School pushing SEN is it because of complaint?

I'm not quite sure how progressing this complaint will teach your child that?

I think I remember the original thread on this,‘and I think the OP did try to have an informal conversation with the school first.

The way the school have handled it all is strange to say the least and I would also feel uncomfortable. My son is also Y1 and I wouldn’t be happy about him being assessed for SEN on these grounds. I don’t see it as others do, that a SEN assessment is a benign act with only positives to come from it.

I think when the trust breaks down walking away is best and I would absolutely be looking at other schools.

Well then walk away from this school!

This is quite an odd thing to make a formal complaint about in my opinion. Yes, it’s not great they mixed up your child with another, but at the end of the day it’s class allocation.
Nobody’s child wants to be separated from their friendships group, but unless there are extenuating circumstances, then it’s really not a major deal. Not something you would need to “make sure it doesn’t happen again” as if it’s a majorly traumatic experience for a child.

If you don’t agree with the fact that they are not flexible with moving children if bullying is involved, then that is the type of thing that might make you prefer one school over another.

Can I just say, as someone with ND, and from a family full of people with ND, the way you are standing your ground on a matter of principle with a formal complaint over a seemingly minor issue is just the type of thing some people with ND do.

I’d agree to Sen assessment, it doesn’t mean a diagnosis they have identified she may need additional support. I would use the fact there’s suspected Sen to strengthen your arguement that they have let your child down when you go to stage 2.

It is pretty unusual for parents to raise a formal complaint, let alone for something like this. Most of the time they just come in for a meeting and chat to the teacher or head teacher.

It is very common for children to be a bit upset about class allocation but not complaint level upset. Maybe that is partly why they think she has SEND but it is more likely to be due to observations in the classroom.

There does seem to be a bit of a communication issue with you and the school.

Yes, but that still doesn't justify a formal complaint in my opinion.

I think YABU to raise a complaint because you think they put her in the wrong class. To me, that's the kind of thing you chat to the school about rather than making a formal complaint. I agree with you that they are just trying to get you to drop the complaint by mentioning possible SEN issues, but I also think you may be underestimated the massive administrative burden that unnecessary complaints cause for schools.

I can see the HT’s argument- moving classes hardly ever solves the bullying problem in small schools but buts all the burden on the bullied child. They work with the bully, which is usually the better approach- and brings the burden to the bully.
I’m glad you agree to the SEN assessment, it can only be beneficial.
(speaking as the parent of a child with SENds who also got bullied in year 1/2 - resolved now by school working with the bully)

How exactly did you find out they mixed her up with another girl? Can you tell us about the original conversation or email thread?

And what exactly did the school say about your “bullying concern” last year ? If the situation was that you reported to school your dd was being bullied- what did school do and did they say “yes your dd is being bullied”. It’s relatively unusual for schools to go down that path with 4 and 5 year olds as most peer problems don’t meet the definition of bullying yet. Many kids have extremely limited social skills age 4 or 5 - there was one boy who slapped mine on the bottom almost every day, pushed in front the queue, teased him endlessly about various things, poked him - and he was youngest in the class and just an annoying little twit. It was a repeated pattern of targeted behaviour that upset my son but i would not truly call it bullying as the intent was more to see the reaction or/and a poor attempt to be friends.

In my experience you would need a very strong reason to change a class allocation and I’m not sure you have a case

What is the point of complaining further? What are you hoping to achieve in terms of outcome? Is your daughter in the wrong class still? Do you want her moved??

Ask for a copy of the complaints policy. Then escalate to the next stage which is likely to be a review by a panel of governors. You will be invited to attend the hearing or submit written representations, but the policy will have all the details about how it should be handled. If they try to fob you off with the spurious SEN argument, unless this is explicitly stated in the policy (it can’t be) then they have to allow the process. If you had a complaint about a statutory assessment of special educational needs then this may be outside the scope of the policy but this isn’t. You can go to the DfE if they refuse to investigate your complaint, and in this instance I would not hesitate to do so.

How you move to stage 2 should be on their website on the complaints policy.

I’d want a written explanation of their reasoning that because your child potentially has SEN, your complaint is therefore irrelevant.

The complaint is not null and void due to their dubious argument that your daughter has SEN. I deal with school complaints as my job by the way. Is it at stage 1 or stage 2 of the complaint now?

She sounds like me in year one. Plot spoiler, I have SEN.

This is ridiculous! I teach year one and it would be amazing if they could read 34 key words!!!
Your complaint was completely valid whether your child had additional needs or not!! It seems a really bizarre thing they are doing. Schools are struggling to deal with the amount of genuine SEN children. I don’t know why they’d do this??

If school admitted they’d mixed up my child with another one when allocating classes yet still refused to swap them over - which would be extremely easy, particularly before the school year had even started - then I think I would have looked for a new school. They sound extremely petty and not child focused.

Surely screwing up class allocation for a child with SEN is even worse than for a child without SEN. There are enough barriers to learning with whatever SEN they are suggesting, without also upsetting that child socially.

I read in envy, most schools don’t want children on the SEN register as they have to fund the first bit themselves so they must really think there’s a problem. If you truly believe there’s no problem then forward all your evidence in writing and ask for someone from the council to be at the meeting.

Well I teach Year 2 and none of the things you have listed are reasons for considering SEND. Also why would it make your complaint null and void even if she did have SEND issues?