Missing school and extra work

[CDJ]

Josh is still flaring badly at the moment, mornings especially are bad for him, he is in and out of the bathroom 7-8 times and getting severe stomach cramps. Because of this he is missing a massive amount of school. We are in the UK and he is in year 9 which is a really important year.
I have spoken to his head of year, and the school itself, and they are understanding in that he is late every morning, often not in until lunchtime.

But I can't get them to understand how worried I am about the amount of classes he is missing, maths and science especially as these tend to be in the mornings. I have asked for work to be sent home for him so that he can catch up, but they don't feel they need to do this at the moment as he "gets in sometimes on time".
He is a very bright boy, has been in the top groups for most subjects, but obviously the more he misses the more he will fall behind.

When I spoke to the head of year he said it is next year, GCSE year, we need to worry about, not now. But if he carries on missing maths and science etc now then he will be well behind for GCSE's in a years time. They do have student support in school, but only seem to have one person and she is on long time sick leave at the moment, so there is no one else to go to.
Has anyone else been through similar problems and how to you get across to the school to give work for home?

At the moment we are waiting on stool tests to come back and an MRI scan before we can get any further with this flare. So it's looking like this is going to be long and drawn out.

 

[Worried mama]

Have you asked the teachers directly? Skip the 'head', go straight to the teacher. Can they switch his schedule around so he has the more important classes in the afternoon?

 

[CDJ]

After I asked the question earlier I then thought about emailing the teachers direct, so will do that. Not sure why I didn't think of it before Switching the classes is a good idea too, thank you for that. I will ask the teachers if this is possible.

I just feel like I am forever asking questions at the moment. Thank you for the reply, it really helps.

 

[Farmwife]

:ymad:Why in the WORLD would they not want him to catch on homework, up if he can.:yfaint:

I hope you et answers soon.

 

[Sascot]

We had this problem too. I think the teachers just feel sorry for my son when he's off due to ops etc, so they don't send work. I went to the guidance teacher and asked her to email each teacher if Andrew is going to be off more than a week. Some teachers do, some still never bother

 

[positivemum]

Hi I have great sympathy as we are Y11 in UK so big big year and have had the same issues of missing school. Our apporach is being very honest with teachers and emailing direct as well as pastoral care. they have been great and send relevant work or say what websites etc. We have now got a maths, science and spanish tutor to plug the gaps etc

My son is very proactive and goes to see teachers if he has been off which the teachers like as he is positive and shows willing. Year 10 is more important than 9 but in terms of maths gaps could appear.

Hope you get sorted soon - I really sympathise

 

[Brian'sMom]

We also had the school switch all his important classes to a time he was at his best. For us it was mornings. When he got really sick and was home with the PICC line waiting for surgery, he had one teacher that set up a laptop computer and he was "Skyped" into the classrooms to hear lectures. I would then go get homework and deliver it back to the school. For Math his dear teacher came after school and tutored him. Some teachers would send tests with her and she'd monitor the exam. We paid her for her time.

 

[CDJ]

I feel we are slowly getting there. I have been told I can't email individual teachers, I have to go through the head of year!
I have found out that in the UK we now have something called Education, health care plan [ EHC ] which says that all children have a right to education no matter what their circumstances. I then emailed the school quoting EHC telling them that they have an obligation to help Josh through this time. They are now setting up work for him to do at home which I have to go in later to collect.

You shouldn't have to jump through hoops to get the help for your child, but that's the way it seems to happen here. Hopefully things will get easier from now.

 

[positivemum]

HI
In the Uk there also medical tuition available if a child needs it where someone comes to home for 5 hours a week to teach them. We nearly went down that route