Funded home tutoring for school refuser

Take a look at interhigh as well. Some LAs will fund a core package at interhigh. My son is sometimes too anxious for school so we switched in lockdown and he is thriving there.

Just an update, sorry to jump on your thread again, but our head has referred my DS for home tutoring. Thinks it's only 5hrs a week, but it's something

You can certainly argue very strongly that school refusing and seeing mental health professionals is an illness. However op, I agree. The law requires dd is helped.

The duty is the same whether it’s school refusal or medical. The law says:

Each local authority shall make arrangements for the provision of suitable education at school or otherwise than at school for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them.“

You may find this helpful www.lgo.org.uk/assets/attach/1778/Focus-report-Out-of-school-Sept-2011-amended-Jan-2016.pdf

There are dozens of cases about councils and their section 19 duty on the ombudsman’s website.

Go to any sen site anywhere about U.K. education and they all tell you not to say refusing.

When my ds tried to take his own life and couldn't attend school the school and la tried to say he was refusing and I was told not to accept that - and say he was too ill to attend due to MH.

Refusal is an active choice. Unable to attend isnt.

You can apply for an EHCNA yourself. Don't wait for the school to do it. IPSEA have a model letter you can use.

Medical needs EOTAS tuition has to be the equivalent of full time, which doesn't mean school hours because, for example, when you are working 1:1 you cover the content quicker.

The school should refer on to the LA or at least loads with DD's medical team, but things will move much quicker if you prompt the school and LA in to action.

Lots of LAs have a centre(s) where those who are able to can go for tuition. In some LAs they are called PRUs but in others they aren't. For example, in Northamptonshire they have 2 - 1 Northampton and 1 on Kettering. And Kent have several.

Whatever you do, do not deregister. It is much easier to get support when on a school's roll - crudely, you are someone's problem, whereas it is all too easy to forget about pupils EHE.

Whilst evidence is required the LA must not delay arranging provision by insisting on a certain piece of evidence, for example a consultant letter, if it is not quickly available. The LA should look at what other evidence is available, for example from the GP.

alwaysscared you should pressure the LA to provide medical needs tuition. Alongside this you should apply for an EHCP.

I have no advice but this thread is very helpful. I have a 7 year old who is currently out of school due to his anxiety and panic attacks. I'm struggling to know where to turn.

I'm not sure that's helpful @itsgettingwierd.

ASR is a diagnosis. One which she'll need to access tuition via the LA. Our team need medical evidence to accept a referral.

Good advice here.

But VERY IMPORTANT

Do not refer to it as school refusing. She isn't refusing and that makes it sound like a choice. This isn't a choice. This is a child too anxious to attend school, unable to access in school learning due to trauma/anxiety (only you know so choose which applies).

Remember to always say "ds is unable to attend school due to ......" "dd needs alternative provision to access education as she's unable to attend school due to ......".

If you use "refusing to attend" you'll simply get "you have a duty to make her".

What LA?
After covid this is a particularly hot topic in many LAs and a number are producing policies and/ or pathways.

Most policies are called EBSA or EBSNA or ABSA/ABSNA policies: emotionally based school avoidance/ non attendance or anxiety based school avoidance/ non attendance

The nutshell of most of them is that like any other SEN there should be an ed psych assessment and a proper plan put in place, with ECHP assessment if the plan doesn't work.

I used to arrange home tuition for school refusers in a former life.

I’m not qualified to say what any LA will do these days but I do think you should see your GP about her refusal to go to school. Obviously her reaction to school needs investigation and I would ask that she gets help.

Secondly there are severe limits to home tuition. The sciences, arts and technology are very difficult to teach at home for obvious reasons. Often home tuition covered around 4-5 subjects. I’m sure on line and small group working could help her too but we never organised this.

If it's an academy, they don't report attendance to LA- they're directly under the DfE.

Would your daughter cope with going in for a meeting? I can see that they wouldn't want to be making a home visit, and it might well make sense for there to be some discussion about what help she ight need and what arrangements can be made, but it ought to be possible to fix that up as a non-threatening meeting, with you there with her. There's a world of difference between "go to school, and Mrs X will see you after registration" and "we're going in at 3.30 to talk with Mrs X about what the school can do to help".

Are they sending any work home for her? There is probably, at the very least, whatever they set for her year group in the first lockdown, so it might not be too onerous for them to send something.

Actually, even where it is a tutor, we're trying to move away from tuition at home to tuition in libraries or similar spaces, the ultimate aim being to suppor the child back to school.

It won't necessarily be a home tutor (could be online tuition) and it might be far fewer hours than you're expecting, but PP is right, it's the LA not the school.