[senco-forum] Help with Y3 boy, emotional diffs.

...a complicated medical history - including rickets, and a

> ...a complicated medical history - including rickets, and a
> condition I have forgotten the name of where he stops breathing and
> passes out if under extreme stress. (Would Disability Living
> Allowance be appropriate?)

DLA might be appropriate here. You could suggest to the parents they
might apply for this. But do also recommend they must get experienced
help filling out the claim form, for example from a local CAB
(Citizens Advice Bureau).

> Very low self esteem - everything about him is "rubbish" and he used
> to talk about harming himself. Our learning mentor has been working
> a lot with him on his anxiety / frustration, but he has now become
> very dependent on her.

This over-dependency might possibly be just a phase ...one that can
best be overcome through getting his learning mentor to focus more on
developing independent study skills.

> I am concerned that there is now talk of using temporary exclusions,
> as his leaving the class has become so regular and disruptive -
> there are also concerns around health and safety as he will wonder
> round the building if cannot find learning mentor.

Are there ways of reducing this disruption, for example by ensuring he
always sits in the chair closest to the door?

Also how about insisting he must go collect an authorization(?) card /
token (or whatever) from the school office before goes to find his
learning mentor. If he hasn't got this card with him then his mentor
will simply refuse to work with him and should insist he must first go
back to the office to collect this card /token. At least this way the
office staff can keep an eye on him and can tell him where his
learning mentor is most likely to be found.

Incidentally it should also be made his responsibility alone to ensure
this card / token is returned to the office afterwards. You might also
need to date and time stamp this on each occasion or have a different
coloured cards / tokens for each lesson. This way he won't be able to
collect a single card / token only once and keep representing the same
one to his mentor over and over.

> I don't want this to become just a naughty boy exclusion issue, but
> feel this whole grey area is one I am not very confident with. Any
> support / suggestions / ideas very gratefully received. Anusia
> Primary SENCO

BTW, where do his parents stand on all this?

Hope this is helpful.

David Bowles