To think this is not OK?

I've been out and about lately and witnessed lots of school trips and lots of SEN children on the trips. I've been really uncomfortable listening to the way adults speak to children on these trips.
Last week at Cotswolds wildlife park there were 2 boys wearing reigns they looked around year 4 or 5 and I'm feeling pretty shocked by that.

Not relevant to this thread obviously but I fully understand why OP didn't send DC.
A total lack of understanding from school as to your reasons.
And as someone said above there are residential trips where kids don't go and they go to school as often they take place in school hours.
OP Hasn't said she took the day off work. She said she kept her DC at home. Maybe a relative looked after DC. Maybe OP works nights or maybe starts at 2.30pm when oh gets back from his 6 -2 shift. I don't know! That's not relevant.
DC wouldn't have enjoyed the coach ride etc even if OP had gone on the trip.
Why don't argumentative posters come back when they have a clue.
School are being very heavy handed putting an unauthorised absence and OP is right to be annoyed.
Does DC's EHCP pay the 1 to 1s wage? Schools often use other kids 1 to 1s as extra cover seen it for years.
I hope you get to the bottom of it OP.

think some people are missing the point. You could send 10 volunteers and parents and he probably still wouldn’t get on the bus! The change or routine etc would have been traumatic for him and therefore is not safe for anyone. He has a right to education and a right to reasonable adjustments. He has his own staff member!!! Why was his safety net taken away. The EHCP is a legal document so you could question this OP. Why was his support removed? That’s exclusion. Most kids can stay behind in another class or do some 1:1 work/activities in the empty class if that is more stable and regular.

That’s an odd situation! At our school, there’s always some kids that don’t go on the school trips for whatever reasons, and they always just go into school as normal. That’s almost them saying the school trip is not optional, so what about kids who couldn’t afford it or had other reasons not to go! Never heard of that happening before. I’d have been tempted to send your child and let the 1:1 deal with the fallout, if they wouldn’t get onto the bus, what other option would they have but to stay at school anyway! But totally understand you wouldn’t want your child to have to escalate to that in the first place.

Just from a factual point of view from education background, have dealt with a similar issue recently in my local authority…

YANBU to expect the school to be able to provide for your child if they didn’t want to attend the trip. Any child who chooses not to attend a trip would be expected to attend school - if not it would be unauthorised. I’ve never before heard that they prevented the child attending school and then said it would be unauthorised.

However, YABU to expect that your child’s 1:1 would stay in school unless they are specifically named in the EHCP which I’ve never seen - only settings named. it is usual practice for 1:1s to attend with the year group whether or not their child attends the trip or goes with a parent instead.

As long as the school could provide support for your child they will not be found in the wrong.

I’m not saying what is right and wrong in this situation- just a fact check

It's not always as simple as saying the 1:1 can stay at school with them. Being on their own with a child in a classroom all day isn't easy and also some schools won't allow it to safeguard both the child and the adult with them. They could go to a different class but some children with ASD would find this very overwhelming and distressing not to be in a familiar environment as well as confusing as to why they are there.

This might not be the case with the OPs DC but I know it would have been with some of the children at our school.

However, I think an authorised absence rather an unauthorised one would have been much more fair in this case due to the legitimate concerns the OP has.

I think there is maybe a different discussion as to whether or not should have let her DS go on the trip, taking it account your opinions. However the school should have talked it through and tried to persuade her, calm her fears or whatever.

But given she didn't give permission, school should not have said the DS couldn't attend and then mark as unauthorised.

They should have made provision for your child to attend school that day. It is fair that the trip happened, and it is fair that the 1-1 who knows the class and who will be partially funded by the school went on the trip. It is not right that your child was denied a day of education that he is entitled to. You have every right to complain, but you’re going to have a long journey with school, so I wouldn’t.

@TeenToTwenties I also work and also parented a highly anxious autistic kid with an EHCP.

Where a school, like this one, has considered a child's needs and made provision for them with additional staffing and is willing to allow a child to be part of a trip in the long run it's important to try to facilitate this. Parenting isn't about preventing a child from being distressed. It's about showing them that with support, they can and will manage things that at first seemed tricky. I wish I had understood that sooner.

Depending on the wording in Section F, would depend on how un/lawful they were with regard to provision of adult support if he did not attend the trip. However, he has the right to attend school irrespective of support - they cannot refuse to have him in for the day.

It's another.... I'm perfect, everyone else is a'gin me the evil horrors..

Any parent can choose not to give permission for an offsite trip, SEN or not.
Schools should accommodate. If a school says they cannot accommodate they shouldn't be recording it as an unauthorised absence.

The OP only kept her son off because she was told they wouldn't accommodate him at school.

I am not entirely sure on this though because she is choosing to keep him off rather than the school not providing support in accommodating him in the trip. But I am no expert.
I just think it would be beneficial for all to work together if she intends on him to stay at the school where there will be plenty more trips to see if there are any trips that would work (as teachers do sometimes change what they do each year) and what could be done to manage potential risks on the trip.
It is unclear from the post how much of a discussion there was between the parents and school about meeting the child's needs.

Well done for a top notch patronising post
im out

That wasn’t your question in your OP, you literally asked for opinions of ‘is this ok or do I not have a clue how schools work’ and now you don’t actually want peoples opinions on it and have changed to a specific question. Maybe repost in legal to see if you can get your question answered with less opinions.

The OP probably has enough on her plate with work and parenting a child with SEN that needs an EHCP. She does not also need to go on a school trip she feels is unsafe for her child. Neither does she have to solve the war in Ukraine or fix global warming.

In my opinion you should have worked with school to find a way for him to attend, at least part of it.

If school had just decided he wasn't going that would be less favourable treatment and against the Equality Act. They didn't, you did. I don't think that's ok really. How will he ever learn to manage tricky things if he isn't supported to participate, at least partly?

Flight risk, you said they had extra staffing to cover. Not getting on the bus - he's 4, he could have been supported to have got on. Maybe with headphones and an iPad and sitting on his TAs knee, for example.

She doesn't have to.
If she doesn't give permission for a child to go on a trip then school should place them in an alternate class for the day. And that's before you remember he has a 1-1 who should then stay with him rather than go on the trip without him.

No but if it’s an option to allow them to go and op was able to, why choose not to?

Did you actually meet though with the school properly to discuss this and to look at their staffing provision?

No it's not. Parents of send children are under no obligation to attend school trips with their child.

OP. In future post this on SEN as you will get people who understand better.