DS school Sen battles

Never keep your children in a place that is making them unhappy or is failing them. It should never be a battle.
@Fionaville this is so true. I wholeheartedly agree with your post. My autistic DD is only 5 but we have been struggling through the system since nursery & after she burnt out in year 1 we have stopped sending her in to school. Getting her in to school involved kicking, screaming, hiding, taking off her clothes, running away etc & still school were insisting that everything would be ok if we just got her in on time (we were spending hours each morning trying to coax her in). It constantly felt like we were being forced to bend her in to shape that wasn’t natural for her & the school weren’t listening to us.
I’m sorry you are having difficulties OP & I know not everyone is able to home educate but right now I have lost faith in the education system providing adequately for my daughter. We have been accepted for an EHCP assessment but the whole process takes so long, it’s a nightmare really. Mumsnet has been a lifeline for me as there is a lot of SEN knowledge & being a SEN parent can be a lonely experience in the real world. I hope you can get more support for your son.

LA’s say schools must fund the first £6k of EHCP provision, but if written correctly (which can take an appeal) EHCPs can be fully funded. LAs won’t do so unless forced, but ultimately, it is the LA who is responsible for ensuring SEP detailed, specified and quantified in F is provided.

The biggest issue is that schools are required to meet the first 6k of SEN/EHCP funding per child from their own budgets but are not given money ring fenced for this.

So school 1 might have

• 4 children per class with SEN
• pupil premium money so higher funding generally
• less experienced amd cheaper teaching staff

School 2 may have more kids with SEN, more expensive teachers, little/no pupil premium cash. Maybe they are also in an older building thats expensive to heat.

These are the schools running out of loo roll amd asking parents to buy pritt sticks.

Where do you think they get the money for a 1 to 1 for your child from?

You need to get the EHCP reviewed & adjusted, its the only way.

@BlueBrick thank you for your clarification. I've learned something new.

It is still an unlawful, informal exclusion. The exclusion and suspension guidance applies to school pupils below CSA. The admissions code also makes it clear DC are entitled to attend full time from the September after their 4th birthday. Although parents can choose to send them part time until CSA, or defer until CSA or the start of the summer term, whichever is earlier.

I think it might depend on whether he is statutory school age if this is an illegal exclusion or not.

If he's below statutory school age, then I don't think it is, but I'm very happy to be corrected.

The OP absolutely needs to seek an early, emergency EHCP review though as her child's needs are not being met. He sounds completely overwhelmed.

I don’t have advice to offer, but I want to thank you! You obviously really love your son and can see he’s being treated unfairly and scapegoated by an overwhelmed system. Whatever happens, knowing you have his back will be one of the biggest things in his life <3

Our close friend is a headteacher at another school and told us there is an almost always a pot of funding to top up ehcp funding. That school is going to be very reluctant to do so though.

Maybe there was once, but schools have seen their budgets cut year on year for the last decade and their utility bills skyrocket. The cost of all our essential equipment and resources has gone up. Staff have been awarded pay rises (and rightly so) that we recieved no additional funds for. We certainly don't have a pot of money to top up EHCP funding, and I find it hard to believe other schools "almost always" do in the current financial climate.

You need to ask what exactly your DS's funding is being spent on. In our LA it is extremely rare for an EHCP to specify that a child's needs a 1:1, unless they have physical disabilities that mean they need a high level of personal care. But even if a child's EHCP doesn't specify they need 1:1 that is often what we use their EHCP funding for, as we know the other provision specified in the plan won't be able to happen without that increased staffing. If we couldn't pay for additional TA support out of the child's EHCP but they couldn't cope in school without it, then we would be requesting an early Annual Review and telling the LA we can't meet the child's needs with their current plan. We have successfully negotiated an increase in funding in similar circumstances.

Be careful with SENDIASS, some are good but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies. Look at IPSEA and SOSSEN instead.

I also agree with this. I wouldn't touch ours with barge pole. Useless.

SEN support at most schools is diabolical.
We are now paying private school fees to enable our SENDs child to get an education. Many state schools have too many kids and not enough money to do anything more than childcare for SENDs kids unfortunately. Most private schools are almost as bad, but there are some that show it is possible!

You need to ask for a review of the EHCP.
If you can afford it get an independent ed psych report.
They can and will say probably that he needs 1.1. They need to say that he needs full time 1.1 including playtimes.
You can then ask for this provision to be put into the EHCP. If they don't do this, you then go to sendist tribunal.

The problem is that this all takes ages. You should still do it but will in the meantime need to work with the school to keep him there.
I think it's also important to recognise that your ds at home is going to be very different to your ds in a busy classroom or playground where it is noisy and difficult to regulate. I have children with asd. DD at home is no trouble really whilst she can be challenging at school.

You need to request an early review of the EHCP. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

You can’t demand 1:1 if the EHCP doesn’t detail, specify and quantify it. That is why you need an early review. Once you have 1:1 detailed, specified and quantified in F, via tribunal if necessary, it must be provided and can be enforced. Ignore the LA or anyone connected with them telling you DS won’t be 1:1 or it won’t be funded. You might need to appeal but it is possible.

Follow up conversations with emails so you have a paper trail. The school asking you to collect without formally suspending DS is an unlawful, informal exclusion. Because DS is below compulsory school age, you can choose to send DS part-time, but it is your decision. Ensuring suspensions are formal will a) provide evidence of unmet needs to support you pursuing additional provision, b) force the school to follow due process, c) limit the number of days the school can suspend for, d) allow you to challenge any suspension, and e) ensure DS receives alternative education for longer suspensions.

Be careful with SENDIASS, some are good but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies. Look at IPSEA and SOSSEN instead.

Agree with the above posters re unlawful exclusions. It doesn't help the child as there no evidence that they can't meet need.
Emergency annual review to look at his outcomes and the likelihood of these being achieved. Discuss what is working well and what isn't.

The school should speak with the Local Authority surrounding funding, the LA can change the banding of the plan if school and the inclusion partner can prove its needed.
You could then ask for an implementation meeting, to implement the plan and discuss concerns.

If your not confident in navigating this, you could reach out to local services for support such as SENDIAS.

I am so sorry you are going through this. Its just awful and so so unfair.
I work in a special school and we are on our knees, no staff, not enough funding and constant appeals and tribunals for spaces we just dont have.
We have 12 children in classes designed for 8, often with just a teacher and one TA because we cannot get anyone to apply for the jobs. The money is just not there for anything, staff, interventions, even a cleaner. We clean our own classrooms.
This government should hang their heads in shame, the situation is beyond dreadful for children with SEND.
I love my job, but I fail children every day and its heart breaking.

They are illegally excluding him by offering half days. Do they document his outbursts and absences? Are the other children on ehcp or are they using funding for your dc to manage them too? Speak to the Sendco and LA inclusion officer to plan how to enable him to be in school fulltime.

Stop allowing the school to illegally exclud your son by picking him up.
School is ringing you to avoid a paper trail , There are procedures they should be following see www.ipsea.org.uk
If you want additional funding for your son, school needs to show they can’t cope ie need additional staffing and showing they regularly need to send him home supports your cause

Op have been you asked what training the staff get on any sen?

Does the Senco have any idea what or are they just a Co ordinator.

In my experience unfortunately no school staff have even basic sen training at all, any ta is no specialist either.. So how would they know what to do with him when no one understands sen triggers, stragety etc.

Op it’s clear it’s not the right place for him. One thing I’ve learned on this SEN journey is that you absolutely need a school that is willing to work with you in supporting your dc. And if you have any reservations, it’s far better to move him sooner rather than later. It’s my only regret for Dd2, she lost out on so much in YR and Y1 which needn’t have happened.

I don't know where your headteacher friend works that they have secret pots of money for 1-1 staff but the primaries I work with can barely pay the bills.

And it's always been like this. 1-1 funding has to come via an EHCP and the LA.

Absolutely to the emergency ehcp. They should be suggesting it anyway and if by the end of the meeting they haven't then suggest it yourself and ask them directly why they haven't suggested it.

State very clearly that staff have repeatedly said they didn't see what happened but have chosen to take another child's version of events over ds'. That in order to help him regulate he needs someone watching at all times to step in and guide him or help him make the right decisions when brushed against.

Many times placements fail over something as simple as proper supervision and support.

Can I demand they top up his funding and provide him with a 1 to 1?

Your head teacher friend might have a special pot of money to top things up with, but my school certainly doesn’t! We have a deficit budget and no money even for supply teachers, so don’t assume that will by the case everywhere. We couldn’t provide a child with a 1:1 without the EHC funding .

What funding is the EHC actually providing currently?

@SaladSeeker Curious, do you have a SEN child?

I've been there. My DS is such a lovely boy, not violent at all. When he was in mainstream primary for infants, it was so draining and stressful.
Your DSs school is not being inclusive by having him segregated and not doing full days. I think it actually goes against the rules in place, as your DS is entitled to so many hours of education. But then, most schools aren't equipped or funded to be fully inclusive. Dont let them exclude him from the upcoming Christmas festivities either.
The only way things improved for my boy was going to special school. It changed his and our lives for the better. He's an adult now and had the best time there, due to the support and understanding. He did really well in his GCSEs too.
I'm honestly heartbroken reading your post and others like it. I hate that things have actually gotten worse, rather than better for SEN kids. I know it's a strain on you and how upsetting it is.
The other thing I would say, is look at home education. I HE my other children (who don't have SEN) and it really is the best. I can't tell you the amount of families like yours, who have taken their children out of school, who are now happy and thriving. The one thing they all say is "I wish we'd done this sooner" Never keep your children in a place that is making them unhappy or is failing them. It should never be a battle.
Whatever you decide, keep being his champion. Things will get better 💐

In which case the school need to approach the LA and tell them what they need, then support the parent to get it in the EHCP, via tribunal if necessary @SaladSeeker

I imagine it's a case of the school doing the best they can with the little funding they've got. If it's the case that your son's behaviour is affecting 29 other children's education, then that's not ok either. I realise it's your job to advocate for your son, but the school has to advocate for the whole class. In an ideal world, there would be plenty of funding available for your son to have all the support he needs, but that's not the case unfortunately. So the school has to make difficult decisions that benefit the majority.