Help

[princesscharming23]

Really struggling at the moment. My dd is 9, shes got alot of anxiety, separation anxiety and is being assessed for ASD.
School is a big issue and is really getting worse with age.
She can't cope with changes the school arent alot of help as she masks at school and we get all the fun and games when she's home and can be herself. Anyway, cut a long story short, shes begging and crying not to send her to school anymore and that she wants to be home schooled, shes having so many sleepless nights anxious about it and crying herself to sleep about school too. The school are aware and are basically telling me she needs to be at school and she needs to get used to ut. She has a new teacher this year and the teacher is actually new to the school and shes really not coping with this but school say in secondary school she will need to be used to it as it will be all new teachers e wey lesson.

Im so done with seeing my daughter so upset like this crying all the time and being so anxious she can't sleep.
What should I do? Please help

Has she missed any school?

Your school should have an emotionally based school avoidance procedure. Emotionally based school avoidance absence should be documented separately to normal absence and should follow a different absence procedure.

If she's missed more than 15 days of school either cumulatively or consecutively because of her anxiety and struggles around school you can also write to the LA.

You can state:

My child has now missed 15 days of education due to emotionally based school avoidance. Under section 19 of the Education Act, I understand the local authority has a duty to provide a suitable full time education. This setting is no longer suitable. Please confirm the provision you will be putting in place.

Alternatively if she doesn't have an EHCP, nows the time to apply for one, which will include a needs assessment. You can either wait for an appointment with an educational psychologist they appoint or hire a private one which may be quicker and their feedback report can be used in an EHCP.

Ultimately you're trying to prove this school can't meet need, irrespective of funding, and needs a specialist provision. You may need SEND guidance from SENDIASS who can provide advocacy services. They claim to be impartial but they are government appointed so it's essentially the second hand to the local education authority who will try and do anything to not fund a specialist placement where they can get away with it. Alternatively there are other services like IPSEA or SEND SOS.

You can also request Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) in the interim, which can also be a battle as everything we do for our SEN children so unnecessarily is, and it can be done on a permanent basis or you can request it as an interim solution while they source an alternative/specialist provision.

This is NOT electively home educating, so it keeps the LEA on the hook for making sure they find her the right placement whereas EHE gets them off the hook.

I know that's a lot of information to digest but I hope it's given you some direction.

Also get everything documented at the doctors. Her anxiety and sleepless nights. The emotional outbursts once she's home. The begging not to go to school.

This may be useful if your school refuse to follow the correct procedure for emotionally based school avoidance and continue to threaten to put her wellbeing at risk or threaten to take you to court for absence, even if they can't do anything to prevent her anxiety.

I see that she is currently on the Pathway for assessment @princesscharming23

Has she had a referral for Occupational Therapy too?