Marked Down for Anxiety. Discriminatory or Justifiable ?

[RockinHippy]

High School GCSE years. So the marking scheme for attitude to learning means that if they do well, they get home study leave during any exams.
Part of the marking criteria is engaging more with the lessons, as in putting their hands up & answering questions & speaking up in class in front of their peers.

I've a very anxious 16yo with a diagnosed disability that along with cognitive problems meaning she can muddle her words, or forget what she's saying mid sentence etc, has raging anxiety as a symptom. Obviously made worse by the very real fear of making a fool of herself in front of her class mates. One teacher who targets DD with questions gave her the highest score possible, but she owns up to feeling like she's about to pass out every time he picks on her, so I'm not sure teachers doing that is the answer, though I can see he's done her a favour. So she just cannot improve her ATL by putting her hand up in class more score due to diagnosed medical condition.

She's pushed herself into school when too ill lately in the hope improving her attendance would get her a higher ATL score. Unfortunately not enough & she's just made herself more ill.

Meaning she just isn't able to qualify for the home study leave during exams. It is part of the marking criteria though, so the teachers are just followings rules.

Am I right in thinking these rules are massively unfair to kids like DD though & want to tackle it ?
Or is there something I am missing?

I should have added, DDs health problems mean that she benefits a lot from the study leave, as she can catch up on sleep she misses when too anxious to sleep & she's studying all night.

Have you talked to the school about it? Do they know about her diagnosis?

I'd speak to the SENCO about how, irrespective of her ATL scores, it would be beneficial for her to have study leave.

Probably easier to get study leave sorted than query ATL scores.

Yes, the school know, they also know how bad she was as she missed 2 years of school when her health worsened.

I've mentioned it, but it was part of information for other things. (DD is to be assessed for autism) so far I've had no response, though I'm thinking I probably need to go higher & trying to work out if I have justification for being a PITA to get this changed or not.

Or is there something I am missing?

Could it be that school think she would be better to be in school in a very small group with teacher time? Study leave isn't a treat - it is the time for students to really get their head down, and some do that better with teacher support. I regularly have kids opting to come in to study with me in the room for help as and when they need it.

If you think she would be better at home speak to the SENCo.

What do the kids who don't get study leave do?

Isobel

Yes, we know that's what it's about & that's exactly what happens with the students who don't get study leave at DDs school too. It can be a good thing, though DD was initially worried that she'd be stuck in classes with all of the kids who misbehave in class, so it would be noisy & distracting (SPD), that wasn't the case at all & she did say that with at least one class she felt she benefited from it. So I think she will choose to come in for some study sessions even with study leave.

That said though, the one morning we thought sod it, this is ridiculous. She's been awake & studying until 4 am & here we were trying to wake her & drag her out of bed at 6,am, for school. So we let her lie in until she needed to be in school for the exam. That was her best day, despite struggling with pain & symptoms & it was subjects that she feels weaker in.

She's found studying during the night when she can't sleep due to anxiety, pain etc, distracts her & she's found it's helped her recall for the actual exams a lot. So it's just making the best of a bad situation.

Teens thank you. I'm thinking on it from the wrong angle. I'll contact the SENCO 👍🏼

Bertrand, see Isobel's comment above. That explains it

I think it's unfair, I'd be complaining. I had an anxious child and the school insisting on her doing things that drew attention to herself instead of just being able to get on with her work quietly definitely did not help. My DD also took time out of school, regrouped and is now fine with speaking out but if I was in your position I would definitely speak to them.

Dd didn't qualify for study leave either. I emailed school and said she revises much better at home (true) so she'd be taking it anyway.... They changed their minds

It depends what you mean by being 'marked down'.
Most schools I've worked at have a ranking system and the top one is for students who consistently go above and beyond, second is someone who is doing what is expected etc. I wouldn't be too concerned if it's a case of not getting the highest attitude score.

If it's a case of being flagged as having a poor attitude due to not putting hands up then I think that's a bigger issue and one that needs raising with school.

If she has missed 2 years of school then I would have thought the priority would be to get her in to work in smaller groups with a teacher.