New term, new challenges?
We know that because the brain continues to mature until a young person is in their mid-twenties, each new term may bring about new difficulties and challenges for children and young people affected by childhood acquired brain injury.
One of the biggest challenges is the transition between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 education – which is hard enough for any child. However for the child with an ABI this may be the start of an especially challenging time. This is because in this new school environment pupils are now expected to plan and organise their own (usually increased) homework load, they are expected to be able to navigate their way around a larger school complex, and they are expected to have the correct books and resources with them for each lesson. All of these expectations require a degree of organisation and planning skills in order to meet the demands of this new school regime, as well as overcoming any other difficulties as a result of an ABI, such as memory, fatigue, communication etc.
The transition to KS3 takes place around the same age as a young person’s organisation and planning skills start to develop. But what if those skills, located in our frontal lobes, were damaged as a result of the earlier acquired brain injury? It is possible that the young person may not be able to meet all those expectations and as a result, may unwittingly, start getting into trouble at school.
The Child Brain Injury Trust have developed a number of learning resources for both schools and parents, to support any child affected by ABI in their return to school after the summer break.
These include our series of live and recorded Webinars, and we would recommend the following Recorded Webinars in relation to raising a schools awareness and understanding of childhood ABI (click on the title to visit our web page and register to listen to the Webinars):
Strategies for support in school
We will also be running a live Webinar as part of our Understanding and Managing …Series on Organisation and Planning on October 7th at 11 am. Click here to register.
Due to the continued support of the Eden Dora Trust, and the hospitality of our Legal Support Service providers, we are pleased to announce that all schools can continue to apply for one free place on our much acclaimed One Day Workshop – Don’t Judge a Book by its Cover. This is suitable for professionals only. The workshop will be held at various locations across the country during the forthcoming academic year; click here to view further details and book your place (or get more information to ask your child’s teacher to come along).
We hope that with our support any new challenges arising during the new school term, will not be faced alone, we are here to help and support.