School refusal/phobia/ anxiety -New local (in South East England) Support Group

[pinkorkid]

We are still at the planning/start-up stage with this but have a first meeting coming up soon. If any mumsnetter, whose family is affected by this, would like to be involved or have more information, please send me a pm.

So DS did have school phobia/anxiety resulting in refusal?

Which you anticipate in the future?

I'm with you now.............I think, similar to my DS?

hothead, thanks for the link to the myanxiouschild site. I haven't been able to listen to the audio links yet but I found the advice in the what to do if your child won't go to school section interesting/insightful.

I think there can be a lot of misunderstanding arising from the terminology used to describe the situation where a child is struggling to cope with attending school. The official term "school refusal" can make it sound like the child is being wilful and by implication the parents are overindulgent in allowing their stubborn child to rule the roost. I tend to think of it more as similar to a horse "refusing" a jump, the implication should be that there is a hurdle too high for the child to manage in their school situation. They have an instinctive sense that they won't be able to cope and shy away in fear. In many cases the child's judgement is correct and, if their needs are not being met by the school, then it is unreasonable to expect them to cope regardless.

Pink, I am local so pm me with details (i bet we know each other at least by sight!). I could possibly offer some advice on interface with educational people given my background.

hi inaflap, have pmed you - thank you for your offer and I'm curious now to see if our paths have already crossed in real life.

oh, does this mean I'm sacked now?

Certainly not, dev, we need you - but I hope you're not asking for a pay-rise in these austerity conditions and what with the price of helicopter fuel these days?

Hi all.... personal message me if you can. This works better for me knowing that I have been contacted as trying to keep on top of website, facebook, twitter and personals.
Have a look at the v-short interview on ITV Daybreak. Issues were raised about teaching staff albeit briefly but it is a continuing problem.
Google... ITV Daybreak.... Andrew & Kay Mawson