To think school should recognise mental health issues as an illness

[User04812]

Hi, posting here for traffic really. Just wondered how other schools approach this issue and what people’s experiences are.
Dd (13) is currently struggling with anxiety and as a result is finding it difficult to attend school. She has been seen by CAMHS and is on a waiting list for some help. My issue is that the school insist her absence from school is unauthorised, even though they have all the letters from various doctors/CAMHS stating that she has a genuine illness. When I have queried why it is unauthorised they have told me that unless I have a doctors note stating that she is ‘unfit for school’ it will continue as unauthorised. If I provide the note saying she is ‘unfit for school’ she will be taken off the school role and will no longer have a place (or an education!)
Anyone else been through this? I would appreciate any advice.

Yes they should. If they offroll her when you have a note saying she's unfit for school this would be an illegal exclusion. They sound shit. It happens far too often!

Yup. Six months at 10% attendance and the school did nothing. No liaison, no support, no contact with educational welfare or the specialist teaching team. In the end I removed my child from school and home educated then got them into a school specialising in emotional, social and mental health additional needs, which took a fair bit of doing. I've been advised by SENDIASS to complain but I've got other kids at the school and I don't trust the school to behave in a professional manner towards them (I received some passive aggressive emails from the SENCO when she found out I'd withdrawn my child, so I think my scepticism is justified).

My DC is in a similar position with her mental health but the school couldn't have been more supportive. They have made loads of adjustments for her, she has missed a lot of school but they have not said anything other than been encouraging on the days she has made it in. They even helped with the CAMHS referral which the GP was sceptical about . So not all schools are the same, but it is shit that your school cannot be more supportive. It clearly does not have to be that way. for you. Coping with MH issues is so tough!

If she had a physical illness that made her unfit for school they wouldn’t withdraw the place so have you challenged why they’re treating this differently?

My daughter’s school mention fines and being prosecuted more often than they offer help and reasonable adjustments.

It’s a farce. Only a few more months, then she, and we, never have to set foot in the damn place ever again.

This may not be the school per se but the whole bad system. Ofsted / Government inspect on attendance so the school have to justify each poor attendance so they need doctor's note to back up why a child has poor attendance, just because you say they can't attend isn't proof enough (I'm sure nobody is doubting at all) but unfortunately they can't just take your word

This sounds like disability discrimination under the equality act, it might be worth looking into this and then quoting this at them as it would leave them open to be sued by you otherwise.

My dd had a 0.7% attendance in year 9

I think she was going for some kind of record!

We went down the managed move route as returning to the school was an obstacle that was just too big. The first school couldn't wait to agree, unfortunately it took 3 months to get another school to agree to take her

I ended up home ed-ing through GCSEs

My daughter's battle with mental health has been tough. My battle with the education system in relation to my DD's mental health has cost me my own and it's only now, 4 years later, that I'm starting to recover from that

Have a look on Facebook if you use it -there are a few support groups for parents of school refusers, they are an excellent support network

My daughter isn’t a school refuser, she’s desperate to have an education and to pass her exams so she can continue to college, but she has ridiculously bad anxiety and intrusive thoughts. It’s exhausting for her. Her teachers are never told anything by SLT as they don’t deem it necessary. She’s recently had a diagnosis of a SpLD and even that hasn’t been passed down to the poor sods on the front line trying to keep everything going this year.

I’ve massive respect for the teachers, but so little time now for the pastoral and SEN team. We’re counting down now.

I have supported dc in getting medical letters from CAMHS for school in the past. They have been very helpful with a little encouragement.

Not unreasonable at all. What’s unreasonable is that it’s not considered an illness or condition worthy of recognition by most schools. My DC suffers badly with anxiety but according to their former teacher, children don’t suffer with anxiety, my DC has never learned to integrate because I have mollycoddled them. DC is on medication for anxiety and depression and this teacher went on written record saying that DC has no issues with mental health, Dc is merely an attention seeker and their medication is not needed. Said teacher is no longer employed at that school, but that attitude is not isolated at all. Teachers coming to the profession in the last five years or so seem to be far more accepting of MH and how to support it for all students, not just those suffering issues. “Old school” teachers do not.

My DS is 15, has ASD & suffers from anxiety & depression. He is under the neurodisability team at the hospital. When his anxiety & depression is bad I have taken him to the GP who referred him to CAMHS. CAMHS refuse to see him as he is under neurodisability who have put him on a list to see a psychologist, he has been on the waiting list over a year, I have made a complaint & received the standard letter that there are too many children waiting & not enough psychologists. When we saw his consultant last month we were told that the average wait is 3 years, by that time he will be 17 & could potentially have failed his GCSE'S. Both our GP & his consultant have told me that they aren't allowed to prescribe antidepressants to a child. I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall, the only advice I have been given is that at any time I feel that he is in danger of self harm or suicide to take him to A & E.

Even with physical illness you still need a doctors note. Everytime we left the hospital we got a new one for the dates missed.

At our school its also counted as unauthorised - no doctors note needed for physical illness. Head very unhelpful - got outstanding rated school and think don't want ASD kids risking that or having to use money for SEN - told no SEN money at all and said to look for another school.

LEA were quite helpful though no power anymore and they got Ed Psych to speak to SENCO and said that they do have SEN funding and they can't just kick out kids with SEN. Improved a lot after that, got a TA, adjustments, allowed to leave class when needed and they haven't sent him home illegally for past 2 months after about 10 times pre that. Sorry for issues you are having. I do think its wrong - at work if you are off with MH conditions it would be classed as absence same way a physical absence is.

I would call SENDIASS in your area - I also called LEA SEND team - both numbers were on councils Exclusions page but hard to find anywhere else. They both gave excellent advice, LEA SEND directly intervened. I would suspect off-rolling a child for MH issues is illegal - I was advised them sending my child home as he was ASD wasn't allowed (obviously unless enough to warrant a formal exclusion for behaviour) and to refuse. We reached a compromise of them providing support, adjustments, ed psych assessment but if that still failed / he was distressed would collect. Seems to be working, no school refusal after and them sending home has petered out. Head still muttering but SENCO and most of other staff very supportive.

Thanks everyone - this all paints a bleak picture but I feel clearer having read your comments on what the school can and can’t do, so will try your suggestions.

Also the government in general has had a big push for parity of esteem between mental and physical health conditions. The school is being disgraceful. There will be guidance out there re mental health that you can find to call them out on why they are treating mental health differently.

My eldest son has ASD and in Yr 10, he developed psychosis. I think the school did everything they could to support him, but the situation was not manageable. He ended up as an inpatient on a CAMHS unit for two very long admissions and is now in residential care where he is getting a high level of support.

In retrospect, I really feel sorry for the staff at school who had to support my son before the complexity of his mental illness was realised. They were dealing with a young man is crisis and no-one really knew what to do, but they did keep him as safe as possible until we could collect him. The other pupils were also affected by his behaviour at the time.

I don’t think needing a drs note is wrong, but the idea of off rolling because they have been signed off is rediclous and where you need to seek advice from one of the organisations named above.

I have a 9 year old with major anxiety and thankfully his school have been fantastic and we have very much a “he will be in when he can” approach

Unauthorised is when the parent does not contact the school every day they are off. Authorised is when they do.
At least that is how it is round here. Any day they are off, we have to call or email in. When ds was off for three weeks, post op, on day three I just gave them an end date and we agreed that I didn't need to call every day.
It doesn't matter whether it is a mental health issue or physical issue, the school should be working with you on this or the truancy team (educational welfare) will get involved unnecessarily...or maybe necessarily in this case as they may help where the school is not.

I have always informed school and currently its saying 3.5 unauthorised days which must be MH issues.

That is what I thought Jamiefraserskilt - but it appears not, I ring every day - it’s still unauthorised 😕

Sending her to school is probably one of the biggest problems. Schools are creating a generation of neurotic under-achievers

Reading some of these, I realise how "lucky" we are. DD has been off school since October with anxiety. She has tried to go back a couple of times, but teachers have not been supportive and ended up making her worse. She's always been marked as ill.

Our GP has been fabulous and wrote a letter to authorise the time off school. She also wrote a referral letter to the Out of School Education Service at the council, and we now get a tutor come to our home for five hours a week for 14 weeks.

We're still waiting for CAMHS (I've been told it'll be 6 months) but at least at the moment we're ok.

I haven't RTFT but I previously worked in NHS mental health services and now work in a secondary school so have worked with a lot of families in this situation. At the school where I work they wouldn't authorise any medical absence without a doctor's note, whether it was a physical or mental health issue that was preventing the student from attending. In my experience it is very rare for a CAMHS professional to agree to write a letter saying that a child is 'unfit for school' due to Anxiety. This only tends to happen in the most serious of cases. Even children and adolescents who are so ill that they are sectioned on inpatient mental health units will usually be expected to participate in some form of schooling, either at a school on the Hospital site or with tutors who visit the unit. So CAMHS will usually suggest alternatives to absence such as the student being given a 'time out' card and having a designated place/person they can go to in school for support. Or they may suggest a part time timetable, to be increased gradually, if the child is struggling to manage full days- we would be happy to facilitate these things in my school. But CAMHS will rarely agree that it's in the childs best interest to be off school altogether. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly, while avoiding anxiety provoking situations might seem like a good strategy for managing anxiety symptoms in the short term, it keeps the problem going and ultimately makes it worse in the longer term. It's much more effective to gradually increase your exposure to the anxiety provoking situation, hence the idea of a part time timetable. IME the longer a child is off with Anxiety the harder it is for them to come back and they also risk losing their peer support network so this will also be a concern. This is why the school should be working with you to enable your DD to access education, instead of just threatening to take her off roll, which they aren't allowed to do. Another reason that CAMHS are often reluctant to sign kids off school is that very often, once a child stops going to school due to their anxiety/low mood it becomes something of a slippery slope and they might then stop leaving the house altogether, then stop coming out of their room, then stop getting out of bed. I don't want to be alarmist but I've seen this happen a lot. This is why it's so important that parents, CAMHS and school are working together to help your DD to access school and decide on reasonable adjustments.

It can be difficult getting the relevant professionals in the same room so one way to address this is to ask school to initiate the Early Help process. This should lead to regular meetings with agreed actions points- all documented so it's easier to hold everyone to what they've said they're going to do. Your DD should also be able to access short term counselling via the Early Help process which may help to manage her symptoms while she's waiting for CAMHS support.

Although your DD hasn't started work with CAMHS yet they should still be able to advise you and the school about how to manage the situation. I would call them and ask to speak to the Duty worker. They should he willing to call or write to the SENCo or Pastoral team at your DD's school to discuss how best to help reintegrate her back into school.