GCSE issues

[Di90]

DS has special needs (mild autism) - not statemented as such, but on what was previously know as school action plus. We asked if he could have study leave before GCSE's as he's not coping with the pressure put on him by teachers and pupils are out of control during revision sessions.

He passed all his mocks and is very motivated to study. I'm able to study with him. They agreed with SL even though the school don't do it generally except in individual cases. I just had to go in and discuss at a date, we were hoping early May. Now, they seem to be backing off this decision. We have asked for clarification but they've not got back to us. They seem to be avoiding us. To make things worse, he's getting constantly taunted and verbally bullied by other boys at the school.

DS is in pieces - not sleeping, panic attacks etc as he thought he would be off school. He has a history of breakdowns that can take months to get over if stressed too much. If they refuse completely, we are thinking of informing them that we will be taking him out to study at home.

Does anyone know what the worst consequences of this could be? He's got 99% attendance so far and would need about 16 days off including time during actual examples. I don't want to make the situation worse but I also can't bear to watch him go downhill and mess up on his exams.

[Di90]

exams

[titchy]

Shouldn't be any consequence. Just tell them!

[Di90]

Thanks Titchy. We thought we would ask for a special needs meeting if they refuse. I don't care if it goes down as authorised or unauthorised leave to be honest. They can even send an attendance officer out to check he's studying. The Year 11's are out of control at the moment, with half the year expected to fail, so they are putting non-stop pressure on the ones who they think will pass. DS doesn't deal well with too much pressure.

[noblegiraffe]

Phone him in sick till Easter, at least. Panic attacks and not sleeping are reason enough.

Contact the school and say that the unexpected change in his planned routine is causing mental health issues and that you would really appreciate the study leave to be signed off as you cannot anticipate being able to get him back into school in his current state of mind.

[JustOneLieInWouldDo]

Keep him at home without worrying about what the school think. His attendance is excellent. Ring in and say he's too unwell with to come to school "at the moment"

[JustOneLieInWouldDo]

Sorry... *With stress

[theyellowjumper]

It's stress - that's a genuine reason to be off sick, and your GP should provide a sick note if needed.

[TansyViola]

Agree with the others.

[anniehm]

We requested study leave in very similar circumstances, I didn't give them the option of saying no!