Going back to school after half-term
Published Date: 04 Nov 2021
What a breath of fresh air it was to watch Oliver returning to school after October half-term, running in with his friends with a big smile on his face!
Most children return to school like this after a school break, but it wasn’t the case for Oliver after the summer holidays. He became anxious during the holidays, asking about going back to school, having not one but two new teachers, and going into an older year. He became anxious about everything. We even got a notice board and put it in his bedroom, so whenever he became anxious, we could write down the answers to his questions and he could go back to the noticeboard to re-read them whenever he needed. He also used it to draw pictures about how he was feeling. This helped to a degree, however when he started back at school his radio aids weren’t ready, so for the first few weeks he came out of school upset that it was very noisy.
Once his radio aids had been returned, this helped very much, but Oliver was still anxious that the children and teachers were shouting. This upset him to such a degree that at one point he hid in the toilets!
After a discussion with his teachers and with the support of the Teacher of the Deaf, Oliver was given extra support. They gave him time to adjust to the classroom in the morning, his teacher also made sure Oliver was OK when he came in every morning. These small changes seemed to help Oliver; he was back into a routine, which he loves, his teachers had begun to understand more about how he operates, and we were having regular meetings with his teachers too.
In order to keep up the progress during the October half-term, we made sure Oliver knew what he was going to be doing and where he was going to be going every day. Routine for Oliver is so important, he even likes to know the timings of the day. This seems to have helped him adjust quickly back into school routine now he’s returned.
If your child can’t explain their feelings or emotions, I would suggest letting them write it down or draw pictures of it. Keep communication going between yourself and the school, you may not always agree on solutions, but keep talking and allow time to see if things are going to improve before making any other decisions.
Every child is different and needs different kinds of support, however every child deserves a good time at school and a great education. Oliver is now getting this and it’s great to see him smiling as he runs into school every day.
