Thursday 22 May 2014

About Me

Firstly, this post has NOTHING to do with me!


Honest!!

As our regular readers know, the main testers/tasters for the Recipe Resource have quite a few health issues as well as allergies and it can be a bit confusing for those caring for them - e.g. teachers in school.

Obviously like anyone else we have completed the medical sheets for school, and written a long page detailing diagnoses, medication etc but what staff *really* need is a quick, "go-to" sheet, preferably with a photo of the child concerned with a sentence to introduce them, then approximately ten points in the child's words to describe how their condition affects them.
This is especially valuable if there are new or supply teachers and avoids bombarding them with unnecessary medical information.
Here is a rough idea which I made using online software called Picmonkey, Preview (I have a Mac) and Pages. You can click on it to see an enlarged version. 

I've taken out most of the personal details but you get the idea!


Create your own "About Me" Template.

I have made a template for you to download as a document, which you can edit yourself.
You can then either stick a photo of your child on, or add one digitally.



The top right section is meant to be really brief, from the parent. So I wrote that my daughter often "experiences pain and discomfort due to her medical issues. Sometimes she will share this with you, other times she hides the fact that she hurts, or tries to ignore it but this can make her cross." A sore, tired child might behave badly, but should obviously be treated slightly differently to a child exhibiting difficult behaviour for another reason.

Make sure the main points are in your child's "voice". No diagnoses, long words or complicated instructions. Imagine your child hurting for example, with a sore tummy. This was a key point for us so it was #2. I wrote "If my tummy is hurting please go through my pain chart with me. I might need my heat pad or Calpol from the office." It is incredibly helpful to direct the person caring for your child, in a primary school in particular there may be many children with similar symptoms, most of whom won't need this level of response. Teachers are often bombarded with requests actually requiring reassurance, not intervention (I know, I've been there!) and on a busy day, in a busy classroom your child might easily - and unintentionally get fobbed off otherwise.




Digital Editing
 I saved it as a .jpg file as there are many editing tools (such as picmonkey) which enable you to layer something on top. Even Preview on my Mac makes this possible so it's not too hard once you start playing! (Preview is excellent for the "Smart Lasso" which is how I managed to put my children's photo's on top.)

The template can have the new About me .jpg file added on top and then you can print the complete document with a digitally edited photo of your child. (I spent much of last night attempting to create an editable .PDF file to no avail, so unless someone wants to tell me how this is been the best I can manage.)

Like this? Please support the Recipe Resource - and FABED!
This is obviously free shareware. I would be really grateful if you find it helpful that you might either tweet this link or otherwise share it online. This Blog supports the charity FABED and any additional publicity helps!

23 comments:

  1. What a fantastic idea Kate! Thank you so much for sharing this, i'll be doing one for my 4yo #PoCoLo

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  2. Wow so helpful! Thanks for sharing. Shared this post on twitter too as I know its really helpful =) #PoCoLo

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  3. What a brilliant idea, this would be so beneficial for teachers and other carers. Thank you for sharing xxx

    Vikki @ Love From Mummy

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  4. I think this is a fantastic idea, would be soo beneficial to children and teachers x

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  5. This is a such a fabulous idea!
    Thanks for sharing x

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  6. Thats a great idea, i didnt know you can do that with picmonkey

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  7. Fantastic idea, I will be sharing and making one myself.

    #PocoLo

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  8. What a lovely idea - I bet it can really help both parties :) x

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  9. Oh this is a great idea....is ideal to have when it comes to temporary teachers

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  10. What a brilliant idea - so simple but so helpful x x

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  11. This is a brilliant idea! When I was doing Supply work, this would have been so useful. Thanks for sharing this great resource!

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  12. Brilliant idea and thanks for sharing it with us x

    http://www.youbabymemummy.com

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  13. What a fabulous idea. I love playing with pic monkey but need to experiment some more

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  14. A fantastic idea and really helpful too! x

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  15. This is an excellent idea - I can see how it will be really helpful for both children and teachers.

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  16. great idea - could be really useful

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  17. Such a great post! It will definitely come in handy when Jumpy starts pre-school in a year or so. Thanks for sharing, pinning right now. Mel

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  18. Great post! I will be pinning right away so I know it is there for when Jumpy starts pre-school! Thank you so much for sharing. x Mel

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  19. This is a wonderful idea. A really helpful post. Thanks for sharing.

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  20. What a fantastic idea! We often have to write a long letters what is wrong with kids in our care, so this will speed the process up. Thank you.

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  21. This is a brilliant idea. So cool and perfect for starting school and a new teacher. Thank you for linking up.

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Many thanks for taking the time to comment!

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