Told apply for EHCP at the same time as being told they can’t have her at college

[ShesJustAShyGirl]

Posting here for traffic..

Back story..

DD16 suffers with anxiety, depression, selective mutism, and is being assessed for autism. She took an overdose around 18 months ago to avoid going to school.

She has always been academic, but has only spent around 10% of her last 18 months of high school in class. The rest was in a support hub. She was withdrawn from a couple of GCSEs to help relieve the pressure as her anxiety in exams was through the roof. She was given adjustments of quiet room and extra time. She passed them all with grades 6/7

She has enrolled at college for 3 alevels. College were made aware of her struggles and said they would help. I’d asked for transition periods with someone from school who she felt safe with, but this couldn’t be facilitated.

We did meet with someone from the SEND team during August, and she walked us around and told us what to expect. We also arranged to meet with an additional support worker who she could work closely with.

Now that college has started, her relationships with the ASW has not materialised. She just hasn’t clicked. She hasn’t spoken a word to a member of staff in the 3 weeks she’s been there, but is able to respond to emails and will offer limited written communication with her tutor.

She attends everyday, however her class attendance is extremely poor, she can’t bring herself to go in. When she had gone in, I’ve been called to say she’s visibly upset and struggling. She will then move to the library and continue working there. She’s probably in college more hours than timetabled as she will work in the library.

According to the portal online, she’s working at A*, A/B and not yet assessed, for her 3 subjects.

However, due to her attendance and struggles, college have said they have exhausted all options to get her into class. They won’t allow remote learning, even short term. They have said I should apply for an EHCP and they will help with that and have said they are unable to meet her needs. In order for her to stay there, she needs to increase class attendance to 100% with immediate effect, as well life skills lessons, and 5 hours per week extra catch up classes.

I asked if that meant this was the end of the road for her and they suggested she try alternatives such as apprenticeship and other training.

DD is adamant she wants to continue with a levels, she is trying so hard but already today only attended 2/3 lessons.

Can they actually kick her out for this?

It could well be disability discrimination you need proper legal advice on that but definitely apply for the EHCP. Your daughter may be able to have funded online study if that would work better for her.

I’ve thought about online learning but I don’t want to miss out on social interaction.

I will definitely apply for the EHCP, but it feels such a kick after only 3 weeks that they can’t/won’t help.

Where would I go for legal advice? A regular solicitor?

Does your DD want to be at college or is she solely going because she wants to do A levels and that's where she has to go in order to do them ? There are online schools where you can study A levels remotely. I don't know if that could be an option for your DD ?

what kind of help do you think she needs? What kind of help you were expecting from SeN team with her everyday learning ?

Your local Sendias team should be able to give you advice about Sen and education rights.

@Witsend101 honestly I don’t know. She looked at colleges and picked that one. It wasn’t the one I preferred, but I said it was ultimately her choice. I didn’t suggest online as I didn’t think of it as an option.

@pizzaHeart just to introduce her classes over a period of time. I did request her meeting the tutors as early as possible but timetables not being ready until the start date meant this wasn’t an option. They said they would support getting her to class, this from their side meant taking her to each lesson. She feels that makes her stand out, which she doesn’t want. She just wants to feel safe and that she won’t be put on the spot. She needs a certain type of encouragement I suppose. I hoped it would follow similarly to school, where she could access lesson resources via teams or equivalent, just until she could get to lessons and for the days when she really struggling. It can take her 90 mins some mornings due to busses being too full and she hates being late to class. She would rather not attend than walk in late.

@Witsend101 I will have a google for some contact details, thank you.

Does your DD wish to go to university ?
Is that the reason she is studying for her exams ?
What does she hope to study at uni ?

I assume that they are not offering remote teaching support, because this would cause a 2 tier system where some pupils would be taught in school & some pupils would be taught remotely

Can you request another meeting with the school support person ?

She does want to study at uni although yet to decide what subject.

I have emailed the SEND team leader and asked for her to contact me.

I will PM you OP

I was in a similar place 2 years ago with a less academic child.
DD had missed y11 due to MH and started at college, but it quickly became clear she couldn't cope. Every time I asked about adjustment I got the questions 'does she have an EHCP?'.

So we bumped her down 2 levels of course and applied for an EHC needs assessment which they agreed to within 3 days. By doing a lower course her attendance was less of an issue as she could keep up easily, and it gave her space to get used to the environment.

So, my question to you is, would it help her to do a lower level course for a year while she gets used to the environment, and then return to A levels next year?

I would be thinking about her moving to an online school where she can access in a way that doesn't cause her stress and anxiety. Places like http://www.briteschool.co.uk/ do A-level subjects.
She shouldn't need to have an EHCP for them to work with her and support her effectively. It sounds as though they don't understand what she actually needs, which isn't an escort to lessons but someone to help her manage her anxiety, and to provide a reasonable adjustment so she can access lessons asynchronously if she can't get into the physical lesson.

She can do A levels online. What A levels is she doing and what area of the country do you live in? There will likely be an examination centre she can access. An EHCP is positive, if she goes onto degree level it will help her access better help, ensuring provisions better meet her needs.

join this face book group and ask about the best way to sit A levels in your situation

Home education U.K. exams alternatives

I think part of the problem is a lack of EHCP outlining the provision needed for your DD. From the point of view of college this means that they will not have the additional funding to put things properly in place and also an excuse not to try hard. FE College is different to school - not necessarily unsupportive but bigger organisations, with a mix of ages, courses and more of a 'churn' when it comes to new starters and people deciding to quit. I think this is probably not the right environment for your daughter. However she will find her place as others suggest.

I don’t think your expectations atm are realistic. They offered to walk her into class and she didn’t agree to this. I can’t comment if it’s a good idea or not but I can’t see what other solution they can offer. They don’t offer remote learning. They can’t offer quieter courses or reduced timetable. With EHCP you go through assessments from different professionals and they give advice, strategies and it gives college some additional funding to implement so they are right that you should apply for it however I still not sure that it will give you a chance to get remote learning.
However I might be wrong, I’m not saying this as a professional, my experience is personal ( my DD has EHCP). If you know that your college provides remote learning for someone of course you can question why not for your DD.
You mentioned in your post that there is a problem with your daughter getting to college on time as buses are full. I think it’s on you, a few DD’s friends have the same problem - they all are taken by parents by car unless they are entitled to taxi from local council. My point is that you can expect help from college but they don’t have a magic wand to sort out everything. My DD has EHCP and even with it we’ve been told at the very beginning: we can do this, this and this but not this and this.
There are often smaller educational places where you can follow individual timetable but to get access to them you need to have EHCP. It’s worth to ask for Parent support service at the council and they will advise you on the process and what’s available.

I think the problem here is an EHCNA should have been requested before now. You can request one now yourself. ISPEA has a model letter you can use. Be careful with SENDIASS, some are good, many are not and repeat the LA’s unlawful policies. IPSEA and SOSSEN are better.

The college must make reasonable adjustments, and it does sound like they mostly are trying. Although a jump straight to 100% attendance seems unrealistic. An EHCP is the way to secure more support (including therapies) and a more appropriate setting (or EOTAS if attending a setting is inappropriate).

Would your funds stretch to a private Ed Psych consultation to suggest some strategies? Often without an EHCP it falls to SENCos to just suggest stuff but they don't always have all the answers.

It does seem very quick to give up on her, and the bar they are suggesting now is obviously too high and unattainable. They are not buying into the idea that she is doing what she can. I think looking round at other colleges might not be a bad shout. The difference between being able to meet need or not can come down to whether a handful of individuals have a particular set of experience and expertise, which not everyone who works in SEN has. Some settings just "get it" more than others. But an Ed Psych consultation might help bridge the gap if yours doesn't (yet).

@pizzaHeart she doesn’t want to be escorted to class as it makes her stand out, and if she can’t face it, she can just walk away without the extra pressure.

I don’t want full remote learning, I wanted to see if they could provide anything for her to access for days when she wasn’t able to attend class.

She is working on her own and is working at a high level, so she is capable of the work, but I am not naive and know this won’t be long term.

With regards to busses, she needs to be there early on 3 days. She gets herself there, leaving at 7, so that she misses other school traffic. This was trial and error to begin with as we didn’t know the busses would be as busy as they were from here. She is self motivated to get heel self there even an hour before college starts.

They were aware of her needs, and said they would do everything could to help her, they didn’t say what this would be.

I am not wanting miracles, but I think they’re expecting too much too soon. And to say she needs to look elsewhere after just 3 weeks isn’t good.

I’ll catch up with messages after work.

Maybe they're suggesting it now because changing schools now would be less disruptive.

I was wondering if online school could be the academic solution, but she then does something else for socialising (or social skills) in person. Are there activities she likes? Or would she be good at going to a sheltered housing complex (could be anything, that's just one idea) and volunteering to play games with residents / or something like that?

I'm not saying it's ideal, but she's so motivated and academic it seems a shame to have that suffer unnecessarily. School sounds very, very stressful for her. In a less formal social environment, where she doesn't have expectations on her that could be too challenging, it may give her the space to find her feet (and her value)?

Would having a buddy help her? Someone from upper year who would walk with her to lessons as a supporting friend? I know that some universities do this for first year students.

Sorry for the delay in replying! Last minute uni shop for DS!

She is adamant that she wants to continue with Alevels, she’s attended a lesson today (out if 2) and has come home positive. She feels today has been good. She’s in the mindset that she will be in both lessons tomorrow.

I will look into online a levels as an option.

I have emailed SENDIASS and have requested the SEN policy from college, college replied saying they have passed on my email to someone else. I have downloaded the EHCP form too.

This is probably something the school should have picked up, but at the same time I also blame myself as I should have done more.