Help Danny Get An Education

Danny's mum says "I never pictured that I would have a teenager at home not attending school."

Danny was a confidant and happy boy all the way through his primary education. He initially settled well in to his secondary education, making friends and achieving the head teacher’s award for good behaviour and effort. He then went through a period of bullying which left him struggling to sleep at night, having nightmares and feeling frightened to leave the house. This, a difficult family bereavement, an inconsistent relationship with his biological father and struggling with school work, resulted in his mental health spiralling dangerously downhill. Unfortunately, because of Danny’s complex needs and deteriorating mental health, the school were unable to manage him safely and we made the decision to remove Danny from school.

Over the next few months we supported our son in battling some terribly dark times, he started self-harming and was plagued with thoughts of ending his life. We had many sleepless nights, scared to take our eyes off of him. During this time he was under the local mental health team who were exceptionally helpful in supporting, advising and treating him. Eventually we started to see our happy energetic son return. At this point he was eager to return to school as he wanted a “normal” life. We identified a school with a reputation for supporting children who found school challenging and he started there in the summer term. It was not long before the usual playground antics began, teasing, name calling and threats of fights. The nightmares and fears returned and although the school were proactive in managing issues as they arose, Danny was physically attacked during a lesson whilst the teacher was absent from the room. He was too fearful to return to school again and the anxiety, nightmares and self- harming returned.

There were increasingly frequent days where I was unable to physically manage him and our twin boys (aged 3). His step dad would need to return from work to help manage these situations and maintain our sons' safety, the time away from work meant his employer had no option but to terminate his full time employment. This, understandably, changed the dynamic of our family, all living with a high level of stress and leaving us reliant on my part time income.

Currently Danny is at home every day. He is reliant upon medication. He has lost touch with his friends and feels isolated. His confidence is at an all time low and the thought of returning to school leads to the extreme anxiety symptoms which leave him terrified.

We referred Danny to a local charity that has experience in supporting young people and families in difficult situations. He has been spending time with a mentor and has shared that he wants to be a carpenter and his dream is to one day run his own building firm. He cannot currently access any courses as the local authority are unable to fund any alternative education programmes and he doesn’t meet the criteria for the specialist mental health school. Danny’s mentor has identified an appropriate vocational course that will lead to a City and Guilds qualification in carpentry and Danny is very keen to start. Danny’s mentor will be with him on the course until he is settled and confident to remain on his own.

Can you help provide Danny with the support that he needs? We are looking to access funding for Danny’s City & Guilds carpentry qualification and to continue on the specialist mentoring programme. The combination of these services will help Danny to restore his confidence, re-engage with his education and fulfil his dream. 

Thank you so much for your support!