Education: Truant daughter, absent help: A desperate mother found herself with nowhere to turn when her teenager repeatedly stayed away from school. Lynn Ten Kate reports

Can you believe that in Britain today it is possible for a healthy child to receive only one month's schooling between the ages of 13 and 16?

Connie was a caring mother. Divorced from a violent, alcoholic husband, she kept her children in a loving and well-disciplined environment in their council house. She herself had four A-levels and hoped her children would do even better, eventually going to university.

Her 13-year-old daughter, Trisha, was a good student, in the top stream for every subject. When Trisha began staying away from school, it was an entire term before Connie became aware of the absenteeism. Trisha left in the morning, returned in the afternoon and went to her room to do homework, which she sometimes showed to her mother. It was only by chance, when Connie made a phone call to the school secretary, that she learnt her daughter had not been attending school.

'I just couldn't believe it. Not only that Trisha was devious enough to carry the thing off, but that the school didn't let me know after a few days. How can it happen?'

When Connie tackled her daughter, she gave no real excuse for her behaviour but became abusive. Trisha was a tall girl, at 5ft 9in towering over her mother, but from then on Connie walked her to school every day and watched as she entered the building. A month later she learnt that Trisha was walking in the front, straight through and out the back. Connie then arranged that the school would ring her if her daughter was absent from morning or afternoon registration. It was another few weeks before it was realised that Trisha was present for the registrations but didn't go to the classes. When Connie appealed for help for the first time to social services, Trisha was 14 and had missed two terms of schooling.

The social services department said it did not have enough staff to do much, but when Trisha continued to refuse to go to school a social worker was eventually sent to drive her there each morning for two weeks. When the transport ceased, Trisha again would not go to school. A child psychiatrist could find nothing wrong with her and offered only to see her again in a month, if necessary.

By now Trisha had had no schooling for a year and Connie didn't know where to turn for help. She was worried about the effect it might have on her two other children. She wrote to and rang social services at local and county level. Did they not care that her child was receiving no education? The response was always the same: 'Someone will ring you back,' a wait of a week or so, then '. . . so many cuts, we don't have the staff available'.

One night Trisha did not come home. Connie alerted the police, then searched everywhere herself with no success. In the morning, Trisha returned and told police she had stayed with a friend. From then on she frequently spent nights away and, although her mother had no idea where she was, the police were not interested.

Connie was frantic. Her daughter was beyond her control and she could find no one willing to help. She pleaded with social services. 'I asked them what needed to happen before they would take notice. Were they waiting for my daughter to go on drugs or become pregnant?'

Connie went to a solicitor, who rang social services which, at last, contacted Connie. Unless Trisha began going to school regularly, she was told, within a month the social services would take Connie to court for not ensuring Trisha's attendance.

'I think I was near a nervous breakdown at that point, but I could still see how ridiculous it was. For 18 months I had been doing everything possible to get her to school and begging for help and all they could come up with was taking me to court]'

At this point, as Connie had feared, Trisha became pregnant. Within a week of this being confirmed, a home tutor arrived. After assessing her, and in spite of the fact that she had had no education for 18 months, the tutor felt Trisha would be capable of achieving five GCSEs at the normal age. Two weeks later, Trisha miscarried and the tutor was immediately withdrawn. She received no more schooling.

'It's all very well passing new truancy laws,' says Connie, 'and I agree with them. But what is the point if there is no help for a parent who desperately wants to get her child to school? I still ask myself what more I could have done.'

Last year, at 17, Trisha took herself to evening classes and obtained three good GCSEs. She now attends college one day a week, working for two more GCSEs and an A-level. She is still unable to explain why she refused to go to school. All names have been changed.

(Photograph omitted)