Advice on SEN provision in primary school

[AndAsIfByMagic]

I was a teacher but have been out of the game for a long time now. My friend has asked for some advice about her DGS and I'm at a loss.

He is autistic and also has learning difficulties. His behaviour is unpredictable and he can be violent. He will be 7 next term. My friend has been involved in his life from the start and tries to be as supportive as she can.

This time last year his 1 to 1 said she could no longer continue as she felt unsafe. The Head advertised for a replacement but meanwhile tried to manage with agency staff. Quite often they would refuse to come back. There were some days when he had to go home as there was no one there who could take responsibility for him and he could be a danger to himself and others.

A replacement started in September but today (first day back) she has said she cannot carry on. The Head will advertise, of course, but agencies are already telling her they do not have enough staff to guarantee someone will be in every day. The head has said there will be times when he just cannot be in school.

My friend has been asked by his DM to take him on those days so she can work. Reading between the lines it looks like he will be out more than in until a replacement is found and my friend really doesn't feel she can do it. Her health isn't brilliant and she finds his behaviour frightening at times.

They have been trying to get him a place in a specialist school but the LEA say there are others with greater needs.

He is entitled to a 1 to 1 and to be in school full time but what can be done when the staff just can't be found? He isn't safe in the classroom with other children without 1 to 1 supervision.

What can the family do? They cannot insist on full time school when it is unsafe. The head is doing all she can to get staff but ...

I’ve just had this happen too. One of my autistic students was rejected time and time again, until we had to beg the special school to physically come and see him in action. They didn’t take long to find him a space after that! The child you’re referring to is not being adequately cared for by the current arrangements - and absolutely needs to go to special school.

Thanks, Dogs, we all think that. The head does as well. We're all on the same side apart from those who make the decisions.

Could she ask for an emergency review of the EHCP and use evidence that 1-1s leave due to not coping as evidence for either 2-1 or special school?

The term 'illegal exclusion comes in to play too if he is being sent home randomly.

Suggest you repost on the SEN board.

The family don’t have to insist on full time school it’s what the child in entitled to. The school will be able to find a support worker if they pay more. The La can find more if necessary.

They have been trying to get him a place in a specialist school but the LEA say there are others with greater needs.

They need to ask for an early review of the EHCP and when they next have the right of appeal they should appeal to SENDIST. The majority of appeals are upheld. If they haven’t already they should look at independent and non-maintained special schools too. Even with a new 1:1 DGS needs aren’t being met in the current placement. I would also look at what provision he is getting - SALT, OT, MH therapies.

Do the school have any class TAs? Or any TAs working with DC without EHCPs? If so, they will be expected to work with the pupils with EHCPs first.

If the DGS cannot attend full time the LA should be making alternative arrangements to provide education and any other provision specified and quantified in F. Ultimate responsibility lies with the LA for ensure the provision in section F is provided.

The friend should insist DGS attends full time or is exclude formally as informal, illegal exclusions do not help anyone, and formalising them will give your friend and DGS’s mother evidence SS is necessary.

Going forward, if the job is too much for one 1:1 would recruiting 2 part time ones, one for the mornings and one for the afternoons, to reduce the pressure on one individual work for DGS’s needs?

I'm a SEN TA in a mainstream primary, and currently work with a very similar child. We've been asking for a place at specialist provision since he was in reception - he's now Y2. For context, since September, he's broken my nose, cracked one of my ribs, done serious ligament damage to my knee, and dislocated a colleagues shoulder. All in addition to minor bruises and scratches on a near daily basis. He's the sweetest little boy when he's calm, but the school environment completely overwhelms him and, in spite of our best efforts, and 2:1 TA provision, he disregulates.

The issue with your friend's grandson will have been massively exacerbated by him having different agency staff on different days, so they'll only have seen him at his worse. Of course it then becomes a downward spiral because nobody wants to come back and work with him long-term. I really feel for everyone in the situation! Sadly, under the current shitshow government, there just doesn't seem to be a solution!

To be fair to the school they did all they could last summer to get cover. If the staff aren't available I'm not sure what else the she can do. She wanted DGS in school but it wasn't safe for him or the others. She knows it isn't acceptable but if people won't come in then she's left with no choice, while agitating for Special school.

The LEA just send out names of agencies. Useless.

CaptainCallisto the pupils’ parents should appeal.

Remind the LA if the parents decide to go down the Judicial Review route for failure to provide provision specified and quantified in F (assuming the 1:1 is and it isn’t woolly and vague) it will be against them, so they need to be doing more.

Sen provision nationally is at a crisis at the moment. I work in a specialist learning disability team and staffing shortages are shocking and there is so little specialist provision for even the most complex children that I would not be at all suprised that there are no spaces at a special school The mainstream school is likely to have to find ways to manage him but I am not suprised that they are struggling to staff this as support staff is a real shortage area particularly for children with sen/ learning disabilities. They should really be using more experienced support staff within school but I would guess they are reluctant to work with him if his behaviour is seen as so difficult and the school can't force staff to work with him (and may worry about losing good staff) but it doesn't seem fair that he is having a rotation of temporary staff. They definitely need to make any exclusions official which will give more evidence to support that he is not suited to mainstream

Children shouldn’t necessarily be in ss because school have trouble recruiting. Would that be ok for nt children? I don’t think so.

Sadly the only way to expidite this might be for the Head to PX him. It sounds like, if they had him in school full time, it would not take long before there was an incident that would meet threshold for this. The LA would then have to provide full-time education from day 6.

The school is struggling to recruit because his needs aren't being met or aren't suited to mainstream,even with a 1 to 1, which is why his previous ones have quit. That's why he should be in some form of specialist provision, better suited to his needs.

Children shouldn’t necessarily be in ss because school have trouble recruiting. Would that be ok for nt children? I don’t think so.

In this case it sounds like the parents want a SS place.

I would not be at all suprised that there are no spaces at a special school

While I agree the whole SEND system is in crisis, LAs cannot use full on its own as a reason to refuse a SS placement if it is the parents preference. Full is not defined in law, and the LA must prove the school is so full it is incompatible - which is a far higher bar than many think, more than an “adverse effect”, “impact on” or “prejudicial to”. The LA can, and must, name a school if the can’t prove this regardless of the school’s objections. Many parents successfully appeal when the LA say the school is full. Added to this some parents find when they start looking at more expensive options the LA miraculously find a space.

I would advise the parents to contact IPSEA for legal advice - they have a free helpline to ring. Alternatively if they can afford it look for a specialist lawyer ( appreciate it really shouldn’t be necessary to do this but unfortunately the reality is it is). They need legal advice on challenging the refusal of specialist setting and also arguably to challenge the LA for provision of education if they child is not able to access education in his current setting.

They have - repeatedly! With the full backing of the school and all the supporting evidence anyone could possibly have required. We just keep being told there simply isn't room for him anywhere. It's an absolute joke!

The patents ask for an emergency review of his EHCP. I would also be writing to the person on charge of young peoples services and send at the LA. In the meantime identify the specialist schools she feels will meet his needs. Include independent schools for asd within an hours travel. Request formally provision in a specialist school. She may need to go to tribunal but she has every chance of winning. His current school cannot meet his needs. I would be insisting that any time he is sent home he is excluded. Collect evidence of all violent incidents. Have a meeting with the school. Get them to tell you whether they can meet his needs everyday. If they say they can't follow up the meeting with an email of the minutes. I would not be wringing my hands and accepting this situation. The needs of others are the LAs problem not the parents. Nor should they be interested in the heads staffing problems. If they cannot accommodate him they must say so.

Have the parents looked at independent specialist provision? The la can be made to pay for this if they can't meet his needs in their own state provision. My dd attends a specialist independent. She was in a similar situation with staff refusing to work with her. In her current setting she is very relaxed and there are hardly any incidents as her needs are being met.

CaptainCallisto Have they appealed to SENDIST rather than just the LAs process? And looked at independent and non-maintained special schools?

@CaptainCallisto

blimey, that sounds so tough for you. I am
amazed you continue to work in that environment.

I would suggest an emergency EHCP review,

Drop him off.

Leave him there.

Refuse to pick him up.

Any contact email the HT and ask them to confirm they contacted you at x time, on y date to illegally exclude the young pupil.

After 2-3 times contact the inclusion team at La and tell them they have 5 working days to secure the placement properly (especially if EHCP says 1:1) before you take them to a tribunal and will begin the complaints process with a claim for costs for providing the education they are funded to provide.

That's the only way it often works in my La!

Thanks for the useful posts which I will pass on.

From a staff point of view, I would suggest a rota of TAs , sticking to the same days. Changing after lunch to give them and the child a break , that may work as long as it’s consistent
that poor child

I believe so, yes. The last review (early, emergency EHCP meeting) indicated that he was top of the list and would be placed as soon as there was physically a place to put him. He's a hairsbreadth away from permanent exclusion; the head doesn't want to exclude, but he's getting to the stage that he poses a risk to other students as well as staff (hence the emergency review). It's shameful that this isn't just an isolated case of an LA with a desperate shortage of places; this is a national crisis. How the Hell have we come to this?

The last review (early, emergency EHCP meeting) indicated that he was top of the list and would be placed as soon as there was physically a place to put him.

From this, I’m not sure the parents have formally appealed to SENDIST. EHCP placements don’t work the same way with a waiting list. Being full is not enough of a reason on its own for the LA to refuse to name the parents’ preference. Full is not defined in law, and the LA must prove the school is so full it is incompatible - which is a high bar, more than an “adverse effect”, “impact on” or “prejudicial to”. The LA can, and must, name a school if the LA can’t prove this regardless of the school’s objections. Many parents successfully appeal to SENDIST when the LA say the school is full.

Either way after the EHCP has been amended or not following the early review the parents should appeal again getting independent assessments, if they can’t afford them point them towards Parents in Need who can sometimes help fund assessments.