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"We've appointed a new Secretary," said the Head, as we met along the corridor. "Give her a ring, she's like to have a word with you; her daughter has special needs and she'd like her to come here obviously."

"OK," I replied, "do you know what her special needs are?"

"Down's syndrome, I think; anyway I'll leave it with you."

We had never had a child with Down's syndrome at this school and I had never taught one. I had had several contacts with adults and children with Down's syndrome during my life and wondered whether we would be the right people and place to meet her needs. Nevertheless I was very excited by the prospect and the potential challenge ahead.

After speaking to Sue Moore, our new Secretary, over the 'phone I was impressed by her enthusiasm and single-minded determination to achieve simply a normal life for her daughter Cherry. We arranged that I should visit Cherry's primary school in Gloucestershire for a day.

As I drove down I wasn't sure what to expect from Cherry or her teachers. Her primary school was set in a lovely village with lots of open playing space. It was happy and welcoming. Meeting Cherry was a delight; she was obviously very excited about her 'new teacher' coming and keen to show me her work, books, friends and school. I watched Cherry getting changed for a games lesson and then playing rounders. Her co-ordination - displayed when hitting a ball with a rounders bat, catching a ball when fielding, tying the laces on her trainers etc. - really impressed me. Cherry was obviously a well-loved, integral part of her primary school and very happy there.

"Would she be happy with us?" I wondered. Our school is large, 1,300 pupils, and very spread out. So different from her primary experiences. "Could we continue the excellent work they had started?" I spent a long time talking to Cherry's class teacher and her non-teaching assistant, both of whom expressed fears about how she would cope in a large comprehensive school, yet felt that a secondary school rather a special school was definitely the right place for her. Cherry had spent an extra year in the primary school and this had obviously been beneficial in terms of her basic skills development, physical and general maturity.

A key factor in any success we might have, I knew, would be the appointment of the right NTA or Education Care Officer as we call them in Derbyshire. This would be the person spending all his/her time with Cherry, making the minute by minute decisions about what was appropriate, relevant - or not, when to remain with her class or withdraw, depending on situation, timing, moods, surroundings etc.

Coming back from Gloucestershire I was determined that we should go all out to do our very best for Cherry. In conversations with special needs and subject colleagues beforehand, no-one had thrown their hands up in horror or even expressed any concern about the prospect of us admitting a child with Down's syndrome. The Headteacher and Senior Management Team were fully behind the idea - if Special Needs Staff felt they could cope. Our Educational Psychologist could see no problems and in fact expressed great interest in the idea. The LEA agreed immediately and without condition that we could appoint a full-time Education Care Officer for her. Everyone was keen to have a go!

Cherry is now in her second year here (Year 8) and she is making excellent progress, socially, emotionally and with basic skills both academic and physical. She settles well to spelling, writing and reading sessions and with her Special Needs teacher, Anthea Halls, who is also her Form Tutor. She really enjoys reading, particularly books with an element of humour, Roald Dahl's 'George's Marvellous Medicine' having captured her imagination of late.

Life has not been plain sailing; we have had to adapt our ideas and strategies as appropriate when different situations arise. For example, Cherry found assemblies quite frightening initially. In fact she still does not really enjoy these nor indeed any large group situation. She is upset by fire practices, all carried out in absolute silence except for the sound of alarm bells. At such times she just needs a helping hand or the reassurance of a friendly face to encourage her. She finds the noise of the girls changing room before and after PE lessons too much for her; she therefore changes quietly on her own in the Special Needs Office. This does not mean however that Cherry is quiet all the time! She can be as noisy and boisterous as any other child.

During her first few months here Cherry would occasionally 'go walkabout,' not we think on purpose, but just to gain space. This was very worrying but the remedy seemed to lie in a mixture of head to head confrontations about the effect this had on others and the dangers it posed to her safety together with calm reassurances and clever predicting of, and then avoiding, situations which could lead to her walking out.

Another early problem was Cherry's desire to show her affection for everyone by sometimes rushing up to teachers and peers to give them a hug. Those who had had little direct contact with her were a little taken aback and unsure as to how they should react, but they all learned and Cherry learned too! Slowly and without feeling rejected she has adopted more 'socially acceptable' forms of greeting and when to apply them. She is much more mature generally. For example, she no longer hides under tables or closes her eyes and thinks no-one else can see her, nor does she leap out from behind corners to give us a surprise. She has a greater understanding of her place and role within the school.

Cherry sometimes cannot cope with a full day or even the events of a lesson. Giving her space outside the sometimes conforming and constricting environment of the school is vital for her. It would be impractical and totally inappropriate for us to expect Cherry to attend every lesson, learn, produce work, do homework and blindly follow the typical secondary school routine. Such conformity would place far too much pressure on her - no benefit to anyone.

Cherry is very aware of her appearance now. She likes to look smart in her uniform, she loves the attractive hair styles her mother and sister create in the mornings for her and enjoys the resulting favourable comments from peers. Cherry is physically attractive; she is slim and does well in PE and Games which helps her self-image and affects how peers perceive her. Her mother had done an excellent job over the years in ensuring she has an appropriate diet and exercise.

Cherry loves responsibility and doing jobs for others. She will prepare the staff coffee machine first thing in the morning and make drinks for herself and her friends. She has her own group of special friends with whom she feels comfortable; they are of all abilities. They eat together at lunch times, talk, do art/craft activities, play board games, etc. Cherry also goes out socially with school friends. They visit each others homes, go to the cinema, walking, cycling, etc.

The key to any success we have with Cherry is her Education Care Officer, Mike Reeve. His wide ranging skills, great understanding, adaptability, calmness, good humour and absolute common sense cannot be praised too highly. He had adapted lessons in all subjects, taught Cherry everyday skills both social and educational, organised countless outside activities and weekly events to include not just Cherry but on occasions, her friends as well. He has provided her with firm secure guidelines within the school environment. Mike Reeve and Anthea Halls are the pivotal points of Cherry's life here; they make it work for her.

Cherry has fitted into the school, I am tempted to say, like any other child - but this is not really true. Cherry is very special and important to us all. She has learned and improved a great deal in all ways, but we have all gained, learned and grown from her presence too. She has widened our horizons, changed perceptions (and misconceptions) and altered any old-fashioned preconceived notions anyone may have harboured.

Having Cherry in our school is a joy to us all and an experience we are so happy not to be missing.