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As parents, we鈥檙e ultimately responsible for our children鈥檚 health. All children get ill from time to time, but children with asthma may need medical care at school. If your child suffers from asthma, it鈥檚 vital to arrange a meeting with the school staff before your child starts at a new school, to ensure all relevant staff know how to handle it.

Go into any nursery or classroom, and you鈥檒l see a pile of inhalers on a shelf. 听One in 11 children in the UK has asthma. Younger children will need to have a responsible adult to help manage their condition. Older children are more self sufficient.听In 2009 to learn how to provide better support for schoolchildren with asthma.

All teachers should be made and they must be familiar with symptoms and know when to intervene or call for help. This is especially important in secondary schools, where children move from class to class and are less well supervised as they become increasingly independent.

The Department for Education has set out which should have clear, regularly updated policies about how to help children with medical conditions. 听As a parent it鈥檚 important to set up a meeting to discuss how a child鈥檚 condition is managed in school as guidelines are not always followed.

There鈥檚 no reason why children with health conditions shouldn鈥檛 take part in sport. However while it鈥檚 good for PE teachers to be encouraging and inclusive, they need to be aware of a child鈥檚 limitations. Asthma UK鈥檚 gives teachers information about supporting children with asthma, while their 听is really useful for parents keen to pre-empt issues before they even arise.

Going on class outings or even school trips shouldn鈥檛 be a problem, as long as staff are aware of a child鈥檚 health condition and are trained in how to manage it. Provided the right guidelines are in place and all the key staff are aware of them, asthma can be managed in a school environment and your child should be able to lead a full and active life.

Alison Whyte is a freelance journalist.

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Moving house, lack of friends, poor teaching 鈥� these are some of the reasons why parents are forced into changing their child鈥檚 school and sometimes it has to be mid year. It is quite different from moving up to secondary when all Year 7 pupils are new together. It can seem very traumatic at the time, especially if your child is well settled in school, has left a good group of friends and you have just moved house.听If your child is changing school following difficulties, such as parents splitting up or having been very unhappy at a previous school, it is worth having a word with the new teacher to make them aware of this.

You have to follow the same application process as you do when your child first starts school, contacting your local education authority in the first instance. Once听 your child鈥檚 name is on the waiting list you cannot predict when a place might become available and if you do not take it up within a couple of weeks, you risk losing it. The offer will not always be made during a natural break in the school year either 鈥� it could come through during a holiday or at the end of the academic year as it is often triggered by a family moving away.听

The reason the schools are so keen to fill places that come up mid year is that they receive funding per pupil and they never know when they might be required to provide data. 听Having an empty place can make a big difference to the budget, given that the it stood at 拢4,284.听

I remember starting my son at a new school at the start of Year 2 as a result of our house move. It was a big step to take but meant that we would be able to walk him to school again, rather than relying on the car or public transport. And with younger children tagging along, this was a major consideration. As I accompanied him into his new classroom and said good-bye, I don鈥檛 know who was more upset him or me.

The biggest issue for children when starting out at a new school is probably the friendship one. What will the other children be like? 听How will I find my way around, especially given I am the only newbie on the block. Schools are generally well versed in sorting these things out.

When my children moved school one summer term when they were aged four and seven years old, they were each assigned a buddy on the first day, to show them round. This was hugely reassuring and they enjoyed being fussed over as several children wanted to be their friends. Changing schools then had its plus points as they were able to join in with all the fun end of year activities.

Are the teachers really strict? This is another question that crops up frequently. When my daughter moved school half way through Year 8, she was pleasantly surprised to find that the school she started at was actually more laid back than her old one and detentions were not given quite as readily.

What the peer group or immediate classmates are like is a big factor and will have an impact on how quickly they settle in. At primary school how well they get on with their class teacher will be really important as they spend the majority of the school day with them.

If your child is does have to change school for whatever reason, it is worth encouraging them to view it positively 鈥� a chance to benefit from all their new school has to offer and to make some new friends, while still keeping in touch with their old ones.听

Fiona Holmer works on the 大象传媒 Parents Blog.

听

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Dyslexia is a real drag... not just for the children who endure it, but for parents who are at their wits鈥� end trying to work out how to stop their offspring from falling behind at school. Often it is not detected in school as many teachers do not have the expertise to see when a child might be struggling with dyslexia.

An adviser to the previous government, calling for primary school teachers to receive training to help them identify children with dyslexia and provide the support they need. The current government has not yet commented on this proposal.听

Our son, Sam, is now 15 but when he was at primary school we noticed he had a real issue with reading 鈥� he found it difficult so would never pick up a book for pleasure.听

That all changed when he was about eight. We were told about 听a publisher that specialises in books for dyslexics...many of them with boy-friendly storylines (boys generally are more reluctant readers than girls and ). 听

The books are printed on a light cream paper and the font used is sympathetic to dyslexics, who prefer a 鈥榗lean鈥� sans serif font for ease of reading; in fact, a special font, , has been developed for dyslexics too. The stories are good: although the language used is quite straightforward, the storylines are pacey, which means that the child isn鈥檛 patronised with a baby book but still gains confidence from reading and understanding.

The main factor that helped Sam, though, was when we heard about a company that specialises in tinted lenses for glasses 鈥� imported from Japan, where this type of treatment is well established. I was initially sceptical but we went off to see a specialist for an assessment.听

Sam sat at a desk with a large lamp shining on to the page of writing. The specialist inserted a yellow-coloured slide into the lamp which shone yellow light on to the page. For Sam, this made no difference. Green then red had the same lack of effect. But when they added a Sam was astonished. 鈥淭he words aren鈥檛 wobbling any more Mum!鈥� Of course, I hadn鈥檛 realised they ever did, but just imagine how difficult that would be if you鈥檙e trying to learn to read. I had to blink back tears.

Our next step was to visit an optician that specialises in supplying . Sam鈥檚 eyes were also tested in the usual way but the optician then used lenses with different depth of blue until the optimum shade was reached. Sam has normal eyesight, so his glasses simply had coloured glass in them.听

He wore them at school and, from a reading age that was two years behind his actual age, he progressed in a few months to a reading age that tallied with his chronological age. The glasses also seemed to have a positive effect on his Maths. About a year later, Sam felt he had no more 鈥榳obbling鈥� problems and he stopped wearing the glasses. He then became an avid reader, devouring all the books other children his age were reading - amazing what a bit of blue glass can achieve.

For further information contact the and the .

Check out the 大象传媒 Ouch page on famous dyslexics.

Jo Lamiri is a freelance writer.

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Last week, as I struggled to persuade my eight year-old daughter to produce neat , it occurred to me that future generations may not be required to practise writing, or even spelling, at all. What bliss, I thought, as I watched my daughter doodle on her homework, no more nagging. But would it mean no more doodling too? I鈥檓 not sure I want the swirls and flourishes of individual handwriting to be completely replaced by the uniformity of a computer generated typeface.

Certainly chief executive, Isabel Nisbet, caused an outcry recently when she suggested that computerised exams should replace pen and paper tests. In reality, this is probably some way off as financial constraints and issues of security, computer quality, technical faults, typing ability and so on would need to be resolved first.

However, it seems that the for the humble pen. Although handwriting is part of the , the focus in many schools is moving away from handwriting towards keyboard skills. As computers become cheaper and new technology is introduced, handwriting could well be phased out. And with birthday cards and thank you notes already being replaced by animated e-cards and texts, children have less opportunity to hand-write.听

Still, not wishing to appear a Luddite, I asked my 12 year-old son whether it really matters if handwriting dies out. At primary school, encouraging him to write was like getting blood out of papyrus, so I was surprised at his response. He says he achieves better marks for his essays when they are handwritten rather than typed. He also admits he鈥檚 easily distracted when using the computer and tends to think more carefully when writing because it鈥檚 not as easy to change.听

In fact there is evidence that handwriting helps build sequential memory and fine motor skills. It is important for self-expression too and helps us to connect better with what we are trying to communicate. As a result, we are more likely to retain the information.听

Of course, computers can be a huge benefit to children with 听and other learning difficulties, but wherever possible I believe that learning how to handwrite, spell and understand grammar enables us to make better use of technology. There is a digital pen, which allows the user to upload handwritten notes onto a computer 鈥� this may gain greater prominence in schools in the future and combine the traditional skill of handwriting and all its merits with new technology.

In the meantime, writing with pen and paper is still very much part of the curriculum and the examination system. The primary school years are a crucial time for us to support schools in teaching our children to with confidence.

If children struggle with handwriting, this can hinder their progress later on, so it鈥檚 worth encouraging them to write whenever possible at home. Younger children can help write shopping lists, birthday cards, menus, postcards, invitations, recipes, messages 鈥� the more fun and practical the better. Older children may enjoy making and writing a mini-book, writing down football teams and scores, writing to a pen-pal or writing a diary. Even doodling and drawing help to develop fine motor skills.

Reading and writing are strongly linked, so reading with our children makes it easier for them to connect sounds and letters, which in turn helps with spelling. As for those dreaded thank you letters, a combination of a computer-designed card with a handwritten message inside may be the way forward!

Sarah Kingsley is a freelance writer and a member of the 大象传媒 Parent Panel.

Take a look at CBeebies Grown-ups 'Learning to write' page.

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I鈥檓 still waiting to hear what school my three and a half听year-old twin girls are going to in September. By then they will 听and I am concerned that they just won鈥檛 be ready to go. They were born prematurely and are still young for their age.

Last year saw the first intake of rising fives to all the local schools in our area. And when I see the foundation stage children in the playground, I can鈥檛 help wondering whether another year at a pre-school or nursery in a less formal setting, might have been a better option for them all - particularly when children in other European countries, like .

Labour changed the schools admission policy in 2009. It now means that all children have the option of Before, children born in the summer often moved on to primary school in the January or April before they turned five. Where we live it was the term after they turned five.

The school my eldest goes to has built a beautiful new classroom and play area for the fresh intake of children. They are doing a great job accommodating the youngest members of the school.

But some parents have raised concerns about the day being too long for the children. In response, the school and governors did consult the parents about shortening the day for the younger children. This wasn鈥檛 implemented because there were too many objections, although they are still considering it as an option for the foundation stage.

We don鈥檛 have to send our girls in September, we can keep them at their nursery and at home for one or two more terms and then send them to school in the Spring or the Summer term instead.听

Our dilemma is this: I worry that delaying the start for two more terms will cause them to lag behind their peers, even though there is also lots of evidence that starting too young can be stressful.

According to a review of primary education led by Cambridge University in 2009, children should not start school until they turn six as school is stressful and y. It argued that reception children should have more space, time for play and equipment suitable for their age.

One of the main arguments put forward by the government of the time was that this change in policy would counter the fact that summer born children fare worse in exams.

It is well documented that or go to university, than kids born in earlier in the school year. It is hoped that sending them to school earlier, will reverse this trend.

Perhaps it is time that school admissions and classes were looked at from a different perspective. Why not put children in classes by ability rather than purely by age? In America and in France, it is common for children to stay back a year if they haven鈥檛 reached the expected academic standards and brighter students are sometimes moved up a year.

As a parent I do have some options and I am grateful for that. Regarding my twin girls starting school, the current plan for September is to 鈥榳ait and see鈥�. If I think they鈥檙e not ready to go to school, I will keep them at home for as long as I can.

Claire Winter is a member of the 大象传媒 Parent Panel.

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Spring has definitely sprung and the young shoots and buds are emerging everywhere. 听With nature bursting out from winter hibernation and with the sun finally visible, there鈥檚 no better time to get outdoors. Gardening and outdoor learning in general, has become very popular in many schools - growing plants provides a perfect opportunity for first-hand observation. What better way to learn about life cycles than to watch a seed germinate and grow? Or how about teaching healthy eating by actually growing your own food?

There are many other, less obvious, ways in which the , from scientific learning through to literacy and numeracy projects . And schools don鈥檛 need to have huge outside spaces to grow things in 鈥� a small container garden can provide plenty of inspiration for teachers and children alike.

It鈥檚 not simply the novelty value of being out of the classroom that gets children enthused. 听Studies by the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) have shown that children are happier and learn better if they attend schools that encourage gardening. 听Many will behave better and achieve more when learning outdoors 鈥� the charity, council for , insists that the confidence of children who may not be doing well academically can be boosted by this different approach to learning.

If your children鈥檚 school doesn鈥檛 have a garden and you have some experience, why not offer your help set up a growing space, or help out with the gardening club. 听For the less brave, there鈥檚 a lot you can do at home, whether you have a garden of your own or not.

Growing something edible is great for encouraging healthy eating, as well as being able to closely observing a plant grow. 听CBeebies鈥� Mr Bloom, who has an allotment of talking vegetables, has transformed my four year-old from vegetable-hater into vegetable-lover overnight (though his love has yet to extend to tasting 鈥楥olin鈥� the runner bean, but we live in hope鈥�). This cress head is a perennial favourite, and will give quick results, perfect for impatient young children. 听Another great way to observe germination is to in a jam jar. You can clearly see the root and shoot development, and can grow it on any windowsill.

Encouraging gardening at home can be anything from growing a single seed in a pot to letting your children take over a whole section of your garden or allotment. 听You don鈥檛 need to be an expert yourself 鈥� simply discussing what you can see happening, and helping them to care for plants provides a valuable, and enjoyable learning experience for your child.

Hannah Hunter is a member of the 大象传媒 Parent Panel.

Take a look at 大象传媒 Gardening with children.

Find out about the .听

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Maybe you saw the programme on adoption,听that went out yesterday on 大象传媒2 鈥楢 Home for Maisie鈥�.听

Featuring an eight year-old girl who has two failed adoptions behind her, Maisie is adopted by Jim and Sue Clifford. We see how hard it can be to adopt an older child. They have already been through the process with their eight older children so they know it can be very rewarding, even if it's not always easy.

Often therapy is needed if a child has suffered abuse when younger, but if issues can be worked through, the outcome for them is infinitely preferable to going into care. Being welcomed into a loving family whom she can trust gradually transforms Maisie. Sue writes: 'We have helped Maisie not only to trust, but also to experience feeling cared for, nurtured'.

You can read Sue Clifford's blog on her experiences.

If you missed the programme, why not catch it on 大象传媒 i-Player?

Fiona Holmer works on the 大象传媒 Parents Blog.

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By the time the Easter holidays arrive, children are often in need of a break from school, and parents may welcome the break from the daily school run. As well as having a much needed rest, there are plenty of activities you can do as a family to keep children of all ages active and entertained throughout the holidays.

If your children enjoy making things, then Easter-themed crafts can keep them busy for a while. Good staples include making Easter cards, creating a miniature Easter garden, making Easter decorations for your home or decorating eggs. If you鈥檙e opting to decorate eggs, hard boil some eggs, leave them to cool, then decorate them with painted designs, or transform them into shiny creations with glue and glitter (decorated eggs are best not eaten, so keep these for decorative purposes only!).

The Make and colour section of the CBeebies website is a great source of inspiration for more craft activities. The Funky Birds Nest activity is particularly appropriate for this time of year, as you can make a nest with little chicks to go inside it, then fill it up with mini chocolate eggs when Easter arrives.

For edible Easter goodies, why not have a baking session? These delicious Easter egg nests are perfect for children of all ages to make, as they don鈥檛 require much cooking - the hardest part may be waiting for them to set before eating them! Older children could try making hot cross buns or traditional simnel cake.

In theory, the spring weather should bring with it some sunny days, but whether it鈥檚 sunny or not, it鈥檚 always good to get out and about in the fresh air. A good free activity for an afternoon is a nature walk in the countryside. If you鈥檙e feeling organised, you could prepare a list of things to spot, or make it up as you go along. Good seasonal natural aspects to spot include ducks, ducklings, swans, cygnets, different shaped leaves, lambs, blossom on trees or spring flowers.听

Alternatively, you could have a refreshing walk by the sea, collecting seashells along the way or looking in rock pools to see what life you can see. For children who love exploring nature, the often runs good events for children, especially in school holidays. You can search for events in .

If you鈥檝e got bikes, or don鈥檛 mind hiring them, then another nice way of spending a morning or an afternoon is to go on a family bike ride. For cycle route ideas, check out听. If the weather turns windy, you could try your hand at teaching your children to fly a kite.

A visit to a property is a favourite for us and there are usually Easter-themed activities for children, such as special trails around the gardens. The 听(RHS) hosts child-friendly events too, such as the Easter weekend family .

One of the highlights of the Easter holidays when I was young was taking part in an Easter egg hunt and it鈥檚 great fun to re-create this for the younger generation. It doesn鈥檛 have to be anything elaborate or large scale, and it can be inside or out. Simply hunting for a secret hidden egg can provide heaps of excitement for young children.

You could also look out for an organised Easter egg hunt taking place locally. For an atmospheric location, the is running various egg hunts in forests in England, Scotland and Wales. also have some Easter egg hunts listed.

The sound of several weeks off over the Easter holidays may seem like a lot to fill, but when you鈥檝e packed it full of varied activities, the time will fly!听

Rachel Newcombe is a freelance writer.

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I have two children who have special educational needs (SEN): William is 12 years old and was diagnosed with severe verbal dyspraxia when he was four, and Peter is now 14 and has Asperger鈥檚 syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dyspraxia. They both attend a mainstream secondary school and Peter is a pupil in the school鈥檚 specialist Asperger鈥檚 support unit.

When I look back to when my children were small, I am struck by how utterly complex they were, and how indescribably difficult it was to carve out a path for them through the education system.

On the one hand we had Peter, who appeared to be terribly intelligent, but had very limited social skills and was socially excluded by his classmates and their parents. He was bullied to within an inch of his sanity in primary school and when he joined the Asperger鈥檚 unit at secondary school, it was a crisis placement. There was simply no other school in our county that could have met his needs. Without this school, he would have had to have gone to a residential school that specialised in Asperger鈥檚 syndrome and we would have all found this extremely difficult.

Then we had William, who was diagnosed with severe verbal dyspraxia and motor dyspraxia when he was four years old. He also suffered from bullying. All of these things impacted greatly on his childhood development and on his progress at nursery and school. William got his statement when he was four, and Peter when he was nine years old.

A statement of SEN is the document issued by the local authority after it has carried out a statutory assessment of a child鈥檚 special educational needs. It details the child鈥檚 SEN and sets out the provision necessary to meet them. For more information on statements, read this useful 大象传媒 article.

It was not easy to get statements for our children. We were fortunate enough to have a very good health visitor but once the children started school, we were pretty much on our own, in terms of finding out about help they could access. Many hours were spent on the phone as I tried to track down things that could help. I chased placements in specialist speech and language and Asperger鈥檚 support units like a mad woman! 听I stalked teachers after school for 鈥榓 quick five minutes鈥� to talk about education concerns or, much more frequently, bullying incidents.听

We wrote what seemed like mountains of letters and stacked reports in boxes as they came through the letter box. We challenged education officials and threatened them with legal action and with the press. We appealed to the 听on behalf of our children on more than one occasion. These parent support organisations were extremely helpful to us during this time: the (IPSEA), the , the , and the (ACE). At last in 2006, I was able to say that both of my children had the statements they needed.

Was it worth it? Did we get it right? William is now integrated into his school with support from teaching assistants to help him with organisation, getting his work down in class and to help him manage other learning needs. He is doing well in school, is musical, and has friends. Peter is now doing eight GCSEs and one AS level. After years of academic failure and not being able to get his work done without a scribe (someone to write for him), he has succeeded at secondary school and can now type enough words to do his own essays. He has to date completed six essays on his own, with no intervention or help from anyone else and is getting A grades for them, even though his own handwriting is still very rudimentary.

He is also musical, artistic (despite severe fine motor difficulties) and is planning to go to university. He has friends, which for children with Asperger鈥檚 is a significant achievement. None of this would have been possible without the right therapies and help in school. My message to parents is this: if you are concerned that your child may have SEN and you believe they need more help in school, don鈥檛 wait to see how things will turn out. Start to look at your options now and keep on pushing for the support your child needs.

Ellen Power is an author and writes the .

Listen to a听podcast of 大象传媒 Radio 4 Woman's Hour听which features Ellen Power.

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