detention

[Cornycabernet]

does anyone have a link to any relevant legal info regarding giving detention as a sanction for something that's linked to a child's difficulties?
e.g a child with dyspraxia who has a history of organisational difficulties getting detention for forgetting/losing equipment?

[auntevil]

Watching with interest.
DCs are always being 'sanctioned' for failing in organisational matters. Not acting promptly in following instructions is another one. This is a school that is genuinely quite good, so I dread to think what a poor school would be like.
Is the DC in question statemented, SA+, formally dx ? What is the school's general recognition of needs arising from dx?

[moosemama]

Not 100% sure, but you could cite the Equality Act 2010.

Some info here and here

There are some really useful quotes on the second link that I think might help.

[Cornycabernet]

'Not acting promptly in following instructions is another one.'
yes we've had detention for that as well.

He has dx of dyspraxia.
He is on school action but a SENCO isn't qualified to assess a child's level of need. SENCO is really very nice and helpful but admitted that she really didn't know about dyspraxia. (I sent some stuff in for her).

As far as school are concerned he doesn't have 'needs' as he's bright and achieves good levels and is mainly in top sets. It's a secondary.
Failed 11 plus by a couple of marks. Would have been different if he'd gone to a grammar as then he would have stood out more!

School aren't unsupportive, but they are as a school extremely strict and give out detentions for forgetting equipment etc. Teachers don't make allowance unless child is on SA+ or SA it seems.
This puts ds at a disadvantage. He's only had detentions for bad organisation/not starting work quickly enough, but is starting to get anxious about it now as he's nearly at the stage to be put on report.
P.E teachers are also on his case and threatening detention for dressing too slowly!

[Cornycabernet]

thankyou moosemama

[Ilisten2theradio]

Perhaps you could do what I did and write to the teacher concerned saying something along the lines of " I understand you have given Ds a detention for xyz. I am not sure if you are aware but he has Dx and one of the result of this is poor organisational skills. You have therefore punished him for something relating to his disability which he cannot help" and copy it to the SENCO and any TA's.
I then got a reply saying " yes I was aware .. Behaviour policy..Blah blah blah.
I replied copying everyone that I had been hoping that she had been unaware as I really hadn't wanted to think that she was blatently discriminating against a disability.

Funnily enough although I didn't get a reply to this, when others have had more detentions for lack of equipment etc he has merely had a note in his planner to remember them for next time.

[moosemama]

Is there any reason he isn't on SA Corny?

If he has a dx and the school is aware, he should be on SA, which would identify him to his teachers as a child who needs either help or allowances in certain areas.

Being on SA would mean the school would help come up with strategies to help him remember things and manage his organisational skills better, it could also mean allowing him to leave the previous lesson a couple of minutes earlier than his classmates, to afford him enough time to get change for PE.

If the SENCO has been made aware of his dx and you have given her the necessary info to understand his difficulties, she should have put him on SA and I would follow that up.

When was the last time you had any Occupational Therapy input? It might be worth contacting them. Ds2 has hypermobility syndrome and doesn't qualify for any actual 'therapy' from OT, but they have just spent an hour talking to him about what he struggles with and what he feels might help him cope with school a little better, followed by trying out some different pens, pencils, scissors etc. They then went into school, met with the SENCO and gave them lots of information on how he should be being supported, as well as arranging for a specialist PE teacher to go in and 'teach' them how to differentiate for him sports lessons. Google your local OT department and give them a call, as referrals differ from area to area, but in our area, when a child has been seen once you can then self refer back for help with specific issues whenever you like.

[auntevil]

I had a few problems in Y4, so in Y5 I sat down with his CT and had a list from the dyspraxia foundation website of 'symptoms'.
We went through it, saying that this was very likely, or not very likely. I left the list with her.
She has been totally on side. Unfortunately, not all staff are. There is this huge lack of awareness in any other 'symptoms' of dyspraxia other than the poor handwriting and co-ordination.
Perhaps also a list sent to all his tutors asking if they would like you to give them further information as to how this affects your DS?

[Cornycabernet]

Thanks all for your advice.
I think there is a parents evening coming up so I will speak to individual teachers then and bring info with me to whip out and present them with.

He is on SA, but in his school they have to be on SA+ for the SENCO to inform subject teachers (he's in Y7 so lots of different teachers). But I think there's a general lack of awareness of what dyspraxia actually is.
They are allowing him to use a laptop (which is great) but don't seem to be aware at all of the organisational difficulties that children with dyspraxia commonly have.

We have asked for NHS help now in that he has been referred to paed and is on waiting list for NHS OT, so hopefully that will help. His dx was a private dx through very specialist OT.

I like the idea of leaving lesson early to have enough time to get dressed - will suggest that.
He does 'cope' with the work, it's just the stress of these bloody detentions.

[Ineedmorepatience]

Hi corny, it sounds like he would benefit from a passport or one page profile that all the staff who teach him have a copy of.

These contain info about individual children and their additional needs. Dd3 has one which has info about what she finds difficult and the best ways to support her.

I really like the one page profile, if you google them there are some samples available to read. Then either you and your Ds could make one or the SENCO could do it with him.

Good luck

[moosemama]

Right, so as he has already had OT involvement and dx, in theory you could push for him to be on SA+, as he has already had external professional involvement.

Once he has seen the paed and NHS OT he should be moved straight onto SA+ anyway.

He may cope with the work, but the OT will be able to suggest things to help him be more organised and things that the school can do to make it easier for him.

Ds2 copes with the work and never complains, yet it was clear from his OT appointment that he is suffering. In his case he's often in pain and exhausted and he also struggles with changing for PE and swimming. He also struggles with time, planning and organisation and the OT came up with a few ideas to help him with that.

Ineed's idea for a passport is a good one. In some secondaries they are included in the register folder. Ds1 has a full passport booklet and a mini passport. The booklet one is available to all teachers/supply teachers, there is a copy in class and cover staff are 'supposed' to be given one in advance. As they never are, his inclusion teacher helped him to create a mini passport that he can hand to teachers who seem unaware of his difficulties and the impact they have on him in the classroom environment. The next step is apparently going to be to create an even smaller one for use in secondary that is business card sized and can be easily handed to a teacher without drawing attention to it.

[Ineedmorepatience]

Some schools also have pop ups on the teachers laptops apparently. I like the business card idea though moose

[moosemama]

I've heard that Ineed. Wouldn't it be great if all schools were that switched on.

[Cornycabernet]

Yes they do the passport already for children at SAplus but not for SA.
Looks like I'll have to push for that then. I'll let the SENCO know that he's seen the paed and ask if she'll move him.
The business card/ pop ups sound great though.

Thanks for all your advice. Reassures me that I'm not making a fuss about nothing!