1. How can I get support for my child to attend school?
For children with SEND, anxiety or sensory overload are common factors affecting attendance.
Talk to your child’s school as soon as you start to notice anything your child is finding difficult.
The Department for Education guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance‘ says:
‘To manage and improve attendance effectively, all schools are expected to:
Be particularly mindful of pupils absent from school due to mental or physical ill health or their special educational needs and/or disabilities, and provide them with additional support. ‘(16)
Share any relevant information from health professionals with school and the local authority, particularly when you know regular attendance at school is going to be difficult ongoing.
You can contact the SENCO to arrange to discuss your child’s needs and how they might be supported.
It can be useful to check a school’s own website for their ‘SEN Information Report’, a document which explains how the school identifies and supports Special Educational Needs (and involves children and parents in the process). Read more about what a SEN information report is on our web page here: https://suffolksendiass.co.uk/education/sen-information-report/ .
School might talk to you about involving a specialist service, or you may wish to raise with school if you feel your child would benefit from specialist advice.
Read more about how children with special educational needs (SEN) are supported in school: SEN Support
2. Is anxiety a Special Educational Need (or SEN)?
Sometimes, anxiety will meet the definition of SEN. A ‘Special Educational Need (or SEN)’ means help that is in addition to, or different from the support generally given to all children of the same age.
Teachers make adjustments so that they can meet the wide range of needs for all the children in any given class and this is known as ‘differentiation’.
A child has a Special Educational Need (or SEN) if they need further adjustments or support on top of ‘differentiation’. A child does not need a medical diagnosis to be recognised as having SEN.
SEN is not always about a child’s academic attainment. Some children may have other barriers to learning.
The SEND Code of Practice 2015 specifically mentions anxiety within the ‘Social, emotional and mental health difficulties’ broad area of need, and says:
‘Children and young people may experience a wide range of social and emotional difficulties which manifest themselves in many ways. These may include becoming withdrawn or isolated, as well as displaying challenging, disruptive or disturbing behaviour. These behaviours may reflect underlying mental health difficulties such as anxiety or depression, self-harming, substance misuse, eating disorders or physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. Other children and young people may have disorders such as attention deficit disorder, attention deficit hyperactive disorder or attachment disorder.’ (6.32).
3. Does a school need to make reasonable adjustments for my child, due to their anxiety?
Sometimes, anxiety will meet the definition of a disability and may require reasonable adjustments to be made.
According to the Equality Act 2010, a person is disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment, which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
‘ Long-term‘ – meaning 12 months or more.
‘ Substantial‘ – meaning more than ‘minor’ or ‘trivial’.
Schools should be thinking in advance, and reviewing what adjustments they may need to make, to avoid substantial disadvantage for disabled children.
All aspects are covered, including homework, school trips, provision of education and around exclusions.
They must make reasonable adjustments to procedures, criteria and practices and by the provision of auxiliary aids and services.
Schools and the local authority must publish accessibility plans (and local authorities, accessibility strategies) setting out how they plan to increase access for disabled pupils to the curriculum, the physical environment and to information.
View the government ‘Equality Act 2010 Guidance’ for more information.
4. Do I need to provide medical evidence when my child is ill?
The statutory guidance for schools says that they should talk to parents and carers and only ask for medical evidence if they have reason to doubt the reason for absence.
If you are being asked for medical evidence, the following paragraphs may be helpful for you in your discussions with school.
The Department for Education guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance‘ says:
‘Schools are not expected to routinely request that parents provide medical evidence to support illness absences.
Only where the school has genuine and reasonable doubt about the authenticity of the illness should medical evidence be requested to support the absence.
Where medical evidence is deemed necessary, schools should not be rigid about the form of evidence requested.
Where a parent cannot provide evidence in the form requested but can provide other evidence, schools should take this into account. Where a parent cannot provide any written evidence the school should have a conversation with the parent and pupil, if appropriate, which may in itself serve as the necessary evidence to record the absence.’ (365 and 366).
5. Can I ask for alternative provision?
The law says that children are entitled to a full-time suitable education. If you believe attending school full-time is no longer suitable education for your child, you may wish to request alternative provision.
The government guidance ‘Supporting pupils at school with medical conditions‘ says:
‘Schools, local authorities, health professionals, commissioners and other support services should work together to ensure that children with medical conditions receive a full education. In some cases this will require flexibility and involve, for example, programmes of study that rely on part-time attendance at school in combination with alternative provision arranged by the local authority 6 . Consideration may also be given to how children will be reintegrated back into school after periods of absence. ‘
6 All children must receive a full-time education, unless this would not be in their best interests because of their health needs
(Page 7, Further advice point 5 and footnote 6)
Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 sets out the legal duty for a local authority to provide a suitable full-time education for compulsory school-age children who are unable to attend due to ‘illness, exclusion or otherwise’.
The statutory guidance ‘Arranging education for children who cannot attend school because of health needs’ says:
There is no absolute legal deadline by which local authorities must start to arrange education for children with additional health needs. However, as soon as it is clear that a child will be away from school for 15 days or more because of their health needs, the local authority should arrange suitable alternative provision. The 15 days may be consecutive or over the course of a school year.
You can contact the local authority directly with any questions about, or to request, alternative provision: Students with health or medical needs.
IPSEA have a template letter ‘asking the local authority to arrange alternative education‘.
The Department for Education health needs guidance says:
….‘Local authorities, working closely with the child’s home school, medical practitioners (such as a GP or consultant) and the child’s family, should make every effort to minimise the disruption to a child’s education by identifying the most suitable provision.
Where specific medical evidence, such as that provided by a medical practitioner, is not readily available, the child’s home school or the local authority should consider liaising with other medical practitioners and consider other evidence to ensure appropriate provision can be arranged as soon as possible.’(Page 8)
For further information, see our ‘Medical needs‘ page.
6. What is unauthorised absence?
The statutory guidance says that schools must use the absence codes set out in Regulation 10 of The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024. These include specific codes for various types of absence, including illness and medical appointments.
Unauthorised absence codes are for very limited circumstances including holidays taken in term-time, for a short term period to allow time to check the exact reason for absence, or where the school is not satisfied they can classify the absence as authorised (where they doubt the genuineness of the illness).
The Department for Education guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance‘ says:
‘Successfully treating the root causes of absence and removing barriers to attendance, at home, in school or more broadly requires schools and local partners to work collaboratively in partnership with, not against families.’ (14)
If you have any questions or concerns about how your child’s absence has been recorded on their attendance record, talk to school as soon as possible.
If you have been unable to resolve your concerns, you may wish to make a complaint to school and/or Governing Body.
We explain the routes of complaint here, including a section around Disability Discrimination (if you believe your disabled child has been discriminated against): Raising concerns
7. What is a penalty notice?
A headteacher, or the local authority, may issue a penalty notice due to school attendance. They are an alternative to prosecution and aim to improve attendance.
It would usually be issued for unauthorised absence and they must follow the national threshold (10 sessions of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks). A penalty notice might also be issued if a child is found in a public place (during school hours) in the first 5 days following a suspension or permanent exclusion.
The Department for Education guidance ‘Working together to improve school attendance‘ says:
‘Where absence escalates and pupils miss 10% or more of school (equivalent to 1 day or more a fortnight across a full school year), schools and local authorities are expected to work together to put additional targeted support in place to remove any barriers to attendance and reengage these pupils. In doing so, schools should sensitively consider some of the reasons for absence and understand the importance of school as a place of safety and support for children who might be facing difficulties, rather than reaching immediately for punitive approaches.’ (132)
8. Can I appeal against a penalty notice?
There is no right of appeal against a penalty notice, however, you can make your representations to the school to request they reconsider. Include relevant background information and reasons which lead to the absence.
Any time you raise concerns, it can help to include information about the impact to your child and what they have expressed (about a decision, or around any delays/barriers to support).
It would also help to reference any relevant duties from statutory guidance that you believe have not been taken into account.
You may also make a complaint to school and Governing Body. We explain the routes of complaint here, including a section around Disability Discrimination (if you believe your disabled child has been discriminated against): Raising concerns