How to get an education if unable to go to school because of (extended but tempory) illness.)

[MeanMom]

Hope this is the right place to post this?(sorry it's quite long)

My DD(13) has various health issues, all of which are minor compared with what a lot have to go through. However because of her situation she is currently (IMO) suffering from depression and anxiety issues, and has missed a lot of school (currently around 50% attendance this school year)We have a referral to CAMHS appointment next week. She is 'officially' SEN but no statement.

School and EWO on our case re attendance which is only making DD anxiety worse (again IMO) - I have heard of pupils being given 'online' lessons in special circumstances but cannot find out much about it. Her school is very good academically (she is a bright child) and she had to pass an entrance exam to get in. Therefore I wouldn't really be able to de register and home educate til she is ready to go back as her place would have gone to someone else.

Have asked for work to be sent home but very little has been sent, and she struggles with the French and German as none of us speak it and so cannot help properly. Maths is also a problem if just sent home.

Ideally when we see CAMHS I would like them to give her a 'sick note' for at least til Easter - she has not yet been back after half term as she has chicken pox (never rains but it pours!). She is year 8 - can they make her re do year 8 instead of going into year 9 in Sept? She will have to choose her GCSE's in just over a year but has not properly studied some of the subjects at all yet?

Any ideas or experience would be really appreciated. Thanks for reading

MM

If she's got medical reasons (and these can include school phobia, depression and anxiety) she should be referred to your local Hospital School, which will have a home tuition service and probably also a campus and a ward service. These are good and bad just like schools are good and bad, and you can get their report from Ofstead to see if it's worth pushing for this. You don't have to deregister her - many students will only use the hospital services for a short period (say, around planned operations) and go right back into their mainstream school.

Access to education for children and young people with medical needs

Me and DP both went to various hospital schools. Some were good; some were bad; they were all probably better than nothing.

Thank you Acumenoop - Ive googled and there doesn't seem to be a hospital school in our LEA - nearest one 2 hrs+ travel away as I dont drive. Suppose that doesnt matter as it is online tuition I'm after, I guess?

But would we get a referall to somewhere outside of LEA?

And why hasn't school told me about this option?

Thx for help, MM

Hi, MeanMum. I am in a similar situation to you, so I hope my experience will be useful to you. My son (12) has been off school since January with anxiety issues. I have pestered the school (as politely as possible ) to send work home or at least let us know what topics they are covering. Emailing individual teachers seemed to work best in this regard.

I have now asked for DS to be referred to the Education Outreach Worker, who the school tell me will be able to do some schoolwork with him at home (so you may find that the EWO is helpful to you, rather than a hindrance). I have also asked for DS to be referred to FLESS, which supports children with their education when they can't go to school. This is only based in Sussex, but I would imagine each county has its own version. Maybe the school's SENCO would be able to help you with this - or your Local Education Authority.

Whilst we wait for all this to take effect, I am getting DS to access BBC Bitesize KS3 online - this is very good for revising the essentials. I have been advised, by a teacher, to focus on Maths and Science for now, as those are the subjects that you need to keep up with (it doesn't matter so much if you miss topics in History, for instance, as you can generally jump back in to the new topic). We also do reading every day because we enjoy it.

I have also just ordered these Maths workbooks, plus their answer book, and am hoping they will help DS keep up with his Maths. The books were recommended to me on MN.

Hope this helps.