Starting school with diabetes
What to sort out with a school before term starts, and who actually needs to know. Written for parents of a recently diagnosed child.
The first term back after a diagnosis is usually worse for the parents than for the child. Most of that comes down to one thing: nobody has said out loud who is responsible for what.
Get it in writing, on one page
Ask for twenty minutes with the class teacher and whoever supervises break. You do not need a policy document. One page will do, as long as it says where the kit is kept, who else can get to it, what a hypo looks like in your child specifically, and who to phone.
Keep a copy in the bag. Children lose things, and teachers move classrooms.
Tell more people than you think you need to
This is where it usually goes wrong. Parents brief the class teacher and stop there. Then there is a supply teacher on a Tuesday, or a sports afternoon run by someone from another year group, and none of them were in the meeting.
Ask for the page to go to every adult who supervises your child. Including the temporary ones. Especially the temporary ones.
Hand over what they are ready for, and say so
Most seven-year-olds can describe what a hypo feels like if you have practised the words with them. By ten a lot of them can test unsupervised. The point of saying this to the school is not to show off what your child can do, it is so nobody hovers over a task they gave up needing help with two years ago.
Be equally clear about what still needs an adult. Vagueness in either direction causes problems.
A note on exams
Exam invigilators are frequently not school staff and often have not read anything. Raise it separately, in writing, well before the timetable is set.
If you want help preparing for any of these conversations, get in touch. We run briefings for school staff, and we will sit in on the meeting with you if that makes it easier.