If you’re unfamiliar with the condition, there are two types of diabetes. Type 1 is the most common one in children, and is where the body doesn’t make any insulin. Type 2, when the body makes some insulin but not enough, usually affects people over 40.

The main symptoms of diabetes are thirst, a constant need to urinate, weight loss and blurred vision. If this is something that concerns you, there’s more information about the condition on the BBC Health website, and you can get in touch with other families who are raising children with diabetes through the website Children with Diabetes in the UK.

Type 1 diabetes is treated by a healthy diet, regular physical activity and insulin injections. Children with diabetes need to inject themselves several times a day or go on an insulin pump (a device like a drip which is worn daily).

In the context of school, it’s vital to discuss this with staff and establish where and when the child injects themselves so that everyone is aware of arrangements.

Children with diabetes also need to be given time to test their blood sugars before and after exercise, so this issue should also be discussed with your child’s PE teacher.

Diabetes is life-threatening and a diagnosis can be traumatic, and there’s a trend for newspapers and magazines to stereotype children with severe illnesses as either ‘heroes’ or ‘just like everyone else’, but there are fewer reports on how tough life can be for them especially at school, or how sad they can feel. The myth that children get Type 1 diabetes because they’re fat isn’t helpful either.

Parents I’ve spoken to say the main challenge is that of keeping the condition stable, which requires huge organisational skills – starting with making sure your child has their kit with them at all times. This is hard enough for adults, never mind children who already struggle to remember their homework and packed lunch!

Managing diabetes and leading a normal life can be really hard, especially for young people. Unless they keep their condition stable they can suffer high and low blood sugars along with mood fluctuations.

The most important thing teachers need to know about diabetes is that the condition can cause hypoglycaemia, often called a ‘hypo’, which is when a person’s blood sugar levels drop dangerously low, and they need sweets, a fizzy drink or glucose tablet straight away, followed by a sandwich or cereal bar.

It’s worth checking out the Diabetes UK website, to find out what experiences other parents have of managing their child’s condition. Remember that if your child is diagnosed during the school year, you should discuss the condition fully with the school and how it will be managed with all the relevant staff at a school or prior to them starting at a new school.

One worrying development is that due to the budget squeeze on the NHS, the number of diabetic specialist nurses is now being cut.  These nurses, who work in hospitals and in the community, do a vital job in advising teachers and supporting young people with diabetes. This means that parents and teachers need to be even more vigilant in making sure children are supported at school.

Alison Whyte is a freelance journalist.

Go into any nursery or classroom, and you’ll see a pile of inhalers on a shelf.  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. In 2009 teachers in Perth and Kinross were offered special training to learn how to provide better support for schoolchildren with asthma.

All teachers should be made aware of a child’s condition 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 guidelines for schools which should have clear, regularly updated policies about how to help children with medical conditions.  As a parent it’s important to set up a meeting to discuss how a child’s condition is managed in school as guidelines are not always followed.

There’s no reason why children with health conditions shouldn’t take part in sport. However while it’s good for PE teachers to be encouraging and inclusive, they need to be aware of a child’s limitations. Asthma UK’s Alert to Asthma programme gives teachers information about supporting children with asthma, while their Out There and Active book is really useful for parents keen to pre-empt issues before they even arise.

Going on class outings or even school trips shouldn’t be a problem, as long as staff are aware of a child’s 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.

Many young children stumble over words, but most go on to speak fluently. Stammering is a debilitating speech impediment which can damage a child’s confidence. It tends to run in families, it mainly affects boys and some research suggests a glitch in the neural wiring of the brain. Some children repeat words or consonants, others have a block, when no sound comes out. Some stamp their feet, twitch or contort their faces or bodies.

My 19-year-old son Max has stammered since he was five. He was lucky to be referred to the Michael Palin Centre, which is the only specialist centre in the UK offering therapy to children who stammer. They gave him techniques to help him become more fluent and we learned how to help him feel less stressed and more confident.

Around five in every 100 children stammer, but research carried out by the centre showed that many teachers don’t know how to deal with it. Some children they interviewed said they were treated as though they had learning difficulties at school. Many said they felt ignored, overlooked, embarrassed or frustrated. 

The Centre has developed a Stammering Information Programme to educate teaching staff about stammering. The British Stammering Association is also developing a new resource for parents which they plan to launch in the autumn. 

We contacted Max’s primary school so that teachers, teaching assistants and dinner ladies knew about his stammer. Max was given a ‘statement’, but we were never aware that he received any special help. 

For Max, the transfer to secondary school was very stressful - meeting new students, having several different teachers and trying to assert himself in the playground presented huge challenges. Children are experts at hiding their stammers, they often avoid speaking in class or clown around at the back, so it’s important to tell all the teachers about your child’s stammer. 

The Michael Palin centre advised us to inform the school and we always asked how Max was coping with his stammer during parent’s evenings. Teachers need to know that making presentations and speaking to groups are especially scary for stammering children. 

Max found that teachers all took a different approach. The key thing is to talk to your child about how things are going at school and to contact the school, if you have any concerns. 

There are some things parents can do to help – try to reduce stress at home because being tired or under pressure, makes the stammer worse. Listen attentively and maintain good eye contact.  Don’t interrupt and don’t try to finish his sentences. 

Like other parents of children who stammer, we were convinced we’d done something wrong. Parents don’t cause children to stammer, but there are lots of things we can do to help. And the earlier we put them into practice the greater the chance of recovery.  

Alison Whyte is a freelance journalist.