Q2A

Got an update ........

Hello , I have a meeting on the 26th feb with my school and various people i need some
help on what support they could offer me in school because i cant think of any and i need
help of ideas what i can put foward at the meeting im trying to think but im getting
stressted about it and i have headace from stress. Its unhappy1993 with suffering from
depression and school problems iv wrote to you loads time so i think you know who i am .
Please help if you can thanks
unhappy1993

This is our reply.......

Hi unhappy1993, thanks for contacting us again.

It is good to hear you have a meeting planned soon to discuss the support you need at
school. We are pleased to hear that school are agreeing to this, as sometimes it has not
felt like this, has it? We hope that you will have plenty of supporters with you at the
meeting so that you wont need to do all the talking or have to present your point of view on
your own. We have pulled together some information about the sort of support that
individuals can have in school, we hope it is helpful.

Firstly, Teaching Assistants can provide support to an individual or a group of pupils, or
they may support the teacher in the classroom. Some schools employ teaching
assistants with a specialism, such as literacy, numeracy, English as an additional
language, the creative arts or special education needs. Teaching assistants work under
the guidance/supervision of the classroom teacher. You might not think you need this but
it could be that having a personal supporter in some capacity might help you have a more
positive experience in school.

There are also Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs) who work in the school
alongside the teacher, providing valuable support for teaching and learning activities.
HLTAs work right across the curriculum, acting as a specialist assistant for a specific
subject or department or helping to plan lessons and develop support materials. The
same comment applies.

You may have heard of Learning Mentors. They work with pupils helping them to overcome
barriers to learning such as family problems, bereavement, bullying, low self-confidence
and poor study skills. Learning mentors work with pupils one-to-one or in small groups.
This is another variation on the theme, but we hope it would not be stigmatising in any
way to be in this group.

Finally there are Parent Support Advisers (PSAs), who work in partnership with families,
parents, carers and pupils in a school context. Parent support advisers work with parents
and children to:

· Help improve behaviour and attendance
· Overcome barriers to learning to help parents support their children's learning
· Work with parents to increase their involvement in their child's education, both at
school and at home

The work of PSAs varies depending on school's needs. It can include one to one support
for parents to engage them with their children's learning to working with groups of parents.
We don't know for certain which, if any, of these various workers might be available in your
school, but telling you about them all will let you know about what might be available and
what you could ask for, that you think would help.

A national charity called the Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) provides very useful
advice and information to parents and carers on a wide range of school based issues
including exclusion, admissions, special education needs, bullying and attendance. We
suggest you ask your parents to contact them for advice on the types of extra support that
may be available to you as they are really expert in this field. Tel 0808 800 5793.

Locally there is a Changes CD which your school should have that provides advice on
supporting pupils with emotional health and well being issues. This link
http://www.safersurreyheath.info/parenting gives all the local services that support parents
and children, there might be something useful there that you don't already know about.

We hope this reply is helpful and you can gain useful extra support at school soon.
Please keep in touch with us and let us know how you are getting on.

Best wishes q2a.

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