School won’t accept reasonable adjustments what can I do?

[RAsnotAccepted]

DD is 9, moving to Middle School in September to start Y5.

She has an EHCP due to SN and medical needs.

New schools uniform is incredibly strict:

• No tights
• Gap between socks and skirt/shorts
• No visible logos
• No boots
• Blue or black hair accessories including bobbles only
• No cycling shorts

I can accept the hair bobbles although its inconvenient to go out and buy just blue and black ones.

But DD needs tights in winter. She always wears piedro boots due to a foot issue. She wears cycling shorts underneath her skirt in the warmer months and also for PE – I have agreed that she can wear the cycling shorts under normal shorts in PE but they’ve still said no. I have said I’ll buy black piedros and any colour tights they want, it’s still a no. I can accept all the rest of the uniform (although I think it's incredibly strict expecting 9-11 year olds to ask to remove their blazer and jumpers but hey!)

School won’t accept her RAs even with medical evidence that she needs them. They’re the only local school that said they could meet need and the only school DD liked on viewing. They can meet all other needs.

Is it worth taking them on? If so who? They’re an academy part of a MAT and the headteacher of this school is in charge of the MAT. Current school are trying to get them to agree.

I’m going to look at another school today but it’s 25 miles away and I just don’t think I can manage it everyday as it’s opposite direction to work. Her most recent assessment says she won’t cope in Special School, so that’s not an option. I also really like the Middle School bar this one issue so it does feel unfair - the layout, the positioning of the school in relation to home, the extra curriculars offered all suit DD.

Definitely take things up further. My daughter has a disability, although hopefully temporary (Osgood Shlatters) and is due to start secondary in September. They are pretty strict but has said if DM boots are comfortable or she needs to wear trainers on her bad days then that's absolutely fine. Your school is being ridiculous and they can't do that.

It's sad that a school has such a poor understanding of its legal obligations. Why do they think they're above the law?

I really hope there is a class action against academy trusts soon which makes all schools change how they do things for fear of the same. They are bloody appalling little Hitlers imposing draconian rules on kids with no flexibility. Prisons have fewer rules than secondary schools.

My daughter loves her "skorts" from aldi (integrated shorts/soft skirt), unless they're flipping up her skirt I doubt they'd find out she's wearing an integrated skirt?

Take them on. Speak with your LA ehcp caseworker and explain what the school are saying which is in contrary to ehcp provision. Has this school already been named on the plan?

When you say school said no - who said no exactly? Head? Senco? Or just some random person in the office?

It's a ridiculous set of rules anyway - god forbid a kid have yellow bobbles in their hair.

@SusiePevensie SENCo and Headteacher,

SENCo said in front of current schools SENCo to.

Missing the whole disability points here and don't want to derail the thread but the girls can't wear tights? There has to be a gap between socks and skirt so always bare knees? Is this in the UK? Does it apply in January? How many of the female staff have bare knees all year round?!

Dear God Almightly. If they can be that maliciously unhelpful over something so petty perhaps it isn't the right place after all. What the hell?

If the RAs are already written into the EHCP then they can't just say no. Are they written into section F?

Contact your allocated SEND worker at your LA and let them know. It's is the LAs ultimate responsibility to secure the provisions in the EHCP, so they should be fighting this one for you with the new school, if that's the school they want to name on the Plan

@Alicetheowl Yes no tights, has to be a gap between the edge of the skirt/shorts and socks. They don't strictly have a summer/winter uniform it's all all year round so yes the gap applies in January, they state on the website that they may ask children to roll their socks up or down to check skirt/shorts length.

Yes we're UK, England to be more precise.

Anything that is written into Section F of an EHCP has to be provided/delivered/made available by the school that is name in Section I. Unless it something attributed to another professional e.g. speech and language therapy. If the school accepted her and offered a place and are named in Section I, and what you want is listed in Section F, it has to happen. The EHCP is a legal document.

The school's position is very weak, they would be ill-advised to say they won't accommodate, particularly when it's written into the EHCP. If it remains your parental preference, name it and escalate if needs be.

My concern would be that's an indication of a deeper problem with their SEND provision. Some schools can be incredibly obstructive.

Sadly many academies see ultra-strict uniform polices as quick-fix for discipline issues. The thinking seems to be something like "if we can force the pupils to adhere to uniform rules, then they will obey all other rules and we will have no disruption in lessons".
Barking mad.
I would be very wary of the discipline / behaviour management techniques they might routinely use, and be concerned about continually unruly classrooms in a school such as this.
There is no smoke without fire.

Honestly, if this is their attitude, just don't send her their. Find something else.

You don’t need reasonable adjustments written into the EHCP. Don’t bother going down that particular rabbit hole just yet.

This is what to do:

“Further to our recent meeting, I just wanted to clarify that my daughter will be wearing the following items (list them, using medical terminology) as a consequence of her special educational needs, and disability.

I fear that there may have been some confusion when we spoke about this and I wanted to assure you that these items absolutely form a reasonable adjustment. I hope this clears up any concerns and further information can be found in the Equality Act of 2010, and further detailed in the Public Sector Equality Duty.

My daughter is very much looking forward to coming to the school, please contact me as soon as possible if there’s any further clarification needed.

Kind regards”

And send it to the Head, the Senco and the SEN governor.

"SENCo and Headteacher,

SENCo said in front of current schools SENCo t"o.

This shit starts at the top and will always be unchallenged by weaker staff. Tread carefully as the head teacher will set the tone. Ask yourself - why is the head teacher doing this? It's because they do not want to make reasonable adjustments for anyone.

I'm a teacher and this is batshit to me and is actually making me angry. I hate that some schools are being run by people who honestly seem to hate children and have no regard for them as humans! I work somewhere with no uniform and funnily enough everyone gets by just fine.

contact
The LA
Sendiass
The school governor with responsibility for Inclusion

They haven't got a choice to not allow for RAs.

Their rules are preposterous for any child. Schools are not supposed to do this. Take them on.

All schools think they are above the law. All the OP needs to do is get the right people to remind them, which is usually IPSEA and her local SENDIASS officer, as has been recommended here a few times already.

No what actually happens is the child who can't meet the requirements is shouted at in the corridor then either punches the wall, throws something or swears at the teacher. After a couple of episodes like that, the child with SEN or a challenging homelike gets excluded and all the school's behaviour problems are solved.

I shouldn't have said shouted at, most schools have at least stopped that, but the child who can't meet the requirements is embarrassed in the corridor for something they know they can't change.

This is awful. Your poor dd.

The fact that it is the headteacher and the SENco who are doing this is worrying. Have they definitely seen the letters and understood that these items are medical requirements? If so, I would not send my child there as you won't be able to change the discriminatory attitude. It's appalling, it's disgusting and you could 100% win this legally, but... Will you need transport provided if your child goes to a school further away? You might need to ask the middle school to provide you with something in writing to confirm that they can't meet your child's needs as per their ECHP due to an inability to accommodate their medical equipment. Try to make sure that you get this. My suspicion is that they have looked again at the ECHP and decided that they can't accommodate your child, so have decided to be as difficult as possible in order to get you to change school. You need to make sure you get what you want for your child in the process.

Have they put it in writing to you? Or just verbally?