Im losing the will....again

[hoxtonbabe]

My DS worryingly said to me yesterday "should we not be looking at colleges"

This really hit me hard and has me so knotted up/in tears...I know we should be looking for his FE placement, but I have absolutely no clue as to what kind of placement would be suitable for him due to all the bullsh*t from the school and their non record-keeping, non monitoring and non provision since 2009!

The whole point of monitoring etc..is so we can see how and where he is improving, if not then how to help, and then by the time we get ti this phase in his life I and my DS have a nice thick file to be able to use as a guide to finding the right placement..but no they are expecting me to just shove him into the local college to which they wont even know if they could support him as there is nothing on his file in relation to his SEN since Y7

They have screwed up his education so much without the slightest concern about how he will (or wont) cope after his time with them. He has an inde EP assesment, so hopefully she will be able to shed some light.

I have to do a witness statement for the tribunals, and I will be letting the judges know that this isn't just discrimination or a cease to maintain, it is negligence also..I know that is a totally different legal route altogether, but the bottom line is, their actions over the years were negligent and illegal, especially the actions of the SENCO!!

[TheLightPassenger]

My child is much younger, but I realise that post-16/transition can be a v worrying time indeed for parents to kids with SN, I'm sorry that the school's actions are potentially screwing up this up for you. I hope that the indie EP can make some constructive suggestions, possibly worth you looking into any private provision as well, even if it's just to highlight what is lacking with the local college.

[namechanger232]

I know what you mean as we soon have to think about post 16 provision . I am also in the process of writing a witness statement too and it's hard to keep it brief and to the point with everything that has gone on. Good luck at tribunal.It's not easy but if parents like us don't make a stand nothing will change.

[WetAugust]

Hoxton

Start asking yourself a few questions

Could he get himself to and from a local college each day?

What sort of course does we want to do

Does he need training in things like gaining independence skills?

Is what he needs available locally?

How much support could a local FE college offer / would he need to attend?

Have you looked at the independent FE sector?

You need a plan of action. If he needs to gain independence skills and there's nothing available locally then you should be looking at the indie FE sector which would need substantial funding.

As someone who did bring a negligence case against the LA I would not mention negligence at the Tribunal. It's outside their remit and it'll just get their backs up and schools backs up. Negligence is very difficult to prove too - believe me. Not saying you can't prove it - just that there's a time and a place - focus on SECDIST.

Best wishes

[hoxtonbabe]

Thanks folks...

Wet: the problem is more to do with the placement itself rather than him getting to a local 6th form or his independence skills, I'm not saying he doesn't need some support with this but is less of an issue compared to the actual environment he needs..hopefully the EP will shed some light on this.

Inde would probably be the way to go from my gut feeling but I need to be able to say why the local schools can't meet his needs which at the moment is the problem area until the EP can confirm and certain diagnoses comes through I'm kind of in this limbo state... It not even like they are being honest about his attainment, one minute he's an B-D student ( when we have tribunals) then the next E-F ( once tribunals are over) this has been going on for over a year now and these are the kind of things that help with looking for the correct placement so changing his grades to suit their cause is nothing short of madness.


To add insult I have no heating or hot water, have a knackered shoulder and foot and ebayer reported me for non receipt of goods when it was a collection only listing and they didn't pick it up...it's just one of those days I think, where I just need to sit in a spa and switch off..wait I can't cos I can't get my foot wet or moist :-(

[TOWIELA]

Keep going Hoxton. Sorry you're having a rough time

It's the little tiny things that are the final straw to much bigger problems. During my wait between Tribunal and the Judge's decision, I recieved my first ever neutral in over 10 years of ebaying. I was beside myself with total and utter rage - and during the long days and nights of waiting for the Tribunal's decision, I consoled myself by eventually getting the neutral removed from my account.

I was over the moon when eBay removed it. The ebay transaction was for the grand total of 99p!

[hoxtonbabe]

Oh towie..that is funny, i'm glad its not just me...A neutral, lol

That waiting period after tribunals I think are parents worst time in the entire process, I certainly couldn't think straight for the 6 weeks they made me wait!