the bullying of my semi verbal child - what to ask school to do?

[54isanopendoor]

Dd is ASD. She can speak but is 'unable' to under stress - NHS dx of selective mustism. She has been at this School for 3 years now & it's been ok so far
She's Scottish S5 - so equiv of in her 1st year of English 6th form aged just 16.

But we've had a 'drive by' paint spraying which covered her clothes, face, bag, a 'drive by' juice spraying' (ditto) a blocking the corridor, shoving her & 'har har she's crying' incident earlier this week & today a similar group of boys blocking , pointing, laughing & with a punch to her upper arm as the kids went past.

Due to her ASD theres no chance in hell of her ID'ing any of the wee gits. She's always alone when she is 'got'. School say they will look at CCTV. With the paint thing they said it was a known problem student & steps were taken but due to GDPR they couldn't give more info'. But it's crap. She's asleep on the sofa now.

I don't know what I'm asking here really - but I'm so fed up for her.
It takes her so much energy to go IN & then she gets this shittiness.

Is there any chance she could attend sixth form elsewhere?

Does this happen in school or in the community? Nasty little bastards need a fright so contact police? In school, what steps are they taking to protect her? I'm so sorry that she's being bullied like this.

@dahliadazed No. No other school for quite a distance. She'd not cope with stress of moving. She does have 2 good friends there but she's alone somtimes.

@LadyMacbethssweetArabianhand she doesn't go out into 'the community' so it's just in school yes. She stands out due to her ASD & kids are crappy sadly.

Can you get the police involved? Just because it happened in school doesn't mean it wasn't assault. Could be a sharp shock to the kids or show the school they have to be serious. You can let the police know that she's a vulnerable teen who has been assaulted.

@Resentful2023 thing is, she hasn't a clue who it is. Just that it was a boy, shorter than her, black rucksack. That's about 30% of the school. She couldn't ID anyone I don't think. So unless there was a witness or it was caught on CCTV I'm not sure what they can do? But she's worked so hard for her place & wants to see her friends at school so I don't want her changing / out of school. But she's wiped out, not knowing when it will happen again, not feeling safe.
I do wonder if she will snap at some point & punch someone. But then I expect she'd be in trouble as she would be easy to point out (she looks very like Greta Thunberg) & she wouldn't deny it as she is really honest. It just sucks all around.

Does the school have a nurture base she could go to if she needed it? Can she leave class five minutes early to avoid the bullies? Is she in the same class as bullies? That needs addressed by the school. Is there a campus police officer who could be around if necessary? Can she or the school identify 'hot spots' of places or times when it's more likely and steps put in to support her? Does she have a teacher she trusts whose classroom she could go to with a friend? I would be asking head of house what steps they are putting in. How are learning support aiding her? Speak to head of learning support too. No satisfaction, go to depute of her house then headteacher. The library is often a refuge. Would that be possible?

I am so sorry. I also have a selective mute asd 16 year old who got bullied at school and school didn't really do anything and so he's out of school atm. Is another school possible? Some are much better than others like a specialist school or a school with asd base that's more autism aware or can she get a TA to help protect her. Police were dire in our case but in theory they could help. Do you know any other children at the school or parents who may be able to help identify or maybe teachers would know. It's so wrong.

You're right @54isanopendoor , the police may not be able to do anything with what has happened. If the school was not stopping it though it may be a way to escalate so everyone knows how serious you're going to take it. But that's a nuclear option and you'll know best how to gauge it. I'm really sorry it's happening to your daughter x

@Resentful2023 sorry, I hope I didn't sound nippy, not meant as you're right too x

she is very subdued today. Says she's so tired as she's 'expecting' it all the time.
She did manage to recognise the lad today. She took a pic across the dining hall & has enlarged it. I can show it to school now. Clever lass!

That is great @54isanopendoor ! It's great that she has found a way to advocate for herself and point out who did it. Hopefully that will make it a lot easier for the school to stamp it out.

@Resentful2023 so I spoke to her main Support Tutor who said they'd have to 'warn her she was breaking their GDPR policy by taking the pic & would take her phone away if they saw her with it'. It would be fair to say I had (polite but firm) words. Result is she showed the pic to the Tutor (got no telling off) but they cant use it due to GDPR so unless she can name the person then nothing SMT can do'
Not impressed!

That is crazy! Also sounds like a strange interpretation of GDPR as she's using the picture in the school to communicate about something that happened in the school and it seems like a reasonable accommodation as she is not able to verbalise it. And what if she doesn't know their name? Does it mean they won't investigate? I wonder is there an advocacy group that could give you advice on how to proceed.

That is nonsense, there is no law against filming or photographing someone in a public building.

www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/ph/photography-advice

From the ICO

Data protection doesn’t cover personal use
People can take photographs and video recordings for personal use, such as for a family album. However, your school may decide it isn’t always appropriate to allow photographs. For example, you might decide to ban photography at a school play in case it disturbs the performance. This is your choice as a school, but the ban wouldn’t be on data protection grounds. Similarly, some schools ask parents and guardians not to post photographs on social media of other people’s children. This is a sensible policy, but it’s not a data protection issue because the law doesn’t cover private social media posts shared with friends and family.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/advice-for-small-organisations/whats-new/blogs/taking-photographs-data-protection-advice-for-schools/#:~:text=People%20can%20take%20photographs%20and,case%20it%20disturbs%20the%20performance.

They can look at the photo she provides then compare that to a school ID photo and get her to state the individuals identity matches from the comparison of the pictures and then they have the name.

That's fantastic. Now you can report to school and if they don't act the police.

The use of her phone to communicate is a perfectly acceptable reasonable adjustment. My DD would also not be able to name other students due to ASD as she doesn't recognise other students or remember their names - in this case I would expect school to accept a photo instead. I would suggest talking to the school about what other adjustments she may need in order to thrive at school - if they are getting this wrong there may be other things as well.
I think a meeting with school to discuss what they have in place to support her would be useful. Safeguarding is important and if they don't have anything in place for her to communicate problems they need to find a way.

@Choconuttolata thanks. I agree. Sadly I think it's the same approach that leads them to tell me that 'the CCTV was switched off/ pointing other way/ too 'grainy' every time there is an issue. They have no itention of following it up.

It's a 'good' state school in rural Scotland (therefore no alternatives to move to)
She does have a couple of friends there too. But it's crap of them, it really is.

If you’ve got a picture and definite identification and the school are coming out with excuses to do nothing then I should think it’s time to call in the police.

For your dd, this is long term, but are there any martial arts organisations or classes that stress confidence building and anti-bullying in your area?

It is a hate crime. Just not the right sort of hate crime to be worthy of investigation.
Your poor dd. It is disgraceful.

Photo to the police.
They should identify the child, and progress. For the paint one at the very least.

For us, when we were getting the front door roundhouse kicked on a fairly frequent basis, a photo to the civic enforcement got them an ID by asking at the logical schools, and then child, parent and pcso turned up at the door with an apology - and it stopped. Definitely worth a go.

@CatsOnTheChair @RosaGallica thank you. we have a pic of the 'punch on the arm one' (Dd doesnt know if its the same kid as the paint one?) but No name to go to Police with. She's scared of the Police anyway so that'd be a last resort.
I can see her withdrawing & losing her education if it happens again & again.

@endofthelinefinally Yes, it is a hate crime. She stands out at school as she often carries a fluffy toy around with her as a stim / comfort item (because she is stressed). LA won't give her a specialist place as 'not autistic enough' (semi verbal & carries a toy cat aged 16!) but won't protect her in a mainstream school.

Thank you all for replying x

Update: @Resentful2023 @CatsOnTheChair @Choconuttolata @LadyMacbethssweetArabianhand @Resentful2023 @Silkiebunny @RosaGallica @caringcarer @dahliadazed @endofthelinefinally @handmademitlove

No word from School until a call this am to ask to come in for a meeting to discuss Dd's :sleeping/eating/things at home. I said they were all as normal so perhaps they could let me know what's being done about the bullying (further prolonged incident, not Dd this time but her friend sitting next to her at lunch).
I got blah blah blah so asked for it in an email please. Just received it:
The water soaking was on CCTV. Pupil was 'spoken to'. Incident of 'punching' not on CCTV however pupil on the pic Dd took has been identified - dentention given & parents contacted (so obviously did something?) No mention of the 2 other incidents. Would still like me to come in for a meeting.
Next steps? (local Police won't help me as it's very local around here (Ds was bullied by local coppers son in primary). I can't move her. All I can do is see if she can keep going & if not withdraw her & try to enroll her online but that's rubbish as she'll lose her friends & her chance of her 6th year. Really frustrated.