To think it's a bit late of the school to stop DS going on his residential trip now!

[EnglishRose1320]

DS1 is in year 6, has just been diagnosed as having autism and is finding the sats practice very stressful, as a result he refused to go into class this morning and instead sat outside waving a stick around.
The deputy called and said they were going to have to review whether he goes on the residential trip or not and probably wouldn't be able to.
AIBU to think that it's a bit late, the trip is straight after sats, DS is excited (which is rare) we have forked out nearly £200 for it and although the diagnosis was recent DS has been in the school for coming up 4 years, they should know him by now and be able to accommodate his needs.

The effects of being unmanageable are very much greater during a residential trip than back at school, thought, aren't they? If one teacher has to act one-to-one that may cost the entire trip their day's activities. And if that now looks more probable than it did when the trip was first planned and time is tight there may be nothing else to be done.

'And who knows what might trigger anxiety and further such behaviour, bigmack?'

The op will be very well aware of her ds's triggers and the school should be as well.
Anxiety around changes in school such as SATS for pupils with ASD is extremely common.

Following from what oldbirdy writes a few years ago I was asked to keep ds at home instead of him going on a school trip because his TA wasn't able to accompany him as she had a hospital appointment and the TA who was available was scared of ds (he was y4 and generally only growled at her )
I refused because ds wanted to go and we had spent a lot of time preparing him and told the school that if they didn't make arrangements to include him on the trip then I would be pressing a disability discrimination case against them.
It worked like magic,the school contacted the LA, explaining that a parent was ready to push a disability discrimination case and sothe LA arranged for the class teacher to be ds's 1 to 1 (because he was great with ds) and for the HT to lead the trip and supplied both a full size coach (as previously the class teacher was driving the school minibus) and a relief HT for the school in the absence of the HT all at no additional cost to the school.
You could always contact the LA yourself,I would imaging mentioning breaching the Equality Act would be enough to get them flapping.

He's not unmanageable though.

Should add there were no bad feelings between the school and myself,they were more than happy to take ds but didn't have the staff or the funds available, by pushing it on to the LA the problem was solved at no cost to the school.

sothe LA arranged for the class teacher to be ds's 1 to 1 (because he was great with ds) and for the HT to lead the trip and supplied both a full size coach (as previously the class teacher was driving the school minibus) and a relief HT for the school in the absence of the HT all at no additional cost to the school.

I am actually a little bit appalled by that. That is not a reasonable adjustment.

It clearly was a few years ago because you are hard pressed finding a HT now anyway.

The reasonable adjustment was providing 1 to 1 support by his teacher in the absence of his TA.The coach and the HT was because the teacher's role needed to be fulfilled by someone else and in a small school the only person to fill the gap was the HT who wasn't able to drive the minibus .

Where is this school?! Have they never had a kid with SEN before?

My thoughts exactly. My school have taken children with far more complex problems in recent years e.g. a child with cerebral palsy who is wheelchair bound, a child with Downs Syndrome who has a Learning Disability/challenging behaviour. Our head wouldn't dream of excluding any child because taking them made life a bit more challenging.

Coaches are ridiculously expensive and you don't find HTs in the local supply agency.

AllPizzasGreatAndSmall:

If your Head isn't convinced the child and others on the trip can be kept safe, it is their job to take the difficult decision to exclude that child. With the best will in the world, it isn't always possible to adjust around everything.

I have no idea why the HT was needed, she was HT of a local school and had been stand in HT when the HT was off sick for six months previously. No idea why they needed a relief HT, at the time the coach cost £900 from what I remember which was significantly less than it would have cost them to face a disability discrimination charge.

Andrew I don't buy that they have done their planning and been overtaken by events. They have used the trip as a threat to an already stressed boy in an attempt to make him modify his behaviour in what seems to me to be a blaming way rather than demonstrating understanding of his needs or anxiety. They have threatened a blanket ban yo his parent and are refusing to meet her to discuss it any further. This isn't as benign as your interpretation, I fear.

A child I was involved with a few years ago was told the night before a trip that he wouldn't be going, as he had run out of class that day. This was a predictable behaviour named in the risk assessment and the school had already arranged an extra staff member in his group! They were just fed up with him. Fortunately his mum printed out a load of stuff and arrived at school at 8am to fight his case. He was allowed on the trip (and was fine). It happens surprisingly often, sadly.

at the time the coach cost £900 from what I remember which was significantly less than it would have cost them to face a disability discrimination charge

But that isn't really the point. The point is whether the expenditure of £900 can be considered 'reasonable'.

Y6 up and down the country will be currently being warned that these trips are privileges and they will be staying at home if they do not behave.

oldbirdy it is ridiculous how schools don't believe the law applies to them or rely on a parent not knowing the law to get away with excluding children with SEN.

Of course it was reasonable ds had as much right to attend the trip as everyone else.He had 1 to 1 support each and every day of his school life. It wasn't his fault that his TA had to attend hospital and the relief TA was flaky (why employ a TA who is scared of a child who growls at her ?) So the £900 was to ameliorate the failings of a TA the school had chosen to employ as much as anything else.

oldbirdy - I don't think anyone here is unaware of the law, it's more a debate about what is reasonable and what isn't. Also I think you misunderstand what 'anticipatory planning' means, it's a general duty and not a specific one. So, if I am arranging a classroom I should anticipate the needs of wheelchair users in my layout, and students with sensory input problems in my board displays, for example, even if I have no wheelchair using students or students with sensory problems. It doesn't mean that I need to anticipate a particular student's potential reactions to things. I mean, that's a good idea but it's not legally bound.

I think, broadly, the biggest cock up here was telling the OP (and the student) that his place on the trip was in question before they had gathered all the information they needed - this happens all the time just because of the amount of people involved. So a TA might say to a kid "if you carry on, you might not be allowed on the trip" in an attempt to coerce the child into cooperation. The SENDCo is in the middle of seeing what accommodations can be made but the child goes home and reports what the TA said to the parent. The parent (completely fairly!) immediately requests a meeting which the SENDCo grants because they're trying to be accommodating - but all the info isn't there yet and everyone ends up frustrated and misunderstanding each other. I have no idea whether a reasonable accommodation can be made, maybe it can, maybe it can't, I have nowhere near enough information to tell. Personally, I hope the OP is right and the child calms down, can go on the trip and has a great time or that the school finds a solution to allow him to participate.

Op I've been in similar situ years ago,as a result of going through hell as family but coming out other side now know this school ABVU.
Your ds school accept him as pupil in mainstream,with the ethos of 'every child matters'. Your child has a SN and doing his SAts causing extra stress resulting in understandable meltdowns.It's hardly rocket science is it.They accept him in their school and get the bit of extra funding a SN child receives therefor they should accommodate his needs,can't pick and choose.
Some schools seem to think they can but this is discrimination under the disability act,I know because I went down this route with my dc.If they feel this trip is now unsuitable then they will have to provide him with a suitable alternative that is acceptable to his needs.
There is a website for info,I suggest you write a letter so nothing is miss spoken and letter can be filed,explain you've read about the disability discrimination act. Info is power in these things,hopefully ds will settle after SAts and with a ever so gentle nudge school will be ok...good luck

1nsanityscatching:

I think £900 is a huge sum in the context of school budgets. I would have challenged that had the school been expected to pay. I in no way think it is 'reasonable'.

So the £900 was to ameliorate the failings of a TA the school had chosen to employ as much as anything else.

The TA is not a slave. She does not 'fail' because she doesn't go on a residential. Do you have no concern for her own family?!

Do you challenge how you own school's budget is spent - are you a HT?

You seem very concerned that pupils with additional needs don't receive support over and above that which you feel they should be entitled to.

bigmack:

That isn't my concern at all. And I meant I would challenge that if the budget was my responsibility.

@bigmack I sometimes challenge how budgets are spend. One big example of this, as I alluded to earlier, is the spending of Pupil Premium money as SEN funds something pretty much every school I know does. They do it because the paltry amount of SEN funding does not cover how many TAs you need, let alone cash for adjustments, so yes - if I thought that idk £900 was for a coach so one person could attend, and meant that the Free Toast for Pupil Premium students was going unfunded then I would have a problem with it. Don't get me wrong, i can understand why that person did it but whether it's justifiable is another question. The poster didn't do anything wrong in wanting that adjustment but the school are fine to agree or disagree.

I think people need to stop seeing what trifle is writing and hear what she's saying. She isn't saying,imo, RA should not be made for this lad - she's saying if after RiskA and RA are made it's still not considered safe then school can say so. And teachers are under no obligation to do on these trips.

Fwiw I don't see from what OP has written that RA couldn't be made to include this lad. But that doesn't mean the school couldn't prove it's unable to meet need.

When my ds with asd did his residential I liased with school and also the centre - which was PGL.
They had their own night staff which meant that we could discuss nighttime need. I used a video monitor for ds at home which I said they could have if they were allowed. Ds was out in a small room with children school knew he could manage to board with. He took some things he could use to calm down quietly - e.g. He was allowed his iPad but could use it solely away from others as tech was banned. They also said there would be a time limit which we agreed beforehand. We went through the menu with staff before hand as ds has sensory oral issues. Where there was food he couldn't eat they made adjustments. He ate a lot of tuna sandwiches that week! A member of staff switched the showers on for him and then switched it off afterwards. He showered alone (we knew he wouldn't wash etc but decided neither would most of the nt ones )
We knew beforehand which activities ds didn't feel he'd be able to take part in (fencing was one!) but they arranged and it was agreed with ds he'd give out equipment and keep score instead. With the abseiling he had the list to say who was next. Organising is something ds can definitely get into!

What needs to be taken into account is that these teachers aren't use to our DCs in a home life situation. They usually have school and staff surroundings when something happens. And as well as the children with behavioural difficulties with disability they'll be children with epilepsy, allergies, asthma, diabetes and bed wetters.
That's a lot of pressure for teachers to deal with 24/7 usually on a ratio of 1:6.

I doubt the school is taking the decision lightly.
But I do think they should be engaging with OP to see if there is a way around their concerns and what RA could be made to include him.

To try and show what I mean I'll give another anecdote. Recently speaking to a friend of mine (ours dcs are friends) she was complaining her ds took his splints off at school and it says in his EHCP he should wear them. I commented that he didn't wear them out of school that I'd ever seen and asked if she had the same issue. She said yes he hates wearing them as they single him out as being 'different'. She was not happy when I pointed out that it was unrealistic to expect the school to manage to persuade him to do something she neither did nor could just because a piece of paper says it should happen - despite her argument they have to as it's a legal document.

Y6 up and down the country will be currently being warned that these trips are privileges and they will be staying at home if they do not behave.
Yes, quite probably, but that is aimed at NT children who choose to act in an inappropriate way/ break school rules, not children with SEN that means they behave differently.