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swimming & other issues at school

pattercake June 12, 2013 10:56
Cupcake is now in Year 3. He started swimming lessons with school a few weeks ago. He has misbehaved each time and got excluded from the session last week. I feel he is very stressed about the sessions and is then unable to regulate himself, follow instructions, etc. He also does not cope at all well with unstructured time/waiting.I have been into school to talk to his class teacher about this. We discussed his behaviour and things which feed into this. I felt it was a constructive meeting at the time but he still misbehaved last week and and ended up missing the session. He was very tearful when he got home, and felt full of remorse, guilt and shame. I had explained to the teacher that we have ongoing difficulties with washing/dressing/peronal care at home, and that these have been constant since he first came to live with us. He also has sensory processing issues (including being touch sensitive) which feed into this. His teachers seem to think that behacuse he is bright and felt remorseful, he will learn from this and be fine next time. I know from long-standing expereince that it does not work like that whith him, and that the stress he is expereincing will continue to impact on his behaviour. On the morning of school swimming he is anxious from the moment he wakes up, and becomes increasinly unable to focus and self-regulat - he''s "all over the place". He has told me he is worried he is going to be naughty when he goes swimming, but this self-awareness does not give him the ability to stop himself, and he is very aware of this. I have said I will do some work to help try to prepare him, including a social story (he is not on the asd spectrum but copes positively with this type of preparation/support). He is due to go swimming again tomorrow and I wanted to quickly check with staff so I could be sure about some of the inforation I could put in the story, including who would walk with him. I have just come home, quite tearful and frustrated after speaking to one of his class teachers. He has two part-time teachers and the one I spoke to this morning is the generally more the /supportive whe his comes to his behviour .....However, she does not work on the days he goes swimming. The thing that upset me most was that she refused to acknowledge that his past may impact on his behaviour during swimming. She said he knows he has misbehaved and will from the conseqences of his naughty behaviour, as all children do. This has been the most positive year we have had with the school, and there have been some very challenging times in previous years. Things have deteriorated a bit since his second teacher returned from planned leave earlier this year (she has a very different style from the other teacher and Cupcake responds negetively to teachers who are very strict), but Cupcake has coped well on the whole.I feel that once again I am banging my head against the wall with school staff who just don''t "get it" when it comes to traumatised children, and who feel that because adopted our children are now living with loving, caring parents then everything is reolved for the child. Again,I have come away feeling that I am being judged about my parenting, that I am over-reacting, and that I am always trying to make excuses for my child''s behaviour.Cupcake is a bright boy and coping remarakbly well given his past experience - COPE being the operative word. His disruptive behaviour is generally about not feeling safe. I feel saddened and concerend that school staff cannot understand that a child who has expereinced sustained early abuse might find getting changed and going swmiining with 35 classmates pretty stressful!He goes for regular after-school lessons to the same pool, and has been familiar with the pool for the last 4 years. I accompany him for these lessons and he is absolutely fine - he has been doing well and had really started to enjoy swimming.Sorry for the rant (typed rather badly though misty eyes), but I am sick of being made to feel that I am the one with the problem. Behaviour issues are by no means limited to swimming but Cupcake does manage to hold it together well enough to make good progress with the curriculum without requiring any extra support, and is not hitting triggers which would require refferal to other support services. I am sick of being told that they have 35 other children to support, that they cannot allow him to behave/be treated differently fron the other children,and that he''s not the only child in the class/school who has had a difficult life!Any ideas, tips you may have would be much appreicaited - for both the swimming issue and dealing with the school in general. Pattercake xx
Edited 17/02/2021
Flosskirk June 12, 2013 11:06
Could you go with the class? At my daughter's school they always needed lots of parent helpers to help with the swimming. I always went. Or get a doctor's note to say he shouldn't attend.
Edited 17/02/2021
Sajah June 12, 2013 11:27
Print out and give your teacher the Northern Ireland teaching resource. If she wont read it hit her over the head with it as at fifty odd pages it may make an impression!http://www.adoptionuk.org.uk/LetsLearnTogetherThis is something that comes up a lot. "He's over it, he has to fit in, he has to learn from consequences".
Edited 17/02/2021
Milly June 12, 2013 12:04
What about withdrawing your permission for him to go swimming with the achool - at least until they can offer the right support for him? I know schools will say children have to take part in all of the curriculum, but if you kick up a fuss they would have to take note. Swimming is one of those things where it is harder for schools to insist a child takes part (unlike literacy, say) since they need costumes, and possibly permission to travel to the pool.I would also consider booking an appointment with the head, deputy or senco as relevant, rather than relying on the say so of a class teacher. (Organ grinder rather than monkey as OGs make the decisions!!)
Edited 17/02/2021
Kazzie June 12, 2013 12:17
I've bumped a topic on the Resources Board that Jellies posted some time ago that may be useful to show to the teacher. It's the one about DSCF.
Edited 17/02/2021
Shortbread June 12, 2013 14:23
That sounds tough and exactly like my son who will start school lessons in September. I have already had discussions with the school and they voiced concern about how he would manage the lessons, the Ed Psych asked if he would manage it if given a consequence, big sigh!Could you say your child has an ear infection or something similar? If the school is like my sons school they wont provide the support and most teachers simply wont understand the behaviour. I've been told that the sports staff are incredibly strict due to health and safety and that they will not tolerate anything short of perfect behaviour. When taking DS for lessons I have observed that some childrens swim teachers are quite loud and directive, and as your child sounds very like mine it sounds like your child would also be affected by the manner in which they communicate/direct the children.If your child is already doing well at lessons I would just try to avoid these ones. That will probably be my plan.
Edited 17/02/2021
bovary June 12, 2013 21:55
Hmmm, I also wonder if writing some of this stuff down might help? I don't know about you, but I find my brain turns to mush in the moment, and I think of all the very eloquent arguments I should have used once I get home.The NI resource Let's Learn Together has some great stuff for teachers, I certainly recognised DS in much of what they described.I went into school yesterday with another adoptive mum to talk to one of the teachers who is now in a pastoral role about how they could do things differently with adopted kids, and she was really receptive, but genuinely shocked when I related his 'shyness' and anxiety to some of the early experiences he had had (anxiety about not getting enough food, about loud noises, about the scary school toilets, about being alone in any room at all,having spent much of his early life alone in his cot waiting for someone to take an interest.) Maybe putting something like this in black and white cold make them stop and think a bit???Anxious myself about DS starting school swimming lessons in the autumn, like you due to his issues with personal care, but also continence, and managing his anxiety.
Edited 17/02/2021
phoebe67 June 12, 2013 22:42
I think you could try to get them on board again, with the resources mentioned, and there's another document "can't do / won't do" I think?I'd try to arrange that your child just meets the others at the pool, with you, or travels separately with a TA. This would make it less stressful. If they can't meet his needs, I'd withdraw permission citing Health and Safety, explaining it's due to lack of support for his specific needs.As your child already swims, there's nothing they can really do about it. If he had a physical disability or a contagious skin condition he wouldn't be made to go, would he?Stay strong.Phoebe x
Edited 17/02/2021

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