To think they may as well say "don't send children with additional needs back in September"

[drspouse]

The current plan is:
All in bubbles of 30
All in the classroom together
All facing the front (WTF has that got to do with virus protection)
No use of shared spaces except at your rota time and after it's been bleached.
Teachers at the front, 2m away
AND focus on behaviour.

My DS has an EHCP and needs a space to escape to when the classroom gets too much. He's often been using a work space outside the classroom. We just looked round a lovely mainstream primary that has a behaviour base and a nurture base. Oh and a library and an ICT suite that children can access at lunchtime.
His previous school had very little space and the corridor was the library etc.

So how are schools supposed to cater for children who need time out of the classroom to prevent meltdown?
This includes children who are having a hard time at home, can't cope with playground noise etc. Not just those who have a diagnosis of SEN.

And children like my DD who have small group teaching outside the classroom most days - you can't do that with 2m separation and all facing the front even if you can disinfect the break out area.

So I'm guessing nobody really wants a child like my DS in their child's classroom if he's not allowed to go out to his calm down area when he needs to?

Well, I guess I knew the government didn't really want to deal with inconvenient children who don't fit their mould, but this confirms it.

I really feel for teachers, yet another impossible task.

The one to ones are there because a child is specifically funded for them. Why should a child losing their one to one who is only there due to their funding for the rest of the class.

I'm just thankful my DDs school are putting their SEN kids first as they know they have the most to lose.

@veza09 I've had that with ds last year went straight for his tounge with scissors 🙈🙈 I remember posting on here about it. I can't leave him for a second. I honestly thank you for what you do, you don't get paid anywhere enough!

if they do have a room just for one child, that means 10 cant go in that room.

I think you're misunderstanding this, wilfully or otherwise.
Some children need a safe space that isn't in the classroom, some of the time. My DS, as an example, has been in the classroom some of the time and out of the classroom learning some of the time, but the more pressing need is a space to escape to. He doesn't have a full sized classroom to himself - not even one that would fit 10 other children! No idea where you got that from.
The current guidance says that shared spaces will be on a rota basis, with disinfection needed in between uses.
Clearly for a child who needs to escape when feeling stressed - or they may lash out - this is not helpful. They aren't going to wait till their allotted time to feel stressed.

maybe your child could start sitting at a desk for short tasks but not be expected to be there all the time,
He can do this. He can't sit there all day and if you keep telling him off for what a child with ADHD can't do, he gets more and more wound up and more and more likely to either lash out or want to leave.

@BankofNook

He has a set one for him that stays in school but they've said he won't be able to have it as it can't be cleaned between uses and another child might touch it, also if he has a problem with it then staff can't sit with him to help him resolve it. At first they did try to say that he couldn't have it because the other pupils aren't going to be allowed additional equipment that would usually be part of lessons such as laptops and they might get jealous that he's still allowed his, that was quickly backtracked upon when I asked how that fit into their SEND policy.

My pupil has an iPad only child in the class allowed it, only him and I touch it, it is wiped down at points throughout the day. Other children don't touch it, they know and understand they're not allowed to touch anything on other people's trays/desks. Your school should definitely be finding a way around it. They know your child and their needs, social distancing isn't always going to be 100% possible (obviously) but I'm sure there's at least one member of staff willing and able to help on the laptop is needed.

@danni0509 we certainly don't get paid enough 😂 but I don't think any of us are in it for the money... SEN parents are amazing!

Sorry, answering in reverse order.

We have lunch in our classrooms.
I know lots of schools are already doing this - which also shows that the government hasn't actually got a clue what's going on!
It is much more important that playgrounds (more easily staggered time-wise) and safe spaces (not easily staggered) are available to all children that need them, than that dinner halls are available.

Tabby yep, it sounds like they don't know how to meet that child's needs. But occasionally NT children lash out, and if a child is no more a danger than NT children of their age then that's one thing, if they are much more of a danger that's another thing.
To give you another example of DS. At his first school, where he was from YR to Y2, there were a couple of incidents of playground pushing, but equally other children pushed. He felt safe playing there, and had spaces to go when he didn't.

At his next school, he didn't feel safe, and he hurt more other children in that year than in the previous three years combined (he was only there a term). So, when he was safe, he wasn't 100% non-aggressive but it was age appropriate and no more than any other child.

Drspouse..you seem to think I was responding to you, I wasnt, I was talking in general. However, the point still remains, there may not be availability of that timeout room, because kids need to be in it.

So, by doing that - taking away the safe space - they are guaranteeing that some children cannot be in school. If they are arranging school return so that some groups of children systematically cannot come back, that is discrimination.
Same as if they took away sanitary bins.

BankofNook could he take some isopropyl alcohol to spray the laptop to disinfect it? Or even disinfectant wipes.

Though ridiculous they'd be willing to ban it without making other provisions

I agree @BankofNook that's a ridiculous restriction and so easily got round.
I think my DS can manage without a laptop (he is really just learning to type) and without his OT (would be good if he can get it in another setting but he won't be dangerous at school without it) but definitely not without a safe space. The essentials for any child will be different but they are just as essential as a door to the classroom.

Ds is tube fed. He has a feed in school which he needs his 1-1 to do for him. This is done in the small office which is also used as his breakaway space.

If he can’t have his feed he can’t go to school ( I am sure nobody would expect a child to go all day in school with no food?). Would some people really expect that not to be done for the sake of finding space in school to do it? (Staff already wore gloves and aprons to do it and I am happy to provide anything else they need!)

Sirzy, Bankofnook and drspouse I totally get where you are coming from and sympathise with your situations but as you probably know the government support wasn't there before covid and is not likely to improve afterwards. The ideal of inclusion is a worthy goal but we are years away from it due to lack of funding in the entire system. When you say a good 1-1 can support a child to access education and minimise meltdowns you're right, but at the minute all the tools that we usually have are not available. The movement breaks, quite spaces, change of face, even just jumping on to a spare computer to print something off quickly are not possible.
Out of 35 staff at my school 4 are trained and willing to do positive handling, two of them are SLT (who are pretty busy at the minute) but we have 7 children with potential to kick off and we can neither adapt classrooms to suit all their opposing needs or risk staff isolating because they have been spat on (a common occurance that they seem to have learnt off each other) so unfortunately we have to apply the behaviour policy more firmly.
I'd love to see government policy support SEN in schools better, Nurture Room provision in ALL schools, faster CAMHS referals, more special schools (because mainstream isn't suitable for all) schools not having to spend it's general budget on agency 1-1's whilst going through the process, and better pay for 1-1's because you're less likely to get a good TA who is willing to be hit, bitten, spat on, kicked and have chairs thrown at them on a regular basis and come in the next day with a smile for £11,000 a year.
If you know of any petitions asking for these things put them up and i'll sign but at the minute i'm afraid your attitude to school needs to be like a good TA and remember that it's not personal, they're just doing their best.

"So, by doing that - taking away the safe space - they are guaranteeing that some children cannot be in school. If they are arranging school return so that some groups of childrensystematicallycannot come back, that is discrimination"

Yes, but isnt it if it's reasonable? At the moment, it's not reasonable to keep one room spare, because that means another 10 kids cant be educated. It's a temporary situation, and they need to keep that child safe aswell as keep other children safe, so if it cant be done, it cant be done.

No it's not reasonable adjustments ATM. It's best endeavours to ensure section f provision. If the safe space exists, it should be maintained.

Providing the safe space is included in section f of an ehcp.

The 1:1 to accompany may be a different matter depending on how specific the ehcp is. A certain person cannot be named however their training and qualifications should be. Best endeavours could be to how a lower qualified ta or not the same ta however given school is aware that all children are returning and the provision in section f, 1:1 should be provided.

It is my understanding that if not the school should inform the la that they cannot meet need and it is then the LA's responsibility to provide provision by best endeavours. There has to be a reason directly related to covid 19 as to why provision for a child cannot be made e.g. Speech therapy cannot be provided directly so is provided via video link. I have previously posted examples given by the dfe regarding best endeavours. Removing provision to give to other children shouldn't happen. It isn't theirs to give.

Tabbymumz I'm not sure why you think the room they get could fit 10 children. Ds designated room you'd struggle to swing a cat and usually these little rooms are made in schools specifically for sen children, it's like a spare cleaning cupboard done out, my sons is called the sensory room which is used for any child needing a bit of down time or for whatever other reason it's not a room that is usually used for education even in circumstances like this,
It's too small.

Other schools I have looked around had similar small chill areas.

It's not a case of let's keep that class room free just incase x kicks off.

@Realityofsen

The one to ones are there because a child is specifically funded for them. Why should a child losing their one to one who is only there due to their funding for the rest of the class.

I'm just thankful my DDs school are putting their SEN kids first as they know they have the most to lose.

The 1-1s are not 100% funded because of a particular child any more, the funding hasn’t worked like that for a while. Schools have to pay thousands out of an already meagre budget before they get financial help, even when a child’s EHCP states a need for full time 1-1.

Obviously an LSA who has been allocated as 1-1 should always have that child as their priority, but the reality is that you can’t blame headteachers for having their staff spread too thinly sometimes. The safety of the group of children as a whole is paramount.

@NailsNeedDoing schools can not afford the 1 to 1s without the additional funding. My daughter receives about 18k worth of provision. School has to fund the first 6k. Her one to one would not be there to give to another child/group without my daughter's funding.

And her school have priotisied their SEN children. The children with one to ones have been kept with them. Her school have therefore not enabled the eligible children to come back due to the priority of meeting the needs of children who need it most.

I'm not sorry that 15 children could potentially have been accommodated with her 1 to 1. My Dd had far far more to lose than them.

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jul/01/english-schools-using-coronavirus-as-excuse-not-to-teach-special-needs-pupils?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

I really didn't get that @TabbyMumz thought 10 children could fit in a calm down space! That is frankly hilarious!

Realityofsen, but your daughter (rightly so, as she must really need it) is an exception, not the rule. Many schools are not getting anything near that for children with an ECHP and if you take in to account all the money spent in attempting to get the additional funding it's a postcode lottery across the country. You're obviously lucky to have found a school in an LEA that has the budget and correct attitude to help the most vulnerable but unfortunately that's not the case for many and Head Teachers have the crappy job of trying to help the majority with the limited resources they have.

@titbumwillypoo if a child has an EHCP it is the HT's responsibility, before agreeing to be named in part I, to establish whether the funding on the EHCP is sufficient to cover the provision. If your HT hasn't done that then that is negligent and the school have failed the child before they have been admitted.
LEAs try it on because they feed lies to schools and parents and hope that nobody challenges them. If I tell you that dd's first issued EHCP came with £1500 funding but when it was agreed and finalised and the provision costed, the EHCP came with £49k funding.
Now had I been gullible and believed that the school could meet dd's needs with £1500 the LEA would have been delighted to finalise and save themselves a packet and the school wouldn't have had a hope providing what was needed and dd would have been failed.
Schools, SENCOs and HT's need to start getting their knowledge from reliable independent sources and they need to empower parents rather than taking at face value what they are told tbh and if a school cannot meet the EHCP instead of shortchanging the pupil advise the parent to speak to IPSEA or SOSSEN regarding failure to make provision because ultimately the responsibility lies with the LEA and the power lies with the parents.

drspouse, but in many schools that's the reality. Most primary schools don't have sensory rooms or empty cupboards. Normally in my school we have 2 rooms which can be used when children need to get out of class, both are used for phonics for much of the morning or music for much of the afternoon so it's hit and miss on whether they are empty. Now one is being used to store excess tables and chairs and one an extra classroom for keyworkers.