Am I or is school BU?

This. Don't wait for school to decide if or accept their reluctance to apply. Longer term this may not be the best fit school for her but you need to at least get an acceptance of her need for support and tolerance.

God, this is atrocious, OP. I'm sorry your poor DD has experienced all of this, and that you'll have to fight really hard on her behalf to get some support for her.

An EHCP should have been applied for when your DD was in primary school. The school would have known that without it, the highschool were extremely unlikely to provide the same - or any - level of support for your DD. It is not the school's place to decide she doesn't meet the threshold, although it obviously helps to have them onside during the EHCP process. As others have said, you can apply, and I would start that ball rolling ASAP. (FWIW, although my DS's school did support the EHCP application, they tried to push back extremely hard on the level of support the LA identified was necessary, and it still hasn't been put in place.)

Put absolutely everything in writing. Don't expect meetings suggested by the school to be minuted or for them to comply with any actions agreed in the meeting. Create meeting minutes yourself, circulate them ASAP and say any feedback/amendments are due within a week, otherwise they will stand as an accurate reflection of what was discussed/agreed. Likewise, take notes of every telephone call and email them back to the relevant party as a record of the conversation.

Schools shouldn't be able to get away with pushing out the kids they decide, for whatever reason, aren't suitable. But life can be very hard if you're not academically gifted/don't respond well to pressure and you're in the type of school that pushes out what they consider to be academically underachieving children. Whilst it is hard leaving friends, at this early stage of highschool, it may be worth seeing if other schools have space and talking with your DD about whether she'd be happy to at least visit them to see what they were like.

So sorry you and your DD are going through this @SchoolProblemHelp. Yes of course YADNBU. You have some great advice here and definitely get an EHCP. I got one for my daughter. It's emotional as a parent to do it but definitely worthwhile. SENDIASS also offer good support. Good luck

Request an EHCNA yourself. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use. The only legal test you need to show at this point is DD a) has or may have SEN, and b) may need special educational provision to be made via an EHCP. She meets that test. You do not need to show the school has spent £6k, DD is 2+ years behind…

Request a meeting with the SENCO. Formally complain to the school. Under the Children and Families Act 2014 they must make their best endeavours to meet DD’s SEN. They must also make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 (it is the EA not the DDA now). They must not punish DD for the tics. That is discrimination.

The primary is also at fault for not requesting an EHCNA previously. They should have. Sadly it isn’t uncommon for DC to be well supported at primary with support (e.g. a TA) that cannot be provided at a SEN support level in a secondary school and then transition to secondary be difficult when that support isn’t/can’t be provided.

Some great advice above but just wanted to say this is horrific of the school.

Legal issues aside, common humanity should mean all children are treated with compassion and respect.
I'm so sorry you and your family are having to go through this.

You could ask for a SAR to fing out how the school is managing the information internally?

As I have informed each teacher when issues present most of them have been mortified and apologised. Except the one that said it was her responsibility to tell them it was a tic as how can they tell the difference.

That is a point, fair maybe not. The simple solution is for your DD to have a pass she can show to her teacher.

Is she still on report? Tell her to put the report on the teacher's desk at the start of the lesson. You might want to add a note saying she has autism and struggles to communicate.

As a teacher it's actually easier to do this than have students come up after the lesson. I can fill it in while the class are doing some work.

But frankly the school are talking a load of crap, everyone in the school has a duty of care and everyone should be following disability discrimination information.

am kind of 50:50 on this.
I think you need to adjust your expectations a little. Secondary schools are very different to primary school.Each teacher depending on subject may teach as many as 500 or 600 kids over the course of a fortnight. If say nearly 20% have an SEN, they can't have an intimate knowledge of each child's condition and needs so your child does need to speak up.Also I think your child is milking the situation a bit, I mean 'I threw a pencil because my hand slipped.' Come on! I didn't attempt my maths because it was too hard. She should have had a go!

My son also has tourettes and ADHD. He's well behaved in school and in his last school, he tried to mask as much as possible. According to the school, due to him not being disruptive or badly behaved, he didn't meet the EHCP threshold and they refused to help me apply. He struggled badly with bullying and kids mocking his tics or saying he didn't have tourettes because he wasn't shouting swear words every second.

I pulled him out in the end because he refused to go in and I was being threatened with fines. During the period of him being out of school, I called his ADHD doctor and gp who forwarded it to the wellbeing hub. He was given a very detailed interview with a psychologist and social worker who filled in EHCP paperwork based on their findings. It took a while, but he started a new school in year 9.

My advice would be to try every avenue to get EHCP and support now before GCSE years. He is only in foundation level for his exams now due to the period he was out of school which is really frustrating as he was in higher sets before and on track for 7-9.

Hope this helps. Tourettes is so badly understood in schools and people don't understand the anxiety and frustration that comes with it. They seem to think it's just a funny condition that makes you shout random stuff.

The school absolutely has a duty of care, your poor daughter 😢 a good source of information is Contact
https://contact.org.uk/help-for-families/information-advice-services/education-start/education-learning/ehc-plans-assessments/what-is-an-ehc-plan/
You should apply for the EHCP, don't wait for the school to do it and also consider a DLA application for your daughter if this is not already in place 💐

Of course the school can make teachers read IEPs!!! My school have (rightly) made a massive push over the last 2 years to ensure that there is greater visibility of SEND needs amongst staff. We have regular SEND training, and the downloading/reading of SEND sheets is regularly on meeting time agendas, plus it is on our learning walk sheet when we are observed. Frankly, the school just has to make it a priority and actually try to get teachers to read them.

I have to say I'm quite disappointed in your primary school, with such a big packet of support in place, they should have begun the process of formalising things to EHCP level. Also, the transition seems to have gone very wrong if the secondary are not clear on what your daughter needs and are not communicating this to staff.

This! You need to be prepared for a battle! She has a confirmed, genuine condition & the school are FAILING her. Simple human compassion & common sense would have avoided all of the horrid things they've put your daughter through. Document EVERYTHING & take it to the top. All you're asking for is a few facts to be taken into consideration & for your daughter to be treated with dignity.

I have been advised by the SEN team “we can’t make the teachers read it”.

Umm, what!? Yes, they flipping well can! It’s part of being a teacher. This school appears to be actively discriminating against your daughter and also not safeguarding her because they’re allowing her to be bullied. It’s appalling. (I’m a teacher.) This school needs to do better.

good luck. YANBU.

I can't believe people are blaming the primary school, which met her needs, over the secondary which is failing horribly. As the OP has said, primary did pass on her needs. I can't tell you the number of meetings we as a primary have with secondaries about our SEND pupils only to find that things have completely unravelled within weeks at secondary because absolutely no adjustments have been made. It can be very difficult to get an EHCP and whilst perhaps that would have been a good course of action, the reality is schools are expected to mange children at SEN support level - it's not an EHCP or nothing which seems to be several secondaries' approach. Something like 3% of primary pupils have an EHCP but around 18% are on the SEND register. It will never be the case that all are granted an EHCP.

This. This is a case where a school and its senior staff should be named and shamed. They are deliberately harming a child for the purpose of inducing her parents to switch schools.

Contact the governors and LEA and CC a journalist from your local paper in the same email.

They most certainly CAN ensure teachers read it. In fact, when something like this rarely happens at my school our SENCO has arranged meetings with the teachers who clearly haven't read it to go over the IEP and ensure they know strategies to support. Further failure to follow IEP is a disciplinary matter. It is a key part of a SENCO's work to ensure IEPs are followed. Or what is the point?

I agree rethink the school. DS has different issues but ended up at a different school to his best friends because he needed the far more nurturing one and so far it has been good - he has made new friends and the support in place v necessary. Also no one bats an eyelids at the reasonable adjustments he has because quite a few do and he feels more normal - it is still v mainstream

That's awful. Your poor daughter.

I also think that the primary school let your dd down by not pushing for an EHCP just because they were able to meet her needs.

As primary school teachers, we have the same 30 children in our class every day and can make the adjustments that they need whether or not they have any paperwork.

Whenever I discuss SEND at parents evening (I often have children who are on the pathway but haven't yet received a diagnosis) I say that we can meet the child's needs but if we can get an official diagnosis (and an EHCP if appropriate) before they leave primary school, it should help when they go to secondary school which is such a different environment.

Also, I very much hope you’re not allowing her to actually serve any of these absurd detentions.

They are being openly discriminatory, and failing in their duty of care as well in the case of the bullying in the classroom. It seems obvious they’re trying to induce you to remove her from the school on your own, so as to avoid having to accommodate a child with disabilities.

So they are being more than unreasonable: they are being vile, because they are vile people. I’m not sure if you’d want to stay there anyway. It’s hard to imagine a more blatant case of a school showing no desire to meet a child’s educational needs, and disregarding their duty of care.

If the school has a reputation for managing out SEN pupils you are almost certainly going to need to fight for everything.

I would suggest that in your next meeting with the SEN team you ask that her IEP is re-emailed after each incident.

After each incident complain. In writing (email) to both the teacher, cc ing the SEN team. Use the formal complaints procedure that the school has.

You can apply for an EHCP yourself and it will help to put pressure on the school. (The school are not wrong, but without an EHCP any support can be withdrawn at any time as you have discovered). Expect to have to appeal the EHCP.

There are charities that will help you with applying for an EHCP - there are also some long running threads on Mumsnet on the SEN boards.

In the long run seriously consider whether having her at this school is right for her. The school don't want her. They are making that clear.

This is really horrible to read that this is happening to your daughter. My daughter too has autism and tourettes. Fortunately, we have always home educated her, so I've never had to deal with her disabilities being punished by a school. It actually makes me quite tearful that your daughter is going through this.

Formal complaint all the way. I know people shouldn't have to, but if you're in a position to home educate - I highly recommend it.

God that's heartbreaking and glad you have some good advice above.

What I would say (as a mum to a similar DD 16) is do rethink the school. I get the friends issue and ultimately that may be too big a factor to ignore. However she's just started and it's a battle, school cultures often don't change and if they do it's slowly. Years of this - even if slightly improved - is going to chip away at her. So absolutely fight for changes and support for her but in parallel I'd look around at options. We had to change school when DD was 13 for unrelated reasons and she moved to a school where the default from the teachers was kindness and support, low level bullying was pretty non existent because they clamped down on it and modelled inclusivity. The difference in her spirit is uncalculable, we should have done it deliberately and earlier.

Wishing you and your DD all the best

Does your DC go to the same school as mine? I was also told we can't make them read it, to which I told them they had better make sure they do or be prepared to deal with a complaint everytime they don't and my son is punished for it. Funnily enough I haven't had the same issues since!

Honestly with experience you have to complain, stamp your feet and go in for meetings and get/take minutes and set a review meeting to get anywhere.

Complain and keep pushing!