What happens when school starts proceedings against you for low attendance

[katalex]

I met with the deputy head in early January to discuss my year 11 son's low attendance (he hasn't been in since the beginning of September due to poor mental health) and how to get him back to school. I have been working with the SENCO on strategies since late September but I don't think he knew anything about this. He just treated me like I just couldn't be bothered to get my child to school, which couldn't be further from the truth.

We talked about a staggered return, which I agreed to try (even though we already tried this in October and it didn't work) but he said that they had already started proceedings against me for failing to carry out my legal duty to make sure my son attended school regularly. However, I haven't heard anything from the council yet. Are they so overloaded with referrals from schools that it takes over a month to contact a parent whose child hasn't been to school all year?

What should I expect when they do contact me? I have plenty of evidence that I can supply regarding all of the doctor's appointments, resort from the psychiatrist assessment and subsequent diagnosis, weekly therapy with a clinical psychologist since July plus emails and meetings with the SENCO and all the things we have tried. DS also has an Early Help worker. The school referred him to the county council back in September to provide some help to get him back to school. They have not contacted me so far. They also tried to refer him to the local health needs school but that request was denied. DS is going to try starting the staggered return tomorrow. Unless I've forgotten to list something here, I honestly don't know what else I could have done.

Any advice would be very helpful as I'm quite worried.

Google and download the statutory guidance:

Ensuring a good education

for children who cannot

attend school because of

health needs

Statutory guidance for local

authorities

enquire.org.uk/parents/attendance/missing-school-due-to-anxiety/

school-refusal.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQiArsefBhCbARIsAP98hXQi40gchzNAzy-hn2eZqyDSgAVTseF58vJFi-6D53BeSB6JskUQLq0aAs3qEALw_wcB

There's brand new guidelines issued this month for children missing school due to poor mental health.

Your child is entitled to a full time education, but with everything you've said and the proof you have, the LEA will be able to see this isn't a case of truancy.

Attending school regularly doesn't have to mean full time either. My daughter currently attends for 2 periods a day and this is enough for them to mark her as attending.

What does your staggered return look like? Make sure the plan is realistic, takes into consideration your son's needs, allows for setbacks and has review points. As long as he then attends in line with the plan, he'll be marked as attending / authorised absence. Which is why it's so important the plan is small and slow and addressees his needs.

Have you applied for a EHCP?

To add, the school cannot "start proceedings". What is likely to have happened is that the school's named Education Welfare Officer has seen your son's poor attendance and has asked if there are mitigating factors. As you say, the DepHead was unaware of these (which suggests a wider Pastoral / SENCO / Head of Year communication issue).

I would expect the EWO to arrange a meeting with you to understand why your child isn't in school, and this is where you list out everything you've done. It's up to the EWO to work with you to understand what agency help is needed to support a return to school - whether that's his current school or an alternative.

Given he's Year 11, has the school entered him for his GCSEs? Is he due to sit mocks?

Ah yes

DfE guidance

Summary of

responsibilities

where a mental

health issue is

affecting attendance

February 2023

schoolsweek.co.uk/evidence-not-needed-for-short-mental-health-absence-says-dfe/

@katalex I'm an EWO and have been a very long time. Highly unlikely a local authority will pursue a prosecution at this stage in year 11 - not in the public interest. MH needs will also heavily influence the decision about any legal action, in my experience it's unlikely to satisfy the basic legal pre requisites of prosecution. Meeting with the school / EWO at this stage is more about finding ways to support / move forward / identify a plan etc.

But yes the specific LEA officer should work with you and school
And look at gcses or how to take them later if needed , or just take english maths this year etc

You have evidence and wont be prosecuted !

Ds attendance was so bad that I have a feeling it was part of Ofsteds reason for putting the school down as requires improvement. But I attended all meetings & did everything they suggested to try to get him in school, I never got a fine or taken to court.

How many teachers go off with stress, do they get threatened?
Staggered returns do not work.
There are thousands of students out of school due to MH issues, this wouldn't be the case if something like staggered return worked. Usually the student has previous months/ years of trying to get into school and has exhausted all avenues.
Schools, GPs and CAHMS are all totally inept at dealing with these issues and our poor students are paying a terrible price.

I removed my son in year 11 to HE. His MH was so bad he attempted suicide multiple times. It meant he missed GCSEs but I decided he was never going to attend them anyway. The school did let him sit maths and English in the November resits as he was in a better place.

@SummerWinds you say they are all inept in dealing with these issues, what do you suggest they do?

If a parent can't get a child into school what do you suppose the school, GP, CAHMS can do?

Phased reintegration can be extremely effective and is actually based on a psychological model of graded exposure which is evidence and research based. I've worked with hundreds of children and young people with this approach, please don't say it doesn't work. It may not have been successful for all but it is often the most appropriate approach. Often when unsuccessful the approach is not being used correctly.

Thank you for the links and the reassurance. I think the deputy head was just trying to scare me into sending DS in. His letter in early January, which prompted the meeting, said that if I don't send DS in from 'tomorrow' then I will have to meet with governers and I will probably have to pay a fine. I haven't heard anything about a meeting and DS is not back in school yet. They threatened the same thing back in October. They said that, if DS didn't attend the PPEs for the full two weeks in November then I would have to meet with the governers. I sent back a full explanation of what had been happening and said that it was completey unrealistic to expect DS to attend the PPEs considering the circumstances. They never replied.

To answer your questions:

@WhatsitWiggle The staggered return is currently to try to get DS into school for one lesson each day this week. If that works then we'll see if he's ready to increase to two lessons each day either next week or the week after. The deputy head originally insisted that it had to be two lessons per day from the start, increasing by one lesson each week until he was full time. However, I told him that was unmanageable for DS and would undo all of the work we'd been doing to very gradually re-expose him to the school environment. I know he was not happy with this, especially as he told me that we were taking up a school place that someone who could attend could use. He then told me I could home educate.

It's not been a great start as he was too anxious to go in today, even after taking his Propranalol. We're going to try again tomorrow but I am not pushing him in any way. If he says he can't do it then I'll keep trying for the rest of the week.
If that doesn't work then I don't know what we'll do.

I applied for an EHCNA in November. The LA agreed to complete the EHCNA, after a three week delay. I had to chase after the deadline for the decision elapsed and I was told that the caseworker was off sick. Someone else took over and denied the request because there was no evidence that the school had done anything to help DS. It turned out that the original caseworker did not send the form to the school to fill in all the information. After that, they overturned the decision. I expect he will have left school by the time a decision is made on whether or not to issue an EHCP.

I don't know what's going to happen with his GCSEs. The last time he sat mocks was at the end of year 10 and he did very badly, only passed one subject. They are running them again from next week for two weeks but, even if he was there, he wouldn't be able to do them. If he is able to go back, I am hoping that they will allow him to reduce the number of subjects he's studying as there's no way he'll be able to catch up on all of them.

@TankFlyBoss Thanks for the insight. Do you think I can ask the school for the EWO's contact details? We're running out of time if DS has any chance of doing any exams in the summer and, based on personal experience of this school (DS and their older sibling), trying to get reasonable adjustments is like banging your head against a brick wall. They just repeat over and over again that they can't make exceptions until you give up asking, so I really need the EWO's help to reason with them.

Yes call lea and ask for the ewo dealing with kids with health issues
Ask if there is alternative provision (dd attended a small group provision and then hospital school as day pupil )

Read the guidance

Deputy head is misinformed but bypass and speak to ewo yourself
LEA has the responsibility to ensure your child s full time education
Eg off site provision
Do not say you going to HE
Child remains on roll at base school
It is not your issue if there are kids on wait list to get in (unlikely middle of year 11)

And sure meet with governors and tell them !! Ask how they see the school is implementing the statutory guidance for kids with health issues

It won't work if the environment itself is causing the anxiety though.

Many children who 'refuse' have either diagnosed or undiagnose SEN. Exposing them to an unsuitable environment when they are already stressed can be more damaging.

It can only be successful if the refusal is not due to the environment being unsuitable.

A lot of issues around attendance are to do with the fact that neurodiverse children often find a mainstream environment overwhelming and there is inadequate SEN provision for bright neurodiverse children.

OP, alternative provision is a legal requirement after 15 days absence. It is the LA who is responsible for that.

Your issue is the timing year 11 is late to make sensible alternative plans in time for GCSEs, is he able to vocalise what the issue is? Would he be able to access a college to do GCSEs? Ultimately his MH is much more important than education.

The Not Fine in School website might be useful as a resource - notfineinschool.co.uk/

The deputy is trying to scare you. DS’s absences should be authorised. And the LA should be providing education.

If you applied for an EHCNA in Nov you are somewhere between week 12 and week 16. Has DS had the assessments yet? If the LA aren’t going to issue they must inform you by week 16. If they are going to issue they must do so by week 20 and in order to do that should send a draft by week 14. If the LA don’t stick to the statutory timescales email the LA’s Director of Children’s Services reminding them of their duties and threatening judicial review. Then if that doesn’t work contact SOSSEN for help with a pre-action letter.

Enquire won’t be able to help you as they are for Scotland. IPSEA and SOSSEN are the equivalent charities that support parents in England.

Has he made it inside school at all? If not, my feeling would be a jump straight into a lesson is too much. We wasted 4 weeks trying to get DD straight into a lesson. What she managed to do was one period in learning support, just reading. Then two periods in learning support, with a laptop to do some work (not school provided, I had to base it on her homework topics), then one period in learning support and one lesson which is where we're at today.

She goes in a side entrance which avoids going past the hall (always noisy) and the PSO accompanies her through the corridors 5 minutes before / after the bell goes to reduce noise and crowds.

@lifeturnsonadime

The whole point of graded exposure is to build up the exposure to something that is the source of anxiety. We know that each time exposure occurs, the anxiety comes down gradually. So yes, it is effective if the environment is the cause of the anxiety, as long as it is done in a controlled and appropriate manner - in the right way with the right steps and the right support, with the right guidance for the school, the right reasonable adjustments and at the right pace.

For a child with SEN where the setting is unsuitable, this is a different question.

@katalex

Yes absolutely get in touch with the EWO yourself and I hope that they are as supportive and sensible as I think my team is. We aren't just there to bully people, contrary to popular belief! Good luck

The problem is, at the outset of school refusal Sen is often undiagnosed. A graded approach is a risk until assessments are complete and the reasons for the refusal is adequately assessed. Imo the graded approach should be exercised with extreme caution . I speak with some experience as the parent of 2 children who were masking significant Sen until being in the wrong environment broke them. Trying a graded approach caused my 10 year old to try to kill himself. It was horrific.

Now 6 years later he has 100% attendance at a selective mainstream college with adequate support. Knowledge is key.

Making assumptions of no Sen, as our school and EWO did actively harmed my child. Better to allow assessments to take place before risking child’s welfare.

You have my absolute sympathy. There is a great Facebook group that has lots and lots of advice. I'll post a pic of the group name.