When school
feels too hard.
Start here.
The Sunday-night dread. The mornings that unravel. The feeling that nobody quite sees what your child is going through.
Let's find what's getting in the way . and a next step you can actually use.
For diagnosed children, those waiting, and those you're worried about.
Barriers
to School
What's really getting in the way, and what you can do about it this week.
SECONDARY EDITION | AGES 11-16
Janine | ADHD in Practice
Something is getting
in the way.
When a child struggles to get to school, the most useful question is what makes the school day hard to manage. Noise? Lessons? Friendships? The effort of holding everything together?
You might recognise...
Whether things are starting to wobble or attendance has already broken down, there is a place to begin.
A school day can hold
a lot of barriers.
Sometimes it's one thing. Often it's the build-up of several. These are some places to look together.
A starting point.
And the words to go further.
Start with the free guide. If you need help writing the email, preparing for the meeting or talking with your teenager, explore PLUS.
Understand what's
getting in the way.
Barriers to School: Secondary Edition
A free guide to make sense of what you're seeing and work out where to start.
- Common barriers and what they can look like at home
- Early difficulties and attendance breakdown
- Five things to do this week
- Questions about support, attendance and next steps
Free PDF guide | Get it from our product page
Know what to say.
Know what to send.
Barriers to School PLUS: Secondary Edition
Go further than the free guide with ready-to-adapt words and practical tools: know what to write, what support to ask for and how to prepare for meetings.
- 15 email templates for school and formal steps
- 11 scripts for calls, meetings and talking with your teenager
- The trigger walk and a secondary adjustments menu
- Printable tools to organise concerns and plan next steps
Five things to do this week.
Notice the pattern
Look at difficult days, lessons and what happened the evening before.
Write it down
Keep a short, factual record of what happened and what your child said.
Ask gently
"Which part of tomorrow feels hardest?" can be easier to answer than "Why?"
Contact school
Share your concerns in writing with the SENCo or the right pastoral contact.
Protect connection
Make room for time together that isn't about attendance or getting out of the door.
Not sure where
to start?
The Barriers Check helps you put the pieces together. Tick what fits and get a suggested next step, with references to the free guide.
Start my free checkAbout 5 minutes | Print your results
Your answers aren't sent or saved by the check.
Open the free Barriers Check
Barriers to School Check
For parents of secondary-age children (11 to 16) who are finding school harder and harder to get to. Tick what fits. It takes about five minutes, and at the end you will get your next step. Nothing you enter is sent or saved anywhere: it stays on your screen.
1. Which sounds most like your child at the moment?
2. How long has school been this hard?
3. What are you seeing at home?
Tick all that apply.
4. Which of these might be getting in the way?
Tick anything that might be part of it. You do not have to be sure.
5. Additional needs
6. What has happened so far?
Tick all that apply.
7. One important question
Has your child talked about not wanting to be alive or about hurting themselves, stopped eating or sleeping for days, or are you worried about their safety?
Please answer questions 1, 2, 5 and 7 so your next step fits.
Barriers to School Check, from the free guide Barriers to School: Secondary Edition by Janine, ADHD in Practice (adhdinpractice.uk). General information, not legal or medical advice. Based on the law and guidance in England.
You don't have to
figure it all out
at once.
Start with the question that matters to your family today.
Who are these resources for?
Parents and carers of secondary-age children, roughly 11-16, who are finding school increasingly hard to attend. They include families with a diagnosis of ADHD, autism or another need, those waiting for assessment and those who suspect something is going on.
My child is still attending. Is this for us?
Yes. Difficult mornings, late arrivals and falling apart after school are worth noticing. The free guide covers the stage where school is becoming hard as well as the stage where attendance has broken down.
Do we need a diagnosis first?
No. You can start noticing patterns, recording concerns and speaking to school now. These resources help you describe what your child finds difficult, whether or not an assessment has happened.
What is the difference between free and PLUS?
The free guide helps you understand the barriers and take first steps. PLUS adds email templates, conversation scripts and tools to help you communicate, prepare and follow up. The free Barriers Check suggests a next step; the PLUS Planner brings together barriers, a log and a plan.
Does this cover where I live?
The legal and guidance references are based on England. Families elsewhere may find the practical ideas useful, but education rules and routes to support differ. Check local guidance for your area.
What happens to our answers in the tools?
The free check runs in your browser and doesn't save or send your answers. Print the results before closing it if you want a copy. The PLUS Planner saves information in this browser on your device so you can return to it. Use its clear-data button on a shared device. Downloaded and printed copies need to be kept safe too.
You don't need a perfect plan
to make a start.
Get a clearer picture of what's getting in the way, and something practical to take into your next conversation.
Start with the free guide