Educator;
Dad of 4;
Headteacher 2011-2023;
Navigating chronic illness;
Writer;
Speaker;
Square Peg Associate;
Social Justice;
Hope, always
Apr 28 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
The Invisible Problem (in Front of our Eyes)🧵
Imagine every school, college and childcare setting in the country had a serious asbestos problem.
The asbestos problem wasn't exclusive to educational settings but it was particularly prevalent there.
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The asbestos was known to be making many children ill - regularly, repeatedly, chronically.
For some, it even caused disability.
Staff were also ill and regularly too unwell to work.
Many staff.
The asbestos didn't discriminate.
Apr 23 • 16 tweets • 3 min read
Mental Health, School Attendance and Mixed Messages about "Medical Evidence" - A Thread
If you're the parent or carer of a child who is living with mental health issues and struggling to attend school regularly, you'll likely want three things more than anything...
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1. For your child to be well.
2. For everything to just be normal.
3. Support, from family, friends, school, medical professionals and "the system".
For 1 and 2 to happen, you depend on 3.
The child needs to be wrapped in everybody's care.
The family needs to be supported.
Mar 20 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
Anxiety and Part-time Timetables - A Thread
When children are unwell and struggling to attend school due to anxiety, one of the approaches often taken is to put them on a part-time timetable. This might, for example, be as part of an EBSA pathway or within a Pastoral Plan.
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Sadly, the majority of part-time timetables are not successful when it comes to children with anxiety.
By 'not successful', I mean two things. Firstly, that the arrangement ultimately doesn't lead to the pupil's return to full time education in their original setting.
Feb 28 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
Prioritising Health in Schools - A Thread
It's early 2024 - four years since the emergence of a global pandemic.
We know that pupil absences are currently very high.
Children's absence, relating to ill health, has increased by more than 50% since the pre-pandemic era.
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We know staff absences are currently very high.
Teacher absence, relating to ill health, has increased by more than 50% since the pre-pandemic era.
We know that illness is rife:
Chronic illness.
Recurring illness
Physical illness.
Mental illness.
Viruses...
Oct 20, 2023 • 6 tweets • 1 min read
Recovering from Anxiety - A Thread of Hope
This time last year, my daughter - then aged 11 - had begun to suffer from anxiety.
She masked at first, but she was struggling. As time passed, the worries became more dominant and we began to see her physical health deteriorate.
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By January of this year, the worries had taken over and my daughter was consumed by an anxiety disorder.
School attendance had become an issue but, more pressing than that, my wife and I were really concerned about our daughter's health and well-being.
Jul 16, 2023 • 13 tweets • 2 min read
Some Truths about Education -
A Thread
My daughter is one of the 1.8 million pupils currently classed as persistently absent from school.
She's not lazy.
My daughter was one of the 1.4 million under-18s referred to mental health services in 2022.
The trauma is real.
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Our family is one of hundreds of thousands of families whose lives have been turned upside down by their child's struggles.
