Author Archives: Amy

Schools out for Christmas⤴

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So, another school term has whizzed by. From all of us here, we wish you a wonderful Christmas.

We hope the festive break will give you a chance to celebrate, recharge your batteries and have lots of fun. But we know it’s not an easy time of year for everyone – dealing with family arguments, feeling like everyone else is having a ball when you just feel rubbish…. If you’re struggling this Christmas, remember that Childline are here for you.  And if you have worries about school and think you may need support, our helpline will be back open on 4 January at 9am if you want to get in touch.

 

Looking ahead to next year?

For those of you with exams in January, check out some tips and handy revision tools from SQA here. 

If you’ll be leaving school next year, your school should already have been supporting you to work out what you will do next. Find out how your school can help you get ready for the next big step here. 

 

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Over 100 pupils with learning disabilities have a say about being included at school⤴

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Pupils with learning disabilities in Scotland have had their say about what school is like for them and whether they feel included. 116 young people with learning disabilities shared their experiences of school as a part of a campaign called Included in the Main?! run by Enable Scotland.

Here are some of the things they found out from the pupils that took part in the survey:

  • 60% of the pupils said they feel lonely at school
  • only half of those asked feel like they are achieving their full potential at school
  • 23% don’t get to go on school trips
  • more than half said they felt like they weren’t getting the right support at school.

Enable Scotland also asked teachers and families what they thought and, after looking at all the results, have come up with 22 steps they think will make things better at school for young people with learning disabilities. These steps include stuff like:

  • making sure teachers get the right training so they can get better at supporting pupils with disabilities and their families,
  • making sure schools teach all pupils about learning difficulties
  • helping schools get even better at identifying support needs early.

You can check out some of the stories young people have shared with Enable Scotland here.  enable-case-studies

If you feel lonely at school or don’t feel like you get the right support we’ve lots of advice to help you here or you can call our helpline on 0345 123 2303.

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On dog lovers, homonyms and aspergers: An interview with Author Ann Martin⤴

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Best known for The Baby Sitters Club, author Ann Martin was over from New York for the Edinburgh International Book Festival to talk about her book Looking for a Lost Dog. We asked a pupil called Estella, who is a fan of the book, to interview Ann for us. Our thanks to the National Autistic Society for their help arranging this.

ann-martin-with-estellaAnn explained to Estella what her book Looking for a Lost Dog was about. “It’s about a young girl named Rose who is on the autism spectrum. Rose lives a very isolated life – both literally, because they live way out in the countryside, and emotionally, because her dad doesn’t really understand her. Her one emotional connection to the world is her dog Rain. The story is about what happens when Rain goes missing during a big storm and Rose decides to look for her. But what happens is not quite what you would expect…”

fiction_how-to-look-for-a-lost-dog_front-cover

And why did Ann decide to write a book about a girl with Aspergers, wondered Estella. Ann explained that she had worked many years ago with children who were autistic. She also had been curious about an uncle of hers who she had never met but had heard lots about: “years and years ago in the 1930s he was diagnosed with what was then called ‘childhood schizophrenia’. But I have a feeling that if he were alive today he would be diagnosed as being somewhere on the autistic spectrum”.

While Ann doesn’t have Aspergers herself, she says there are things about the condition she can definitely relate to: “like everyone, I have little quirks – like sometimes I get nervous in crowds and have to leave. I think all of us have things like that”. Like Rose in the book, Ann also loves homonyms – which is where two or more words have the same spelling or sound the same said aloud, but have different meanings – like ‘bear’ and ‘bare’; or ‘air’ and ‘heir’. 

Ann and Estella shared a moment about their love of dogs – Ann explained that she used to have a dog called Sadie, who lived to the ripe old age of 16. “I had her by my side when I wrote this book, and also two other books I had written before. Sadie was my inspiration.”

Talking about her own school experience, Ann said her other inspiration for writing had been her creative writing teacher Mr Dorrity. Ann told Estella that on the whole she had liked school “even though I was very shy. I felt that I had support from my teachers and my friends, although sometimes making friends could be a bit difficult.”

If you have autism and feel that you may need extra support to be able to get the most out of school, contact us for advice about your rights. 

 

 

 

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It’s okay not to be okay. But it’s also okay to ask for help.⤴

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Growing up can be stressful and there are lots of things that might be worrying you. Seeme Scotland want you to know it’s ok to talk about how you are feeling, and although there might be some pretty big stuff going on in your life, it’s ok not to feel ok about it all.

Have a look at their great new film and let someone know how you feel.

Warning: There is some strong language in the film.


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Our say: Young refugees on learning in a new country⤴

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Can you imagine having to leave behind your home, friends and family to go on your own to a new country? That’s what some young refugees have experienced. Read their story…

Reach spoke to 3 young people from Eritrea, Somalia and the Republic of the Congo about their experiences of arriving in a new country. Despite the hard times they have gone through, all three were really keen to learn.

Young refugees - Scottish Guardianship Service

They said that the classes at Anniesland had made a big difference in their lives – not just in helping them to learn English and adapt to life in a new country, but also giving them the chance to make new friends. “I’m happy to understand the people and to share conversations”, one young refugee told us, “We feel like a family… We trust each other. And we work very hard, we help each other.”

It’s not easy getting used to so much change though: “the thing is, our country we learn some kind of different things than is here and the questions is different, teacher is different, everything is different”, one boy said. In fact, school is so different here in Scotland that even the timetable feels like a big change – apparently in Congo and Somalia, school starts at 7.30am! One girl from Africa had good things to say about how easy it had been to approach teachers in Scotland: “there is good communication here between teacher and student: here you are free, you can talk to your teacher, you can share something with your teacher”.

Another thing that has been hard for these young refugees is waiting to find out if they are allowed to stay in Scotland: “It’s very difficult to concentrate for the learning because you just think about the answer Home Office gonna give you”, we were told. One of our interviewees explained that she has been given a lot of support by the Scottish Guardianship service, which works with young people who arrive in Scotland unaccompanied and separated from their families: “When I arrived here, and she take me to my social worker and I think she helped me, everything! She gave me support, not only for education, for all my personal things, like appointments. When I have like bad mood, I called her and she will came and take me out … we can meet new friends, new people, so we don’t feel alone. Like, I stay without family but they make me happy and forget all of things like the back history”.

Learning a whole new language with a different alphabet and different pronunciation is a big challenge too: “the difficult was the pronunciation and it’s not our first language – it was difficult when I came here”. The young refugees we interviewed were all taking ESOL classes – classes in English for Speakers of Other Languages. They explained that the ESOL classes aren’t just about learning the language, they are also learning about citizenship, democracy and what life is like in Scotland.

When asked what advice they would give to other young refugees in Scotland, the young people said that two of their top tips are to study hard and to learn English.”Don’t give up, just keep going and have a choice” one advised. “Don’t forget where you come from”, said another. And what were these young people dreaming of doing in the future? They spoke with one voice when they replied: “to go to uni and get a good job so I can help in my own country and the people who need help also”.

If you’re affected by any of the issues in this post, call the Scottish Refugee Council on 0141 248 9799

The young people wanted to take this chance to thank  the Scottish Guardianship Service, the Red Cross, the A.S.I.S.T project, and their families, who have helped them so much.

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5 tips if you’re feeling down, by a guy whose been through it⤴

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screen-shot-2016-11-07-at-12-36-44Jonny Benjamin knows what he’s talking about when it comes to mental health. Jonny has struggled with mental illness since he was very young. In school he felt different, struggled with depression and anxiety and heard voices. He managed to do okay at school so nobody knew how ill he really was.

Things got so bad when he went to university that at one point he stood on the side of a bridge ready to jump. But an amazing thing happened – a passerby called Neil stopped and persuaded him not to jump. After getting help and finding ways to cope Jonny now talks to young people about looking after their mental health and campaigns for better support. Here’s Jonny’s advice if you are feeling down or are thinking of hurting yourself:

  • Find an outlet. Do something to get the feelings outside of your head – keep a diary, make a video, draw, paint, play sport.
  • Create a crisis box. Fill it with things you know make you feel better – favourite music, food, films or books –  anything you can turn to when you are feeling down.
  • Find out if there is any support near where you live. There might be a group you can get in touch with if you feel able.
  • If you find talking about your feelings hard, text or email a helpline. They will get back in touch with advice.
  • Use a safe online forum to share how you’re feeling. Elefriends is somewhere you can share what’s going on with you.

Jonny has lots of videos on You tube sharing what has helped him to cope day-to-day. Take care of yourself, watching some of these may bring up some difficult feelings.

https://www.youtube.com/user/johnjusthuman

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