Labour isn't working - Thread 17

[TheNuthatch]

A chat thread for those who don't like this Labour government. 💙

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.

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This is the problem. MATs and schools are so terrified of being accused of excluding unlawfully and being dragged to tribunal: staff and children are assaulted daily, schools are picking up the tabs for significant criminal damage because…All children are now paying the price.

There is no magic money tree to fund this exponentially growing need. That means that schools are so paralysed by fear and accusations of not being inclusive: staff and children are facing extreme violence daily for the same children to come in and repeat the cycle. Ironically, by not permanently excluding, the LA will not help fund the correct provision because on paper the mainstream place is working. How bonkers is that?

This.
Where do Reform refer to the ‘unfit’??

@Legolava

20 years ago I remember a three tier system for need. I don’t remember SEN being a massive issue. Have you read’ The Age of Diagnosis’?

I honestly don’t think children have changed that much, particularly when I look back at the school I worked in. No child there was diagnosed but we 100% made sure the environment was right.

The way we diagnose children and attribute issues to something internal to the child DEFINITELY has.

Yes I think of this as BBC narrative. It’s so pervasive that it can’t be questioned. I was just listening to an academic on R4 and it’s really not summing up why politics is shifting as it is. My challenge would be talk about this without using the word ‘populism’.

It’s a crutch and framing that’s not in line with democracy.

The academic failed that challenge of course

Even in the few recent years I have worked on secondary I have seen SEND diagnosis rocket with ‘savvy’ parents playing the system, not least because it also ‘entitkes’ them to more ‘benefits’.
Record numbers of exam access arrangements alone. It is not sustainable, not least because children without pushy parents lose out.
For children with genuine and severe SEND then yes - alternative specialized provision would be better /but the endless stream of ADHD/anxiety/slow processing etc being pandered to in mainstream is bonkers.

Things have changed. Massively. Children have changed because society has changed. Until you are in a mainstream classroom with multiple EHCPs, with severely underfunded systems and facing extreme violence daily, I think it’s best you keep your academic theory of what education was like 20 years ago - to yourself.

If my children were not coming to the end of the system, I’d be moving them to private with their EHCP.

Look at the welfare bill, the rising need for EHCPs, the rising state dependency (over half the population now), the use of screens as a babysitter, Covid. The list goes on. We are not where were 2 decades ago.

All of this.

@LupaMoonhowl

I completely agree with that. I actually think my son had a high level of need when he started school - and is low need now. I want the EHCP gone, but the school cling to the funding and make him sound worse. They wanted to diagnose ASD but I refused. No mention of ASD now. It’s completely ridiculous.

And parenting (and parents sense of entitlement), unfortubately is nothing like what it was 20 years ago. And it’s the children with good parenting who to suffer in class with theteacher’s focus having to accommodate the increasing numbers of poorly parented.

We've been really lucky with DS. We had no issues in the council agreeing to the EHCP, and other than minor disagreements with the council's case worker about my amendments, we got through panel OK.

I went to the secondary school and we had a tour with the deputy SENDCo to find out what provisions the school had which DS would benefit from. I then worked with the SENDCo and amended the draft to include those provisions. This meant that they were able to say they could meet his needs and were named on the EHCP.

He started there in Sept and they've been amazing. They've put everything in place (1:1 TA to assist with communication, plus a pass for early leave, access to a break out room, access to toilets and queue jumping in the canteen and a laptop for longer pieces of work) and are really supportive. He had 100% attendance for the first half term, which is amazing, as EBSA was a massive issue in primary where they didn't really get to grip with his needs.

He's very academically able, but just needs a bit of extra support for communication and his anxiety re crowds.

I think it very much depends on both the child's needs and the school's ability / willingness to assist as to how successful the EHCP can be.

I've recently left, but my experience very much mirrors yours @Legolava Punching, biting, chairs thrown... We had a child, with SEMH needs, who shouted out a constant stream of abuse which was clearly of racist intent but changed JUST enough... We had a high number of SEN children in the class, who struggled even more because of this child who we had to keep in class as much as possible. The other children int he class told me they hated school and frankly I didn't blame them...

You think that giving reasonable adjustments for a processing disorder is 'pandering' to that child's needs?! Why help them achieve something when you can just leave them languishing?

Thankfully not everyone thinks like you!

That was fine when only a tiny minority of children -but what happens when you reach the tipping point as we are seeing now - ever increasing numbers of children requiring passes/queue jump/break out rooms / how is that sustainable?
Where do you get and find all the TAs for ‘assistance in communication’?
And space for numerous ‘break-out’ rooms. And dozens of pupils queue kumping?
If you are in the lucky vanguard to have it now yes you are lucky, but not possible to sustain the all the variants of anxiety etc that are mushrooming.

@LupaMoonhowl

Absolutely - but it’s not just parents who are entitled. We all are! It’s symptomatic of a highly individualistic society. I think teachers are far more entitled than 20 years ago. I still work in a school and the -let’s call it - ahem - shirking that goes on is mind blowing. Leaving a dedicated few to run themselves ragged. And SLT just sit in an office. You never see them!
Age of Diagnosis is a must read. Sunday Times book of the week.

@NoWordForFluffy

That’s so good to hear! The schools in my ‘typically conservative’ area are woeful. They see ‘EHCP’ and it’s ’no thanks’. Plus the council are worst in the country - so a 6 month delay is the norm. They use words like ‘handicapped’ on his EHCP so are clearly still living in the dark ages - or don’t actually give a f@@k…
3 exclusions in one class before the children were 6 years old is disgusting. Plus an attempt to kick my son out before he’d even set foot in the door…

Before I left we basically stopped going to SLT as they did nothing... The last time I went asking for help for persistent disruptive behaviour I was given putty to give to the child - which was obviously then thrown at me and other children!

That's appalling.

We're really impressed with the school, to be honest. And after the years of stress due to EBSA, it's a relief all round, frankly!

The council acknowledged during the EHCP process that DS is of the cohort they struggle with, as they are academically (very) able but need adjustments for mainstream, but all of the special needs schools locally are for more profoundly disabled children, so just don't suit.

@Forgetmenot9

Exactly. The lovely Head I worked for had all the doors taken off so she could patrol and see what was happening in every classroom. Any misbehaviour and she was on it straight away. And the children respected and loved her.

@NoWordForFluffy

That’s so good! You’ve restored my faith in humanity. I think I need to move to your area! The school think my son has a ‘tiny, squeaky voice’ and ‘just sits there not taking on instruction’ - or that my son’s excluded friend has ‘an overinflated sense of his own ego’. At age 5. Appalling.

Good morning 😁

This week's FON polling. Labour have dropped another point, still down in 4th. Good.

F@@@ing Reform UK. You do realise we are @@@@ed if they get in?

I think it's specifically this school, tbh. We really struggled with his primary as they didn't understand his needs, hence the EBSA.

I do think we've been lucky really (though I have had a huge amount of input in getting to this stage).

Labour still in fourth? Before the hellish autumn budget? Where does it even go from here. We are being governed by a party who is making huge changes with scant public support. This feels really precarious now.

I wonder of all of those saying they will vote Green actually know what their policies are,

I'd be surprised if they did.

Do you think looking at the polls is a proxi for Reform support? This is a politics thread 🤷🏼‍♀️