5 Year old getting into a lot of trouble in school

[Matt0890]

Hi, I’m posting on here as a first time poster as I’m looking for others that have perhaps experienced a similar situation.

My son has recently started year one and it’s clear to see he is having more bad days than good, initially during the first couple of weeks of yr 1 he settled in fine and received mostly positive feedback from teachers during pick up time.

in the last few weeks his behaviour has declined badly, the school has now started using a sticker chart where he will receive a sticker for each period of the day if he demonstrates good behaviour with a ‘notes’ section if his behaviour has been less desirable.

some of the feedback on his behaviour involves making silly noises during carpet time, pouring peoples drinks on the floor, throwing things around the classroom, lashing out at others.

we did have a meeting with his teachers about his behaviour but didn’t really come to anything apart from introducing the sticker chart system, which so far, doesn’t seem to be working. He is currently awaiting an appointment for adhd referral which was started during pre school because of similar behaviour which did, over time improve somewhat.

we had some similar issues during reception too though it seems to have got worse into year one, he is one of the youngest in his year.

his home life is very good, he has a loving family, nice home and lots of toys to play with. Far from spoilt, I just want to provide him with a good quality home life, he doesn’t eat a lot of ‘junk food’ as such and I make most of his meals from scratch in an effort to promote his concentration/development and give him a variety of different foods.

he is an only child, it was not possible to have any more but he is very social and has a lot of friends that he sees outside of school.

I have tried introducing him to sports eg rugby, but he’s really not that interested, he does enjoy his weekly group swimming lessons.

im looking for other parents that may have experienced a similar situation, and what was the outcome? I really don’t want him to get excluded from school that’s my worry, and I really try to speak to him about making right choices, I myself was quite erratic in school and I struggled throughout, but this seems even more so and I’m just quite concerned, I don’t know what else to do,

thanks, sorry it’s so long, Matt

Firstly, I would ask @MNHQto edit your post as you’ve signed it with your name and one of the beauties of MN is that it’s an anonymous forum

It’s quite normal for a DC with ND to struggle in Y1 as the learning is suddenly more formal. They’re expected to sit and focus for longer periods, often with other DC close by, which will be difficult if he does have ND.

The first thing I would do is this simple progress checker. Let us know if it says he needs some support.

If you’re in England or Wales does he have an ECHP or are you in the process of applying for one?

If not, I’d make that your priority. If you’re not sure how to apply, then the SN Chat section on MN can be very helpful. You don’t have to wait for a diagnosis to do this.

Are school really only doing a sticker chart? I understand that schools and Teachers are stretched beyond belief but a sticker chart is very unlikely to be effective behaviour management for a DC with ND. They should at least be doing something like Zones if Regulation.

Has their SENCO assessed hin yet and made any suggestions?

You are right about exercising him too. It really does help you to focus if you have ADHD.

If he’s not into rugby, and he may not like contact sports, try him with Hockey as the season is just started and clubs usually have training sessions for little ones at the weekend. Swimming is good though. Can you fit in another swimming session in the week? Martial arts are usually good for focus as well.

Have you introduced him to Meditation yet? There should be some guided meditations aimed at DC on YouTube. Meditation is very helpful for coping with ADHD.

And does he have the opportunity to do something physical in the morning before school starts like running, going to the playground or trampolining?