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Y9 daughter refusing to go to school

28 replies

beyondstressedandmore · 01/07/2021 16:42

My 14 year old dd has always done very well at school, has friends, generally happy.

There has been some friendship drama this year which she's kept out of - it's just not her style. One of her longstanding friends abruptly switched friendship groups a few months ago and (I think to gain status in this new group) told them some unpleasant and untrue things about dd.

One of the girls in this group who dd describes as 'powerful' has got it in for her. There was a 'mediation meeting' between them a couple of months ago where they ageed to 'put things behind them'. I was a bit Confused as to why mediation was considered the right approach as the only point of difference was that this girl wanted to make my dd's life miserable and my dd didn't want her to....

However, I didn't want to blow things out of proportion and just wanted things to settle down. This girl has continued with what the HoY described as 'micro-aggressions' towards my dd eg staring at her, talking with her friends about her and laughing. All standard 14 year old stuff, which dd has been trying to ignore, but it's really got to her now.

She refused to go to school Tuesday and Wednesday. I spoke with her tutor and HoY - the other girls parents were spoken to, the other girl was spoken to etc.

Dd came home today in tears saying that no-one said anything but she felt really stressed and doesn't want to go back to school. At the moment, she's saying that she doesn't want to go to any school which isn't an option. She's generally very resilient and level headed about things, certainly a tendency to be highly strung but much, much less than when she was younger.

I have no idea whether I'll be able to get her there tomorrow and I'm beyond stressed with this, my elderly mother being very needy, my own work stresses and the ongoing strains of the pandemic. My mental health hasn't been great for some months, which I'm receiving treatment for and have been protecting my children from.

What to do? Do I apply for other schools? She won't be able to do at least one of her options anywhere else, but she says that she doesn't mind this. Given the timing, she may have very limited choice about options which she's saying that she doesn't care about but may feel very differently when faced with a timetable that she doesn't want come September.

Has anyone been in this situation? What has helped?

This time last week, even at the weekend, I would have said that dd was a pretty happy, stable 14 year old and had no major worries.

Now it feels that she's spiralling into some sort of mental health crisis and on the verge of becoming a school refuser.

Any words of advice? - I'm feeling completely out of my depth.

TIA

OP posts:
Hercisback · 01/07/2021 18:38

noble has covered most things.

One thing I would say around school refusal, is to get them back in ASAP. Obviously let her have a day to collect her thoughts and come up with a plan. However the longer she is off, the more difficult it is to get her back into school.

Q

blissfulllife · 01/07/2021 18:24

I think changing schools is a bad idea. It teaches her to run from situations rather than facing them. She will get through this anxious time and learn to deal with people and situations. It's horrible to see our children bullied, but it's not helpful to over protect them too.

I'm glad the school are taking it reasonably seriously. Do school have a councillor she can access? Might be worth asking

noblegiraffe · 01/07/2021 18:06

Ok, your DD is being bullied and this is a horrible situation for her.

I'd let her take tomorrow off school to remove the immediate stress and allow her time to think a bit more clearly on the understanding that you will have a proper conversation over the weekend and come up with a plan.

That plan may involve changing schools - if that is on the table, then she needs to change as soon as possible, given that she's going into Y10. If she decides to stay at the current school then switch later while she's in the middle of GCSEs, it will be much harder for her to catch up.

Are there any schools where she already knows anyone that may have places? When faced with the real possibility of starting at a new school is she relieved?

If she decides to stay at her current school can it be arranged that she isn't in any classes with the other girl? Somewhere she can go so she doesn't need to see them at break and lunch?

If you thought she was fine last week has she been hiding it for a long time and cracked or has something happened to prompt the school refusal?

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