Anxious for September.

[OneOfTheGrundys]

3 years out in a PRU. 3-8 DC in a class which is more than enough with PRU pupils!
Back to mainstream this September.
Went in yesterday to see classroom/tidy/see what needs doing.
It's so big. I'm feeling daunted. There are so many seats in my classroom!

Oh my I really feel for you! Mainstream scares me! My resource base has just expanded and we have taken over a mainstream classroom. I was sorting it out before the holidays and it just felt HUGE, like I didn't know where the walls are and SO much furniture!

I have 14 children in two classes and it feels like millions!

Why are you going back to MS?

That's a good question.

We've had so many funding cuts that we lost our SALT, MH practitioners and all Ed Psych time. Our sencos not allowed to apply for ehcps as apparently it should be done by the MS schools they've come from. Excellent staff left and not replaced. Our funding channelled back into the MS that previously bought places from us. A new management that's too 'tough' - says things like 'well I got punched by X the other day but you know-I was fine cos we just have to get on with it we choose to work here.'
It's ok to be upset if a child attacks you I think?! We carry on coming to work-but it's alright to have a cry!
And the knowledge that the ms schools that we serve think we're lower than low... redundancies at our unit wide knowledge in them before we knew anything.
Theres so much more I could write but it'd be outing and too depressing to read!

When pupils are placed with me they are usually immediately discharged from all other services because.. you know.. they have a specialist placement now. CAMHS are only seeing children who are actively trying to commit suicide. Not just saying they want to- actually trying to. Not enough capacity for anyone else. The situation is dire.

That said, I agree with your management that violence is sometimes part of the process with a child. As I see it, today they are expressing their distress in an unsafe because they don't yet have another way. We can work with that and one day soon they will have better ways to manage their emotions. If I get hit or kicked or something thrown at me I don't take it personally- especially if it's me that has put on the demand that has pissed them off! I'm not saying violence is acceptable- but managing it is part of the job I signed up to and part of supporting a child to learn how to self-regulate.

I think a PRU must be a particularly difficult environment. I thought that while watching Excluded at 7 the other night. As soon as a child settles down they get shipped out. That must make it so difficult to get into a good routine and keep the whole place settled. If most of my kids knew that as soon as they started to manage themselves well they would have to leave that would be a good enough reason to never settle down!

Agreed-the position of a PRU is a tricky one!

I also agree that physical confrontation can be part of the job-and that it's ok to be upset by it if that refreshes you enough to continue to cope! It's more the being seen as weak if you admit you found an assault hard to deal with that makes me question management. Showing bruises/marks made by the DC there as a matter of pride/competition had become part of the vibe of the place and it wasn't something I wanted to have a part in.

But I'll miss it.

I'm so sorry to hear how tough it is in specialist settings too.