To ask school if DS can have his phone in class?

Why would he need an alarm?

I wouldn't go down the phone route. I would be organising a meeting with the head and telling them they have failed to meet your child's needs and are discriminating against his disability. Outrageous behaviour. I'd be raising holy hell.

Put it on them and ask them what solution is going to be put in place so this doesn't happen again.

A pass to student services and a Head of Year signed letter to call you no questions asked would get around it. They won't allow a phone. Ask for a meeting with the SENCo to discuss. They may have other solutions. Obviously you know your son but most 14 year olds probably wouldn't welcome their mum to be in school for this and the school might object for this reason so maybe have a think about a nearby place to take him off-site to assist.

I think more work on his efficiency in changing the bag might be the way to go although I have no idea about how this is done so sincere apologies if this is totally insensitive.

Apologies, not RTFT.

Have you thought about a personal alarm?

https://www.nhs.uk/social-care-and-support/care-services-equipment-and-care-homes/personal-alarms-security-systems-and-keysafes/

I don’t think having his phone is a solution. He can’t ring and wait for your to get there.

In the kindest way he needs to learn to deal with this independently. The supply wasn’t aware - that’s poor of the school but it is something that’s not going to go away

I hope this is an isolated incident due to it being a supply teacher but it absolutely appalling and the school has failed your son in this occasion. I have been teaching 20 years and never taught a child with a colostomy bag but if I had I would be acutely aware of ensuring they were safe and comfortable at all times. The school have failed to communicate this to a supply teacher. Of course your son does not need to be defined by his illness. But people must be aware.
You need to raise a concern and then ask for how they will ensure this will not happen again with supply teachers and maybe an emergency medical pass with his picture on is more appropriate for your son than a toilet pass. He also needs to have a member of staff who will advocate for him with supply staff. Unfortunately the supply teacher has discriminated probably unintentionally against your son. You need to include the disability discrimination act in your email. It needs to be in writing state you expect it to be acknowledged
within 24 hours. I would also expect an apology. If not escalate it to the chair of governors as a formal complaint. Chat GPT will help write a letter

This. The issue/solution is nothing to do with mobile phones- he shouldn't need access to it. What he does need, is for staff to be aware of the seriousness of his condition and that they MUST allow him to use the exit card at any time. I'm a teacher and I'm horrified by this. If I were you I'd make a formal complaint. Poor boy.

I’ve been retired for several years now, but at my old school it would be straightforward, when printing off a list of names, to add a flag for any child who had special circumstances. The flags wouldn’t give details, but would indicate whether it was a medical issue or if they were on the learning support register, for example. Surely a supply teacher is given a list of names of the children who should be present as a minimum?

As a teacher I could go into the records for more details, for instance it would tell me if a child was one of several in school who had epilepsy as we were all trained in how to act if they had an episode: it’s quite reasonable that a supply teacher couldn’t access those records, but as long as they knew which children had medical issues they should treat them with greater understanding.

I agree with the previous posters who have suggested contacting school to say what has happened and asking how things can be changed to avoid it happening again, and to reassure your son.

I’d ask for a meeting with the SENCos and head of year. Your son has medical needs and reasonable adjustments need to be made. Is there a disabled toilet he could use on his own? He needs a medical care plan which should be shared with all staff he comes into contact with.

He doesn’t need an EHCP he needs an IHP. I’m shocked that a student with a colostomy doesn’t have one in place.
Parents coming in to support a student in the case of chronic health conditions is not unusual.

He needs more than a standard toilet pass. Get the senco to print and laminate a card that explains exactly what his needs and conditions are,and have it tucked in his pocket or planner to show any staff who don't let him go immediately. Absolutely he needs an EHCP.

They have to ensure his teachers know his problems, it sounds really unreasonable.

I actually think that walking out is maybe the answer, because then he can sort himself but he shouldn’t be punished because retrospectively they’ll know about the pass. Hopefully it’ll not be an issue because his teachers will know but in the case of the substitute teacher he’s being left with little choice.

You clearly don't know how schools work.
Supply teachers literally turn up in the morning, usually 5 mins before the start of the day. If they are lucky, someone will show them to the first classroom they will be in and may help them log in using supply details to find a register. They will not have any further access to student details, so they will not know the reasons behind a child having an out of class pass.
Getting supply into a school can also be tricky, especially certain schools, so it might be that the supply teacher doesn't know school policies.
In primary it is more likely that someone would mention a particular child's needs, or there might be a class TA to confirm that the pass is valid, but in secondary school the supply teacher will have no idea.
They are also employed by an agency, not the school, unless they are a cover supervisor, so it is very unlikely they will be sacked, and unless they did something really unprofessional then the school won't want to cross them off their list as we head into winter when they become desperate for supply as staff absence increases.

If anything the OP needs to work with the school for making sure the pass is acknowledged or that on the register there is something that flags up to supply staff the medical condition and need to use the toilet so that anyone new to the school can see that it is genuine.

I have no advice. If you have time, I do have a slightly unrelated question. How does the school handle his frequent absences? I ask because my DS (14) suffers from a physically debilitating neuro chronic illness (now requires a wheelchair) that began this year. We are currently balancing his frequent absences, missed school-work and his poor health and I would be grateful if you could share how you deal with it, if you feel up to it.

I wanted to add that DS carries his phone with him, despite the rest of his year not being allowed to. The school suggested this, probably because he could get stuck in the lift or the toilet, and so he can call for heo.

He needs an EHCP. I wouldn’t be happy at all about this. I think meetings with the senco and head are needed. Does the school have a passport system in place? Ours has a page for each child with medical or additional needs that flags up at registration for each class, so every teacher, permanent or supply, has immediate access to their needs. There is no excuse for not knowing, or ignoring any issues that occur.

I’d hazard a guess that the supply teacher wasn’t aware. A phone call to the school is needed to explain the importance of ALL teachers who might teach him needing to know that information.

As for the phone, you can’t expect the school to let you come in and help him change his bag, surely? Also, wouldn’t his mates/other kids find that weird if they realised what was happening?

Is it possible for the school to issue him with a pass that allows him to go to the medical office when he needs to? It could say something to the effect that he has a medical condition and must be allowed to do this when he asks and it’s not at the teacher’s discretion.

Once there he could get his supplies and they could give him some sort of note which explains that he may be out of class for some time, thus removing the pressure on him to hurry.

Although it may not be ideal for you to go in and help him, it should be possible to get you DRB checked with enhanced disclosure (I think this costs them £49:50 for a volunteer, I looked it up yesterday, but you could offer to pay) so you can be in this school unescorted if necessary.

My sympathies to you both. Your son is trying his best to be in school although it’s difficult for him, and you are doing all you can to support him.

While I’ve been writing this 10+ new posts have appeared which I can’t read so there may have been better suggestions or cross-posts.

Your poor son, I would be so angry with the school for not letting him go. The problem is these situations will continue, I think it’s admirable that he even attends school under the circumstances.
I doubt that you would be able to go in and assist due to dbs and an echo will take at least 26 weeks.
Personally I’d go to the school and ask them to find a solution, I’d also ask the school if he could had an old Nokia in his bag, turned off, for emergencies if they said no, I’d still send it in with him anyway. He can put the smart phone in the pouch.

How would it work in practice of he called you? Wouldn't you need to sign in at the office? So he could go there first to notify them to cal you?

Fwiw I think schools cam treat kids terribly xompared to adult workplaces, sorry for you both x

This.
There's a definite flaw in the system and lack of communication here.
The supply was obviously completely unaware of his needs.

Speak to his teacher/ year head and ask for a plan to be put in place within school: guaranteed toilet pass, unrestricted access to medical office.. whatever is reasonable to help him cope.

I doubt that they'll agree to your phone proposal but I'm sure they do not want him to be repeatedly placed in such a distressing situation so will offer a practical solution.

I phone isn't the answer here sorry. All sorts of safeguarding issues with letting you into school unsupervised.

The actions from the supply teacher aren't great. I can see how it happened, but I'd be contacting school and talking through how it won't happen again.

Has he got an Individual Healthcare Plan (IHP)?

Definitely make a complaint to the school. But you going in to help him isn't a sustainable solution, so he needs an EHCP.