Pointless, demoralising report

[Runningtokeepstill]

Ds has been off school for 4 months due to health problems and had low attendance before that. He's in his GCSE year so this is seriously problematic and he's been getting some support from the out of school team when he is able to access it. He's doing a reduced number of GCSEs and is still aiming to pass them.

Today the final Yr 11 report arrived from school, informing us that his attendance is crap and as he's not doing any work at school he's predicted to fail his all GCSE's and is now in the red (crisis) zone for all subjects. They've even included a fail grade for the subject they have refused to let him sit. I know it is a standard document but I feel really brassed off. This has been a supportive school so far and I would have expected perhaps a note attached saying this is a standard report we have to issue and we recognise that junior Running is ill and is working with the out of school team.

I've decided not to show him it. He doesn't know a report is due and currently he's not in touch with anyone from school. He's hanging on by his fingertips to continuing with his GCSE's and does not need this demoralising document that doesn't even acknowledge that his is still working despite very challenging circumstances. I have to send back a form confirming receipt of the report and with any comments I wish to make. Not sure yet what I'll put.

[Ineedmorepatience]

Sorry that the system has treated your Ds so badly!! There was absolutely no excuse for them to send such a report to you!! Uncaring warehouses, that is what many MS schools are

[Icimoi]

How much support has DS been getting out of school? Local authorities are great ones for fobbing parents off when they ask for home tuition, suggesting that it will be OK if the school sends work home, or only offering a maximum of 5 hours a week. If he can cope with it, your DS should be getting around 15 hours a week. Technically he's entitled to full time education, but few children can really cope with full time 1:1 tuition because it's much more intensive than being in class. I would suggest that your response should suggest a meeting to talk about what the school and the LA are going to do to improve his chances between now and the exams, or maybe redoing Year 11.

[Runningtokeepstill]

Thanks Ineed and Ici. He is getting offered close to what he is entitled to as the LA provide e-learning - unfortunately as it operates in the mornings and he is not functioning then he isn't able to access it often. He has a tutor for one hour once a week. On top of this my oldest ds helps him with Maths and Science and I help with English. He can't repeat yr 11 but could do a mix of GCSE and level 2 Btec at college next year. Currently he is adamant that he won't do this. He is fixated on doing everything at the same times as others his age and sees "falling behind" as failure.

So I'm trying to keep his foot in the door as far as completing a minimum of GCSE's this year which will allow him to do level 3 Btec next year. The sad thing is this IS the caring school. His previous one was awful and I wouldn't have expected anything better but I did think this school would realise how awful it was sending this report out without an additional comment.

[senvet]

I suggest that you reply with a comment that

• you understand that it is a busy time of year, and
  
• thanking them for all their support in the past, and
  
• that as they are such a supportive school, you guess that they would really really want to know that luckily dc didn't see this, as it might have been very crushing, and
  
• you are sure that they will make sure that there is a check on reports going to medical cases in the future, as they are so caring etc etc.
  
  It will protect others in the future and keep them on side in case you need them.
  
  I think if dc cannot access the am e-learning then the LA are not meeting his needs and they should either arrange extra tutor time or for the e-learning to be done in the afternoon.
  
  GCSEs - as soon as kids get past them they blossom in their chosen fields.

[Icimoi]

If the LA is providing something which DS can't access, then he isn't getting what he's entitled to. If e-learning only happens in the morning when he isn't functioning, then they either need to find e-learning that happens later in the day or provide more home tuition. Anyway, elearning plus one hour a week tuition is totally inadequate.

I suggest you see if you can get a doctor to provide a letter confirming he's not up to education in the mornings but is later in the day, then go back to the LA and ask them to provide proper home education. If they won't, they're breaching their statutory duty and I would suggest you contact an education law solicitor to enforce it.

[AgnesDiPesto]

Or local govt ombudsman.
Look at Govt guidance on children who can't attend school with medical needs
1 hour a week is not enough for a child sitting GCSEs and guidance says it can't be just e learning

[Icimoi]

The trouble with the ombudsman is that there is simply no way he'll do anything quickly, and you need to have gone through the local authority complaints system first, and that is also slow. It doesn't sound as if OP's DS has the luxury of that amount of time.

[Runningtokeepstill]

Thanks for the replies. I think Ici has it: that ds is running out of time. There's been lots of problems over the years with the way his education has been dealt with ignored. I don't think there is a cat in hell's chance of any extra LA tuition as the tutor he has is being borrowed from another area of County. Since the start of budget cuts/Academies/Free schools the LA central services for education have been decimated although I would imagine the workload has increased. Ds may be entitled to more but with the time left before exams start it's unlikely to happen whatever I do.

Education has been on the back burner for the last couple of months as I've spent quite a bit of time fighting on the health services front recently in the hope that ds can get the help that will give him a better quality of life. Otherwise he's not going to manage college and then work in the future. The difficulty is that those families who do battle through to claim a share of the very few resources available are then stuck on another waiting list. My ongoing complaint with the CCG about the lack of local treatment for his condition has gone very quiet too.

It's exhausting as without a fight both health and education services would leave him to rot. They are not geared up to support children with ongoing health problems whatever the law says they should be doing. I have the greatest admiration for many of the mums on here who keep fighting and fighting for what their children need. It's almost 23 years since the death of my first ds who had global developmental delay. I remember reading all the reports at the time about improvements in the statementing system and how, with fewer delays, more children would be able to be supported in mainstream. We were just about to go down that path for him as a pre-schooler. It would be great to think that these improvements all came to pass but sadly I doubt it.

Sorry this is going wildly off-topic. I will respond to the school report in a manner similar to that suggested by senvet and see what they say.

[Icimoi]

They're not restricted to tutors on local authority books - they could recruit from teaching supply agencies, for instance. I suggest you point out to the LA that DS is entitled by law to full time education, or as much as his health allows him to cope with, and that has to be education that fits in with his illness; and say to them they need to make arrangements with immediate threat, otherwise you will have to contact solicitors with a view to judicial review proceedings. And if that doesn't work, contact those solicitors.