6 year old Milo experienced a period of illness with recurring coughs and colds, to the point where he had a convulsion and needed to go to A&E. After this incident, Milo’s parents became very worried about sending Milo to school when he was not feeling 100%.
As he spent more time off school, it became harder for Milo to leave his parents when coming into school. When Milo didn’t want to be in school he would disengage from his learning, refusing to complete work and expressing challenging behaviours. There was a breakdown in communication between home and school, which only exacerbated Milo’s worries.
When Milo was referred to School-Home Support practitioner Laura his attendance was at 66%. Without support in place, Milo was at risk of becoming severely absent.
As a first intervention, Laura arranged for a care plan to be put in place, and established herself as the point of contact in school to share any updates with Milo’s parents throughout the day. To support Milo as he started his school day, Laura began meeting him at the school gates and going into class with him to make sure he was settled.
On a home visit to the family, Laura learnt that Milo didn’t have a bed. Through the School-Home Support Welfare Fund, a new bed was provided to the family to ensure Milo was able to get a comfortable night’s sleep. Laura’s interventions began to rebuild the relationship between home and school, and ease Milo’s parents’ concerns about his safety and wellbeing at school.
Milo is happy going into school with Laura each day, which is a huge relief for Milo’s parents. Laura’s support is ongoing, but since beginning work with the family, Milo’s attendance has improved to 88%.