Like any parent, I get emotional and a little nervous when I think of my baby starting Primary school in August, learning to read and count, looking adorable and so grown-up in her brand new uniform… However, until 2 months ago, I also had a few worries about the care she would receive at school, the long hours spent there with people who don’t know about Gaelle and her skin care needs.

Will they understand or even know about her eczema? Will someone cream her and change her bandages during the day? Do they have any experience? Will they educate the other children? Will they look after her? Will they actually care at all? But also: will Gaelle settle down quickly? Will other kids make unkind comments? Will she look ok with her bandages sticking out of her uniform? Will the classroom be too hot for her? She will miss school often because of infections? Will she be comfortable expressing her needs with the teachers?

I am a very organised person and generally pro-active in regards to our family life and activities. I wanted to meet the management and staff before the end of the nursery school term and make sure they put the resources in place to meet Gaelle’s skin care needs. After contacting the school in April, I got invited to a ‘transition meeting’ in May, where I was positively surprised by the support I received.

I had prepared a thick report called ‘Gaelle’s Family File’ which contained all the information they may need (contacts, history, photographs, treatments, etc) followed by a ‘School Service Plan’ describing some strategies I though would be useful : treatment, training, classroom set up, communication between us, etc. (I actually ‘stole’ the templates from the English ‘Early Support’ pack on Every Child Matter website. See link http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/healthandwellbeing/ahdc/earlysupport/resources/familypack/familyfile/familyfile/)

I could feel they were taking me seriously from the start thanks to this useful document!

There were 4 people around me at the meeting: Depute Head teacher, school Doctor and 2 staff (facilities and health officers). All 4 professionals were very nice and understanding. The DHT even made some brilliant suggestions, e.g. moving the P.E. class next to the lunch break so that Gaelle can take her time afterwards getting changed, replacing her bandages and re-applying creams without missing the start of the next class. Or introduce a learning topic in the syllabus about a range of conditions including eczema. How wonderful! It was also very clear that they were going to empower Gaelle by allowing her to take control of her care as much as possible, communicate effectively with staff, increase her confidence and become more independent.

We then agreed a date for a training session that I would deliver. Early June, I was in school with Gaelle as my lovely helper to show 3 staff how to apply the various creams on her, change her bandages and what to look out for. Finally, we agreed on a monitoring meeting in September.

So far, I couldn’t wish for more support from the school. This has considerably reassured our family and I now know she will be well looked after.