[senco-forum] a delicate subject

Luisa

In my time I have had to teach people how to wash - to bath - to use a
tampon - to decide whether they are circumcised or not - you name it - my
team have done it.

If they have understanding parents - it is easiest to go through them to
start with - and often they will solve the problem for you.

However, the majority of my students who needed this sort of help - came
from homes where this sort of help was not proffered.

I have always offered students this sort of help 1-1 - with a brief chat
with me about the problem - and more rarely - a student coming to ask me for
help.

We were lucky enough to be able to use a small staff room that was really
for the PE staff - with a shower - toilet - and lots of privacy - and no
students could come on them unawares.

I have only ever had one student who would not admit that they had a problem
of this sort - everyone else wanted it solved - as quickly as possible.

You may well find that it leads on to other problems - like underwear that
is worn for weeks - and the child has only those - we used to do some
students washing for them too - whilst they had a shower you could put
things through a quick wash - and tumble dry them too!  You may also find
that these are people who never do PE either -= because of the state of what
they wear underneath their school uniform - and the state their skin is on
their backs.

WE also gave them a choice of staff to help them - and I had a number of
staff who were very sympathetic to their problems - and would be the person
they dealt with - the most important part of it all was matching the child
to a member of staff they would like to help them deal with the problem.

I have also had some of the sixth form - who heard individuals read - deal
with this sort of problem without needing my help - if the person they were
hearing read had this kind of problem.

And despite what you think about us being an affluent society - I have
stopped being surprised by children - who don't know what a sheet is on
their bed - who don't have soap just there in the bathroom - let alone a
toothbrush etc etc etc.

And again - its about making children happy and comfortable with themselves
- without which not much learning is going to take place.

Regards

Ruth

-----Original Message-----
From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
[mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk] On Behalf Of Luisa Pinnell
Sent: 30 January 2008 21:16
To: senco forum
Subject: [senco-forum] a delicate subject

I have got several pupils with statements of SEN, in years 7&8, who have
problems with personal hygiene and table manners (handling cutlery). Three
of them have global development delay. I like to think that we are a caring
school, our kids are very understanding and helpful in general,  but these
girls are getting more and more isolated.  
Has anyone had similar problems? Have you got any suggestions on how to deal
with this-other than through PSHE? We have a good PSHE programme, but these
girls need a little extra help. I'm thinking of starting a support group, if
you have any ideas or suggestions or if you have run a similar programme I
would love to hear from you.

Thanks

Luisa
_________________________________________________________________
Telly addicts unite!
http://www.searchgamesbox.com/tvtown.shtml