who go above and beyond to make sure their pupils feel at home and at their best.
Deputy Headteacher Ruth Clarkson, who works at the Lansbury Bridge School & Sports College in the UK, is one of those teachers.
The woman wrote a heartfelt letter to an 11-year-old boy with autism who just failed his SATs.
Ben Twist is an autistic boy and has had difficulties adapting in mainstream schools, as his parents noticed that he was falling behind. However, the 11-year-old boy later really opened up in the Lansbury Bridge specialist school. Before, he was stressed out at the thought of leaving for school, but here, Ben feels at home and is excited about every single school day.
As the only student in the entire school who attempted to take the SATs that year, Ben hoped that he would pass the test.
“I was so proud to be told that Ben was going to be able to take his SATs because not many children at the school do,” extremely proud mom Gail said to The Mirror.
Unfortunately, the results showed that Ben did not pass the exam.
“I wasn’t expecting him to pass and he didn’t but I was so proud of him and he was proud of himself for trying and that’s a massive achievement for him.”
The day that the results came in, Ben received two letters. One letter was an official statement saying he failed the SATs, but the second letter was much more special and important.
Mrs. Clarkson wrote him a personal letter speaking for the entire school, praising Ben’s other abilities.
Thinking that Ben might be disappointed at the exam result, the teacher assured him that he had plenty of other important talents that can’t be measured on a test.
“A very important piece of information I want you to understand is that these tests only measure a little bit of you and your abilities. They are important and you have done so well but Ben Twist is made up of many other skills and talents that we at Lansbury Bridge see and measure in other ways.”
The letter then listed a number of things that Ben was so good at. For example, she praised his musical ability, his artistic side, his social skills and most importantly, his kindness. The letter assures him that all of the boy’s special talents make him the unique and kind person that he is.
“You are always making progress and continuing to develop as a lovely bright young man. Well done Ben, we are very proud of you.”
The beautiful letter brought mom to tears.
In fact, she called it ‘so wonderful and the most beautiful letter she’s ever read’.
“The fact that they’d addressed it to Ben was just so lovely too, he was so surprised and said how ‘awesome’ it was and couldn’t believe they really thought that about him,” she mentioned.
Mom says that Ben couldn’t believe ‘that someone said all those lovely things about him’.
Gail added that it isn’t easy for Ben to keep up with classes and is very happy that the school is able to see other talents in children, that can’t be measured by tests. This sweet child really feels at home here.
“He’s such a sensitive and loving child and he’s got an amazing sense of humour – it’s amazing that the school are able to recognise that our children have other qualities than what they are tested on.”
Mom decided to share this amazing letter on her Facebook profile, and it quickly went viral with thousands of shares. The letter was also liked and retweeted numerous times. It didn’t take long before the warm message was seen by the entire world. The responses were amazing and Ben received tons of supportive comments.
“Ben was our only entry this year and on the run up to the tests he worked extremely hard supported throughout by everyone in his class team, Ruth Clarkson and his family,” head teacher Jane Grecic said.
“Ruth sent [the letter] for no reason other than to reassure Ben that he is a wonderful talented young man regardless of the outcome of the tests.
Such a wonderful and touching message that this little boy and his mom will never forget. Mrs. Clarkson was clearly born to be a phenomenal teacher!
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