To have refused to sign this parenting contract about attendance

[NoContract]

Dd is 15. Attendance is very low (62%). Has never been above 80% since starting secondary.

Dd has multiple medical issues. We have given so many letters from consultants. For the last year if she has for example had a regular illness eg d and v we have had to get proof (a GP appt) or threats of fines are immediate.

Today I was asked to sign a contract that I will make sure attendance improves. I refused as I have no control over it - I’m really thinking now that home education is the only way forward ? Because I refused I was told there will be further referrals made ? Feel like I’m going mad and talking to a brick wall if it was that simple and I could sort things out I would have ??!!

Dd has asked me not to disclose the conditions as there are a lot and may be identifying. I’m able to say they are all long term / permanent and that we are currently not having much luck finding effective therapies

Write your own contract and send that in instead. Then you can keep your undertaking to making sure she attends school when well enough, and bringing her straight back to school after appointments. You could try adding in some clauses for them to agree to!

Yep I second emailing the LA inclusion team (and OFSTED) because your child has legitimate reasons to be off school yet you are faced with endless demands and letters. Because the school won’t work with you in an appropriate way, you’re feeling pressurised to home school. Not that you want to home school, you just feel cornered and there is no choice. Off-rolling is something many schools secretly chance but they are not allowed to off-roll in any shape or form. Local Authorities firmly disapprove of off-rolling and make attempts to stamp it out. While OFSTED inspectors will mark school leadership lower if off-rolling is identified, it basically highlights shoddy non inclusive leadership.

Can i ask OP. Are her medical issues mental health related? Eg Anxiety.
Unfortunately these just don't seem to be viewed in the same light as physical health issues. Eg a friends child has cystic fibrosis and is hospitalised at times and the school accept his absences without question.
Its very difficult because im not sure there's much evidence when it comes to EBSA that staying off school actually helps long term

Are the school providing work? They should be.

The ultimate duty to provide education for CSA pupils unable to attend school full time lies with the LA. Even if the school sends work help, this doesn’t relieve the LA’s duty to provide a suitable, full-time education.

Can i ask OP. Are her medical issues mental health related? Eg Anxiety.
Unfortunately these just don't seem to be viewed in the same light as physical health issues

Its because they aren't the same.

There's a big difference between:

• child A with cystic fibrosis who's on the lung transplant waiting list and is medicalised to receive medical treatment that is keeping them alive. This child cannot attend school. They would die, they may simply be too unwell to be educated.
• child B with anxiety or issuss relating to ND for example, for whom attending school would be very difficult and damaging to their wellbeing/mental health. This is very different. This child could & should be supported by school, parents & medical team to receive education in some form. If mainstream provision is not feasible with support, alternatives should be being assessed rg EOTAS, special schools, ARPs.

It is very hard to say. It sounds like the school are bonkers. However I have never seen this approach from a school unless they actually think something else is going on ie they think the child could be in school more and that the parent is hiding poor attendance with diagnosed and undiagnosed medical conditions. The OP may be completely genuine and their child may be one who attends a school that fines or harasses genuinely sick children. However my experience is that most schools are understanding and helpful when children are so ill that they cannot attend.

I’m sorry to hear your story. I used to be quite upset seeing kids going into school happy & laughing knowing my DD was at home poorly.

My experience is that as much as the schools talk about importance of attendance, kids have amazing resilience. My DD is now through uni and in a professional job, but had similar attendance for a chronic lifelong medical condition. The lowest was when they were aged about 11 it was 30% for the year.

Overall the school were understanding and I gave all the consultant letters. Had a few tiger mum moments! A few rude teacher comments. But I never stopped fighting for her. In secondary, they didn’t like DD would text me when she needed to leave and I would turn up at reception desk to collect but it meant she could go in knowing I would always come and get her if needed.

When DD was 15 they worried she would miss course work for exams. Local council offered online schooling ( see Academy 21) For us it was perfect. 4 day week & study from home (almost 100% attendance as it was easier with pain to not have to travel to school & walk around in the day). She still went to prom & saw friends. She got good results, went to college (2 A levels over 3 years) and then uni ( with a foundation year)

i wouldn’t have signed an attendance contract. It’s stressful enough having a child not in school due to a medical issue.

I'm an Attendance Lead (newly appointed) at a school with historically low attendance. I'm challenging this can't do culture. As a result, we've sent out over 100 attendance contracts since half term.

In terms of signing it, doesn't matter to me if you don't. I just write "parent refused to sign" on the document and carry on with it anyway. When it gets yo the penalty notice fine, not signing it just makes the parent look worse.

Moving on to illness, fo you have a medical professional willing to put in writing that this child cannot reasonably attend school more than 80%? If so, school have lots of options to support you.

However, GPs will on the whole want to promote good attendance at school. If the GP doesn't think your child's health needs warrants 1-2 school days off a week, you need to accept your child needs to attend more and figure out what the actual barrier to attending is. It takes some deep reflection on why the child isnt getting their education. Is it to do with sleep habits, rules and boundaries, behaviour issues, lack of resilience, permissive parenting, lack of assertive adults, taking the path of least resistance?

You sound perfectly suited to your new job.

Don't they! My word.

Was thinking the same thing 😜
perfect match.

I was about to type out a response to that poster but you’ve said what I’d have said much more succinctly.

OP, I’m so sorry people like @LittleHangleton are what you’re up against. It’s absolutely appalling.

As a teacher I’m confused why the school would be having this conversation with you if your child has known and evidence medical conditions? What I’m getting at is, do you think the school believes you as they are coming across as if they don’t?

@LittleHangleton I hope that as you develop in your role, you will develop a much better understanding of the effect medical issues can have on attendance. Your approach would not help my DD at all and would only cause conflict. If the attendance officer at my school approached her role in that way, the relationship with parents that is essential to children with disabilities would break down completely.

The DfE have a long way to go to understand the damage they are doing by pushing schools to think 100% attendance is achievable for all students no matter what. And some schools also need to consider the damage they do to already struggling families with this approach.

I am saddened that people think this way and am so glad my DDs school are more understanding. Her paediatrician commented that her attendance was much higher than she would have anticipated given all her medical issues, but technically she is classed as persistently absent by the DfE.

It does feel this way to me but we’ve consistently given all the appointment letters, verified illness with the GP and before she even started we had notified of all diagnosed illnesses along with letters. The GP has been really helpful as to be absolutely honest I’ve had to make a lot of unnecessary appointments just to get things such as fever and d and v verified and in the past I’d never have taken her for things like this which are manageable at home

As the guidance states, the attendance contracts are not a legal contract and schools cannot make parents sign.

Regardless of whether you have a letter from a Gp stating about your child's attendance, as your child is (likely to be) considered disabled under the Equalities Act definition, the school should be putting in place support by way of reasonable adjustments.

Has the school done anything to support your child?

If you decide that this school is not working for your child, there are a number of other options.

Where mainstream is not suitable for a child the local authority have a duty to provide an education for her (unless you choose to home educate).

For some children this means online schooling, there are also hospital schools for children and teens who spend significant amounts of time in hospital. Local authorities can also fund EOTAS which is education other than at school or a bespoke package. EOTAS is most often done for students with autism or other needs that don't fit into mainstream or special school and usually involves in person tutors visiting the house where the student lives.

Most students who access this type of education will have an EHCP.

This is a very short introduction to what an EHCP is.

www.gov.uk/children-with-special-educational-needs/extra-SEN-help

Don't home educate, unless you have lots and lots of money. Learn the system and you will be able to help your daughter get what she needs.

There is no usual about EOTAS/EOTIS packages. They are completely bespoke to the individual’s needs. Some include tutoring at home. Some don’t. Some include tuition online, in the community, at a tuition centre, at an AP. Some don’t include any formal tuition at all. And it is a poor EOTAS/EOTIS package via an EHCP that only contains tuition.

they sound like they don’t get the concept that some children will be absent purely because they are ill then. I’d ignore them as clearly they don’t get common sense and they can’t threaten you with anything if it’s all evidenced. I would be seriously angry with them though! Not sure jf they are breaking any rules- but something to look into

OP i dont think you answered my question - are your childs medical conditions predominantly mental health conditions?

1. its important to “play along” with the game. You will have more stress when they start taking steps to take control from you. Sign the agreement - you can write on the agreement THIS above your signature

“today I am requesting assessment for EHCP to support Child Name in accessing education as her health has been preventing her from accessing education. “

Be sure you are getting to acknowledge the request and you need to know WHEN they will go it. Her needs need to be accommodated.

Your last paragraph … Interesting how some schools assume the parents are to blame (never the school!). Lack of reflection on the schools part is often a big part of the issue, creating a parent blame culture, fostering poor relations, preventing a joined up approach and truly child centred education.

Just out of interest, of these 1 in 5 kids missing more than 10% of school each year, do many have physical health ailments keeping them away or is the issue predominantly anxiety

How do you know she’s doing well? She must have missed assessments. This is not to say that her illness isn’t genuine but it’s bound to being having an effect on her progress.

School are obliged to provide a tutor due to medical reasons. I don’t know a whole lot about it, we started down that route as my DS was very unwell and unable to attend school pretty much for the whole of last year (luckily we finally found a medication regime that helped) but we found out about this (school DID NOT tell us anything about it) and we’d just started applying when his health improved enough to attend part time. Ask them. They are legally obligated for any child who can’t attend due to medical issues.

School are obliged to provide a tutor due to medical reasons.
They are legally obligated for any child who can’t attend due to medical issues.

No, they aren’t. Under section 19 of The Education Act 1996 the ultimate duty to ensure CSA pupils unable to attend school still receive a suitable full-time education lies with the LA. Not the school.