Zero Tolerance, No Excuses...what should happen to pupils who can’t behave?

Reading this post scares the life out of me . My son with ADHD is going to secondary school in September.

He tries very hard to behave , is a sociable boy and has a high Iq, loves learning but fidgets, doesn’t listen to instructions properly at times, and sometimes it is all too much .
He already has low self esteem. Handled well he does really well, handled badly he will be far more disruptive.

Well aren't you talking about zero tolerance for the majority and an individual behaviour plan for those with additional needs?

DS for example can not hear or understand complex instructions if they are in a noisy environment - if the teacher doesn't get his attention first he may appear disobedient or rude and get a behaviour mark, - it's invisabel

I wish all teachers were as questioning as you noble.

I think tiggy the problems often arise from two issues:

There are many pupils who do not come with a neat disibility label and have no dx. Often there will be no agreement by a school that they merit an adjustment

One school’s reasonable adjustment is another’s unreasonable

I completely agree with your questions

That was to tiggy not you noble

It is always going to be a balancing act. My dc is v timid, so if another child in future were to have anger issues and is receiving help with those of course my child will find any shouting etc hard.

This is not a reason for the child struggling with anger not to be there and have reasonable adjustments made.

Exactly, Onceupon. Schools have to acknowledge that a child has specific issues to begin with, and our experience is that very often they don't unless a pupil has a statement or the equivalent, which accounts for the minority of SEN children.

I notice from the comments on the article Noble linked to that there is still a feeling that issues like ADHD are "alleged diagnoses" , ie an excuse for bad behaviour.

Reasonable adjustments ds’s Previous school refused to make:

Giving Homa double sided red/green card so the teacher could see when he was overwhelmed & needed to take a minute

Allowing him to eat somewhere other than the dining room

Allowing him to eat according to his sensory issues (eg not allowing plain pasta without sauce or chips without chicken pieces or plain rice & veggies) but allowing free reign to buy as many cakes/crisps as he wanted.

Not making allowances for his slow processing apart from 25% extra time. Eg he had 90 mins homework per day that took him 2.5-3 hours. We suggested in subjects like maths answering every other question.

Giving numerous detentions for rudeness (when he was being literal) or poor organisation.

Tiggy sadly I don’t think all schools actually make the reasonable adjustments as examples on here show

Oh I am so so sorry pie

My autistic child had a break down and has developed long term issues with her mental health after attending a school with a zero tolerance policy

There are no special school options for academically able children with asd in my area and the 3 nearest secondaries are part of the same MAT so have the same behaviour policy

Knowing what I know know I would have moved house to get her into a different school

The pressure of never being allowed to make a mistake meant that she was petrified of going to school and incapable of asking for help because saying you couldn't do the homework was treated the same as not doing the homework because you couldn't be bothered -you were punished for it

This sort of thing makes my blood run cold. Seriously.

DS has ADHD. It’s controlled by medication and he’s a clever and imaginative boy.

He’s also left with anxiety and immaturity due to delays in diagnosis and management. He hasn’t mastered public transport and live a bit further from school than many pupils. Schools is hot on late detentions but I have had a proper dialogue with them about encouraging him to go on public transport (which can sometimes be late due to distance) and they have cut him slack. Unfortunately a little too late as he’s gone backwards and won’t get the bus at the moment, but if they were zero tolerance he would be in a massive problem by now. (And I would have been ‘that’ patent for two terms). What about the kids who’s parents aren’t set up to be ‘that’ parent and fight their DCs corner

It's desperate, isn't it? DD and her friend were only 12 at the time. She called us to say her mum had gathered up a load of pills and had driven off. We called the police and they suggested we look after the girl, rather than involve SS. If you could have seen her packing her bag so carefully, with clean uniform and even dental floss - it broke my heart. Her older sister continued to live with the mother but was expelled from the same school less than 6months later...for having the wrong colour hair.
When we brought up the subject of DD's friend and what had happened with the head of key stage, who was also SENCo AND deputy head, she replied that the girl was a liar and trouble and we should keep DD away from her. Previously, the girl had told DD and another friend that her mum had hit her, leaving bruises. DD and the other friend reported it to a teacher and the school's response was to call the mother and ask her if it was true - mother denied it so the school decided the girl was lying.

The school in question gets glowing inspection reports.

Ionacat's example sounds good