In Scotland, all children who cannot attend school due to illness are entitled to a suitable alternative education elsewhere than in an educational establishment - which in practice means in hospital or at home. In many areas of Scotland, local authorities are meeting their obligations by providing home tuition. My 14 year old son has been a school refuser since December 2010 and prior to that his attendance was seriously poor. Where we live (Highlands) the Council appear to believe that the law does not apply to them and so my attempts to have home tuition put in place for my son have been futile. I have now made a Section 70 complaint to the Scottish Ministers - which anyone can do if they believe their Local Authority is failing to fulfil their statutory duties under the education legislation. However, the local authority (who obviously know that they are acting illegally) are seeking to discredit my accusations. I would be most interested to hear from anyone in the Highland Area who has a child who has been absent from school for a lengthy period (whether due to school refusal or otherwise), and whether they have or haven't been offered access to home tuition. I could have taken the easier (and quicker) route of independent adjudication but that would only result in a solution for my own son and not for other children in Highland Region - my aim in making a Section 70 complaint is to hopefully have the Scottish Executive make an enforcement order for Highland Council to change their ways so that all children in similar circumstances can benefit from an education. It is difficult enough to deal with a child who is a school refuser without also having the worry of them being denied an education. Some months ago I was so frightened that my son was going to be taken into care - after an intimidating visit from Social Services to remind me of 'my legal responsibility to make my child go to school' and the possibility of involvement of the Children's Reporter, that I almost closed my business and relocated my family to England or abroad. My fear has now been replaced by anger with a system that blatantly ignores childrens' and families' rights. ALL children have the right to an education, even if they are not able for whatever reason to attend school. I would advise anyone in Scotland dealing with school refusal to contact organisations such as Chip+, Enquire and the Govan Law Centre for advice on how to proceed - they are able to provide lots of advice and support which (certainly in our region) the local authority do not readily advise is there.

Hi Andrea,

Sounds like you have had to really fight where you are and the fight goes on. Sorry I am not anywhere near you (Australia being a bit far away!). It is ridiculous, isn't it, that they are failing to recognise School Refusal as a reason why a student cannot participate in mainstream education. Were you able to supply the relevant authorities with backup regarding what SR is? THere is more literature around these days but in fact the Wikipedia entry says it all very clearly and with references to sources. It seems that again, many in authority seem to think that we are not being good parents when the opposite is true.

I wish you well and hope that your fight can help others in Scotland who are unsure which way to turn. Seems we are all fighting battles even in similar regions because of lack of knowledge and acceptance as this being an anxiety issue.
Let us know how you go.
Take care,
Linda

wow I m impressed about the section 70 - I hadnt head about that

we are a city who no longer do home tutoring - its in community centres - so as my DDis unable to leave the house at all for anything, its useless

we are being investigated by the childrens reporter - so I have applied for the independent adjudicator but it seems my application is being passed to another council dept - our council seem very good at passing children and families from dept to dept and nothing ever happens

I hope things get going for your son and he gets his education

Hi Linda - thanks for your reply. Yes it is stressful enough without also having to battle with the authorities - not to mention the general consensus amongst family, friends, acquantances and customers that if you can't get your child to school you must be a bad parent. So much ignorance!

Hi Jezebel - I've been reading through your previous posts, what a time you've been having with it all. Have you seen CAMHS yet? We are about 6 months away from being seen, and we are also being put forward to liaison meeting which might well result in the involvement of the Children's Reporter. Are you finding them sympathetic or otherwise to your situation? They are supposed to be there to help but that really will depend on their individual personalities - I find most people very condemning of our situation and can only hope that when we finally get to CAMHS they will have much more awareness and understanding.

What city are you in if you don't mind me asking? Did your daughter actually receive tuition at home before the LA moved tuition to community centres? The Scottish Governments response to the UN Committee on the Rights of the child, clearly states that children who are absent from school through ill-health should be educated at home or in hospital - there is no mention of community centres. (http://scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/10/28095627/6).

Additionally, Scottish Guidance 5/2001 gives local authorities extensive guidance on how to implement the legislation regarding the authorites statutory duty to provide an education outwith an educational establishment. This also states that provision should be made in hospital or at home.(http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/158331/0042883.pdf) - unfortunately the guidance does not appear to be legally binding which is perhaps why your authority have moved tuition to community centres.

The charity Action for Sick Children Scotland became aware of the discrepancies in provision between one authority and another and so they began a petition through Parliament back in December 2010. It asked the government how it was ensuring that LAs abided by the legislation regarding the education of children absent from school through ill-health. The government response was that it was up to the LAs to abid by the law and follow the legislation, policy and guidance that is in place to protect such children. The petitioner also asked the government if LAs could be asked to provide statistics of how many children were absent and how many of those got home or hospital tuition. Unfortunately, LAs do not have to keep such data due to the governments commitment to reducing bureaucracy - which is how I find myself in the position where I am accusing my local council of not making the provision and the council are accusing me of misinterpreting and manipulating the facts. When I became aware of the petition I sent a supporting letter outlining my son's case and this is available to view on the petition website together with all other written submissions. (http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/40072.aspx). The MSPs were quite appalled by the contents of my letter - one referred to the situation as a 'human tragedy' and another said that she didn't realise that getting access to education was such a lottery. I was then contacted by a national newspaper but I declined a photographic interview due to the detrimental impact publicity would have on my son. I think that's another reason Councils are getting away with this - I doubt if many kids with anxiety problems would wish for their faces to be splashed across the newspapers, and it is difficult to make the authorities accountable if people aren't aware of their rights.

I hope that the information I have gathered will prove helpful to other parents facing the same difficulties. I would be interested to hear from anyone in Scotland with regards to the outcome of a Section 70 complaint, independent adjudication or home tuition provision, but am especially interested in hearing from people in Highland who are finding it difficult to get home or hospital tuition.

Andrea - your post was very interesting but obviously things are different for you in the Highlands. My son's father lives near Wick is that far from you ? I am very impressed that you are not going for the easy route but one that will help others in the future - the more help we can get the better !!

Keep us informed how you get on, i know how stressful it all is - and no one but no one understands unless they have a SR what it is like !!

Take care Sar x

Hi Jezebel - I was just re-reading my original post and realised I had referred to independent adjudication as being easier and quicker - I didn't mean to say easier as I don't believe anything with regard to fighting the system is easy. It is supposed to be quicker though, as there as a fixed time limit of 60 days for the whole thing to be done and dusted and a solution reached. However Section 70 is only an option if a person believes their local authority is failing to discharge a statutory duty under the education act. Most of the advice I have been given is to go for adjudication but I decided to use the Section 70 as it is an option that doesn't seem to be much used and I wanted to expose the failings of the system at Senior Government level. Another reason for my decision was that after months of flailing about trying to find a way forward, I discovered the Scottish Government's Guidance document of 5/2001 (guidance on the education of children absent from school through ill-health), which clearly sets out how LAs should implement the legislation. I then discovered that Action for Sick Children Scotland had been contacted by several parents in Scotland whose children were receiving different levels of home or hospital tuition. The Charity put a Public Petition to the Government in December 2010, asking the government to demonstrate how all local authorities are consistently complying with the duties imposed on them (there is much more to it and all the documentation is available on the net). I was delighted to discover the petition and on September 20 this year, when the petition was being re-heard, I emailed the committee and my letter was copied to all the MSPs present and raised a significant amount of interest. I was then contacted by a national newspaper but I declined the opportunity of a photographic article as my son would have hated the attention it would draw to him. I have also been in contact with a local MSP and he and his staff are proving to be very supportive and helpful. Action for Sick Children are appealing for parents of children who are missing out on their education to contact them, and I have found them to be very understanding and helpful too - their email is enquiries@ascscotland.org.uk

Hi Sar, thanks for your message. I don't think there is any easy route and have just made a long-winded attempt to retract the comment I made about adjudication being easier! Wick is about 100 miles north of us, have you ever been up that far yourself?

Hi Andrea - absolutely nothing is easy with a SR !! I drive up to bring the boys and meet up just north of Inverness ( 940 mile round trip for me) The drive is a good one as i adore the countryside north of the border it is fantastic, i can see us in a few years making home up there.

Take care of yourself.

Sarah xx

Hi Sar - you get the lion's share of the driving then as you must be three quarters of the way when you do the changeover - we're about 15 miles north of Inverness so you must end up practically on our doorstep! My partner is from the West Country so we make your journey in reverse occasionally (it's lovely to catch up with family but long journeys with kids are a nightmare and I'm terrified of motorways). In fact I often wonder if my sr son has inherited some of my fears but in a more heightened form, then I tell myself that fear or motorways is not an irrational fear - it's perfectly normal given the number of idiots on the road (the self-questioning never ends lol!) It would be great to meet up next time you're in the area - or maybe when we're down your way x

Hi Andrea - Absolutley, im not sure when i will be coming up North again but will let you know, but if you come south please let me know as it would be great to meet up. I too am a worrier, and only this morning driving into work i had the same thought i think some if it must rub off somewhere but i was never this bad.

Hope you are ok.

Love Sarah xx