Tomorrow afternoon I've arranged to meet with the Assistant Head, Head of Sixth Form and School Nurse about the problems Ben is still experiencing at school. On the agenda will be...
1. The fact he still finds it hard to stay in school for full days, except Friday which he manages to do (probably because it's the end of the week and a shorter day).
2. The fact that, because of this, he is missing key schooling in his A level year which isn't good.
3. The fact that things on the social front are going from bad to worse, already discussed at length with the School Nurse a couple of weeks ago.
4. What we can all do to attempt to salvage the situation and make the last few months of Ben's school experience a relatively happy time instead of something he 'grins and bears' until he leaves.
5. Worst-case-scenarios for if Ben fails to get the required A level grades. As he wants to go to Sheffield Uni to do History, and doesn't want to take a second best option, what is the situation regarding re-sits or even re-doing the year?
So we shall see what happens, hey...
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I hope that it goes well for you at this meeting. Having been in a similar position to Ben in that I missed a lot of school in my A level year last year due to my own mental health problems (including an eating disorder) I know how valuable it is to have the support of your school.
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate in that my school allowed me to split my studies into two parts so that it was more manageable for me as I can only manage school part time. This means that I did some of my exams last year and then stayed on for an extra year to complete them. I also have work sent home to me and my teachers set aside special time to go over it with me outside of lessons which I find helpful.
I think that for me it was less complicated as I had already decided that I wasn't well enough to go to university and so did not have that to worry about.
As for socialising, I am afraid that this is an area that still suffers for me. There isn't an awful lot that my school feels it can do with regards to that. Last year I at least had a few friends who stuck with me, although I felt unable to spend very much time with them at all. This year they have left school and I have resorted to spending all of my free time either at home (partly as eating at school is too much of an issue) or in the school's Maths office where a particularly supportive teacher keeps me company.
I completely sympathise with Ben's struggles and your concerns for him. I wish I could do something to help. All I can say though is that I hope that it goes well for you tomorrow and that Ben's school continues to show him and yourself the support you need and deserve. Good luck with the meeting. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Thanks Me, your situation sounds very similar - as does the school's handling of the situation i.e. good bits and not-so-good bits (in that I understand how difficult it can be for schools, etc to wave a magic wand and solve these problems). But a supportive school is a good school.
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