Son with health problems/school issues

[LoveBeingAMum555]

Hi, I am desperately in need of some help. My son has a Chronic Illness that means for the past 2 years he has not been to school full time. In fact he has had a couple of periods of around 3 months where he hasnt been well enough to go to school at all. He has had some home tutoring during this time but its been very limited.

He doesnt actually have any learning difficulties as such - he was doing well before he became ill. The problem is just that he has missed so much school now that he is a long way behind.

He started secondary school last September and his attendance has been very patchy because of his health. He is currently managing 3 lessons a day but really struggling because he just doesnt understand whats going on in lessons. He suffers with anxiety and the emphasis at school has been about just getting him into lessons and helping him cope with that rather than focusing on the learning. Thats fine but the problem is that he sits in lessons not having a clue what he is supposed to be doing - and thats making him more anxious.

We are struggling to get any learning support for him in lessons, over and above what other children are getting. The trouble is that we dont really know where to go for help and what we should be asking for. School have told us that there is no way that he could have a dedicated teaching assistant so thats out of the question.

Sorry for the long post. Is there anyone who has an experience of this kind of situation? We have got a meeting with school coming up but we are getting to the point where we do a lot of talking but nothing really seems to change.

it's not entirely true that he can't have a dedicated ta, the school won't be able to fund this but you could look into statutory assessment and statementing that would fund a 1:1 ta depending on the outcome. Have you had any contact with parent partnership? Some services are good, some are controlled too closely by the LEA but it's worth finding out. You should also have a good read of the sen code of practice and a good place to look for advice would be some of the independent charities if you haven't already, ipsea, sossen and ace.

As NinjaGoose says if he cannot access the curriculum successfully without support he is entitled to a TA.

Have you contacted your local Parent Partnership Scheme? They may be able to send some to support you at the meeting and this person should be able to help clarify the best way for them to support your DS's learning. Clearly the further behind he falls the harder he will find the lessons and the more anxious he will become. If the school cannot offer him sufficient support they need to be honest about that and apply for a statutory assessment.

Thanks for the advice. I havent even heard of the Parent Partnership Scheme so will do some research on that. Will also look into the charities you mention.

Today he has refused to go to school and I just dont know what to do. Feel like I have nowhere to turn and no-one understands. I am waiting for school to ring me back so will see what they say.

just manged to delete my message - so trying again
as well as the statutory assessment of his special educational needs there are two other possible soursces of help.

Your son may still be entitled to support of the tuition service he had when out of school as he is unable to attend school full time - link here to document re entitlement:www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationdetail/page1/DFES%2f0025%2f2002 Well worth reading to know your child's rights.

There is also a government scheme to suport children who are struggling significantly with English and maths offering 1- 1 tuition www.tda.gov.uk/teacher/developing-career/one-to-one-tuition.aspx
It may depend on just how far behind your son has fallen - but can't hurt to ask.