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Child mental health

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What adjustments does school need to make for anxiety once in sixth form?

3 replies

blueskiesrule · 05/10/2021 13:48

Hi my dd is 17 & in year 13. She’s had poor attendance since year 9 due to mood/anxiety. They let her progress to sixth form but made it clear she would need to attend regularly.

It’s been up & down and at the start of year 13 she dropped to only 2 A levels. She wants to stay at school & is adamant she doesn’t want college/apprenticeship etc. However she very often doesn’t go in if we don’t arrive at the exact ‘right’ time or she’ll leave early saying she’s crying & having a panic attack.

I don’t know how much her mood is a problem on a standard scale if it were ever possible to measure that which I know it isn’t. She’s been seen in Camhs but discharged as she didn’t show that she wanted to engage in therapeutic work with anyone (happy to chat but not about how she felt etc). They referred her for an autism assessment but that won’t be until dec/January now - been waiting a while. I’m not sure is autism is the issue but I know girls are difficult to diagnose.

My question is that I think school are getting near asking her to leave partly because of the safeguarding aspect if they don’t know where she is from day to day. Also her predicted grades are beyond low as she doesn’t work outside school to catch up. She has just started with a private counsellor & has an appointment with GP to see if medication might help (previously refused by Camhs). We’d also just set up a tutor. When she was allowed to start sixth form they made it clear that this wasn’t like lower school where there was a responsibility to provide an education- this was something she was choosing to do.

Where can I find out what I can reasonably expect school to put up with if I can’t improve her attendance? I want to prepare if they ask her to leave. Many thanks for any information or advice (& apologies for length!)

OP posts:
ittakes2 · 17/10/2021 07:46

Has she been assessed for ADD? Is she very messy and struggling to be organised with her studies? I think it’s worth her trying sertraline or similar to help with moods?

scaevola · 17/10/2021 08:15

I was wondering why you think the school is close to asking her to leave - have you had any recent conversations with the SENCO, and what are they telling you about what is happening in school?

We can't just list possible adjustments out of the blue (IYSWIM) these still need to be a conversation between you (for your DD, though depending on circs she is now old enough to join in when appropriate) and the school.

What measures helped before sixth form?

And what does she want to do after sixth form - would getting her to look ahead be at all useful?

cansu · 22/10/2021 08:01

What does she want to achieve there? If she isn't able to attend she is unlikely to sit her exams? How will it make her feel to fail or achieve very low grades? How will she feel when peers go to uni etc? If she has a chance of achieving the grades she needs to get then yes stick it out. If not I would consider taking some time out to focus on improving her mental health first.

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