Y11 Long Term Sick (School Related Anxiety) and GCSE Assessment

[katalex]

My DC is in year 11 but they haven't been in school since March 2020. Even before that, they had a significant amount of time off school. This is all due to school related anxiety. They have been unable to engage with the online work because of focus and concentration issues and lack of motivation so, they have missed over a year of teaching. Fortunately they started GCSEs in year 9 so they have completed a fair amount of the courses and they have enough knowledge in maths to complete the foundation papers.

We were advised yesterday by the school that dc would have to go into school to be assessed for GCSE so they can be sure that it is all their own work. They said that they cannot use historical evidence from year 9 and early year 10 classwork and assessments. The issue is that their school related anxiety is severe. Even just thinking about going to school makes them anxious and upset. I don't think we are going to be able to get them to go in once, let alone enough times to build up enough evidence for 5 GCSEs.

If you have a dc off long-term sick, how is your school proposing to assess them? I know schools don't yet know the details of how students will be assessed but I was just wondering what the options could be for someone who cannot go into school at all.

For background, dc has been accepted by CAMHS for treatment. They had a mental health assessment in November but we are still waiting for treatment to start. Hopefully this will help but it is likely to take months to have any positive effect and we are running out of time. They are also currently being assessed for ADHD and on the waiting list for an autism assessment.

Hi. Are you me?
We have a similar situation with DD.

They said that they cannot use historical evidence from year 9 and early year 10 classwork and assessments.

I don't think they can make definitive statements on this yet as the results of the consultation aren't out until towards the end of February. However, I'm pessimistically assuming this will be the case.

The approach we have taken so far is:

• drop number of GCSEs being entered to 4 (which she needs for college)
• pay for private tutoring
• pick up work from google classroom to do with me
• get very stressed

If DD is unable to return to school, which is highly likely, I think I will be asking the school to let her sit assessments and be invigilated by zoom, or even have a member of staff come to our house to 'invigilate' if needed (we're only 5 mins drive from the school).

I am also going to ask college what the situation will be with her next course if she is too unwell for GCSEs but well by Sept.

Have either or you two completed the consultation? It's available for parents to complete but the deadline is tomorrow.
A time-limit on assessments is likely but they haven't decided how long this will be yet.
There was also a question about whether you think students should be able to complete assessments online if unable to attend school.
The invigilator to the home is possible too, subject to social distancing requirements!

cat Yes, I completed the consultation.

However, like the OP, we have an unclear/shifting situation so guessing what might actually work was difficult.

It's really frustrating as DD was set for 4-6s in terms of grades. Without the pandemic we could have kept her in school, but once out she collapsed.

Thanks. I will suggest online invigilation, although that will come with its own issues as DC struggles with video calls (social anxiety). They would only be able to do that if it was a teacher they know and like.

Do you think they would allow a member of staff to come to our house? Even if it were in a few months' time they could still be quoting 'covid restrictions' (which is one of the reasons DC was unable to get back into school in September i.e. they removed ALL support due to covid restrictions as they don't yet have an EHCP).

I'm hoping they will be able to take into account how much work DC has missed. They have massive learning gaps in English (only finished one of the set texts) and history (only studied 2.5 out of the 4 topics. They can't do the online work and, if we even ask them if they are going to do any work, it will make them even more unlikely to do it. It has to be their personal choice. It's sad because they were predicted grade 7/8 in history, which is a subject they want to study further. As things stand, they are unlikely to even pass.

I've spoken to local colleges and they have said that DC could probably start on a level 1 course but that will be so far below what they are capable of, they would be bored and unengaged. I also haven't been able to get an answer on whether a level 1 course would then allow them to move up to A levels. DC wants to go down the academic route. There are literally no vocational qualifications that they are interested in.

I haven't completed the consultation but I will do it today.

I completed the consultation because I have been supporting a student who has also missed a lot of school.
It may be possible for a member of staff to visit the house, but it couldn't be someone directly involved with teaching the paper being examined.
@katalex a level 1 course would be too low for your dd. She will be deemed to have passed level 1 with 4 GCSE grades 1 to 3 so will need to do level 2. They have 3 years funding post 16 so if your dd passes level 2 in 2022 she will then be able to move onto A levels. Is there a sixth form college near you - they would offer level 2 / GCSEs and then A levels (or level 3 BTEC)?

Have you applied for an EHCNA? If so, DD could do GCSEs next year or the year after via home tuition (or a college if there's any nearby who offer more than English and Maths or if you can get a mainstream independent school to admit her to Y11). EHCPs can go up to 25, so after sitting GCSEs a few years later than normal she could go on to do A levels. If you haven't yet applied for an EHCNA you can make a parental request yourself.

I agree with Cat, level 1 isn't appropriate. Even starting level 1 and using it as a stepping stone is likely to harm DD's already fragile self esteem. There would be the risk of her becoming long term NEET.

I am sorry you and your DD are going through this. If you are in the UK and your daughter is assessed as autistic, the Uk has a girls only autistic high school I came across on youtube once. The girls there seemed very happy.

Unfortunately the consultation does seem to suggest that the assessments will need to be made on what the student actually knows at a certain date (likely to be in Summer term) rather than what they may have achieved (even for those that merely haven't evidenced their knowledge/trajectory with full schooling). I think you should look at 10brokengreenbottles advice above as being the first route to look into. And if your DD is able to do some form of work at all for the remainder of the school year perhaps the school would be amenable to working out a way that she gets her English and Maths papers done.

Definitely do make a parental application for an EHCNA if you haven't already done so. I applied for Ds's mid July last year and the LA agreed to issue one in early December.

Thanks for the info about course levels. I've looked online at Kent Choices and the local college web sites but they just confused me. We only have one college near us (30 minutes drive) which offers A Levels. I'll check with them if DC can do a level 2 course and then move onto A Levels. All schools in this area do A Levels so this college is their only option. There's no way DC will go to a school in September. I don't even know if they'll even be in a position to go to college. They're not that much different to schools really.

The main thing is that they don't leave school with nothing. Their mental health is already suffering and their self-esteem is so low. It's just so hard to get any help without an EHCP (which I will be applying for once I know if they have ADHD or not).

I am going to be trying to persuade college that even if DD doesn't have the official entry criteria, if well enough she should still be allowed onto the most academically appropriate course.

This year of all years 6th forms / colleges should surely be able to take school reports into account, so that even if they don't have evidence for official GCSE grades they can hopefully say ' would have been capable of'.

The issue might be there for maths/science/languages if they haven't covered sufficient syllabus, but for humanities I'd hope there would be flexibility.

Thanks for the extra advice. I hadn't seen it before I just posted again. I'll definitely be applying for an EHCNA. We should get the ADHD assessment results in a couple of weeks.

I'm so glad I've got you all here to give me advice. I keep flipping back and forth between feeling positive to hopeless.

Don't wait for the ADHD assessment to be completed. EHCNAs are needs led not diagnosis based. Getting an EHCP takes 20 weeks, that's if you don't have to appeal at any point. If you have to appeal refusal to assess and issue and content it is way longer.

If DD is struggling in a school, college may be even more overwhelming - busier, less structured, more independent work, new people, especially if DD starts without sufficient support in place. A breakdown in placement could have devastating effects.

Ittakes if you are thinking of Limpsfield grange it is 11-16 and requires an EHCP. And very sought after.

If exams had not been cancelled, would your DC have been well enough to go into school to sit them, then?

It's just that it seems that you are unhappy that the school is asking the child to go into school to complete assessments for the TAGs, but they would have had to attend school on multiple occasions to sit their GCSEs as well, surely.

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic OP's DD wouldn't need to attend school to sit exams, home invigilation is possible.

And, as long as someone completes at least part of a qualification's assessment (25% for GCSEs I think) if they are absent from a paper due to illness then an application for an enhanced grade can be made to the exam board.

Teen - I'm hoping to do the same. DC's grades were really good at the end of year 9/early year 10. They are more than capable of doing A Levels. They won't be bothering with science exams. They have missed over a year of lessons.

10brokengreenbottles - thanks for the advice. I'll get the application submitted ASAP. College being less structured is actually a major plus for DC. They really struggle with the rigidity of the school day. I know they would still have to stick to a timetable but, in my experience, colleges are more relaxed (although things may have changed since the 90s lol).

TheOnlyLivingBoy - If exams had not been cancelled, it is highly likely that my DC would not have been well enough the sit them. I'm not unhappy with the school asking them to go in to sit assessments at all. I'm just looking for alternatives in case they are unable to go in. Had we not been in a pandemic for almost a year, DC may have received the help they needed sooner and we may not have been in this situation. Nothing is normal this year and I'm just looking for some reasonable accommodations so that they don't leave school with literally no qualifications. You may be picking up on my frustration with the school initially not believing that there was anything wrong with DC because we had no proof i.e. no diagnosis. They thought I was just being too soft and all I had to do was force DC (who was having suicidal thoughts related to having to go to school) to get out of bed every morning and drag them to school and physically force them into the building sobbing. I had to battle for months and escalate to the head teacher to actually get them to take me seriously and actually support DC.