Health-related absence

Support for children who cannot attend school due to their health needs

When a parent or child recognises that the child’s health needs are impacting on their ability to engage with their normal educational offer, they should approach health services, such as their GP, and discuss their concerns with the child’s school as soon as possible.

Schools should provide support to children who are absent from school because of illness for short periods of time, for example when experiencing chicken pox or flu.

Schools are also expected to manage longer-term absences through the use of remote or online learning packages etc. Schools should have a publicly accessible policy that sets out how they will support pupils with health needs, provides a key contact for parents if they need support.

In most cases health needs can be met by the child’s school without the need for intervention from the local authority, including, but not limited to, school making reasonable adjustments to allow the child to attend school, school making arrangements for the child to receive education offsite, or school actively supporting the arrangements for the child being educated in hospital.

When a child is unable to attend school due to their health needs and schools are requesting support from the Local Authority, they can make a referral to the Education Division.

Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 requires local authorities to make arrangements to provide ‘suitable education at school, or otherwise than at school, for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them’.

This applies to all children of compulsory school age resident in the local authority area, whether or not they are on the roll of a school, and whatever type of school they attend.

Our Section 19 policy outlines how and when the Local Authority will offer support to schools and families.

• Click here to download the Section 19 Policy
• Click here to download the Flow Chart for Children not attending education for health reasons

Schools should discuss all referrals with the designated Education Welfare Officer. If the child has an Education Health and Care Plan, referrals will also need to be discussed with the SEN Service before submission.

Requesting intervention under the Section 19 duty is not an appropriate route for resolving disagreements between families and schools.

Should parents, or the child themselves, be dissatisfied with the support provided by the school for their child’s health needs (including mental health needs), they should discuss their concerns directly with the school. If, for whatever reason this does not resolve the issue, they may make a formal complaint via the school’s complaints procedure.