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BusyLizzie100

Quiet room at secondary

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My son's secondary (mainstream) doesn't have a 'quiet room' or something similar, but I've heard that some secondary schools do.

 

Does anyone's secondary aged child have access to a quiet, calmdown, or de-stress room during the course of the school day? If so, is it a classroom, a small room, something else? What's in it, who uses it and is there supervision?

 

DS1 is in Y7 and finding the whole secondary experience stressful; his statement allows him to have access to a safe retreat but identifying somewhere appropriate is difficult. The school has said he can use a time out card and go to the Matron's office when he gets anxious/stressed, but he doesn't want to go there because, he says, 'there are other people in there'.

 

In an ideal world it would be good if he could bounce on a trampoline for 10 mins between lessons, but this is mainstream and that ain't gonna happen! How do other kids de-stress at secondary, or at least break it up into manageable chunks?

 

DS1 will not tell anyone if he needs help, he bottles it up and it all comes out later. I need to find a strategy to suggest to school that is easy for them to manage (!) and is really easy for him to access.

 

I've asked the EP but she hasn't any suggestions. :wallbash:

 

Lizzie xx

 

 

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Hi

 

At the secondary school where I work (and where OJ is) the only place is our learning support room where there is always supervision, but quite often 1-1 lessons are going on and it gets quite crowded!

 

OJ has always escaped to the library at break and lunchtime - thay have Houses to go to but are always full of loud boys playing playstation, tv, pool etc so OJ avoids it most of the time.

 

If it is in your childs statement, and he is not comfortable in the matrons office, I would have thought that as part of the whole 'inclusion' thing the school should be responsible for finding a more appropriate place, in my humble opinion!!

 

Stella xx

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We didn't have a dedicated room to go to that was a quiet room, but I found sanctuary in the library and also clubs such as IT club or science club that had hardly any people in them :lol: I don't think I would have made it the last few years if it wasn't for those places.

Edited by ScienceGeek

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If the school has experience of children with ASDs then they usually do have a quiet room. I looked round a secondary school recently and there was a 'resource' room. That was an area divided into three sections. One area had about 3 computers. The other area was a kitchen type area for drinks with a big table that children could do their homework in. The other area was a quieter area where a child might got for 1:1 sessions, or to be working on their own.

 

If your child needs access to this type of area then it needs to be in his Statement (if the school does not have it). And this resource room always had at least one adult in there.

 

Try to think of 'why' he needs this room. Is there anything that could be done to lessen the need for it. Does he need to have someone with him?

 

Then think about the 'mainstream' model of delivery of education. Is it something he is able to cope with and access?

Is a resource/quiet room going to make the difference?? I would say that before you or the LEA would consider a different school (if one was needed), that his current school would need to provide this type of area if it was a genuine 'need' that your son has. If he has this genuine need and school cannot meet it then the provision maybe unsuitable.

 

Talk it over with the EP and school.

 

Log and date every incident at school/home that you feel is related to school issues.

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My son's secondary (mainstream) doesn't have a 'quiet room' or something similar, but I've heard that some secondary schools do.

 

Does anyone's secondary aged child have access to a quiet, calmdown, or de-stress room during the course of the school day? If so, is it a classroom, a small room, something else? What's in it, who uses it and is there supervision?

 

DS1 is in Y7 and finding the whole secondary experience stressful; his statement allows him to have access to a safe retreat but identifying somewhere appropriate is difficult. The school has said he can use a time out card and go to the Matron's office when he gets anxious/stressed, but he doesn't want to go there because, he says, 'there are other people in there'.

 

In an ideal world it would be good if he could bounce on a trampoline for 10 mins between lessons, but this is mainstream and that ain't gonna happen! How do other kids de-stress at secondary, or at least break it up into manageable chunks?

 

DS1 will not tell anyone if he needs help, he bottles it up and it all comes out later. I need to find a strategy to suggest to school that is easy for them to manage (!) and is really easy for him to access.

 

I've asked the EP but she hasn't any suggestions. :wallbash:

 

Lizzie xx

 

Although my son doesn't have a Statement and is "invisible" at his school due to his exceptional academic ability and very passive nature, they have experience of AS students and provide what they call a "blue room" solely for these pupils' use.

 

My son has the card which he can show his teacher if he needs time out and he can just go there to de-stress if he needs to. It just has computers and books

basically and because only like minded kids are allowed in there, nobody will stress him by starting small talk.

 

I particularly dug into this when we were looking for the best school, simply because there are a lot of kids and I wanted to ensure there was a quiet place to get away from crowded dining rooms, etc..

 

If your current school isn't prepared to provide help, then I'd suggest seeking one that already has something in place. I know moving him now might be stressful, but he has a few years there and it will definately be worth it long term.

 

Good luck x

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When T was in mainstream high school, She had help from 'Jigsaw' a multi-agency team that works alongside

 

CAMHS, they would go in at lunch time and give support etc.. they were a great help when i was trying to get the quiet

 

room sorted out. She also had a time out card, and was allowed to opt-out of P.E as this was the cause of most of her

 

stress.

 

Good Luck

Teresa

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