When does ‘lively, always fidgeting and can’t focus’ need investigating?

[backatchababy]

My 13 yr old DS is bright, happy, chatty and never caused us any real concern BUT literally does not stop jigging around or talking and is increasingly getting into trouble at school for talking or disrupting class. At a recent parents evening one teacher mentioned that she has referred to the inclusion team (which is what has got me thinking) and every other one had varying degrees of frustration over his amazing ability and lovely kind nature but non stop talking and lack of focus which is beginning to impact his work. He’s really sporty but coaches (& some of the other kids) get cross with him as he’s always messing around. He’s always struggled to finish anything on time and takes an absolute age to get started (known as king of procrastination at home) but I’m now starting to think this might be more than just usual lively boy traits and wonder if hormones kicking in might be exacerbating an underlying issue.

does this all sound very normal teenage boy behaviour or am I right to be concerned? And if so, what steps should I take to get this investigated?

I don't have any answers but I'm giving this a bump for you.

I'd investigate that. How much time does he spend on screens?
Are there any activities for which he does sit still and quietly?

It sounds like it's causing him issues, if teachers are making referrals and his friends are getting frustrated, so yes, it's worth helping him with that.

Thanks @MuddledMadge .

yes he does spend too much time on a screen (legacy of working parents and lockdown😳) and this is something DH & I both agree need addressing. We take away gadgets at 9pm on school nights but days he hasn’t got any clubs or homework he can be gaming from for 4/5 hours which I know is bad but difficult to manage when you’re not there and he won’t engage in other activities when we are here! he will sit for hours gaming whilst on a video chat with his mates (so hardly focused activity!) and I’m sure this has impacted his ability to focus and his attention span.

I’ve sent a request for his form tutor to call and he’s emailed so I’ve outlined my concerns and will be discussing later today.

I went to the GP with ds at 12yo asking for ADHD to be investigated because of similar. He'd always been the wriggliest child when I watched assemblies and things, but teachers always put it down to "being a summer boy".
Eventually he was going on a small trip at 5am one morning. 19 children (tbf he was the youngest too) stood politely listening to the teacher's instructions as they waited for the bus-and ds hopped round the outskirts. He said because he was cold, but I just felt that was out of the normal range for that age.

First of all he got assessed and they said they thought ASD was more likely. So he was diagnosed with that. Then they backtracked and said they'd like to revisit ADHD and decided he had that too.
In both cases they finished the assessment and said he was right on the borderline and they'd have to decide whether he was "traits of ASD/ADHD" or diagnosed with them, but in both cases they decided to give him a diagnosis.

He was really thankful (although his first reaction was "great, now I have an official reason for being anti-social" ) because it explained that he wasn't being "bad" but needed extra help.
It also meant they assessed him for using a laptop and decided that he could use one in school full time and for exams which has made a huge difference.