Manny was referred to School-Home Support Practitioner Sally when his attendance fell 47.1%. He regularly took time off school due to sickness and was late on the days he would come in. With Sally’s help, mum was able to set healthy routines and boundaries for Manny to begin improving his health and attendance, seeing it rise to 95.6% by the end of the support period.

What was the situation?

Mum would call school regularly telling them Manny was sick and unable to attend school. Mum had previously been a victim of domestic violence and was struggling with her confidence in being a new single mum. Mum expressed a willingness to improve her parenting and had several open conversations with Sally about how seriously her previous relationship had affected her confidence in her own parenting.

Despite taking parenting courses, she still struggled establishing healthy routines and boundaries for Manny. Manny had a lot of health problems, which would prevent him from going to school, however Mum would let him stay off school even when he was able to attend. Even on the days he would attend, he took a long time to get ready, making him late to school. 

How did School-Home Support help?

Sally built a trusting relationship with both Mum and Manny, which gave her the confidence to set and maintain healthy routines and boundaries. Mum stayed strict with her routines and tried her best to ensure that Manny was attending school. 

Sally made several doctors appointments for Manny to resolve his health issues and there are currently ongoing tests to address the cause of these. Sally also worked with the school nurse to give Mum advice and support about how to improve Manny’s lifestyle through diet and exercise, with Mum attending cooking classes in school to learn how to cook healthy, inexpensive meals. 

To improve boundaries between Manny and Mum, Sally had several one-to-one sessions with Manny about respect and ways he can show respect to Mum, while Mum put consequences in place for when Manny didn’t listen to her. 

Thanks to the routines and boundaries that Mum and Sally worked to implement, alongside the systems she has put in place to support Manny and his attendance, Manny saw his attendance increase to an amazing 95.60%, gaining an extra 97 days of school across the school year.