Help son refused for a statutory assessment .

[babs2011]

hi all what to do .. son 8 years permanently excluded from a new school after four weeks because of hes extreme behaviour which the head teacher referred him to be assessed for a stat for SEN ,
I was also asked by the inclusion officer to do so to speed up process , did ask him if he didnt get the assessment when and what school would he go to , his reply was what he as been told he wouldnt be going to a mainstream school
WELL had a letter saying :
Having now considered (son) case file and the information that as been provided, the education services has decided that whilst (son) dose have some special educational needs,the information availaible does not demonstrate that a statutory assessment is necessary at this time.
the information provided by (school) is limited ,it dose indicate that referrals had been made both to the area psychology ad to the autism outreach team but due to the limited time that (son) attended the school no information regarding input from these services has bee provided .
it is suggested that you (ME) should work with the inclusion officer to identify an alternative mainstream school placement ...The support services can then work with that school to gather information to support a future request ......

so now what next ... putting my son into another school for what for him to get all up set because he as lots of issues then again most likely be kicked out because he dos not understand whats expected of him and after the way the last school did it my son cryed every day for a week and still now cant talk about that school without him getting upset and losing it ,
Just dont know what will happen .:(

[hannahsmummsy]

first step go on sendist , get appeal forms send them the refusal letter , do it today if you can by recorded delivery , then take a breather xxxxxbefore planing what to do next , i promise you just subbmiting the for will show the lea will mean buisness . dont tell them you are doing this as the state you are likley to be in will make you vunerable and doubt yourself , your are dds mum you know best what he needs leas routinley make mistakes

[hannahsmummsy]

go to local govement ombardsman website , they do education complains in record speed ,they will soon check ds files, and tell you have a case , form easy to fill in and they contact you the next day.you can easily do it on line it sounds like you need help quick xxxx

[hannahsmummsy]

look at education case reports on lgo website , they seem to have made good jugments in similar cases to your ds , it will at least give you hope x

[hannahsmummsy]

if he is old enough with support he can make his own complaint as well to local gov oms, they take complaints from young disabled under 25 very seriously

[babs2011]

thank so much for the info .. hes only 8 and still cant understand why hes not allowed back to his school .

[coff33pot]

I dont understand why he cant go back either Babs. If he has only been there 4 weeks he is still getting used to his surroundings and maybe expecting the same bad treatment that he had from his previous school. It takes time to trust new surroundings.

What reason did the HT permanently exclude him for?? Can they not put in some reinforcement stratages to actually help your DS after all he is entitled to an education. Surely they cant just give up like that.........or maybe they can.

If the inclusion officer has said he wont have a place in a mainstream school what provision is she making for his education in the meantime? or if that isnt her job what are the LA going to do in the meantime so that he can be taught at home.

Take a look at the IPSEA web site regarding exclusion for what your DS is entitled to whilst this mess is sorted out.

Have you got in touch with Parent Partnership? If not it might be worth getting them on board too.

[hannahsmummsy]

poor you , poor little boy , if you didnt send him to school in the first place you would be in trouble , yet they are allowed to get away with not educating him ,please take action today , for the sake of your own sanity xxx he must have needs , junior school exclusion are rare .xxx

[babs2011]

we moved so he started a new school he was already on a Action plus , and the new head teacher picked up on his special needs with in a day or two and reff him to be assessed and we had meeting after meeting about my son whom as had a prognosis of autism from around 2/3 years of age and did get help in the early years at his old school , as under a new borough council now and my sons notes from when he was younger had to be tracked down as we've not been back to the Paediatrician in years its all having to done over again in which he as had a an informal diagnosis for autism from a new psychologist , which hes seeing at the moment ,
on the letter from the new school the reason for the exclusion was his extreme behaviour which may result in injury to him self or other ,,,
so i dont understand why put him back into to a mainstream school without being assessed when thay already no he cant cope there ...

[coff33pot]

Ok so contact parent partnership first and arrange a meeting with the school with them in tow.

Ask the school point blank do they want to educate your son. If he is on SA+ then what stratagies have they got in place to protect him? Has an EP been to see him in his new school yet? That is one of the first things a school does before a statement. Well down here anyway. The EP will do a report and also put forward suggestions on management in school. But he has to be assessed in that enviroment for the report to take place.

Sounds very much to me that they have just sent him home to avoid the hassle of helping him poor boy.

[cansu]

I would get some advice about the exclusion first of all. The school has to follow certain procedures before they can permanently exclude. I would try the National Autistic Society education advice line as they can go through this with you and advise you on the next steps to take. I would also start keeping a record of what people from the school and LEA are telling you. Just keep a diary or note book next to phone and jot it down. They are quite likely to tell you inaccurate info to fob you off.

[babs2011]

yes the EP had seen him and they had put in place a few strategies,,but the teachers words were As this is such a small school and my sons outbursts are upsetting the other children because there not used to a loud child thay cant have him at the school and your right did just feel they wanted rid of him ,,, just had a chat to the parent part they have said nothing can be done yet and i need to contact his inclusion officer which i have been phoning the past two days , which they told me hes on holiday GREAT! Cant get hold of him untill the 31st august

[TheNinjaGooseIsOnAMission]

do check out ipsea they have a helpline you can ring, may take a while to get through but is worth it, exclusion and refusal to assess info. You can appeal the exclusion and the refusal to assess although afaics you should have been offered some sort of caf or assessment following the exclusion, did that happen?

[babs2011]

well he got excluded then had meeting with the inclusion officer think he was under the impression to what he said that my son would be assess , there is still a meeting to go ahead with the school to see if the exclusion will be up held , and my son will be getting a few hours a week at this other school 30mins walk away which im not happy with as my son as problems on roads etc he panics around traffic and these are not little side road to this school some are A roads so need to sort that out too , thats it so far

[Agnesdipesto]

Contact IPSEA. You can appeal the exclusion if you want.
It is not your job to find a school, it is the LA job to do that and to provide home tutor in meantime (see IPSEA website for how many hours home tutor are required).
Appeal the refusal to assess. It is likely the LA will back down and are just playing for time.
In the meantime investigate what you think the best option is eg private ASD schools etc
On the appeal you need to say why your child's needs cannot be met in mainstream and use evidence of exclusion that needs not met.
You then need to say what you think will meet need eg mainstream with FT 1:1; ASD school, ABA, BESD school etc etc
You can self refer to an Ed Psych even though the application has been turned down
The outreach autism team should go into any school so all mainstream schools should be capable of being equipped and staffed to cope. If his needs cannot be met in mainstream you need to look at all the local special schools in and out of borough, at independent schools. Ask Parent Partnership to send you a list.
Contact your local ASD support group and ask for recommendations of schools
The exclusion gives you evidence that mainstream cannot cope
If the LA says they can cope it is up to them to prove that to tribunal
Ask the tribunal to expedite the appeal as your son is now without any school
You can also complain to the local govt ombudsman if you feel they have not followed the process correctly eg leaving you with no school
Most important is to follow up everything in writing eg write back to the LA and say they need to identify suitable schools with places and in the meantime commit to a home tutor until a suitable school is found.
Don't be rushed into taking any place, say it is critical the next placement is the right one to minimise distress to your DS.
If you want to try another mainstream school then perhaps look for one with a unit and do an online in year application on the LA website - if need be choose one out of area. If you get into the main part of the school it s then often easier to transfer into a unit once the staff identify the problems.

[babs2011]

thankyou all so much for your input xxx