Advice on me going into school to do DS's exercises.

[skewiff]

DS is 5 and in reception. He has mild cerebral palsy and a statement.

When he started school the school agreed that he could start 45 minutes late every morning so I could do all his exercises before school.

The head changed her mind last term and I had to fight to keep going with what we're doing till after Easter (which is when he legally has to be in school, due to being 5 now).

Today we had a statement review and I asked again if DS could carry on being late just up until the end of reception. (I want to do his exercises as they're very complicated - due to the way his body works - and I know a TA will struggle or not be motivated to do them properly).

The head said no, but that I can come into school and do 20 minutes of exercises at some point in the day. I'll do them at first and eventually a TA will watch and learn from me.

The idea sounds OK to me. A bit strange maybe. The school is a 20 minute walk from where i live, so I'll be very fit walking back and forth all day. Plus I have a 10 month old and she'll have to come, which may mean we don't get great amounts done in our 20 minutes.

I do wonder whether DS will warm to this idea or not? Whether it will make him feel odd? - different/ the odd one out etc Maybe he will like it, I don't know ...

The school has asked me to choose when to come in - obviously depending on whether it fits with them. DS says his least favourite part of the day is playtime in the big playground. He feels lost and often has no one to play with. I wonder if this might be a good/bad time to choose ...

Has anyone every done anything like this?

Thank you.

bump

Go through the inclusion team and involve the medical side that work with him. Get any arrangement in writing, point out the inconveniences and trouble for you and the disruption to his schooling.
I was a teacher with a child who needed physio because of his CF, and I was trained to do it by the nurse. It happened in the morning before school started.

Did this happen all through that child's school life?

I was prepared to get DS into school at 9am once he's in Yr 1, as I think he'll miss out on learning in that year. but in reception they do all their learning after lunch.

Did the child in your class come in late and if so how late? The headteacher said very strongly that LEGALLY all children have to be in on time.

sorry, I have just seen that you said that you did the physio yourself. So in that case did the child get in early?

Perhaps I just need to get DS up really early and do it all at home first thing.

Its just that he'll be exhausted ...

The exercises take 45 minutes a day. At the moment we go into school 45 minutes late. But with the new way after Easter I'll probably do 15 minutes before school, 15 minutes in school and 15 minutes after school.

that's very limiting for you. Is this written into his statement?

I got into work at 7.15am, the child came at 7.45am and I did his physio for 30 mins, then he needed a rest before school. It was very severe CF, he was in the school for two years in KS2 then his mother took him back to their home country. So he didn't make it into double figures.

I think the school need to be much more aware of the huge impact that the new changes they want will have on everyone, and you need to get others to support your perfectly reasonable solution.

DS could have physio in school but it would have to be in break times. AFAIK they would be willing to train the school nurse or I could come in during break times and do physio then.

However, we only have to revert to this when DS is really unwell. We do about twenty minutes of physio before school. I think if you could get it done before school then this would enable your DS to learn alongside his class. We also do physio after school, but not sure if this option is helpful to you or your DS. Would it help perhaps, doing 20 minutes in the morning and then 25 in the afternoon? I'm not aware of how complex the routine is, so that may not be possible, but just thought i'd mention it anyway.

ive always just got up earlier & done ds2's physio before school, yes he was more tired at first, but reception & yr1 is exhausting anyway.
i also found ds2 was more active at school anyway so getting much more physical movement than he would do at home.

The other thing to remember is that the social side of school is so important 7 having your mum going in each day will be another reason for him to stand out.
He probably wont care in reception but i'm guessing he may well object as he gets a little older.

Thank you for you ideas -

The exercises are very complicated - just because DS's body works in such a different way (due to the CP).

It does say in his statement that he should have daily physio - its just at the moment I am worried that it would be too difficult for a TA to do and not worth them doing - if its just done rubbishly.

I think me doing it before and after school is the best option really. However DS gets so tired that we don't have a lot of time either end of school - plus school is a 25 minute journey each way - plus I try so hard to fit in all the other things like socialising/play dates after school - often we just stay in the play ground for half an hour.

I am so worried about him getting behind with reading and writing - so we practice that at home as well.

DS is desperate to play when he gets home - and I really think he would refuse to do 25 minutes of exercises at the end of the day. He might do 10 or 15 at a push!

This is why I am trying to use school time to help spread the load.

I don't care about my workload/travelling to make things work - just don't want to make DS feel weird/ confused.

Does anyone know if, with a statement we are still legally obliged to be in on time? Can things not be changed for things like exercises? Would the school get less funding b/c DS would not be full time?

Could you see if the HT would allow the provision of lateness just until year 1 then it could be reviewed?

We have always done physio before school however sometimes DS needs further intervention (home IV antibiotics which are done by me). I tend to find getting physio, meds, nebs and the usual morning palaver too much so he goes in late when having home IVs , which is for two weeks every three months. The HT seems reasonable with our request and we offer to catch up.

You could approach the school and explain that he is overtired at the moment and so you are reluctant to wake him earlier to fit in physio, however you aim to do all of the physio before school when he gets older and is more used to spending time at school and is less exhausted because of it.

I think it may be worthwhile seeing if the TA and/or school nurse could learn the routine anyway just in case your DS needs any further physio during the day, plus to ease the burden on yourself.

I don't know how a statement could make the school agreeable to the lateness, as I doubt any local authority would be pleased for a school to make such a provision ongoing, but push it anyway through your physio or OT (if you have one?). Good luck.

I don't know about the starting time, but the school have to make reasonable adjustments. My ds starts school later than 9 by mutual agreement - as far as I know it hasn't affected his statement funding.

is there any reason why you believe the TA wont do the excercises properly, are you generally happy with the TA?
ds2 is in yr4 now has CP & autism & his TA'S have always been fantastic & can get far more cooperation out of him than i ever can.

I think you have got to give the TA a chance, i know its hard to hand over to someone else but you've got to give it a go. I fit works it will be the best solution for all.

Sorry - DS does not actually have a TA. He does have some one to one time written into his statement, but not an actual TA of his own.

So that's why I don't trust someone else to do the exercises - yet - because I know that it won't be someone especially assigned to DS. It will just be a floating TA who attends to different children all over the place.

However, I am now feeling, after some reflection on all of this - that I'm just going to give it a go and give it my best shot. If it doesn't work with me going in I'll push for a TA to take over sooner.

Thank you for all your help x

Ahh that makes more sense skewiff, if its any reassurance I have always found ALL of the staff at ds2's school to be totally motivated to do a good job & even the dinner ladies sat in on his OT/sensory feedback session.

It may be that if the school have to identify soemone to undergo some training that your ds ends up with the same TA anyway

Good luck.

I don't think if there's a medical reason there should be a problem with coming in late. dd2 had a girl in her form who went part time until the end of year 1 with hypermobility, part of the reason was for her to do exercises in the afternoon.

I think its up to the discretion of the HT - and if the HT is not into it (ours never was, she was persuaded by the deputy head/ SENCO for us to start late, but was never keen) then there's not a lot that can be done ...

I really don't want to make it legal and fall out with the school - although I would prefer to keep coming in late if I could ...

This school is nice though and seems to be good for DS on lots of levels - so I don't want to fall out with them or for him to have to move.

Thank you for letting me know about all the helpful staff at your school dontrememberme.

I think DS's school have lots and lots of lovely staff and so will remain hopeful.

Would the headteacher agree a compromise of coming in say 20 mins late which would allow you some extra time in the morning but HT could feel she wasn't missing so much time at school? (Really so that HT could feel she had gained her point)

Is there some part of the physio routine that is more straight forward than others so that you could do the more complex stuff yourself and a TA be trained to do other at school. I can completely see your point in prefering to do it yourself by the way.

I think its either a TA does 15/20 mins or I do. The rest I have to fit into our own time. HT is not up for ANY more lateness!!!

Its been suggested now that DS misses last 20 minutes of lunchtime play - as he doesn't like it much - but I can see myself running round the entire playground trying to find him - so will ask teacher to rethink ...

I think the time will come when you will want to let the TA do it (indeed, your ds will not be wanting you to come in), so to actually get people trained properly from now, seems the most sensible way forwards to me. We've trained staff (TAs) before now to do physio for CF, and the school was very careful to ask someone who was keen to learn and very committed to doing it properly.
Re coming in late, It depends to some extent on what happens in each class, but the start of the day can be a very important time for any class, and it really is the one bit of the day I'd recommend no-one misses if there is any possible way round it. (which it seems there is in your case).

Because the days/mornings are getting lighter DS is waking up nearly an hour earlier than previously.

I did his exercises this morning and realised that if I skipped having a shower and left just a couple to be done after school (which would be just 5/10 minutes and fine) I'd have managed to get DS into school on time.

So I'm going to see how the next few days go, but spoke to the teacher today about lunchtime again. She said she really thinks that is the best time.

I said that I think I might be able to do all the exercises before school because of the lighter mornings. And asked if I could come in to do extra exercises on the days when they're not all done in the morning. She seemed fine with this.

I also said that by September/next year I'll probably have to go back to me or a TA doing them in school ...

Again she seemed fine. I don't know why but I was expecting her not to be.

Do the exercises need to be done in the morning?

Could you do them at home after school or would the head let your son leave a little early?

That would save you going back and forth and having a battle about it.

Very often, they are on wind down after about 2.30 at school anyway.

Glad to hear the teacher was more accommodating, it can be difficult getting everything done in the morning.

At least you have a workable solution for the meantime, and hopefully they will assign a TA to his needs to enable the TA to do the treatments themselves at lunch (saving you going in daily especially with your baby too).

I think you should talk to your ds's physio team. If he is statemented for daily physio then either the physio/physio assistant should go in to do it or they should train someone at the school.

I am not questioning your competency to train someone skewiff, but I would imagine there could be a question of insurance/liability if the training is done by an unqualified person.

How do you get physio on a statement? Is it in Part 3?

My son needs to do this daily but I can imagine that the argument against it will be that it is a health and not an educational need.