There’s an unfamiliar sound drifting in through the windows, the comforting sound of rain drops drumming on the leaves of plants desperately waiting for such a downpour. Following weeks of blazing sunshine and scorching temperatures with a crack of thunder and a flash of lightening it appears that the UK’s heat wave of 2018 has now passed. Almost overnight the temperatures have dropped and there is a very definite autumnal feel to the days now with low grey cloud, drizzly weather and longer shadows when the sun does show itself. This combination of events really illustrates the arrival of autumn to our beautiful island.

This sudden change in the weather has brought about feelings in me that are a few weeks too early, and something that has been instilled in me from a very young age. These are the feelings that come every year when the weather changes around September time and will always signify the start of a new school year to me. Even though I left school 25+ years ago the freshness of the darker mornings combined with the nights slowly drawing in all stir a mixture of emotions that signifies one event – the feeling of going back to school.

This annual routine begins for primary school age children when they start off in Reception spending their days painting and reading children’s books. The routine continues into secondary school as those children grow up and take their final exams and eventually leave the education system.

This time of year sparks off a strange combination of nervousness, excited anticipation and a keenness to do well – a difficult mix of feelings for any child but exasperated in children who struggle to deal with day to day feelings. As we well know at this time of change any child on the Autistic spectrum or those with additional needs can be thrown into turmoil with the anticipation and anxiety that it brings.

For me though these back to school feelings also bring with them the smell of a new school year. Fixed in my memories are the distinctive smells of newly polished school shoes, crisp new uniforms, a new pencil case, a new school bag, the smell of the classrooms and pristine new exercise books - which by the way I always made a promise to myself I would keep tidy with perfect handwriting for the whole year. That promise of course only lasted a week at most but the good intention was always there at the start. Although I’m not sure the rhymes, pictures and doodles in the back of those books were part of the promise!

So yes, we’re heading towards the start of another school year and with it will eventually come the colder days and dare I say it....Christmas!