DD not able to stay in all her classes due to health issues - what should the school be providing re teaching time?

[SirChenjin]

Quick background - DD (15) has severe anxiety-related IBS. Currently under a Paed Consultant and waiting for an appointment for guided self help and CBT with CAMHS (4-8 months waiting list). Has also had 10 sessions with a private counsellor.

The main problem is that she finds 'quiet' classes very stressful as her stomach and bowels make terrible noises, and the anxiety this produces is so severe and sudden that she experiences terrible pain and has to run to the toilet before she soils herself. As a result, she now sits out of these classes and works in the library by herself. Although she gets work from those teachers, she is missing out on teaching time - and as a result her grades are suffering. She has very important exams coming up this year and the next 2.

Is there anything that the school or LA should be doing to ensure that she is getting this teaching time? We're in Scotland, if that makes a difference.

A few other things - and I know this is going to sound like the most daft unhelpful thing ever BUT when she starts to feel the cramping set in or whatever usually indicates an episode is coming on, she must try not to panic. Look into some deep breathing exercises, meditative techniques, detachment techniques because daft as it sounds I've really found they help. If I'm in an interview for eg and I get that familiar cramping I've found deep breathing and detaching myself buys me enough time to get through the situation so I can run to the loo after the interview is over. Granted it's not pleasant, and you do feel rough but it's helped me get through a lot of situations that years ago I couldn't have done because like your Dd currently, I'd have been unable to fend the attack off and would have soiled myself.

Obviously it isn't a cure and doesn't stop the attacks but it may help her manage them slightly in the months before her CBT and cahms referral.

Could you arrange to video/ voice record the teacher's lesson as it goes on so that she could get the same visual teaching as the rest of the class?

That could actually be a good idea for everyone in the class when it comes to revision time, and wouldn't necessarily be a child protection issue depending on where the videos are stored (eg on the school's own private network, only for access at school etc)

Thinking about your Dd. I haven't experienced IBS, but did have close contact with someone with IBS at school and recognise the embarrassment side as being thoroughly undignified. I wish your Dd all the best.

i think in terms of support the likelihood of getting teaching time is fairly limited - if you push they may provide staff support but that won't necessarily be from an approppriate subject teacher so might not be much help.

there shouldn't be any issue with skype-type technology - a very small number of schools already deliver lessons remotely in scotland (to do with curriculum availability, etc but same principle).

Thanks again everyone for all your fantastic ideas and support

Shadow - is it OK if I show DD your posts? I think she feels quite alone a lot of the time, as so many cases of IBS seem to be food as opposed to anxiety related. I think she would benefit from hearing that she is not alone. I do need to work on encouraging her to do some relaxation - she's decided that the easiest way of dealing with it is simply to avoid situations, but that can't continue long term.

I phoned the school but no-one was available in Pupil Support - I'll get them tomorrow and will definitely look into recording the lessons, which would be a really good solution.

I think teachers would be very reluctant for lessons to be videoed. I certainly would be, even by Skype where the video wouldn't be recorded.

Apart from the obvious worries about the videos being misused to e.g. complain about the teaching, the amount of time required to set up a Skype session / video camera at the start and end of the lesson would eat into teaching time, especially as these things never run smoothly. Also, what would the teacher be skyping from? I don't have a webcam and my computer is needed to teach the lesson.

SirC please do show her my posts. I very rarely ever come across anyone with the condition and it does make you feel like you're alone with it. I know you don't know me from Adam but I'm very happy to PM if you want any more info or if she wants to talk to someone that's been there please don't hesitate to message. My school years were heavily affected by the throwing up aspect I had at the time, and any big occasion since be it an exciting trip to the zoo with the kids or an interview sets me off. It really impacts life and even more so when it's new and scary; you spend your whole day tense and worrying about every tummy twinge! She will get used to managing it though, and it does get easier to cope with.

What about just an audio recording of the lessons giraffe - would that work, do you think?

Shadow - thank you so much. I will show her this later and may PM you, if you're sure you're OK with that?

Any tablet or smart phone could do skype. Audio quality could be variable unless the teacher was miked up though. Probably not all that effective without video of the teacher and the board though which would need to be arranged with each member of staff. Tricky. I do hope you get a solution.

My friends son has just had his support finalised, but we are in England.
He has a tutor from the LA who comes to his home for 0ne/two hours per week.
He is in y9 and attends a few lessons per week at school.
My friend was told if he completely left school he would be offered 5 hours a week for a tutor. His disability is OCD and anxiety.
If your child is seeing the gp, the LA will want to know the treatment and meds and ask for a report from gp and hospital specialist..

My friend started the process at the start of y7.
You need to fight, bang hands on table and constantly nag and the bureaucracy is unbelievable.

I hope it is much better where you are Sir

I think that any kind of recording could potentially throw up safeguarding issues, as well as the concerns noble mentions. TBH, I think the school will argue that it is pretty much providing as much support as it can. I'm not sure what else you can expect. I get that it's frustrating but if I were you I'd be badgering my GP, rather than the school.

There's a range of reasons I wouldn't want to be routinely recorded. Safeguarding takes videoing out of the question, if the video is going out of school, which, in this case, it would be. I would not be comfortable with a video of me going into the public domaine, in any way. Teenagers are not necessarily going to treat it with respect and it could be used in any number of ways to the detriment of me or one of the students.

Also, if the OP's DD is worried about questions raised if she leaves the room, will she not also be concerned about questions raised about why she needs recordings of lessons? Resources should be provided, an appropriate place for her to work, and access to teaching staff at other times if she has questions - it sounds like all of that is already there.

For under 18s, written consent would be needed from all parents of children in recorded lessons if that footage was going to be used out of school. That might be difficult to obtain.

I have sent you a PM

I teach a student who finds quiet times in the lesson difficult so wears one headphone in durring quiet times. Is this a possibility?

SirC I'm sure wouldn't have offered otherwise.

Lecturing in HE is a very different kettle of fish to teaching a lesson!

A long as the lesson isn't actually recorded I can't imagine too many teachers having a problem with it.

Who is going to be filming it and on what?

It's all very well saying a tablet or phone could do it, but what tablet? Whose phone?

Not my phone, and no kid will be filming me on their phone either.

A) I don't like being photographed even, why should I want to be filmed

B) I don't trust that the footage wouldn't be used against me. This, in the current climate, is unfortunately an entirely valid concern.

Anyway, I think that enabling a child to stay away from the classroom when the issue is an anxiety one isn't a good idea, and that any work should be going into encouraging attendance. If one kid starts skipping lessons and viewing them remotely, there could be a cascade of requests, and it doesn't solve the problem.

Teachers do quite often have lessons videoed - no secrets in any classrooms these days - but the teacher has control over whether it happens and exactly what is done with the recording (might be used for training purposes, to demonstrate something and so on). Having footage of yourself as a teacher out there on an internet-connected device which you don't control is the worst idea ever. Teenagers are not known for playing nicely with that sort of thing and it only takes one member of SLT to see something they personally disliked (which could be just about anything these days - I've known a teacher disciplined for calling students jokily by their surname. And in some schools god forbid someone see a mug on your desk...) for your working life to be made a misery.

I am not exaggerating.