To think this child needs a specialist school

[Londongirl86]

Hi all. I am concerned about a child at my child's school and her behaviour. A week ago my DD was attacked by this child at lunch. She rubbed food all over her face and punched her in the back. The teacher said she has problems and that doesn't excuse it but she's dealt with.

I went home happy enough and told my DD to keep away from her. Over the last few days two other parents knew straight away at the gates who had hurt her. The reason being their children had also been hurt by this child. She also gets angry in class and they have to evacuate there kids.

My friends child was hurt by this kid Thursday. And apparently she also kicked mine again. so we reported it yesterday morning. She came out of school yesterday and told me this child smacked her drink out her hand and stamped on her friends foot. The teachers said nothing to me after school. My child said she was taken indoors for being naughty.

Through conversation in the playground at least 7 kids have been attacked by her. She has problems and we know she's fostered. She clearly isn't able to cope. What is really upsetting is the teachers allowing her out at lunch to harm others. They said it's hard to watch her. You would think they would be concerned she will put a child in hospital if she kicks or pushes them wrong.

My child's only been at school 2 months. She's still settling. I'm annoyed I'm in a position now where I need to keep having words with the teachers. I don't want to become that annoying mum that's pestering them every day. But I also AM not comfortable with my child being put at risk by a violent child who is struggling.

What should be happening with all this? Surely she should be constantly with an adult or at a specialist school?

Focus on putting your concerns about your own child in writing to the Headteacher.

Do not speculate on what sort of educational setting is right for another child.

This child is a bully. There are, I'm sure, a myriad of reasons for this , but the child is a bully

The school must have a policy which deals with bullies and their behaviour

If the school won't make everyone safe from the bully then go to the education authority and your MP

IheartNiles
Nobody has said it's fine for children to be attacked.
Disagreeing on the most appropriate way to respond to a situation is not saying violence is fine.

Brilliant post RiftGibbon.
The OP can, and should, be raising every safeguarding situation and holding school to account for how her child is kept safe. Like you, I also think formal complaints is the way forward if the school fail in this duty.

They shouldn't be getting involved in what they think should happen to the other child (eg is in foster care, should have x, should be removed at lunch if there's no adult, should be in a specialist school, should be home educated etc). That's not their concern.

I would respectfully argue that the point the OP made about home education is a reasonable one. If she isn't being in managed in school, then I doubt whether a single adult (or even two adults) on duty 24/7 will be able to cope. It'll simply be pushing the problem out of sight until the foster placement breaks down.

Children don’t just get put into the care system without good reason.
Being taken away from her home, perhaps school - you said she’s 7 , into another environment- not sure how long she’s been with these foster parents ( maybe several) would be traumatic for any child. Never mind one who may have come from abuse, domestic violence , neglect.
The funding that helped vulnerable families ie Sure Start, children’s centres, Health Visitors, Woman’s refuges has been slashed to the bone by the government .
Children who can’t verbalise bring it out with behaviour, but the mental health services, Ed psychs etc aren’t now there to support them, so things that were previously helped by rEarly intervention funding don’t kick in until a child is at school.
In our area half special needs schools have closed , and there are no specialist ones for severe behaviour.

All children have the right to an education that meets their needs, and government indiscriminate funding cuts are making that right very difficult to achieve.
Hence the need for a new government

I agree with all the sensible posts here.

Put concerns in writing to the head teacher.
How does the rest of the school operate? Is this a one off or are there problems like this throughout the school? Why isn't there support in place in the playground?

Ultimately if it's a failing school because of austerity, poor leadership and lack of appropriate resources for provision where it's needed it may not be where you want your child for the next 7 years, presuming they have just started in reception.

If on the other hand you do believe in the school and the leadership then see what you can do to support the school by adding your skills, volunteering, fund raising and so on.

Of course she needs some specialist one to one support at school one can only imagine the start in life she has had.

The problems is CAMHS is woefully underfunded and very difficult to get any funding for. Partly because often these things need concrete diagnosis which is incredibly difficult when it comes to mental health issues particularly driven by trauma.

So there is no easy answer Im afraid funding is the issue

unfortunately, what a child, esp one with SN, needs educational wise and what it gets are two completely different things.

Children like that only have a change to get the right education if parents fight tooth and nail. Seeing that she is fostered, she might not have a foster family who is prepared to put up this fight (not judging).

The system is totally underfunded and falling apart. Children with SEN are failed everywhere.

(I have a DD with autism and learning difficulties so I am taking from bitter personal experience)

If this little girl is fostered the school will receive additional money, approx £2300 a year. Not enough for full time 1:1 but enough for additional therapy work. She will have a termly
PEP meeting to look at her needs. Obviously none of what is decided there will be shared with other families.
I suggest you ask about your child, get a plan from the school of how they will keep her safe and tell other concerned parents to do the same.

I've been where you are OP. Its heartbreaking but your concern is your DC.
Document everything - all incidents need to be recorded by you, with dates and photo of injuries if present.
Meet with the Head. Explain you are concerned about the safeguarding of your child in the school environment. Tell them you are keeping a record and ask to see the action plan to address this situation.
Arrange follow-up meetings so you can feedback how your DC is coping and discuss any new incidents.
Be persistent - it is very difficult with the lack of resources available but every child has a right to be safe in their educational setting.

I don't know how it works but we have five specialist schools where we live. I think there are three types. I don't know about places etc though.

they are usually full with long waiting lists. Places are £££ so the LA will do anything to avoid placing s child there even though it may be the right place.

You obviously don't have a child with SN and have no idea how the system works. The system is broken and there is little to no support for a lot of children unless parents are prepared to battle it out (takes years sometimes).

There are quite a few children at the school I work at which sound similar to this.They have a one to one TA and usually stay inside at lunchtime.There should definitely be things put in place if a child is a danger to others.

What a horrible situation for your child. We had a looked after child at my daughter’s school. She came home one day and told me the boy had punched her and told her “you’re dog’s ugly and your mum’s a twat”. I wouldn’t move your child to another school too hastily though. Unfortunately there’s kids like that at every school in varying degrees. I think the advice to use the safeguarding word is good advice.
I think the comments about austerity are very accurate. The tories have decimated most public services trying to pull back on all the ridiculous previous spending of labour. I wish there was a party I could back😶

This is happening in schools across the whole country. It is actually scandalous! Mainstream schools passing around and moving on children with a wide range of complex needs, SEN and mentalnhealth problems. TAs out of their depth barely coping with the demands. Other childrens safety and education being compromised.
This happened with my DD in Reception and the complex child was hitting and spitting the teacher before they moved her on. Sadly in Year 7 she appeared at the school i teach in with a complex profile.
She last a year as her behaviour and issues were extreme. The LA do not know what to do with her (and countless other like her) some festering away in isolation booths, side rooms, some mived from pillar to post, some left to flounder.
Investment is needed desperately in SEN provision and mental health.

@Beveren Only legal guardians can give permission for an EHCP referral to be completely. No signature from legal guardians, no submission of a support plan to the LA.

But, austerity. Thanks, Tories!

Didn't have to look far for the idiotic comment, you clearly know nothing about education over the last forty years. It wasn't the Tories who wanted all children to be in mainstream schools, whatever the price paid by other children, the PC view prevailed, as ever.

I'm a teacher and a mother. I have 5 children ranging from 2 to 16 years of age, plus I'm currently pregnant with number 6. I have seen this so many times, unfortunately, as a teacher and a parent. Unless the poor little girl actually has special educational needs, not 'just' trauma from being in care, she won't get a place at a special school. The school she's at now will not have enough funding to get one on one for her. As others have said, the school will be in an impossible position. They will try their hardest to manage her behaviour, but there won't really be anything they can do to stop it. The only thing you could realistically do is move your child to a different school. I've done it before. I know that's an awful solution, but this is 2019 Tory Britain.

But it is the Tories who must take responsibility for the under funding of schools for the last decade.

Unfortunately I agree that this child needs a specialist school but unfortunately these are either non existent or very few and far between. The school should be doing more to safeguard YOUR child, you must make this clear to the Head, it would be foolish to approach the foster parents. If there is no improvement, you might have to go down the route of withdrawing your child.

The legal guardians surely are social workers? quite to sign a form

Moving her to a different school would just put different children at risk of being hurt by her. Even a specialist school.

What she needs is an environment and support that meet her individual needs. You can't possibly know whether that would be best in her existing school or a different one.

Parents often want other children shopped out to protect their own and that's understandable.
However, this little girl is just communicating her distress. You making a fuss will help push the professionals involved to make sure those needs are better met. How that is achieved doesn't involve you and you ABU to suggest that she needs to be elsewhere.

Focus on your child's need to be and feel safe in school. That will help all the children involved.

@sparklybaublefest Usually until an adoption order is signed the social worker and biological parents are the legal guardians, so all would need to agree to a support plan being submitted, but they would also need to agree to the contents of the support plan.

It wasn't the Tories who wanted all children to be in mainstream schools, whatever the price paid by other children, the PC view prevailed, as ever.

Inclusion in mainstream schools would work fine if it was properly funded. The Tories have done nothing to unroll inclusion. If they think it doesn't work, they could always put funding into special schools, but they haven't done that. Instead they are going for inclusion of children with SEND in mainstream schools but without the funding required to support it!

My daughter is in the nursery in a specialist school for having a gdd and potential asd. It was obvious within a term of her being in mainstream that she would need extra support and the school where she went to nursery quickly stepped in to deal with the situation and now does a split where she attends both. I can’t praise the school enough they gave been brilliant and my daughter loves her teacher at the mainstream school.

Whilst it sounds like the current school may not be doing enough (my daughter was not violent) I dint think a special school is the answers if she’s does not have SEN which you won’t no if she has and from your previous post it sounds like it’s more down to the awful situation she has been put in and cannot deal with her emotions.

It does kind of worry me though the mentality of ship them of to a special school if they have been violent. Whilst I appreciate there us more support if they ended moving all children in similar situation to this child to a special school then it would just appear that the school is for anyone with the potential to be violent and where you said kids were traumatised seeing things u like wise don’t want my daughter seeing things and if you moved everyone who was violent (potentially without SEN) then there would be likelihood the children in the special school would Could see the behaviour and be traumatised too m, potentially more than a child without.

I think you need to focus on what the school is doing to keep your child safe.

I hate this no one wins in these situations because of lack of funding and lack of care I'm teaching years in Ireland and it's the same over here you do your best but without the resources it's horrendous on all involved