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Building relationships with your child’s school

Louise Robinson, from Nottingham Children’s Hospital, shares her advice and talks about some organisations who may be able to help you build relationships with your child’s school.

By The Brain Tumour Charity

Part of our Digital Information Event focused on education, this page contains information for when your child has returned to school.

We hope this will help you to build ongoing relationships with the school and maintain support for your child as they continue at school.

In today’s video, CLIC Sargent Neuro-Oncology Nurse Keyworker, Louise Robinson, from Nottingham Children’s Hospital, shares her advice and talks about some organisations who may be able to help you build these relationships.

“I want to share with you some of my experience and what I’ve learnt over the years of working with schools to support children and young people. Firstly it’s essential to identify the right people to help support your child. My second piece of advice would be to aim to meet regularly with schools to discuss progress and share strategies.”

Louise Robinson

If you feel your child needs further support you can also apply for an Educational Health Care (EHC) plan.

Our Children and Families Service asked a group of teenagers living with a brain tumour what helped them when they returned to school. Here’s some of the ideas they shared:

  • “My teachers were very understanding when I needed to go outside the classroom and have a little break when everything gets a bit too much” – Tasha, aged 14, diagnosed with a meningioma in 2017
  • “Something that my teachers did that helped me enormously was having somewhere for me to go at any time if I needed time out. I used to sit there and talk to them and I found this helped a great deal. Also, my Mum bought me a journal after my surgeries when I was going back to school, which I wrote every single thought down into. This was great to look back on because it enable me to see how far I’ve come” ” – Jasmine, aged 15, diagnosed with a craniopharyngioma in 2015
  • “Teachers helped by giving me extra time and splitting tests into two if they were long” – Aidan, aged 13, diagnosed with a glioneuronal tumour in 2010

Organisations that may be able to help you when working with your child’s school

Our team offers support to children, young people and families affected by a brain tumour diagnosis. We’re here to help with a range of specialised services available, we have a service tailored to meet the needs of everyone affected by a brain tumour.. We can help you find ways to cope and take control as well as help you connect with others going through similar experiences. We’ve also developed Education Resources to help you find the support you need to ensure your child has the provision they need at school.

childrenandfamilies@thebraintumourcharity.org

0808 800 0004

Every Local Authority must provide funding for a Parent Partnership service. This service provides impartial advice, information and support about education issues to parents/carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities. This is a local service for those living in the area to promote partnerships between parents, schools, the local authority and partner organisations.

This is a statutory requirement, set out in the 1996 Education Act. Parent Partnership services come in all shapes and sizes, and may offer support in different ways. However, each has a set of minimum standards detailing the expected range of support offered and how to provide it.

Parent Partnership and SENDIAS services vary in each local authority – to find your local services search e.g. ‘Parent Partnership Hampshire’

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Information, Advice and Support (SENDIA) can give children, young people (aged 0- 25) and their parent/carers information, advice and support about SEND. This can include information on Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessments and Plans.

Parent Partnership and SENDIAS services vary in each local authority – to find your local services search e.g. ‘Parent Partnership Hampshire’

Independent support in education

The Council for Disabled Children work to ensure the best outcomes for children and young people. They believe that success in education may look very different for different children, but the progress and achievement of all children must be valued equally and celebrated. Disabled children and those with SEN should be welcomed and included into the learning environment, and their learning needs must be addressed and reasonable adjustments made to make this possible.

The Child Brain Injury Trust’s regional child and family support coordinators are able to provide support during each stage of development, working with the child and their family, as well as a wide range of professionals such as: teachers, educational specialists, health and social workers, and psychologists. They can help implement the right support strategies needed.

Information about the Educational Health Care (EHC) Plan

An Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is for children and young people, aged 0-25, who need more support than is available through Special Educational Needs support. An EHC plan identifies educational, health and social needs and sets out the additional support required to meet those needs.