Preparing to go back to school

Throughout the UK, families are getting ready to return to school. Whether that means beginning nursery, returning to home-education, or moving to a special educational needs school.

Going back to school can be a difficult time for families raising disabled or seriously ill child. Routines change all over again, when it felt like your child was just getting used to the summer holidays. We spoke to families about how they feel about returning to school.

School can be your only respite

Nine-year-old Blake and three-year-old Amayah live in Clackmannanshire, with mum and dad, Elisha and Andrew. Blake has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD).

Elisha says, “I’m very honest about the fact that I hate the school holidays. I know it sounds selfish, but the school holidays are detrimental to my mental health. Blake struggles with school holidays, as they’re outside of the routine and structure that he needs”.

Elisha further explained, “When Blake returns to school, he has to readjust back to the routine all over again.”

“School is my husband and I’s only respite. It’s my five minutes each day to put the washing away without someone screaming at me, hanging off me or needing something from me.”

“This was why our grant for a family break from Family Fund was so good for all of us. Andrew and I live every single day in ‘fight of flight’. We feel like we’re constantly on 100%, watching and panicking. This break gave us the rest we needed, to be able to watch the kids being free, safe and happy.” 

School looks different for each family

12-year-old Cameron lives in Cumbria with his mum, Sarah. Sarah explained, “I made the difficult decision to homeschool Cameron. In mainstream school he would have huge meltdowns and become really upset. Sometimes he’d say, ‘No one is listening to me’. Homeschooling has given us the opportunity to further Cameron’s skills, and support his mental health”.

Sarah continued, explaining her hopes for Cameron’s future. “I’m desperately trying to get Cameron into our nearest Special Educational Needs (SEN) school, who are eager to help. Currently, it feels like Cameron’s world is very small, as he can only communicate with me. It’s important to me that his world is bigger, and he’s heard by everybody, not just his mum.”

Sarah and Cameron have attended Family Fund’s Digital Workshops, and Sarah explained how helpful they’ve been in her home-schooling journey. “Family Fund’s workshops have really become part of our at-home curriculum with Cameron, so I’ll always look at the website to see what Family Fund is running”.