Schools and what they know

Blondie153 said:

My 10 yr old daughter was diagnosed summer 2012. She went quickly from 2 injections to 5 and is now on the pump. I am fortunate in that I work in her school which made a difficult situation slightly easier. I spent 2 sessions last week informing the teaching staff and the second season for dinner ladies, classroom assistants, caretaker etc. what to look for and what to do if hypo or hyper. It was very interesting to see the different reactions, the teaching staff had fear written all over their faces in that I hope it doesn't happen on my watch way and the other staff had the look of I hope the teaching staff are around so I don't have to deal with it. Anyone else come across this look??


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As cabin crew would say "Not my aisle"




Late onset T1, several auto immune issues.
Humalogmix25 twice a day, Methotrexate 25mg once per week, FolicAcid 5mg once per week, prednisolone 5mg daily, Allopurinol 300mg, Calcichew-D3 800iu, Levothyroxine 50mcg, Atenolol 50mg, Losarten 100mg, Aspirin 75mg, Nicorandil 20mg, Nitrolingual GTN spray, Metformin 2000mg, Allimemazine 10mg, Lanzoprazole 30mg, Atorvastatin 20mg, Co Codamol 8/500mg, Depo Medrone (Methylprednisolone) or double Prednisolone for 7 days in case of RA flare.

As a type1 and a teacher it is nothing to do with wanting to walk away with a clear conscience. I personally would not want to gave to sort out someone else's hypo but you do anyway.
People worry about having to deal with the situation because they don't want to make it worse rather than hopefully they can pass on the responsibility.

You are now I am sure incredibly experienced with dealing with situation. And from what I've read being a parent with a child with diabetes takes roughly about 15 years off your life because of lack of sleep and the worrying you must do constantly.

But people without diabetes have very little clue of the situation. Especially when you think that low sugars can seem to make a normally nice person aggressive.
You can go in and give them training but the hypo might occur in front of them maybe six months or later down the line. That is probably why they look like they hope it never happens in front of them.
I never went into teaching to be a nurse but it does seem to be part of my job sometimes and I do my best until someone with more experience takes over because at the end of the day I am human and do care.

I'm sure (fingers crossed it never happens) that if a hypo occurs that the staff will do their best even if the are not looking happy about it.


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No worries, I think I pull that face when I hear there is a book scrutiny or a f@@cking learning walk! Or even better learner voice that involves the psycho from one of my classes.


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Or a PowerPoint on literacy by the literacy coordinator that has so much information on that you can't actually read it.
We play word bingo now on training days. And count how many staff are close to nodding off.
I do actually like my job sometimes as well xx


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I've experienced this with teachers. I once, a few years ago now, had a hypo at school and went into hypoglycaemic shock and was unconscious and my teachers had no clue as to what they were doing. We had meetings over and over, including my doctors coming in making sure they all knew what to do of it ever happened. Obviously they all hoped it would never happen, but it did, and when it did, they really were in a state of shock. If my teachers knew, the hypo could have been treated and everything would have been fine. My teacher ended up going to Tesco to get jelly babies, even though I was unconscious and unable to eat. I understand exactly where your coming from on this and I hope your daughter never has to have a serious hypo

Hi heather may, if had a hypo in my class you would be sorted out quick sharp with a fast acting carb and something slow and still be expected to hit all objectives!


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Blondie153 said:

I pull that face when they show you a PowerPoint on a new way to assess children which they showed us 20 years ago as a new way to assess children!


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I think the reaction is pure panic. As you know, you worry in case you get it wrong with your own kids but it's even worse if you get it wrong with someone else's. I had a little chap who had an illness where if he had a attack in my lesson, there was a whole complicated procedure. I was terrified it would happen in my lesson (I read the procedure so many times in case it went wrong for this kid) .

Blondie153 said:

My 10 yr old daughter was diagnosed summer 2012. She went quickly from 2 injections to 5 and is now on the pump. I am fortunate in that I work in her school which made a difficult situation slightly easier. I spent 2 sessions last week informing the teaching staff and the second season for dinner ladies, classroom assistants, caretaker etc. what to look for and what to do if hypo or hyper. It was very interesting to see the different reactions, the teaching staff had fear written all over their faces in that I hope it doesn't happen on my watch way and the other staff had the look of I hope the teaching staff are around so I don't have to deal with it. Anyone else come across this look??


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Schools in England could struggle to implement new policies for children with medical conditions such as asthma, diabetes and cancer, head teachers say.

From September, governing bodies will have a duty,under the Children and Families Act 2014, to ensure schools make arrangements for these pupils.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-27406076

Mrs Vimes said:

Or a PowerPoint on literacy by the literacy coordinator that has so much information on that you can't actually read it.
We play word bingo now on training days. And count how many staff are close to nodding off.
I do actually like my job sometimes as well xx


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I had to sit through a presentation on dyslexia and visual stress. Presented on a white background with black ink by the Senco. Or how about the time we were given a piece of text to punctuate by the English department who then didn't understand the concept of separating a subordinate clause and a main clause with a comma? I then had a discussion after the meeting and mentioned that obviously you don't need to with a conditional clause or a restrictive relative clause. The woman didn't know what a restrictive relative clause was. The benefits of cascade training!

Hi as a TA with type 1 Diabetes i think all staff and pupils should be made aware of what to do in case of an emergency. At the start of each year i discuss with new staff how to recognise symptoms and what best to do. I also am very open with the kids in my year group every year.They see me on odd occasions take my insulin, test my blood and drink lucozade during lessons. I wear an alert band and also a pendant which states to call an ambulance, each child knows if they are worried beacuse i seem sleepy or cross for no reason they must go and get another adult straight away. Because of this i have two wonderful 10 year old girls in my current year who without fail ask me every lunch time "Miss did you take your medication." I am in total support of the new government guidance for supporting diabetic children in school, but i also think all staff and pupils should have basic first aid training, since it is not only a childs class mates that may witness a diabetic episode. Encourage your daughter to be open about her diabetes, it is after all a way of life now. People are less concerned if they are able to ask questions . An excellent idea for teacher training would be how to deal with a diabetic or asthmatic episodes

Blondie153 said:

Thank you Heather May and I'm glad you are ok. Hope things are good with you now. M


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Everything is good now, thank you

Mrs Vimes said:

Hi heather may, if had a hypo in my class you would be sorted out quick sharp with a fast acting carb and something slow and still be expected to hit all objectives!


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Haha. I wished my teachers acted this way. It's a shame a lot of them don't understand or know what to do.