Attendance concerns, any advice or support for this?

[thisisalongdrive]

My DD has had a tricky start to year 9, she's pretty unhappy, we've had a lot of anxiety over the last year, but we've also come a long way and have a better and closer relationship than we've had since she left primary school. However, attendance has become a bit of a struggle. I've been trying to tread the line between support, encouragement, and insistence. I don't think she pushes it that much to be honest and think if I was totally led by her, then her attendance would be about half of what it actually is.

Anyway, it's 65% this term, and the school are threatening further action and want me to sign an 'attendance contract' which basically seems like a statement saying I will ensure she attends daily.

Her absences are a mix of heavy periods (she has a short cycle, has done from day 1), anxiety and low mood, and we all had viruses a couple of weeks in (2/3 of us had covid).

They've already asked for medical evidence of any further absences.

What happens if I don't sign this?

Get her help for her periods. There is no need for a teenager to suffer like that.

The "attendance contract" has no legal force.

Doesn't really matter if you sign it or not except maybe they might be nicer if you sign it (because you are "co-operating") so you might as well sign it.

If she has bad periods I would get in touch with the GP not so much on attendance grounds but just because there are things that will help - one possibility is she could go on the pill and run two packets together which would halve the number of periods. There are also painkillers that are good for period pain that the doctor can prescribe - I had mefenanic acid.

This would also help you evidence that there are medical issues.

Keep a record of every day she has off and if it is medical (periods, Covid, etc) record it as much.

Yeh I’m immediately struck by the period factor too. She can go on a low-dose pill that reduces or even stops them.

If they are bad enough to keep her off school then I would look at that.

And remember (or school should) that we are only five weeks into the year. A week off for Covid and (say) three days for periods is more than 30% absence. It should get better as long as she isn’t continually ill.

And see the doc about the MH issues too. Do you expect it to be this kind of figure over a year?

They often ask for medical evidence of future absences but most GPs will refuse to provide this as it is a total and utter waste of Gp time.

I'd suggest you go into your local GP and find out how much they charge for a private letter.

Then whenever the school ask for medical evidence you can reply with

"My GP has told me that providing this evidence is not NHS work. They therefore will charge me £30 per letter. Please let me know that you are happy to pay this charge and I will contact the GP and provide the medical evidence you require."

Since when did schools become so draconian? They don’t seem to care about the kids at all

Most of then don't. It's all about attendance, uniform and behaviour contracts. That's about it. A small amount of teaching gets done by the actual teachers but SLTs beat the teachers about attendance and uniform.

They are raising concerns over VERY low attendance 65% is almost 2 full days a week not in school, every week. That in itself shows care, they want the kids in school and learning. If they didn’t care they would not be trying to get her in.