To not want to provide free supervision on a school trip again?

[WelshMaenad]

Bit of pertinent - dd is 6.4. She has cerebral palsy, which affects her mobility and means she ends up v tired and in a lot if pain if she has to walk far. She is a blue badge holder and we have a wheelchair which she uses for any significant distance. She is in mainstream primary, smallish class size, no statement of SEN but is on school action plus.

Last year the class went on a trip to a local outdoor museum. The site is large and she would absolutely need to use her wheelchair. The plan her teacher/LSA made was to allocate the LSA to dd and ask the HT to fund an extra LSA to accompany so dd had 1:1 to push her chair and they still had adequate ratios of staff:kids.

He refused to fund it. He said they would just have to 'juggle it' with the LSA pushing DD and also being responsible for a group. The teacher/LSA were so worried about the safety aspect that they begged me to come along, DH ended up taking an unpaid days leave to look after our toddler, who was not allowed to come, so I could go. It absolutely would not have worked or been safe if I hadn't been there, the LSA and I agreed. I subsequently expressed concern to the HT and was assured this would not happen again.

I've just taken a phone call from DD's new teacher saying they are going back to the same place on Nov 26th (a monday) and can I accompany.

I really don't want to have to do this again. I actually don't know if we can, DH has a staffer off sick and may not even be able to get the day off. I am now working (was SAHM last year) and I work nights, Sunday night is my Rota'd night and I will not have slept! DS should be in playgroup in the morning but someone will have to collect him at 1 and we have no one. We have a meal out on the Monday night as its my mum's 60th do no chance to nap in the afternoon/evening. Most if all, I feel that u just shouldn't bloody have to, that the school should provide enough staff to keep Dd safe.

WIBU to say no, and kick up a fuss till they agree to provide sufficient staff? And what do I do if they won't?

Spot dots said same sorry

I agree with everybody else. And apart from all the legal rights your DD has, at age 6 she doesn't want to have a parent there on school trips like this!

Even with the best will in the world, if you will not have slept then you cannot do it anyway. So they will have to come up with a proper solution.

My ds school don't even allow parent helpers, the head mistress makes every one have a CRB check and its not cost effective.

I would first contact head teacher and if he/she doesn't budge I would be onto the LEA

Could you see if another parent could go? If someone asked me in that position I would be willing to either go along as a 1 to 1 or look after their toddler for the day, whichever they wanted me to.

If you don't stamp on this now you will still be coming on school trips when she's 11 as they will start taking it for granted. It is nice and cheap and easy for them. Refuse, give NO personal reasons for refusing (ie the toddler and no sleep bit) as that gives them a way in (all they have to do is rubbish your objections).

Go straight to the head, bypassing the teacher, remind them of their assurances that it would not happen again and of their duty to provide safe access to trips for your dd. Tell them you are sure they are well aware of both their duties under the DDA and their safeguarding duties. If no joy put it in writing and copy it to the LEA. Ofsted won't get involved.

Is it disability discrimination,though? I'm not sure.They have provided someone to push the wheelchair, it is the fact that the 'wheel chair pusher' is also expected to supervise a group of children at the same time that is the issue.That the safety of those children cannot be guaranteed.
I really can't believe they can't drum up another volunteer.Don't they have parent volunteers or retired people who come in to help?

What madhouse said. I'd also give the HT a deadline by which if he has not replied to your letter you will write to the Chair of Governors. A couple of days should be enough given the trip is soon.

Good luck

Dd's junior school was the same: they "forgot" to book a bus that could take a wheelchair for their outing to the zoo and got a supply teacher to ring us the evening before the trip to inform us that she would have to stay behind in school and work in the other class (cowards). The supply teacher (bless her!) was so affected by the sound of dd's sobbing in the background that she got back to management and told them they couldn't do this, I happened to be free and dd could be lifted, so she went.

If I had known then what I now know of the DDA....

What I'm trying to say is, don't let them get away with it. If you don't tell them you know your rights, they'll assume you don't and that they can get away with it.

The point about reasonable adjustment is that you have to do that little bit more advance planning. Most people don't want to, so they pretend they can't. They can if they have to.

can you take her somewhere else for the day, a friend of mine did that with her son, they were going somewhere competely inappropirrate, she took him to thorpe park i think.

YANBU.

I think you need to have it put on her school action plus plan, that a 1:1 needs to be made available for trips. It's not so much about disability discrimination, but the school not meeting her needs. So really, you need to either go for a statement or address the current plan. If they do refuse, go to IPSEA.

I agree with lougle, really don'y see why it has to be so difficult. DS1 goes to respite and they get taken all over the place, cinema, pub restaurant, farm trips! They seem to manage 3-4 wheelchairs, a few walkers, and some very challenging children with asd perfectly well!

slartybartfast - why should she? Her dd should be included in the school trip, not taken for an alternative.

Although I know my ds would have loved to go thorpe park rather than a school trip!

Cory, we've been there too. School even went as far to tell me that they had spoken to ds1's OT who had apparently told them he didn't need his wheelchair for a trip. Complete bullshit when I checked with the OT!

actually i think in my firneds case it ws wheelchair inaccessible, or rather, a ahrd slog,
but of course, op dd shoudl be included and op should stick her ground.

if the school are saying they can provide for op's dd, then they should provide for her

And even if the school are saying they can't provide, this does not let them off the hook without further investigation. It is not for them to decide what they can and can't do; the supplement to the Disability Discrimination Act gives very clear examples of what counts as reasonable adjustment- and if it is reasonable adjustment, then they are legally bound to make it.

Dd's school were constantly claiming that they couldn't provide this and they couldn't provide that- including access to existing disabled toilets. The HT would have been happy to have refused admission to any disabled children to get out of the bother of having to provide for them, but the LEA were not going to allow that.

In dd's case, no they were not legally bound to rebuild a Victorian building to make it wholly wheelchair accessible, but they were legally bound to schedule dd's lessons on a ground floor or find another way of making sure she could access them. They were legally bound to remember that they had to ask for the van that could take the wheelchair (seeing that there was one)- in the same way that they had to remember to bring all the children back from the trip: forgetfulness simply isn't an excuse. They had to keep the disabled toilets accessible even if it did mean extra cleaning.

In the OPs case, I think the school would only not be breaking the law if they could demonstrate that they had been doing everything possible, well in advance, to find an extra adult to accompany her dd, including funding an extra LSA.

Absolutely.