Should the SENCO be involved with this situation?

[Emochild]

Dd has been refusing school for 6 weeks due to anxiety

We've been to the GP who has done a camhs referral
We've been contacted by camhs and are waiting for an appointment

School in theory are sending work home for her -we've had a total of 5 pieces of work

Talking to HOY today and it becomes clear that the SENCO isn't involved or even aware of the situation -because there is no official diagnosis

Is this normal procedure?

School refusal at my school would be dealt with by the pastoral team rather than the SENCO. If assessments turn up anything specific then the SENCO might get involved.

That's quite concerning. Doesn't the SENCO realise that anxiety leading to school refusal is itself capable of being a special educational need?

Thank you alonglongway, I really appreciate you and your dd taking the time to respond

I'm so torn as a parent -I want her to be in school but I can see what the daily pressure is doing to her

You've confirmed i'm doing the right thing, making the decision to give her some breathing space

You'll need to talk to CAMHS about whether realistically she can be expected to be able to go back in September and, if not, whether they'll sign her off as medically unfit.

If they do that, the local authority will then have a duty to arrange home tuition which should be around 10-15 hours a week, or else something like a placement in a hospital school. They'll try to tell you you are only entitled to 5 hours tuition a week, but that's nonsense.

Schools are set up differently - as long as there is support there Icimoi then it's not really crucial what the job title of the person is. It might turn out that she does get referred to SENCo, but I think the first poster was pointing out that it's not automatically the SENCo who would be leading on this. IME, pastoral teams, behavioural teams, attendance teams, and SENCos work very closely together as it is quite common for there to be some cross over and different names for the people staffing these departments in different schools.

OP - why do you say you are being "threatened" with EWO and Family Support ? Rather than 'offered support from EWO and Family support'?

Because its presented as

'if you don't get her into school, even if she just comes in and sits in the learning mentors office, we will have to send the welfare officer round. Also you have another child, we need to make sure her welfare is ok and her needs are being met'

Also the tone in which 'we strongly advise' is delivered

I'm sure i'm not the only one who would feel threatened and not supported

Dd2's school on the other hand is being supportive and have no concerns for dd2's welfare, despite knowing the whole situation

The thing is to not be threatened by the Educational Welfare officer threat. But to treat the Educational Welfare officer as another resource who wants your DD back in school.
Great them with discussions about re-integration plans once her mental health needs have been met etc. etc.

Mental health is a fairly new addition to the SEN remit (with the new code of practice). I know some who are struggling with implementing this as the new Code landed with very little training for them (I know others who have had training). In previous years I would not have expected the SENCO to be involved but I think now they should be.

No, the new Code of Practice didn't add mental health into the SEN remit as a new thing - it has always been there. Basically, if the child has a condition which means that they can't access mainstream education, it is capable of being an SEN, and that was the position under the previous law also. But it is certainly true to say that training for teachers on this issue has always been woefully deficient.

Hi emo, I have been in a similar situation with Dd3, she is on the SEN register though and has autism and other stuff going on!

She hasnt been to school for 6 weeks and no one has really bothered with us! We are not sending her back but they dont know that yet and still havent made any attempt to encourage us to send her back!

We are slightly gobsmacked to be honest with all the fuss they make about attendance

Anyway, what I was going to say is try to get a break over the summer and hope your appointments at camhs goes ok!

Good luck