“Leo,” Mrs. Dhillon said one grey November afternoon, kneeling beside his desk. “The timetable is changing next term. New groups. New room.”
“I know,” Mrs. Dhillon said. “But you’ve learned something bigger than the timetable this year. You’ve learned that you can survive the change after it happens. Not before.”
Leo looked at the timetable. At its precise rectangles. At the way 14:45 – Home (Bus Zone B) sat there like a small, safe harbour. asc timetables 2018
Leo arrived early on the first Monday of term. The Academic Support Centre hummed with that particular September light—too bright for indoors, too pale for outdoors. He sat in his assigned seat (C4, according to the laminated chart beside the door) and stared at the timetable.
By October, Leo had memorised the timetable down to the minute. He knew that Mrs. Dhillon always started Literacy five minutes late on Tuesdays (staff meeting overflow). He knew that the Sensory Break on Thursdays coincided with the janitor’s vacuuming of the hall, which meant headphones were non-negotiable. He knew that the Thursday Social Communication roleplay was ordering at a café , and he had practised his line—“I’ll have a hot chocolate, please, no cream”—three hundred and seventeen times. “Leo,” Mrs
Leo held the sheet with both hands. His thumb traced the old, familiar grid in his notebook.
On the last day of 2018, Leo pinned the old timetable to his bedroom wall. He left the pushpins slightly rusted. And on Monday morning of the new year, he walked into Room 9A, sat down in seat D2, and unfolded the new timetable like a map to a country he hadn’t visited yet. New groups
Literacy Intervention (Group A) 09:30 – 09:45: Sensory Break 09:45 – 10:30: Maths Reinforcement (Group B) 10:30 – 11:00: Break – supervised courtyard 11:00 – 11:45: Social Communication (Roleplay) 11:45 – 12:30: Study Skills / Organisation 12:30 – 13:15: Lunch – quiet room available 13:15 – 14:00: Subject Support (English) 14:00 – 14:45: Emotional Regulation / Check-out
They handed out the new timetables. Thicker paper. A different font. Room 14B was now Room 9A. Group B had merged with Group C. Sensory Break was moved to 10:15.
“I don’t like it,” he whispered.
“Change is good,” she added softly.