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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To have let rip at the school?

295 replies

MajorMam · 24/11/2017 09:58

DS's (age 15) school just rang me telling that DS had taken an axe to school.

It was actually a polystyrene scythe Halloween prop. He shouldn't have taken it if course.

Aibu to think the Head of Year should have checked whether it was an actual axe before she rang me. I lost it a bit because since DS has started there (this September), they have been constantly ringing me about the most minor of behaviour infractions.

DS has SN with associated behaviour issues (not violence) and this is an SN school who were aware of his behaviour before he started BTW.

OP posts:
JonSnowsWife · 24/11/2017 14:29

Who said I 'accept' his challenging behaviour. School should be able to deal with it without contacting me every day unless he has hurt someone in which case I would expect him to be immediately excluded and that would warrant a phone call to collect him. We had agreed on a weekly email system.

But they did deal with it, and simply informed you afterwards.
When DS has challenging behaviour, it's dealt with and then I'm informed, sometimes straight away via phone calls sometimes at the end of the day. Some weeks I'm having daily chats with the poor teacher, some weeks I'm having very little and they're telling me how good a day DS has had.

I'd much prefer being 'bothered often' rather than his last shit school who refused to accept there was a problem.

MajorMam · 24/11/2017 14:29

Barbie it WAS in lesson time. Only picked up as they have a key stroke program which picks up certain words. Staff not aware in the lesson. OK? Surprised?

I didn't say they should stop bothering me Wolfie Read my previous posts properly if you want to quote from them. OK?

OP posts:
Worriedobsessive · 24/11/2017 14:30

Flowerpot1234 you pop up on SN School threads and always take the line that it’s the fault of the parents. Were you aware that you did that?

MajorMam · 24/11/2017 14:31

Not much FlowerPot as he's not home from school yet?

OP posts:
MycatsaPirate · 24/11/2017 14:32

If he has such severe learning difficulties why on earth did you persist in keeping him in mainstream schooling until he was 15? Surely if he had been placed in a SEN school much younger then things may have been a bit better now.

Picking up on piggy's point, your son does seem quite obsessed with horror/violence and I wonder if he picked that up from kids in mainstream and he is now extremely curious/obsessed by it?

I do think you need to work with the school and have another meeting to work on a long term plan for him.

My daughter has autism and we have a plan for her at school. They talked to DD and asked her what she would like to achieve this year, then I went in and read her side and added my own thoughts and the school then implements things. We have a review 3 times a year to see how it's working but I also can email her teacher or senco to let them know of any concerns I have or behaviour changes at home or ask them to call me.

I understand that after 15 years of increasingly difficult behaviour you must be worn down but it's time for a deep breath and a huge amount of energy to deal with this properly. You don't mention a partner or husband, are you dealing with this on your own?

JonSnowsWife · 24/11/2017 14:32

^lots of ignorant people on this thread*

Like who fat? Parents of children with SNs. Yeah totally ignorant and clearly dont have a clue how things should be handled... Hmm

Fallofrain · 24/11/2017 14:33

That's the but if an sen mum posted:
"^My asd child is an sen school he is terrified of another pupil. The other child wore a mask that scared my child so the school got involved. Then this same child showed my child horror trailers and now he is not sleeping. They tried to talk to the mum about it but she said "it's not my problem What he does in school".
Now he had a fake axe (my son wasn't aware it was fake) and had it on the school bus. Wwyd?"^

We would all be telling her to create hell at the school and that the school needs to take action!

Wolfiefan · 24/11/2017 14:33

"School should be able to deal with it without contacting me everyday."
So yes. I have read and it sounds like you are fed up of bothering them.

FlowerPot1234 · 24/11/2017 14:34

Worriedobsessive I pop up on threads on all sorts of topics. You always pop up on SN school threads and always take the line that any poster who asks neutral questions is attacking, that anybody who asks about the parental actions in dealing with poor behaviour is laying the blame at the feet of the parents, and you always concoct strange motivations that you make up in your head about any poster who does not say what you want them to say. Were you aware that you did that?

FlowerPot1234 · 24/11/2017 14:38

MajorMam

What is wrong with all the below OP? Many of us here still don't get what your issue is:

Your child is misbehaving at school.
He is doing this a lot.
He took an imitation axe to school.
That's not allowed.
It's not right.
You know it's not right and have posted that you acknowledge that.
The school contacted you and has kept you informed.
Your child has done wrong, yet again.
The school has disciplined him.

Not much FlowerPot as he's not home from school yet?
What are you going to do with your misbehaving child when he gets home then?

MajorMam · 24/11/2017 14:39

Mycats 'If he has such severe learning difficulties why on earth did you persist in keeping him in mainstream schooling until he was 15? Surely if he had been placed in a SEN school much younger then things may have been a bit better now.'

Nice judgemental rubbish from a fellow SN parent. DS was not diagnosed until age 11 as his 'Outstanding' Primary school would not support an assessment and preferred to label him as a troublemaker. He masks his issues very well as he has a twin who he copies. 'Outstanding' Secondary refused to support an EHCP (despite this being a recommendation by his Paediatrician)and I had to apply myself. This was declined twice as school ignored LEA's requests for info. Took me 3 years. Then Secondary not implementing EHCP so took the decision to move him as had an EHCP and could apply for SS which he could have stayed in for 4 years. Get the picture?

OP posts:
Worriedobsessive · 24/11/2017 14:39

Keep going with that goading, Flowerpot, I know you love it.

MajorMam · 24/11/2017 14:41

I am going to flog him with the foam scythe of course FlowerPot. Do you think he'll learn not to do it again?

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Barbie222 · 24/11/2017 14:42

Sounds like the internet situation was managed according to current best practice and your son's inappropriate search words were picked up before other vulnerable children were exposed to anything. Again, I'm not sure why you are complaining here. That's what a keystroke tracker is for in a class situation.

Barbie222 · 24/11/2017 14:44

And I hear what you are saying about the mainstream primary. I fully expect they didn't keep you in the loop as they minimised / denied the problem. Maybe you're hearing more now because you're actually in a better place all things considered?

JonSnowsWife · 24/11/2017 14:46

Nice judgemental rubbish from a fellow SN parent.

Which SN parent? There's quite a few of us 'ignorant' lot on this thread.

Worriedobsessive · 24/11/2017 14:46

Flowerpot “What are you going to do with your misbehaving child when he gets home then?”

That’s your attitude to SN on every thread. Every single one. It’s disablist. You might think you’re “neutral” but you’re not. You post as though SN is a behavioural difficulty which can be parented away. It can’t.

MycatsaPirate · 24/11/2017 14:48

Bloody hell op, I only asked a question! Why so aggressive?

If he was diagnosed at 11 then I would have been looking for ways to get him some support then.

My DD was diagnosed this year, she is 12. I have been chasing a diagnosis since she was 4 but because she is so good at masking her behaviours at school and because she's a girl (who can be difficult to diagnose) I was fobbed off repeatedly. But I still spoke to her schools and still pushed for support to be put in place for her regardless of the fact that she had no diagnosis.

DD doesn't have an EHCP but she does have a support plan in place to enable her to cope at school when it all gets too much. I still need to deal with awful behaviour when she comes home, when she meltsdown from the stresses of a school day. And I have had a couple of phone calls, one for her trying to stab another child with a plastic screwdriver (when she was in year 2) because the other child was repeatedly taking a pencil from her and the other was last year when a boy from her year kept shoving her in the back walking down from school. She eventually snapped and shoved him back, unfortunately into the road. Luckily the traffic was slow moving and he was fine but it was reported to school and both my DD and the boy were put into detention for their behaviour. And I agreed with that and have explained to DD why she cannot react like that.

She is behind socially and emotionally and quite honestly has zero filter when she opens her mouth but dp and I spend an awful lot of time explaining things to her, trying to get her to understand how some things are best left unsaid and in your head.

Do you get any support? Do you have a partner?

Worriedobsessive · 24/11/2017 14:49

She isn’t being aggressive, she’s being wound up by Flowerpot.

MycatsaPirate · 24/11/2017 14:50

jonsnow I'm the judgemental one apparently. I asked her why he was in mainstream until 15 with a 'severe learning difficulty'.

JonSnowsWife · 24/11/2017 14:50

Only picked up as they have a key stroke program which picks up certain words. Staff not aware in the lesson. OK? Surprised?

Why would they bebaware od it in the lesson? Isn't it one of those things where it's checked over by a tech person afterwards and then picked up and staff alerted?

Meh. Maybe I am ignorant after all.

FlowerPot1234 · 24/11/2017 14:50

Worriedobsessive Keep stalking any poster whose questions you find too uncomfortable to handle, we all know you love it.

JonSnowsWife · 24/11/2017 14:52

*be aware of it.

becotide · 24/11/2017 14:52

Oh this is incredibly tiresome, isn't it? First having to manage your son's behaviour, other people's behaviour around your son, your son's reactions to other people's behaviour, and other people's emotions around your son's behaviour. It's exhausting.

What helps me is to think of school as a bargain between the parent and the teachers. I send my 14 year old with SEN into school fed, clean, uniform on, as rested as his conditions allow, with his pen, his pe kit and his planner.

That is my end of the bargain.

If he hurts someone, I expect them to let me know. If the keep him in after school, I need to know. But other than that, they need to manage his behaviour without bothering me with detailed minutae such as "Ds1 didn't tie his tie properly after PE" "Ds1 wouldn't stop repeated the word 'cheese' during history and has been given a ten minute detention" "Ds1 had to be reminded to stop chewing his pe bag"

Because it really is minor, low grade misbehaviour that his TA is funded to deal with.

With your son in a special school, they are funded to deal with low grade misbehaviour. If he has ASD and is diagnosed, I would suggest asking Autism Outreach for help, both for yourself and the school, in terms of their expectations of the control you can exert over a 15 year old with clinically significant behavioural problems.

And do remember that many of the posters on MN don't even have teenagers, let alone teenagers needing specialist provision. Take all the pearl clutching with a pinch of salt and consider letting your phone go to answerphone in the day

MajorMam · 24/11/2017 14:53

Do you not think I was trying to get him support before age 11 then Mycats? It took 2 years to get that. At every IEP meeting at Primary, I told them he needed extra support but they seemed to think he would grow out of it. Do you not think I talk to him about his behaviour? For goodness sake!

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