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Behaviour/development

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School Help

3 replies

Gemmyfer · 09/03/2019 17:54

Hi,

This is my first post, I came here for some advice. My 7 year old son is struggling at school with various things so I’ve arranged a meeting with his teacher and head teacher and I’m not confident at all about what to ask or what help is available and I don’t want to be passed off as just another fussy mother, I’ll list his issues below.

I feel like school are ignoring his behaviour by allowing him to get on with things he would rather be doing than what he is actually supposed to be doing.

Let me start by saying he is a wonderful boy, polite and thoughtful but he struggles to concentrate during lessons unless he is doing maths, he loves numbers, says they make sense to him but other subjects just seem to baffle him. Despite lots of practice both at home and school his hand writing is shocking. He is constantly coming home with injury notes, mainly from falling from his chair, his teacher has tried him on a wobble stool but that proved unhelpful as the chair was the o my thing he could concentrate on, everything else going on was completely ignored. He seems to have no filter either, if he wants to know what would happen if he did certain things then he just goes ahead and tries with no worry about consequences (I will add that he has never shown any violent tendencies or tried to hurt anyone in any way) for example, during lunch he wanted to know what would happen if he squashed a tomato on his head so without a thought he went ahead and did it.

He’s a happy boy, never seems sad but if he thinks for one minute he’s upset you then that’s almost an instant meltdown. He’s very prone to emotional outbursts but they’re very short lived but at the same time he can be completely oblivious to others emotions and cares very little what people think of him at school.

He tells me that when he’s at school and other children are doing lessons he gets to do crafts and such, I think this may be to keep him quiet. I don’t blame the school, I believe they don’t have the man power to deal with him solo, which is what I think he needs which is why I’ve requested the meeting but I’m at a loss at what to say I think is the problem with him and what help we should be asking.

I’m sorry if this makes little sense, it’s been quite difficult to write because I love him for exactly who he is and it’s hard to admit that there’s a problem with him.

Many thanks

OP posts:
sleepismysuperpower1 · 10/03/2019 14:34

I'm by no means an expert, but could he be autistic?

Apple23 · 10/03/2019 15:13

Just state what you have noticed and what he has said. Take notes in with you if they help.

School should be telling you what they intend to put in place to support him. They may also want to make referrals, e.g. to the occupational therapist for his fine motor skills.

Make sure you get a date to review whatever is agreed before you leave the meeting.

With any child who is struggling in school, if you haven't already done so recently, get his eyesight and hearing checked - problems are surprisingly common, children often don’t realise they could see of hear better than they do and either can make a huge impact on learning.

Champagnebrain · 10/03/2019 17:32

Sounds like he could be on the autistic spectrum to me too OP

If you post on the SEN board you may get advice there from more experienced parents.

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