Private School

My 11 year old daughter (H) was diagnosed with T1D at the end of last school year. She goes to private school where there is no school nurse. The principal’s daughter was also diagnosed with T1D last year so he is familiar with the dx.
H has been trying to remember to check her b.s. before lunch, but has been forgetting frequently. She has also been responsible for checking how many carbs she’s had so she can tell the office if she needs insulin and how much she needs (I send a sticky note in her lunch every day that shows how many carbs are in each item in her lunchbox).
Obviously, this is putting a LOT of pressure on H with little support.
My question for those of you with children in private school is - how have you handled this and what is the school doing to assist your child?

Hi Mandy. My daughter was also 11 when diagnosed with T1. There are no school nurses at the school and Kate was/is responsible for her diabetes management. There was another child at the school who also had T1, although her Mom handled things a little differently to me.

The first thing we did was to educate the staff, including asking them to practise injecting the Glucagen Hypokit into an orange. (This was a wake up call to many of them.) We typed up an info sheet of what Kate needed and when, and what they should look out for with highs and lows (Kate gets a bit silly and goes sheet white when low.) This was stuck up on all her classroom walls for the teachers with our phone/contact numbers. Kate keeps her testing kit and insulin in a cooler lunch bag with her at all times, and was allowed to test/inject/eat in class when she needed to. I kept in contact with the teachers especially if Kate was going through a rough patch and they kept an eye on her.

It’s a long answer to your question, but the point I suppose is that Kate managed very well and the independence and confidence she gained was so valuable. She is 15 now, and I am glad we started with the independent management.

I send two lunch boxes to school each day - one with low carb/ carb free snacks, and another with food that will need insulin before consuming. This saves her time if she doesn’t want to inject.

Perhaps send a whatsapp to your daughter at lunch time to remind her to test, or write little notes in her lunch box to encourage her.

I hope things go well.

All the best!

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