Detention for not changing after pe fast enough

[elliejjtiny]

Ds4 is in year 7 and today he got his first detention for being late to lesson because he was still getting changed after pe. Ordinarily I would think that's fair enough but ds4 has learning disabilities, is quite badly co ordinated, hypermobility and wears ankle splints that have to be taken off and put on again. This is his second lesson of playing football for pe and getting changed is more time consuming than when he did gymnastics and badminton previously because he has to change his socks and so has to take his splints off, change his socks and put his splints back on. The splints are a nightmare of elastic and Velcro which are time consuming to sort out. Would it be appropriate to ask the teacher to cancel his detention and is there anything that can be done to help prevent him getting in trouble again? He is a child who is very eager to please so he is devastated at getting a detention. He keeps looking at the little wheel thing on class charts with the little red segment in it.

Completely appropriate. I would speak to the senco about this. (Ex secondary teacher)

Yes, the teacher won't necessarily know the ins and outs of his physical needs

Email the teacher, CCing the PE teacher, Senco and pastoral lead in one hit

They all need to know the issue - Sendco can issue an early pass for PE so that DC can leave 5 mins early to get changed, it can be put on his One Page Profile that he is not to be given detentions after PE.

Also, it's quite good for year 7s to get 1 detention early on if they are a worrier. They see they aren't put in a choky and that it's just an inconvenience of time. Most don't turn to a life of crime afterwards but it does reduce the stress of it.

I'm a teacher and normally I get fairly frustrated with students arriving late after PE but this sounds like a very reasonable adjustment for your son. I'd consider asking if he can come in slightly earlier to start getting changed or (if they aren't too grim) maybe he could wear with PE socks all day.

If the school are aware of these needs then YANBU. They should be enabling him to access his rights and be treated with dignity and compassion. We have an Equality Act for a reason. This is stigmatising and I’d be very very firm with the head teacher about ensuring this never happens again and that the info for your child is recorded, up to date and shared with teachers involved.

Defo get that detention taken off so he can see his lovely green wheel (or whatever colour) again.

Stupid red bit that shouldn’t be there needs to bugger off. Let’s give it to his teacher for being a meany instead.

Normally I think parents should back up the teachers even if we maybe wouldn't habe chosen détention in that situation but bloody hell this seems harsh. I'd be making absolutley sure all teachers were aware of the ins and outs!

@PTSDBarbiegirl you really don't need to go in heavy handed with the Equality Act in the first instance. Most teachers would be mortified that they had upset OPs son over something he can't help however, unless you have experience of splints etc or have their own child with similar conditions it's quite possible his teacher has no no real idea what a reasonable amount of time would be. Or that it was a supply who had little info on individual pupils particularly if it's not something that directly influences the teachers lesson and has never happened before.

Lots of simple adjustments can be made first before you start berating Head Teachers.

If you are an English teacher you would think hypermobile - difficulty writing for extended periods, give rest breaks. You wouldn't necessarily know about splints etc.

As others have said, contact the Sendco first.

I once got some good advice from a SENCO who also had a child with SEN in mainstream: Never let the school punish your child for something related to their disability - you have to be the parent that calls up and advocates for your child because no one else does.

Two issues here - firstly being punished for something that’s completely outside of his control where reasonable adjustments have not been considered, and secondly schools still using ridiculous displays of rewards / consequences when we all know these do absolutely nothing to improve behaviour!
Email the teacher asap.

Completely appropriate for you to ask for this to be removed and for this to be flagged to all teaching staff.

I'd be raging. Absolutely ask them to cancel his detention this is abysmal by the school.
My ds has sen but no physical disability and also just started year 7. He was late for maths after PE and got detention. I called the school and they apologised and senco update the system they have like a pupil passport so nay teacher that types his name in can see his needs ect but I'd only met with the senco the day previous. He has a pass to leave early, uses a private changing room and is allowed to take his time within reason and even stay in his pe kit sometimes. I'm sure they'll be fine when you speak to them and give you and your son an apology.

They absolutely should be making reasonable adjustments for his disability so I would absolutely be speaking to them. I am a supporter of detention for things like not doing homework or bad behaviour in school. However, I have recently made it very clear to our SENCO that my child who has autism and mild learning difficulties will not be doing them as they are being used as a punishment for not reaching a certain percentage in a testing system they've introduced. That is not something that should be punished IMO.

It depends. If he was messing about - fair enough. If it was because of SEN - let the teacher know. The teacher was actually there so she would have a clearer picture. What does your child say happened? Would he be honest about messing about and not getting changed?

Absolutely appropriate.

Definately contact school to ask for it to be cancelled if possible. Also be prepared to hear if there was more to it. Children can sometimes hold back on some of what they tell you.

See if an arrangement can be made that he can wear his pe kit from home and through the day on PE/games days.

I have a friend who has this arrangement with school for her son and it works really well. It takes the stress off the child too. He also has an early pass so he can leave his classes 5 minutes early to get to where he needs to go. Crowded corridors trigger meltdowns. So the early pass system works for him.

Maybe reasonable adjustments can be made for your child.

I would contact the school about that because reasonable adjustments need to be made for him.
He has more difficulties with getting changed to start with and then he has the extra difficulty of the splints so of course it is going to take longer

I’d be pissed off about this and I agree your DS shouldn’t have to do the detention as it was out of his control. Going forward, he should be allowed to leave the PE lessons earlier to allow him time to change

"Would it be appropriate to ask the teacher to cancel his detention?"

Definitely appropriate. You're advocating for him against disability discrimination. He will watch you do so, and gradually learn the confidence to advocate for himself, as he becomes an adult.

I'd start off politely, assuming a misunderstanding, but escalate if needed.

Ahh thats so sad, poor kid!

Dd has had warnings for some random stuff which she cant/wont change after having had warning. They know shes referred for asd.
Weve had pe - not watching the match which dd says would have been looking at the sun (soon after wed had to impress on her not to look at sun as we saw a almost total solar eclipse.)
A lesson where she wouldnt write down something the teacher told her to. Which i think is related to getting pencil case out and next point.
In science the teacher wouldnt let her put her pencils away where she worried someone would nick them when going up to the front.

But a boy in class kissed her water bottle twice on one lesson and another was asking if she knew what some sex term meant in class, but no warnings for them...

What is it with some secondaries being intimidating, inhumane places with minimal focus on children's welfare? YANBU, OP.

Thank you. I am happy for the detention to stand if he was messing about or chatting with his friends etc when he was supposed to be getting changed. I'll talk to the teacher about removing his detention and to the senco about him being allowed to get changed early.