Leanne didn't really like school, especially maths. She had some complicated living arrangements but dad was always supportive and she enjoyed coming to our HAF2021 programme. From early on in our HAF2021 programme we had to intervene because Leanne displayed in high risks behaviours, sometimes putting herself in danger with reckless actions. We also noticed early on in the first week that Leanne wasn't paying attention to what was written on the whiteboard during the academic sessions. So when it came to answering questions she wasn't able to access higher level dialogue in the classroom. This impacted on her
understanding of the topic.
We talked to Leanne and she said she couldn't see the board properly. We learned that she was sat at the back of the classroom at school and couldn't really see the board. So we spoke to Leanne's dad and suggested they get a free eye test at a local optician. Leannes glasses arrive in two weeks. We're hoping it will help her catch up with her learning by accessing more of the visual prompts and board work.
By supporting Leanne and her dad to resolve this issue, we built up some more trust with the family and this allowed us to tackle her high risk behaviour. We doubled up on our development support, intensifying our efforts to co-create the programme with her so that she felt ownership and was empowered to behaviour better. By the following week, Leanne was no longer putting herself at risk when she was on our programme and began to engage more with our staff and other children.