Hello,

It surprises me that the school is not taking any further steps to cater for your son's needs. I live in Australia too, and I thought that such remedial and catch-up work was the responsibility of the school, not the parents. Has this issue been addressed with the principal of your son's school? Perhaps the problem is that your son's teacher is not seeking support and those in charge are unaware of your son's situation. There is actually a lot of support available in school systems, it surprises me that your son's school has not suggested any of these measures. Maybe you could also make an appointment with special education teachers at your son's school, as they design IEP's (Individual Education Plans) for each child with identified special needs and are able to give children set periods of one-on-one or small group (formed according to need) time while the children still spend the majority of their school day in their mainstream class.

Anyway, don't give up- if none of this works, your next port of call would be your Department of Education area consultant. There is so much help available and I really hope that you and your son can receive all the benefits on offer. Good luck!

Hi there. Due to your son's specific needs, teaching him is not 'easy' in the formal sense of the word. His attention span will be very short and if he becomes bored or irritated that the work is too difficult he will inevitably give up or look for an excuse to get out of it all together. This is the way with ADHD.

There is no easy solution, but you as a parent have a very important part to play in his learning. You obviously have a computer linked to the internet and there are many ineractive educational learning sites that will help to support your son's education in a fun way. Get him involved with the family shopping, making lists and working out costs etc.. Also encourage him to develop a manual skill which he will find much more enjoyable (painting, pottery, Design and technology, brick laying, wood work, car maintenance etc. or anything he may be interested in). These will teach him skills in a fun and focussed way without him being made to feel inadequate, also helping to see a future for him without the need for structured learning in maths, english grammar, science etc.

Your son is most probably using the label of 'the class clown' as a place to hide because his self esteem is very low in the more academic areas of his schooling. This is why you can do so much in supporting the areas he does excel at. Good luck