School

Helping teachers understand your child's brain

4 min read · Spotless Mind editorial

Teachers want to help, and have thirty children

Most teachers are on your side and short of time. The most useful thing a parent can give them is not a diagnosis, a book or a lecture, but one page they can read in two minutes and act on tomorrow. What to do, not what your child has.

The one page

What my child finds hard, in three lines, in situations not labels: "Transitions between activities, especially without warning." What helps, in three lines, specific: "A five-minute warning and a visual timer." What makes it worse: "Being asked why in the moment." What a good day looks like, so they know the target. How to reach me. The Handover Sheet in the toolkit is this page, ready to fill in.

Tell them what to do at 9:15 on a Tuesday. Everything else can wait for the meeting.

Frame it as a partnership

"I've noticed X helps at home. Would it be possible to try it in class?" lands better than "my child needs X." Ask what they have noticed. Teachers see things you do not, and being asked makes them allies. Agree one thing to try and a date to check.

When it is not working

If the same problems persist, ask for a meeting with the SENCO and bring evidence: the tracker, the diary, the school's own reports. Ask what support is in place and whether SEN Support or an assessment is appropriate. Put requests in writing. Kindly, persistently, in writing.

Try this: fill in the Handover Sheet tonight. Email it to the class teacher with three sentences: here is a page about my child, here is the one thing that helps most, thank you. That is the whole first move.

Educational content, not medical advice. Concerned about your child? Speak to your GP.

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