Dd school attendance very low

[Schoolstress14]

66%

Due to lots of medical appts (didn’t think these were counted towards attendance?)

Frequent illness (severe gynae issues possible endometriosis?, Viral illness with very high fevers, one episode of d and v (lasted a week) and time off after a minor injury

Ive sent proof of everything as requested but now school want a meeting I can’t get more time off so explained it has to be a phone call as well but they’ve said I’m not engaging so they have to involve the LA? Can they do that ?

I’d be getting a new GP and going privately. The idea a teenager who has had a migraine cannot try any contraceptive pill is extremely outdated. As someone who was in a similar boat as a teen, I really hope you can push for options including the pill and proper pain relief (I’m still on prescription medication), and a private gynaecological assessment. Her life doesn’t have to be dictated by this as it is now.

Given a chronic health condition is preventing DD from accessing a suitable education, I'd consider asking for an EHC assessment with a view to funded EOTAS before I considered home education. There are experts on the SEN threads that can advise further. And IPSEA has a lot of good information on their website.

I did wonder about a bowel issue as when she has her period going to the toilet is horrendously painful for her so maybe there’s something else going on too? We have another gp appt in the holidays so I’ll ask about the mini pill I think

Since December your Pharmacist can prescribe the pill. In your shoes, seeing that your dd's education and social life are being compromised during a time when school and friends matter so much, I'd take her to the pharmacist today and get the pill, it should all be sorted with 3 months. This might solve everything but if not, any continuing issue can still be investigated but with the advantage of not having terrible periods and anaemia. We sometimes can't see the wood for the trees but sorting your dd's painful periods has got to be the first priority and the pill will likely sort it or give her a very good chance to sort it. Everything else can be dealt with after. Periods such as your dd's are torture, plain and simple of course she wouldn't like to go to school with risk of pain, flooding and all that this entails.

If you can’t take the time off to attend an appointment at school how are you going to home school your child?

But would a pharmacist prescribe something a GP had refused ?

I think you can go to a pharmacist and ask for it. The mini pill will mean that your daughter can go to school and not miss anymore education. She's going to really struggle with her GCSEs if she's already missed almost half of her schooling.

The GP refused the combined pill due to Op's daughter having a history of migraines. However, the mini pill is a safer option.

I got a letter when my DD went below 95%. She's only had three sick days so far this academic year so this is when I discovered that her many medical appointments at Great Ormond st counted against her percentage. She has to have drug infusions in hospital every 8 weeks too so it's impossible for her to stay above 95% - the average for a child with her condition is 90% but many struggle to get to 50% if the drugs aren't working as well as they should.

She had 17 medical appointments in Jan and Feb and I managed to keep all but five of them ( the Gt Ormond St ones which require two hours travel each way ) from counting against her attendance and still I got the patronising letter. This is a private school too. They also now have to report low attendance to the local authority.

DD's medical condition is a disability so I contacted the Equality Advisory Service and they were really helpful. I would recommend calling them as they are so patient and knowledgeable and will give you letter templates to send to school.

I suffered for years with Endo and it took 15 years for me to get a diagnosis. The mirena coil changed my life.

HE sounds like a terrible idea, but an understandable knee jerk reaction. However leave it there or you're just adding a whole load of new stress and extra work. It sounds like you think you can leave her to it and have your DH pop in now and again.

The key thing to remember here is your DDs education is being severely disrupted and this is really going to impact her life choices and impact her career choices and earning potential.

I'd be insisting on a different gp, approach etc and highlighting how her condition is impacting her school attendance or doing anything I could to afford a private referral.

Your daughters education is worth a face to face meeting don't you think?

I’ve said to the school I’ll have a video call that’s the same

*The key thing to remember here is your DDs education is being severely disrupted and this is really going to impact her life choices and impact her career choices and earning potential.

I'd be insisting on a different gp, approach etc and highlighting how her condition is impacting her school attendance or doing anything I could to afford a private referral.*

As someone who’s DD also has a number of medical issues, you don’t have much choice about when health appointments are, how long the waiting list is etc. My DDs starting point is 90% attendance because she has a weekly therapy appointment with CAMHS, who could only offer in school hours, which means she misses an afternoon per week. Add on appointments for ongoing investigations, pre-surgery consultations, surgery, recovery time, and further appointments for other health concerns and it mounts up.

Yes it impacts her education but her health needs to be attended to.

Sometimes there is no other approach, or treatment and coping with symptoms while on the waiting list may mean yet more absence.

@Schoolstress14 I too would be offering to meet them via video, and if they can’t manage that it’s too bad. Sometimes school demands just can’t be top of your list.

Bit concerned by the DIY approach to treating severe gynae issues. I imagine pharmacists are licensed to dispense as a contraceptive, not to treat as yet undiagnosed symptoms.

Sorry, didn't mean to attach that post to @Jellycatspyjamas post.

Forgive me while I put my brain back in. Didn't mean to quote OP. And no idea why I've embroiled @Jellycatspyjamas. Apologies both.

@Irisginger the wonders of mumsnet 😁

I'm sorry but what do GPs know about gynae issues? Many are worse than useless. The pill or mini pill for that matter is an extremely established drug. Pharmacists are absolutely able to give a consultation as well as prescribe it. They probably know more about the pill than some stuffy GP and have the time to look things up and give it consideration. Of course OP should continue investigating possible other reasons but while waiting for appointments, why not help dd with her horrible menstruation and give the pill a go for 3-6 months? At the least it will stop op's dd from bleeding excessively.No 14 or 44 year old should have to put up with that and anaemia is a serious concern. She could start taking the pill today and not have a period again or just a light ones if she choses to take a monthly break for a few days (I wouldn't in her shoes).

her problems could all be solved today.

Pharmacists are not trained to diagnose and treat chronic gynae issues. They dispense meds for these gynae conditions under the supervision of people who are qualified to do that. Dispensing contraception is not the same as deciding that an as yet undetermined gynae problem in a young woman will benefit from hormones. I get the appeal of reducing problematic symptoms, but doing that without first understanding the underlying cause of chronic and severe symptoms, may store up problems for OP's DD. There may be issues here that could impact her fertility long term and require different treatment.

I didn't say she should stop investigations. More likely than not the pill will help her dd straight away so she doesn't have to suffer huge blood loss and anaemia. it may also stop the pain, if it is due to periods. I have suffered from unmanageable painful periods on and off no girl should have to suffer this. There were no genie issues other than plain painful periods. Since December 2023 pharmacists are able to prescribe the pill.

Harassing families of children with well documented medical needs because of the hypothetical risk of murder is hardly a proportionate approach!

Is it simple migraine or migraine with aura (visual/nerve symptoms)?

Actually gps know quite a lot and certainly more than pharmacists. Migraine with aura and oral contraception can be dangerous, hence the resistance to prescribe.

I think you should leave the medical advice to those with medial qualifications.

Hemiplegic migraine so extremely severe with aura/loss of speech/disordered speech/loss of sensation in body etc. They said without a consultant initially prescribing anything they won’t

My daughter has been very poorly this year with constant infections and asthma flare ups, received an arsey letter from the head regarding attendance in February basically accusing me of lying about how poorly she’s been. Before half term she was poorly with yet another asthma flare up and I sent her in to prove a point, she was at school a grand total of 57 minutes before they were calling me to come collect her!