A young girl with Asperger’s, ADHD and severe anxiety has been out of education for “nearly 18 months”, according to her mum.
Leah Catlin, 13, lasted just two days of Year 8 in September 2016 at The Sele School in Hertford before refusing to go to class.
Single mum Carrie, 34, who is also raising six-year-old Demi, fears Leah has been away from the school environment for too long and will struggle to readjust.
“She really enjoyed her first couple of days but then found classrooms too much and too overwhelming,” she told the Mercury.
“She would refuse to do PE, she has issues with changing clothes and she will wear a coat in the summer with even 30-degree heat.
“I would get a call saying she has been defiant and is hiding in the toilets.”
Leah was repeatedly sent home and her attendance record was just 33 per cent during Year 7, with her refusal to take off shoes and change clothes for PE a consistent issue.
After years of behavioural difficulties, Leah was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and anxiety in 2014.
Her conditions make her resistant to change, according to Carrie, which is why she was particularly uncomfortable at the start of Year 8 when her usual form teacher – on maternity leave – was replaced.
Leah’s new form room was also in the drama studio and every pupil needed to take their shoes off before entering.
Carrie said the school should have been aware of her difficulty with shoes by that point and that her daughter’s trust had “gone out the window”.
Sele School head teacher Neil Dunn, however, told the Mercury the school addressed this problem.
He said: “Like the majority of schools in Hertfordshire, The Sele School has a uniform policy in place which all pupils are expected to adhere to unless there is an established reason why they cannot.
“In such cases alternative arrangements are made. The school was not initially informed about this pupil’s difficulty with removing her footwear.
“When this did come to light, alternative arrangements were made for her to go to another room.
“However, she persistently refused to do this and her mother was unable to ensure that she followed this agreed plan.”
By her own admission, Carrie could not convince Leah to return to school. By March 2017, Carrie had decided to remove Leah from the school roll, telling Hertfordshire County Council that she would be home schooled.
A spokeswoman for the council said: “It is incorrect that this child has been out of education for 18 months.
“She was a pupil at Sele School in Hertford until May 2017 when her mother chose to remove her due to issues with her attending school. Her mother stated that she would be home educating her daughter.
“She confirmed this to the council in October 2017.”
Carrie also confirmed she had made the council aware she intends to teach Leah from home, but said she only did this to legally remove Leah from the school roll.
Since then, she claims she has informed the council she is not home-schooling Leah, although she has not provided evidence for that.
She insists Leah has not received any education since her last day at The Sele School.
During the last inspection, Ofsted officials, who rated the school as good, noted: "I was concerned that last year the school’s average attendance was below that for other schools nationally.
"Leaders have rightly identified persistent absence as an ongoing priority and a recent review has identified appropriate strategies to improve it.
"The school is now working more closely with educational welfare officers and issuing fixed-penalty notices to families.
"These are starting to have a positive effect on the wider school population."
The report also praised the school's attendance support plans for pupils who are frequently absent.
Leah rarely leaves her bedroom and Carrie cares for her full-time.
Her younger sister Demi “adores Leah” and looks up to her but it’s her 16-year-old cousin Zoe with whom she has formed a strong friendship.
The aim now is to secure a place for Leah at Batchwood School in St Albans, a school specialising in teaching pupils with social, emotional and mental health difficulties.
A spokeswoman for the county council added: “The mother has also been in liaison with the council about a place for her daughter at Batchwood School in St Albans and this has been approved by an independent panel.
“We are now in discussions with the school.”
