Admissions

X started TLC in 2022, with elective mutism and extremely high anxiety.  In September 2022, she was coming in to school in a state of high anxiety, often screaming as her mum and TLC staff supported her to enter the school gates. She was only able to cope with one or two hours in school.  She would cry and display distressed behaviours for up to two hours, sometimes able to communicate by writing on her whiteboard, but mostly found it too distressing to communicate in any way.  X had a 1-2-1 support TA who worked meticulously to put things in place to reduce their anxiety, providing consistent support from the minute she got in to school.  X feels safest when wearing a facial mask, ear defenders and carrying lots of sensory toys.

Each day X’s 1-2-1 and the TLC team have found ways to challenge her to keep progressing, and moving her towards joining her class group (for the first few weeks she sat with her 1-2-1 in the hall), initially for short bursts, then extending these to whole lessons.

Over the last 9 months, X has worked so hard to stay for longer days. By Spring and Summer terms, she has been achieving 100% attendance (full days) most weeks!  This is an incredible achievement.  In the last 8 weeks X has been in every class with her group, still not always using spoken language but often laughing along with her peers and using her whiteboard to communicate her wishes, opinions and feelings.

Towards the end of term she started taking her face-mask off and has even spoken to a number of children and staff using spoken language. She has become a well-respected member of the group.

This is a beautiful example of where, when we work together to meet a learner’s needs, meticulously and diligently, and work to build trusting relationships, it can be transformative.  X is going in to Year 12 with us in Sept 2023 and we are hopeful that their independence skills will continue to develop.  She is an intelligent and compassionate young person.

F is an incredibly bright and talented Year 8 learner.  When they were first at TLC back in early 2022 they were engaged in learning, with good attendance.  Then their mental health took a real dip, resulting in them being a day-patient in a mental health hospital.  They struggled to engage with any learning in the hospital setting or at home, and didn’t attend school for over 11 months.  During the Autumn and Spring Terms 2022/23, a consistent TLC staff member visited them at home on a weekly basis, bringing articles and games based on their favourite TV shows and interests, working to re-connect with F.  To begin with, they rarely opened their bedroom door, and spent most of their days, including when we visited, under their desk with a blanket over their head.  We have carefully planned each visit so as to enable F to understand that we still care, that there is no pressure to return to school (something they find really hard to bear) and to use games and discussion to pique their interest. At the end of May, the TLC staff member arrived at the house as usual to find F outside their bedroom door awaiting them!  This was a huge breakthrough, and things have continued to improve since then.

In June, we had to have  Zoom meeting rather than their usual home visit and the TLC staff member gave them a guided virtual tour of the school, to remind them what it looked like and challenge them to spot any changes in the environment. On this call F saw a number of staff, most of whom they knew from their previous attendance.  F really enjoyed this and spotted some of their own art work around the school.

In mid June, we had a message from F’s mum saying that F had said they would like to come into school for a visit.  This visit took place after the other children had gone home and was a success.  In early July, F expressed the desire to attend a lesson, so we organised for them to attend a 2 hour art lesson (one of their favourite subjects).  These are tiny but significant steps and they demonstrate the power of attention to a learner’s needs, ongoing, consistent and intensive support (For the child and family).  We have great hopes of re-engaging F in to TLC life on site in the near future and they have expressed the desire to return in September!

Z started at TLC in 2022 after 2 years of not being at school, being educated in the in-house provision at their care home.  It was reported that Z would only engage in subjects they like, and pretty much dictated the structure and content of every day.

Z is being assessed for ASD, has a diagnosis of ADHD and has SEMH needs.

Z has been in care since the age of 4, due to severe neglect and abuse.  They were moved various times due to extreme behaviours, mostly violence, aggression and refusal to follow adult instructions.  They were subjected to emotional abuse whilst in care, by carers.  They have moved all over the UK, and now reside in a care home more locally.

Z is a complex and incredible child with outstanding academic ability. Dysregulation is common throughout the day, when something upsets them. Behaviours displayed at these times are usually verbal abuse and threats against other children and staff, refusal to comply with any instructions.  De-escalation can take time.  Z will abscond when feels pushed in to a corner.

When Z arrived at TLC they identified as different gender to the one they were assigned at birth.  They have rejected their birth name and go by a chosen name.  Z would get extremely angry and upset if anyone misgendered them.

To support Z, we have:

• Provided a safe, non-judgemental environment where the rules are gently and firmly held. We often notice that Z will push boundaries just to see if we are going to remain warm but firm in a rule. Due to their intellectual capacity and emotional maturity we can talk openly with them about how other adults throughout their life have not held them safe, but that we can, and will, even if they struggle with it.
• Remained consistent
• Encouraged, praised, rewarded and celebrated when they make the right choices and/or achieve in their work (which they LOVE).
• Provided appropriate work in class; teachers share their delight and excitement at the level of work Z produces and the concepts they can comprehend.
• Remained consistent in sanctions as well as rewards;
• We have communicated through all of our work and our approaches with Z that whilst we understand WHERE the behaviours are coming from, we expect kindness, compassion, positive forms of self-expression, and will hold them to high standards
• Consistently validated their gender, they are now identifying as the gender assigned at birth, and have started asking their carers to call them by their birth name at home.

Outcomes so far:

• Z is regulated and in class more often; they can now remove themselves, take 5 minutes, then return to class with very little adult input
• Z can self-reflect magnificently after challenging situations
• Z has significant and positive relationships with a few key staff, giving them trusted adults to come to when they need support
• They are scoring above age related expectations in all subjects
• Z has expressed the desire to do 7+ GCSEs
• Self-harming attempts at school have reduced to nothing/very rare
• The issues around being mis-gendered have reduced; as there is nothing to ‘fight’ against, we work hard to ensure we follow their lead and respect their wishes/identity; supporting them by challenging anyone (peers) who deliberately tries to elicit a reaction on this topic.