Discrimination

[Msqueen33]

Three DC. 9, 6 and 1. 6 yr old has autism. Last term middle DC 6 (asd, ADHD) said about doing two clubs. A construction club type thing and an art club. Elder sibling went to one of these clubs aswell so they'd be together. DC has ft 1:1 in school but is fine in a more relaxed environment but school said no to clubs. We did ask if she could try going alone without support for one session and if it didn't work we would re-evaluate. We are very flexible. I'd happily wait in reception if DC got upset. We've relayed this to school. They've messed us about on a few other issues. We know DC isn't always easy. They want us to personally pay for a 1:1. I'm a sahm and we don't have loads of money. They wouldn't even give DC a chance to go nor were they interested in me going with as support. We received a formal letter plus cheques returned. Dh is fuming and shouting discrimination. Is this unfair? DC is not allowed to go to any after school function disco etc without one of us going along. We live five minutes from school so am happy to pick up if things don't go to plan.

A lot of the problem is also the government cuts to schools. In times past they may have supported this abs funded it, but I know my school has faced a big cut in the budget.

If the school are convinced he needs 1:1 then they need to supply it. They cannot use budget cuts as a reason to act discriminantly.

Any outside of school clubs run at our school are voluntarily run by teachers, and the rule is that they can't cost the school money (we don't charge anything for them). They won't pay additional time for an aide as it's just not in the budget, but they will allow the parent to come in and take on that role.

We wouldn't get most of our aides being willing to stay back anyway. Most of ours do the job because they can leave right on the the bell and get their own children, or they are already working part time.

I think if your child needs a 1:1 in the classroom, then it's not unreasonable to expect that they may need one for the activity. However, your child should be allowed to attend with you working as their aide, presuming you have whatever the UK equivalent of a Working with Children card is.

childlawadvice.org.uk/information-pages/disability-discrimination-in-education/

Op read this and then contact IPSEA . I think the school are on shaky ground to say no, you need a copy of the risk assessment and an idea of what they think is blocking access and what they have considered doing to overcome this . That's under disability discrimination. Bear in mind you may discriminate in certain circumstances - see the link.

Then you have SEN legislation, see the SEND code of practice 2015 chapter 6 on schools. In particular including children in the activities of the school. You can download a copy from www.gov.uk .

Honkinghaddock this is not covered in the school budget hence the additional charge. It is an additional service offered outside the schools educational remit.

After school clubs are extras and not part of the curriculum, therefore this is not discrimination.

The rulings are that they are required to make reasonable adjustment for access which they have done by stating that your child can attend if you pay for the support he needs. What they have offered would be considered reasonable adjustment, given that your child has full time 1:1 in School.

Most of the clubs at the School I am in are run voluntarily by TA's with limited numbers in line with the relevant staff to pupil ratio. A child needing support would take it over this ratio, and not allow adequate supervision of the other children.

Schools can charge extra for school trips. What they cannot do is charge those with sen more than other pupils.

Agreed haddock. This is not a school trip. This is an additional club run at the school outside normal hours and outside the normal curriculum with an additional charge.

The crux of the matter, is that this is not part of the curriculum and as such the school are not legally obligated to fund the required support. If it for their compulsory education, then of course the school would have to fund it, budget cuts or not.

Op talk to IPSEA ; you will get sensible advice and be able to get into detail with them to see if the school are justified.

Www.ipsea.org.uk

I agree ring ipsea. They will know the law in this area.

Ipsea seem to think it is covered. As a governor, it is their advice we would be taking.

Regardless, to go straight to a solicitor's letter is a shitty attitude...do they always treat the kids as a difficulty?

this link is on the ofsted site.

After school clubs are part of the government's wrap around care strategy and should be accessible to all children.

It may not be part of the curriculum but it is covered by the EA.

If the 6yo attending was going to cause safety issues despite all reasonable adjustments then that would be one thing. Refusal to even consider it (with the OP who knows her DC) ready to step in at a moment's notice is another. I know from experience that ASD is isolating at the best of times without school making it worse

They haven't refused to consider it. They've made a reasonable adjustment and taken legal advice. School's back is covered.

Scroll down to paragraph 13 here
This is a draft but clearly indicates that children with SEN must not be excluded from wrap around care due to their disability. Asking parents to pay for support defeats the object of wrap around care and is not a reasonable adjustment.

You can apply for direct payments for 1:1 or would have dla that isn't already allocated for something else?

Its not wrap around care. Its a paid for after school club with different activities on different days.

Dla is for the everyday costs of caring for a disabled child. OP shouldn't have to pay an extra fee to enable her child to access an activity that her classmates can access.

It is unlawful to charge for reasonable adjustments made for disabled pupils (came into force sep 2012) If the school have accepted that having 1:1 is a reasonable adjustment, they cannot make a charge for it. It is only in the case of it not being a reasonable adjustment, that they are allowed to charge. In that case the parents can challenge it not being considered a reasonable adjustment.

If there is a formal agreement that says that your child needs full time 1:1 in school then it may simply be that they've been advised that they CANNOT accept them into any club without that. If the LA only pays for school hours I can see why they've said you would need to pay for 1:1 for that time.

It's an utter pain but what if them letting your daughter into that club with no support meant the LA start getting on their backs about how she can't be that bad. She can manage the club why can't she manage school?

I think it's likely been badly handled but honestly I think it's for the best.

Can you look at clubs outside school? Something where you can stay? Or see if school would let you attend with her as her 1:1 so they have fulfilled their duty but you aren't paying out more?

That's if it is part of the schools normal educational curriculum. This as clearly explained multiple times is not.

It is an additional paid for after school activity for which the school has risk assessed the child and determined 1:1 support is needed, provision of which is to be met by the parent.

It applies to optional extras as well.

I disagree shark , I have two dc in receipt of dla and I use it for the extra costs that having a disability incurs. Activities costing more is one of those costs. However the op may already need the dla for other things.