To think school is going to be pretty difficult next year?

[summernight]

So ds goes to a big 2 form entry primary school with a very high SEN profile. His class alone had 6 adults working in there last week when I went into help. 3 children have 1:1s, 2 classroom TAs for everyone else (a lot have needs without specific funding I think, I don't know, just guessing) and the class teacher - it was still chaos in there and the staff were tirelessly trying to help everyone that needed it. My own ds is going through EHCP process to get funding as currently he is on a reduced timetable because of as yet undiagnosed ASD and has been excluded multiple times this year. He desperately needs more support at school.

Anyway, the school support staff are 23 strong....and they are being cut by half for September due to the budget cuts. So next year each class with have a class teacher and 1 TA shared between 4 classes (2 year groups). The children with 1:1 EHCPs will obviously continue their support but that will be with set child, not in class helping.

God knows if or when ds will get an EHCP and be able to return to any form of education. And we've just heard that the maximum the LEA will give is £4.5k per year, which pays for hardly anything. I'll bet ds is permanently excluded in the first 2 weeks of September and that all the teachers will start leaving....

Sorry, wrong link! Try school cuts

Also worth trying to exhaust the LA complaints process if you’ve been let down. You can then bring your case to the ombudsman. I know it’s hard work, but lots of people doing these sorts of things, at some point, will hopefully come to the attention of central govt....

Who decided on the reduced timetable? Are you happy with it? It is essentially an illegal exclusion whether you agreed to it or not.

I'm just going to look up something and then I'll be back.

If the reduced timetable was the school's idea and neither they nor the local authority are arranging home tuition for when your child is not in school, it's disability discrimination, according to this decision.

Is the £4.5k for provision written within an EHCP? If so then that is a blanket policy and as such is therefore illegal since the provision set out in an EHCP is individual to the named child and must meet that child's needs.

If the provision doesn't meet the needs of the child then you have the right to appeal (within the set time limits).

Schools have to find the first 6k for a child with an EHCP. It’s part of our given SEND budget. That’s why some schools (as a pp has said) can struggle if they get lots of children with EHCPs.
Reduced timetable can be agreed if LA are involved and it includes a plan for return.
And some children with ASD do get excluded yes, why is this so shocking? We can be highly sympathetic but if the child is hurting others or themselves (eg escaping) then what are we to do? Take an adult from another child just as needy but more compliant? We are making impossible choices every day.
Schools have no money

An ASD child being excluded is shocking because the behaviour that causes exclusion usually indicates that the child is not being well supported. In my experience (parent of two with ASD and a TA), this is due to a lack of funds and a lack of knowledge, sadly...

How lovely that you are concerned for all the children and staff and not just your own little one.

It must be tremendously difficult for everyone involved and fighting for the right resources in a retracting budget situation puts an enormous strain on everyone.

Your little one must find it very difficult in a classroom with so many children with additional needs and the sheer number of adults in the room. The noise, disruption, lack of direct support and general chaos must cause him such anxiety, so whilst I am glad you are on the EHCP process, it is worth considering what will happen if the package (at least initially) offered will not meet his full time needs.

I don’t know his learning needs or if his difficulties manafest predominantly at school and I am sure that you have considered the home education route, but if you don’t feel it is right to move him either from what sounds like an exceptionally difficult class group or you don’t want to move schools, perhaps you could consider a formal flexi school arrangement.

I have seen some situations where a properly arranged mixture of school and home school has worked, even for just a year or so. It allows the child to stay part of the school community, but also allows them to take part in different learning opportunities and activities with home Ed groups, etc and allows them to mix with older and younger children. The funding that then comes as part of the EHCP can then be targeted specifically to provide the right scaffolding the child needs in school and not spread out in such away that it is just a sticking plaster approach.

As this age his needs are likely to change significantly over the next couple of years and with the right support now from you and the school, he is likely to make tremendous strides.

I think most schools are in the same position. We've lost lots of support. Barely any TAs in class (secondary). EHCPs although gone over the timescales. It's madness. Struggling to support SEN kids at risk of exclusion- we have to fund their support and don't have the money.

And a reduced timetable is not always the worst option. Sometimes it is a school desperately trying to protect the child against exclusion whilst applying for more support. For eg, whilst waiting for EHCP to come through for different provision. We have a couple in this position, we've repeatedly tried to extend to full days but they have not been able to manage despite support so have had to reduce again. Schools do have to balance the needs of everyone - but it's a pretty impossible game with minimal money!

By law children are entitled to full time education; it's a bit of a myth that a reduced timetable is OK if the LA agrees: it only applies if the child has a certified medical reason. If the child can cope with something like home tuition, then it is the duty of the school and/or LA to arrange it, otherwise they are discriminating on the basis of disability.

The law also requires that schools should take extra care to avoid excluding children with SEN. In particular, they should consider obtaining specialist advice, applying for extra financial support, and applying for an EHCP; it the child already has an EHCP, the school should hold an early review because it the child is on the brink of exclusion it's fairly obvious that their needs aren't being met.

@Bibesia, that is the case law I was looking for, the difference there is that the child already had a statement with the school named on it and the provision contained within it stated full time education, the child did not receive a full time education and it was thus ruled to be discrimination. This is similar to what happened with us but without the need for us to take it to tribunal because our LEA backed down after agreeing that DS was entitled to a full time education and that it would be discrimination if they did not provide what was written within the statement, at the time they were also amending the provision to increase the 1-1 support to 32.5 hours and adding 2-1 support when necessary.

In the OP case the LEA have agreed that her child has SEN and is producing an EHCP, at the moment her ds doesn't have quite as much legal protection and I would urge anyone going through the EHCP process to make sure that full time provision is stated in the final version.

It's irrelevant whether a child has a statement or EHCP providing for full time education, given that that is a statutory requirement for all children other than those who are medically unable to access it. Having it written into an EHCP doesn't provide any greater legal protection. The statute trumps the contents of the EHCP every time.

There's some useful information on illegal exclusions and part time timetables here.

"And we've just heard that the maximum the LEA will give is £4.5k per year, which pays for hardly anything."

The LEA must provide what the child needs. blanket policies related to an ehcp are unlawful.

Support for some children isn’t enough to keep them from being excluded. I know of a child who had 2 TAs supporting. Still wasn’t enough for that particular child and a huge financial burden on the school ( plus horribly disruptive for the other children in the class). Even with support some children just can’t cope with mainstream. Not fair on them. Also not fair on the other children.
How many EHCP children can a teacher really provide for efficiently? Each one will need their own differentiation and sometimes an entirely different curriculum. There has to be a point at which we say that for some children, mainstream isn’t right or fair. Not saying this is you OP, of course. I just get cross with people who always feel it’s the school’s fault. We have to balance the needs of all the children.

Just to put it in context, the school I work in had a budget of £2.7M two years ago.

It's now down to £1.7M.

There is a point at which some autistic pupils would be better in a Specialist unit or special school, rather than trying to provide a place in mainstream school. Problem is, there are not enough specialist places and often you need to go to tribunal to get there.

sure, that was addressing your point. I think that while many of us value inclusive education, we realise that their is a point where children may be better off in different provisions, but good luck in finding them!

I actually wonder how much impact having so many staff had? Having worked as a teacher and ta such a large team in one classroom could easily create more problems than it solves!

I think in key stage 2 fewer TAs is pretty typical really with them being used more for specific support where needed.

My DS is high functioning ASD and we ended up going private for him. The state schools were very clear that there would be no funding for him as he isn't severe enough to warrant it. He's quiet and not disruptive which means he'd just be left to get on with it. SEN provision is at a shocking level.

This is interesting schoolsweek.co.uk/schools-have-strong-legal-case-to-make-councils-fully-fund-send-provision/

I’m a SEND Governor and I would be interested if a child with ASD was being excluded often at one of my schools.

The current thinking/latest research apparently says that TAs don't help

I wonder if that was commissioned by the government austerity morons experts?

How are parents who need to work, to home educate? And not everyone is capable of teaching their children.

These children need an education and it is the LA's duty to provide that education.

Thanks for all the replies - very interesting to read. We've have become very educated this year on all things SEN and it's been quite the eye opener.

I don't disagree that many children would benefit from a specialist placement but the reality is, they don't exist. So who is to say that only children who don't have SEN get to receive an education and the rest either fit in or get out? All children are legally entitled to a full time education regardless.

Ds is extremely academic. He has an astronomical IQ and is working years above the rest of his class. He has the potential to go to university and become a scientist / engineer / mathematician but needs support now to learn how to deal with his challenges of being in an mainstream environment (anxiety, sensory, social demands).

The only 2 specialist schools within 2 hours of us are both for severe profound learning disabilities. Obviously they would laugh us out the door if we approached them.

So we just keep him at home? Cheaper for schools, cheaper for the LEA, out of sight, out of mind - he can't bother anyone at home. He also will never fulfil his potential and will live at home forever. And we need to work or we don't have a house, food etc.

Where do you draw the line about what is acceptable in a mainstream school? Some children massively struggle with maths and my ds goes around the class and helps them - should they all go to a special school because they aren't at the required level for year 2? Ds was reading before he started school so takes up no reading time from the teacher and she can spend it with other children pushing them on - should they all go to a special school for literacy so academically able children like mine can be educated at their level. No. Of course not.

But if you're challenged socially/emotionally - fit in or disappear. That's the message schools, parents and the LEA give us every day.

I think we are all in a terrible position. I see children who would flourish in a specialist setting struggling along in mainstream. Schools want money from the LA, who don’t have any either.
This government have completely ballsed up education.
We are supposed to address everyone’s needs via Quality First teaching, which is utter bollocks.
I feel sad for any child who doesn’t fit into the sausage factory. I’m a teacher and I’m angry pretty much all the time! All anyone can do is fight for their own child- those parents who can navigate the system get more support.
OP I really hope you get appropriate support for your child.