Here, Caitlin’s teacher is trying to articulate her concerns about a child who is clearly unhappy, and underachieving at school. We know about Caitlin’s complex family background from the description of social worker Tracey’s involvement with the Dudley/Harris family (Case Study G), where she is not the only or even the main focus of concern. However, we can imagine how as she grows older she is likely to experience similar problems to her sisters; poor school attendance leading to a lack of qualifications, early pregnancy and serious mental health problems. Her teacher is hoping to find a way of intervening now to prevent this from happening, and to improve her life chances. (This will not be easy. The Dudley/Harris family case study (Case Study G), shows that this family do not welcome professional intervention.) Penny has noticed that Caitlin responds well when she has one-to-one attention, but opportunities for this are limited, as she does not have a learning difficulty which would justify extra resources in the classroom. However, Penny’s interest and concern is a resource in itself which Caitlin can use. Teachers are after all the most significant adults in children’s lives, after parents and other family members.

Penny’s other concerns are around a lack of parental care and involvement, which may be bordering on neglect. She has also heard reports of some inappropriately sexualised talk. It will be helpful for her to share her perceptions with Tracey and others involved with the family, and to learn from what they can tell her about the situation at home. Behaviour can be interpreted in different ways, and it is important to keep an open mind and see the wider perspective. Caitlin’s hunger, for instance, could be literal or metaphorical – for food or love – or it could be a combination of both. The sexualised talk could possibly be an indicator of sexual abuse, though it could also be a result of spending time with and listening to sexually experienced older sisters (she seeks out the older girls at school), and maybe seeing sexually explicit material on television or online. It is also possible that her friends are exaggerating its inappropriateness for reasons of their own. Penny is probably interpreting the fact that Caitlin smells of urine as evidence of poor hygiene and neglect, but she may not be aware of her bedwetting problem (see Case Study G), which will be a significant contributory factor.

The overall picture is of a child whose developmental progress is not taking the course it should, and Penny is anxious to understand more about the reasons for this, and to see if anything can be done to help her. However, while as a teacher, she almost certainly sees more of Caitlin than any other professional, and may well know more than any other professional about Caitlin’s personality, she hasn’t got access to much information about what is going on for Caitlin at home, except whatever Caitlin and her parents choose to tell her. Though no one but the family members themselves are witnesses to the vast majority of things that happen at home, other professionals are better placed than Penny to get some sense of what home life is like, notably the family social worker, Tracey Green (Case Study G: Dudley family). In what follows, therefore, we draw on this family material, as well as on what Penny has observed.