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Focus on policies for ATTENDANCE, SEND, BEHAVIOUR, BULLYING, SUPPORTING PUPILS WITH MEDICAL NEEDS & MAKING COMPLAINTS (as applicable).

Check they are being followed correctly and if they are not, ask why?

The school should respond to attendance problems by making assessments and helping to investigate what the underlying triggers or unmet needs are so that they can be addressed. This might involve the SENDCo, and referrals to an Educational Psychologist, CAMHS, and possibly other services such as Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy.

• The Department for Education told us that when a school identifies an emerging issue, including mental health issues which require additional support, they should not delay putting it in place.   
• The school should follow the graduated approach process (assess, plan, do, review) set out in the department’s statutory guidance on special educational needs and disability code of practice.   
• The guidance is clear that support should be provided from an early stage, whether or not the child has a specific diagnosis.   
• A child in school who has this support would be regarded as receiving special educational needs (SEN) support.   
• A school should always involve a specialist where a pupil continues to make little or no progress or where they continue to work at levels substantially below those expected of pupils of a similar age despite evidence-based SEN support delivered by appropriately trained staff.   
• For some children it will be appropriate for a request to be made to the local authority for an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment. This request can be made by the school or the parent.   
• The special educational needs and disabilities code of practice intentionally does not require a diagnosis for a child to access the support they need. The process is based on a child’s needs. 
• Schools have an anticipatory duty to make reasonable adjustments to policies, expectations and practices to address a child's needs related to disability (Equality Act 2010). Some examples of reasonable adjustments suggested by our group members include:

1. Letting the child choose when he/she comes in to school
2. Being able to choose which lessons she/he does each day
3. No forced attendance
4. Giving her/him a safe space to go whenever she/he wants
5. Letting him/her sit with a friend in every lesson
6. Never picking on her/him in class (to read aloud or answer questions) 
7. Letting her/him drop a subject that causes anxiety i.e. PE 
8. Paying for/referral to appropriate therapy
9. Permission to leave the class at any time
10. Dedicated quiet desk outside the class for regular breaks
11. Time-out pass to leave lesson early to avoid busy transition between lessons
12. Relaxed uniform rules
13. Access to sensory aids
14. Taking in a small teddy/toy from home.
15. Regular movement breaks
16. Allowed to have a snack at the end of the day before leaving
17. Early access into classroom in the morning
18. Not going in through a very noisy and busy playground in the morning
19. Sending work home if child unable to attend
20. Going to lunch early so he/she doesn't have to cope with the crowds
21. Allocated quiet area for lunchtimes
22. Reserved seat on bus
23. A locker in a quieter part of the school
24. No pressure about completing homework
25. Agreement not to question/pressure the child about absences
26. Activities to help child go into school in a happy frame of mind
27. No requirement to attend assemblies
28. Extra time to complete homework
29. No sanctions (ie isolation, detention) for anything SEND related
30. To be listened to 
31. To have staff willing to 'think outside the box'
32. A safe person at school who builds a trusting relationship - Child goes to their office whenever she/he wants to and can stay as long as she/he wants. They know that this safe person will email teachers about any issues and resolve any problems
33. Learning in the learning support base
34. Alternative provisions with animal based activities
35. Preparation/warning before a change of timetable
36. Allowing child to go home or to his/her safe space when overwhelmed
37. No spelling tests for a child who's dyslexic 
38. Child can bring safe foods for lunch even if it's not a healthy food option
39. A toilet pass
40. Option to stay in at playtimes for sensory or colouring breaks
41. Communication cards to help child express their needs
42. Child doesn't need to change into PE kit
43. A SEND passport
44. Use of overlays for dyslexia
45. Forest school
46. Lego therapy
47. Access to a Mentor each week
48. Child sits at the front or near the door in all lessons
49. Technology to support learning needs (e.g, laptop, text-to-speech pen, Ipad)
50. A visual timetable
51. Teaching pupils about neurodiversity and special needs 
52. All staff learn how to recognise masking alongside an understanding they cannot assume that a child 'is fine'

Ask for meetings and contact people who might be willing to help (including your GP, CAMHS helpline, School Nurse, Local MP, LA attendance team).

• Explore and reflect upon possible triggers and reasons for your child's inability to cope or thrive in the school environment, Research possible influences such as autistic burnout, PDA, PANS/PANDAS, sensorial difficulties, executive function difficulties, social anxiety, excessive academic pressure, detrimental behaviour policies, bullying, puberty, physical health difficulties or peer pressure. Use resources that aim to explore your child's views and feelings, and consider seeking assessments, therapy, mentoring or treatment if appropriate.
• Take independent witnesses with you to meetings to make notes and support you.
• After meetings request copies of the minutes. If you don’t feel they are accurate ask for them to be amended.
• If a written record is needed write your own summary of the main points and anything agreed and email it to everyone involved for their approval and records.
• Research your child’s and your own rights then quote best practise - refer to legislation and statutory guidance for schools.
• Explore and consider alternatives to mainstream schooling that might better suit your child's needs (see our page on Education Alternatives - link below). You might need to reflect upon your own beliefs about education and schooling as we have all been conditioned to accept that children must go to mainstream school to learn and be successful. 
• Explore and consider alterations you could make at home to your mindset around parenting norms and the ways you manage behaviour and communicate with your child that could improve relationships. This could involve a low demand approach, or the advice shared in Partnering not Parenting or by Newbold Hope for example.

Start with the following websites:

• SENDIASS
• SOS SEN
• IPSEA
• YOUNG MINDS
• CONTACT

Then also look at others you think may be helpful

• Check your council’s LOCAL OFFER to see if they list anyone who might be able to help.

Act quickly - hopefully you will have been keeping records and trying to get medical evidence - (don't leave it this late to get medical evidence and referrals) - this is what protects you, as prosecuting parents of a child with a diagnosis of mental health problems: (a) generally doesn't happen and (b) breaches the Equality Act (2010). Sadly, people often get to the point of being in court the following week, don't have representation and then don't point out to judge that the child is absent because of mental illness. So, it is VERY important to see your GP and get a CAMHS referral in place ASAP.

• A parent cannot be penalised if a statutory exception applies. These exceptions are: where the school has given permission; where the pupil is prevented from attending by sickness or other unavoidable problems; where their family is marking a day reserved exclusively for religious observance; or where the local authority has failed to fulfil any duty it has to help them get to school.   
• It is for schools or local authorities to decide if they wish to use a penalty notice as a sanction in individual cases.   
• Penalty notices are governed by the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) Regulations 2007 as amended. The regulations require every local authority, in consultation with their schools and the police, to draw up a code of conduct for issuing penalty notices.   
• It is for local authorities to decide whether to prosecute a parent having taken account of all the circumstances of the case and the information submitted by the school. Local authority officers are best placed to assess the family’s circumstances and decide upon the most appropriate course of action.   
• The Department for Education would encourage parents to work with their child’s school and their local authority, to discuss the reasons behind their child’s absence and agree an action plan so that the right support can be put in place to help their child to return to regular and consistent education, whether at school or otherwise. 

KEY ADVICE IF YOU ARE UNDER THREAT OF LEGAL ACTION:

• Respond to all letters and meet all deadlines in the process.
• Read your local authority’s Code of Practice for school absence prosecutions so that you understand what will happen and what should have been done (or not done)
• Gather any evidence you have that your child was absent due to illness or any unavoidable cause and that you have been working with the school to try to resolve the attendance difficulties in order to challenge any decision to prosecute you
• Construct a solid timeline/chronology from the start of the difficulties to now, it needs to be thorough - every call, every letter, every email, every appointment, meeting and discussion etc.
• Whilst you are legally responsible for your child’s school attendance, you need to show that you have thorough mitigating circumstances, that the school and LA have not considered.   
• Consult a criminal law solicitor so they can advise you about your situation and take action to assist you if appropriate.

• Local authorities are responsible for arranging suitable education for children of compulsory school age who, because of health reasons, would otherwise not receive suitable education (section 19, Education Act 1996). This applies whether or not the child is registered at a school and whatever type of school they attend. The education must be full-time or as close to full-time as the child’s health allows.  
• The DfE statutory guidance on arranging an education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs sets out that local authorities should provide education as soon as it is clear that the child will be away from school for fifteen days or more, whether consecutive or cumulative. 
• The DfE make it clear that local authorities should be providing a “safety net” of suitable education for any child of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school, or otherwise, may not for any period receive education. A local authority must make arrangements for the suitable education of any child of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school, or otherwise, may not for any period receive education without such arrangements. Education Act 1996, s.19(1). Thus, the local authority can have a duty to provide alternative arrangements in situations not only where children are unable to attend by reason of illness or exclusion. This is because the phrase “or otherwise” “is plainly intended to encompass other causes of non-attendance at school or non-receipt of education”. R (DS) v Wolverhampton City Council [2017] EWHC 1660 (per Garnham J) (at para.36).
• Local authorities should have a named officer responsible for the education of children with additional health needs.  The Department for Education (DfE) say that the current legal framework provides for sufficient “flexibility” to avoid issues such as prosecution for non-attendance, even where absences have not been authorised.
• The DfE say that there are statutory exceptions which ensure that a parent should not be penalised or prosecuted where a pupil is prevented from attending school by sickness, or where the local authority has failed to fulfil any duty it has to help them get to school.
• The DfE also make it clear that it is not necessary for children to be marked as absent due to illness in order to receive adequate education outside of school.