Wwyd? School issues

Sounds a very stressful situation.
i agree the numbers of teachers changing must be distressing as there may be a great deal of coping with the unexpected in the various encounters with staff throughout the day.
i understand the effect a change of classroom assistant has too, this happened to my GD losing a beloved assistant who moved jobs and having her replaced. The initial assistant could read her perfectly and the relationship was great. Like your experience the replacement is just not the same.

However I think by moving as your are being urged to could some mean jumping from the frying pan into the fire at a crucial time. I think he has only one more year at Primary (I am not in England and year groups are different) particularly as he is expected to go on to mainstream due to his ability.. I would pursue all support available, not sure what this is in England but there is an autism support service here. Here they would go in and see what strategies are being implemented and make suggestions as to how to manage things . They also help prepare for transition to the next level.

A lot of mainstream schools now do have staff who are trained in "positive handling" - this includes guiding and holding children to keep themselves and others safe. Clearing a classroom of other children is not always enough to ensure everyone is safe.

Do not agree to restraint! I very much doubt they have training to do this safely - and it should always be a last resort.
( I have known classrooms be emptied of the other children for their safety, but not restraint).
The school in general is now “failing” at least your child. I would be looking for another school - either mainstream or SEN.
It may have been fine for your child until this year, but with 7 new teachers out of 11 it is not the same school.
Behaviour is communication - and your son is communicating feeling unsafe and frustrated. Teachers could be scapegoating him to cover their own lack of control of the class. Who knows what micro-aggressions he is experiencing?
please get him out of there ASAP

Make notes of your meeting, and email them asking confirmation of what you have understood they said.
They’ll be hard pushed to exclude him if they are telling you everything is still OK, and this is purely an admin matter.
They’ll need evidence to exclude.

Holding or escorting by the wrist is known as “ caring C” in terms of the grip and shouldn’t hurt or leave a bruise. Obviously if a child is autistic even light touch can be painful , depending on sensory needs.
If they are regularly “having to” hold him you would see 3 chairs in a corridor taped together. An adult would be either side using a hold that they are trained to use.
A positive handling plan should outline any triggers and de escalation strategies. It doesn’t mean that they can’t use a behaviour observation such as STAR or ABC.
Could he have a workstation in class for when he needs to concentrate away from others?
Hope everything settles down soon at school.

Not all SEN schools cater to children who are non-academic. Maybe have a look for independent specialists near you that cater to children who have high cognitive abilities but also need the additional support of an autism specialist school. They're few and far between but they do exist.

I would be very shocked if they were asking to restrain him for things like echolalia and not being able to complete work, no teacher wants to restrain a child for fun.
it’s pretty obvious it would only be a last resort if he ran away again during altercations with children. You say he’s hit 3 children in the last term and pushed another and you can’t expect the other children to just put up with that because it would upset your son to be restrained and pulled away from them.

OP just to be really clear, it is unlawful for a school to use physical force for non compliance with rules.
It is only ever 'reasonable' (this is the key legal term) when it is the only way to keep him or someone else safe in the moment. Even then , the level of force used should be the absolute minimum required to ensure the safety of him or others.
I would start a formal complaint process and I would also be making contact with your LA SEND team and asking for an EHCP review now ( you don't need to wait for the AR).

This is astonishing. Have to question either the management of the school, or the effectiveness of the BOG if 5 TAs have been suspended and with no explanation.
Sounds like there’s more going on there than how they are handling your son and other SEN children.
I’d be looking to move 🥴

Other children and staff can be moved. We don’t restrain children unless absolutely necessary for their safety and there is no possible other way of keeping everyone safe.

Where is the class support? His 1:1 are they new?
It is a shame things changed so much. But there is stress and oressure on the teachers. Brand new, fewer staff, less experince. It is unfair to expect them to deal with it.

I have a BFF who has an autistic child in mainstream but no funding for support but he has issues and will be excluded if it continues in hsve suggested to her to home school as she is the only one who can truly manage hum. So I can only suggest it here with you. Home school and Forest school

I started reading your post and knew it would be a new teacher issue.

I have seen some kids do great with teachers who understand and really poorly with new teachers.

His 1:2:1 needs to take charge here - I have been a 1:2:1 with these children

He needs to build a relationship with his new teacher - a bit late in the year though

His 1:2:1 need to ensure he gets his break, runs off some steam, run some break classes - be on his side when things go badly -

I always noticed if they were inside they were easy to deal with, but could be stubborn if they felt aggrieved - which then spirals.

I gave up being a TA as I was fed up of being undervalued - the lad went into spiral mode and was excluded after I left, I think he missed the support I gave him! He had a TA in year 6 he hated so started off badly.

My advice would be to get the TA inside ask for a meeting with her, see what the issues are from her perspective - and stop focusing on the teacher. She needs to be empowered to do her job.

.

Sorry, hadn’t seen this when I replied.

They should not be simply implementing the behaviour policy as it is written for everyone else. They need to detail what support they are providing to help him and making adjustments necessary that show they understand his neuro differences. Tribunals have found that such blanket applications of policies in school are likely to be illegal under equality legislation.

The only occasion listed there where they might have to handle him is the ‘altercations’ with other children, and they wouldn’t need your permission on such an occasion. I would be very concerned if they were putting hands on him to make him comply with moving on in any other circumstance.

It sounds like they desperately need some advice from a specialist teacher/other professional as to how to manage things in an inclusive way so that he can be supported effectively. Ask them to make a referral to your local team, usually called something like ‘specialist inclusion services’.

Restraint should be used as a last resort for safety of all concerned.

If they need to use restraint then that needs to go alongside putting support in place to reduce or eliminate the need for it.

Mu concern wouldn’t be so much the use of restraint but rather its plan for use alongside their lack of implementing suggested strategies and the evidenced exclusion of children with send previously.

What you’ve probably had to sign is a new behaviour plan where they’ve added restraint as part of the plan because the planned strategies may not work. Legally they don’t need your permission to use reasonable force or restrictive physical intervention and currently the law means they aren’t required to inform you if they do - it’s guidance as good practice.

Id also be asking them if they’ve sought training from a registered provider on safe positive handing if they are planning on using restraint. Again the law doesn’t require them too but its guidance of good practice where you think it may be used as planned intervention rather than an active reaction to a one off situation. (When we grab our own children because they are running off this is restraint/ reasonable force so it’s not always a bigger a thing as people imagine).

When’s his AR due? I would be making sure the EHCP is watertight and section F is as clear as can be. But if you don’t feel they can meet need then I’d be moving even if it is only for a year. I made the mistake with my DS of keeping him somewhere I knew was damaging because I always hoped if I advocated enough for him and kept mentioning the Sendcop they’d change. But the truth is a poor environment is an ethos and we won’t change that single handedly. It’s infuriating and worrying for our young people.