Info for...

Teachers

This page has been designed to assist school personnel to understand the issues for siblings and how they can be supported in a school setting. Whole of school approaches and individual teacher roles are included as downloads.

Here you will be able to:
• Understand more about the concerns of siblings
• Find out about books - for young siblings, pre-teens, and teen siblings - many can be shared with students, both siblings and non-siblings
• Access relevant journal articles and resources

Before accessing the information below we suggest you read the concerns of siblings page and its related downloads first

Siblings at school

Special needs in the family may not necessarily affect a sibling’s participation at school. For some, school can in fact provide respite from stresses at home. However for many siblings, school can be an additional source of stress. Issues for siblings can include:

• Difficulty finishing homework or homework being spoilt
• Tiredness or poor concentration
• Social difficulties
• Teasing and bullying by other students
• Extra responsibilities for brother or sister with special needs

Of course, some of these issues might be the product of other stresses or concerns but if a child has a brother or sister with special needs, then consideration can and should be given to the support needs of a sibling.

The concerns might show up at school in the following ways:

• Excessive ‘acting up’ behaviour, attention seeking
• Overly concerned with being the ‘good child’ or people pleaser
• Isolation from peers
• Ongoing physical complaints such as stomach or head-aches

Of course, school staff may not know that a student has a brother or sister with special needs for the following reasons:
• The child with special needs goes to another school
• Data collection by the school might not include details of other children in the family
• A sibling might choose not to reveal their family circumstance as they feel embarrassed and might be fearful of ‘disability by association’. They might also feel guilty about ‘complaining’.

Even when staff members are aware that a child is a sibling to a child with special needs, the sibling may not show or express their concerns. They might receive a lot of ‘kudos’ from home and from others for being a ‘good’ sibling. Their identity might be largely framed by the idea that their needs are not as important as those of other people. It can be difficult to ask for help. The fact that a child does not show concerns does not mean that they are not in need of support.

Sibling support:

Siblings need to be acknowledged as important members of the family and as having concerns of their own. Siblings need help to make healthy connections with others, both within their family and outside their family. And they need help to develop coping skills to manage the difficult situations they experience. Specifically, siblings need:
• Information about the special needs of their brother or sister
• Opportunities to express feelings, be listened to and understood
• To feel special themselves, spend time with parents alone
• To feel competent and valued, but not be given too much responsibility
• Strategies to deal with difficult situations
• Contact with siblings in a similar situation
• Social support

School based approaches

Siblings Australia is proud to be involved with two school mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiatives, Mind Matters (secondary school) http://cms.curriculum.edu.au/mindmatters/
and Kids Matter (primary school) http://www.apapdc.edu.au/kidsmatter/.

Mind Matters has particular resource materials for secondary schools - http://cms.curriculum.edu.au/mindmatters/resources/resources.htm) . We have contributed to the current review of several of these booklets. We will continue to update this website with information.

With Kids Matter we are currently exploring how we can contribute to the four components of the strategy. We have used the Kids Matter framework to come up with approaches to sibling support. These broad approaches can be considered in both the primary school setting and the secondary school setting.

For more information about whole of school approaches and teacher role, see our pdf downloads in the right column.