Every Child Matters - Children with Diabetes

♦Nasseem’s teachers and head teacher ignored, or seemed disinterested inour warnings about the seriousness of hypos and the importance of eatingsnacks on time and testing the blood glucose. Then another young child withdiabetes started at the school and shortly afterward had a severe hypo andseizure. The staff were shocked by this event and later kept telling us that theydidn’t really understand the seriousness of the condition before. It wasunfortunate that it took a serious incident like this before they took notice.Also, our DSN didn’t agree with blood testing at school. The school wereconfused by the different advice given. After the incident with the other child,the school was willing to do any blood tests needed. However now Nasseemdoes his own blood tests he telephones to tell me what his blood glucose levelis. He has to do this himself, as the teachers will not tell me themselves on thephone what his blood glucose level is in case there is a mistake.♦Matty was on two injections a day and as with many young children hisblood glucose levels were difficult to control and the private school he wasattending was giving him lucozade before activities instead of testing him, justbecause this was quicker! It was a very small school which was not copingwith Matty’s needs. Once the decision to change to 4 injections a day wasmade, we had to withdraw him from the school. This happened in March2007, we informed the LEA and asked for a place at a local school. The localschool was oversubscribed and we were offered a school in another village.Without transport this school was not acceptable as Matty is often sent homewith high blood sugar levels and general poor health. We contacted MrsBland’s school and they were not happy to take him, they produced a riskassessment which was hideous. We lost an appeal to get him into the localschool which is within walking distance. The LEA would not assess Mattybecause his problem was medical and not educational. Eventually he was puton the vulnerable children’s register which moved him to the top of the list.However it was September before he was back in school. It was another fightto organise transport because the school bus had a driver who was not first aidtrained, with 8 other 5 - 7 year olds on board.Our latest problem is that the school he is due to start at in September has noone willing to inject or blood test him. The have one non teaching assistantfor two classes of 35 children. According to their figures 40% of these childrenare on the SENs register. If Matty’s condition was recognised as a problemwhich affects his education, then he would get the help he needs. He has morethan 20% time off sick, either with high blood sugar levels or general illnesseswhich make his blood sugar levels go out of control.♦After being delayed due to completing some tests in a previous lesson, theclass had no time to go outside to eat their morning snacks. At this schoollunch is not served until 1.30 pm, many children do not get to eat until almost2.00 pm. The children went to queue for their next lesson. Sasha got out hersnack and bolused the insulin through the pump and began to eat her snack.The other children were eating their snacks too and a teacher came along andstarted shouting and ranting at the children for eating in the corridor. Theywere told to stop eating and put away the food the teacher would not listenwhen Sasha or her friends tried to explain the teacher that Sasha needed to eatNOW because she had given the insulin.28