There is no magic wand, but we try to sprinkle some magic dust!!

We have on several occasions been described as ‘fairies’, a phrase that makes us giggle, we don’t claim to have a magic wand or have all the answers for our schools, children, and families but we try our hardest to find ways to support in the best way possible in order to make school, and life in general,a happier place.

Over the past few months and weeks, we have worked with many children. No two children are the same; they are unique in their own way and we love this, it makes our work interesting and challenging as we are constantly having to find strategies that work for the individuals.

I attended a review meeting last week for a child that I observed in April.  When I observed him, he looked sad, he would scribble over his work or put his books in the bin, he looked really disengaged. He always talked negatively about school to his parents and to his teachers.

The staff at the school are amazing and embraced all of the recommendations made. Following my observation, I was available for additional support or advice daily, while they worked hard on the recommendations. A few weeks after, I went back to the same school to complete an observation on another child; as I was observing this child I noticed the child I had observed in April, instantly my eyes welled up, because it was like seeing a different boy, he was smiling, laughing and, at one point, even singing!  When I spoke to staff at the school, they said they had seen a huge difference too and they could not believe the change in him.

When we then met last week to review how things had been going. I sat in the room with school staff and his parents, it was like we were talking about a different boy. Why was this? Team effort I believe, the staff had listened to strategies suggested and didn’t give up, we laughed in the meeting as we discussed some of the things he is now doing. He can joke (he is very witty) and is even answering the registration (something he has never done!) We have to embrace and celebrate all of these achievements. He is now doing his work, he is making positive comments about school, and he is engaging more with staff and his peers.

Other children that we work with need more than the boy I have just written about.  I am also working with a little girl at the moment who has suffered significant trauma in her very short life. I am working intensively with her to try to support her to reduce (and obviously long term to stop) her violent reactions.  This isn’t easy, but we have developed a number of strategies that she is currently trying to implement. When I am not there, staff continue to work on the strategies and again know I am at the end of an email or the end of a phone. 

The message that we are trying to get across is, never stop trying. We are there to work with you in as many different ways as we can to try and sprinkle as much fairy dust on our precious children as we can.