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.

My own school has limited space but would not immediately decide that your child couldn't access them. Why not wait and see and discuss with the school? Schools mostly will figure out solutions that will enable your ds to have some calm space. It might need a bit of extra cleaning but that will be the case anyway. Could a corner of the library be equipped with a beanbag and a portable screen so he can be in just one space?

@titbumwillypoo you sound like the SENCo at a school dd used to go to. If the EHCP states that the child will have access to a safe space away from observation from other pupils (as dd's used to state) Then no ifs, no buts, no maybes that has to be provided. I remember that SENCo telling me that dd's safe space was going to be used for some other reason. By end of day that was withdrawn because a simple quote of the EHCP and an email to both school and LEA regarding failure to make provision and the threat of a solicitor to start Judicial Review proceedings and it was all sorted as it should have been.
I am horrified at the Covid amendments which, in effect, remove the legal protection afforded to children with EHCP's and allow schools and LEAs to legally fail the most vulnerable.

hiredandsqueak, i'm sure that's true ONCE a child has an ECHP, but what about all the children who don't qualify but need support, those that are waiting on CAHMS, children whose needs change once they're in school? LEA's only have so much money in the pot so it's understandable that they will try to give the least amount. I'd disagree that "ultimately the responsibility lies with the LEA" I'd say it lies with the government for underfunding schools and SEN services for so long that HT's have to make difficult choices.

At the moment even with an EHCP in places schools only have to make reasonable attempts to provide what is in section F rather than it being compulsory. At the moment that is only until 31st July but it seems likely they are trying to push it through longer term. Basically in a school which isn’t on side making it not worth the paper it’s written on

I agree very strongly that there is a funding issue and heads are having to make difficult decisions around SEN support and i think you are on the side of the children titbumwillypoo but i cant help but feel that storing tables and chairs could be done differently and still allow access to a nuture space.

Titbumwillypoo Ultimately the responsibility to ensure provision in section F is provided does lie with the LA. Legally. If provision isn't being received and it is specific and quantified it is the LA who will be held to account via JR (during normal times, the relaxation of the rules make this harder, but not impossible).

If a child doesn't have an EHCP but needs substantial support then the school should be helping parents apply for an EHCNA. They also have the option of applying for high needs top up funding.

@istheresomethingishouldknow not one member of staff at my sons school would have this attitude. Not one.

Thank god.

Wow

Same @danni0509 mine has been in despite her complete inability to follow the covid rules. The school have made it clear from the start they aren't forcing it on kids who can't whether it be age or needs.

Thank God she doesn't go to @istheresomethingishouldknow 's school

Must be nice for @istheresomethingishouldknow to have a school full of little robots.

Op we have things in place for children with special needs in our school, hopefully yours will too. We have a safe room for children in distress and children with the most complex needs are in a separate bubble with extra teachers for better care.
Also the distancing and being stood at the front is BS, isn't happening now and won't happen in September. We're still giving hugs, holding hands and letting children sit on our knee when they're scared

Wag, I put the tables and chairs in the one place that I could. It's that simple, I look forward to moving them all back in the last week, it'll keep me fit.
The legal stuff has been interesting but I'll leave all that to the people who get paid to care about paperwork.
To all the parents battling for their kids, I salute you. I get to give them back at the end of the day which allows me enought of a break to greet them with a smile and no grudges held.
I'm lucky in my school as I have a HT who cares about the children, makes her staff feel supported and would never use the system to get rid of "inconvenient" children. I've been working in mainstream schools with SEN children for 12 years now and seen the best and worst of school staff and even though the system is still fairly shite I live in hope for the future.

BTW istheresomethingishouldknow you're a disgrace to the profession.

I have yet to meet a teacher who feels like @istheresomethingishouldknow

Many children with extra needs have far more need to be in school than NT children. Many have a far greater need for the routine and structure it gives. Which the government has recognised up until now. That doesn't stop in September

I was thinking the same in terms of SN children. I've worked in many SN schools and even though their class sizes are small in terms of students in them, it involved more than the teacher.

One school I worked in had the Teacher, plus 4 ta's, a nurse with specific students and the NHS nurse popping in and out. One school fought very hard to ensure ta's weren't giving pupils meds etc as standard because they had dedicated staff on site.

And how are various protection policies going to be carried out? Staff cannot do personal care alone. Transferring from wheelchair to bench/walking frame/beanbag/standing frame etc are all two people jobs within schools (more depending on the pupils needs). To do splints etc all have this has to be done within 1M. To help the pupil have food/drink, within 1M. Many are in schools until they reach 19 or 20.

Some of the specialist rooms would to be locked simply because of design and the size of the room.

Trust me, we teachers don’t want them in rows 2m away from us either. We currently have to sit them three to a desk to fit them into our tiny Victorian classrooms - rows will require us to purchase 50% extra desks to have two to a desk and somehow squeeze them into our rooms. This will therefore leave no flexibility to include quiet areas for those who need some space and will not be allowed to access the nurture room.

We’re dreading breaking this news to parents of our children with ASD/ADHD/anxiety disorders...

I've met teachers like @istheresomethingishouldknow in mainstream schools unfortunately. I really wish schools would have zero tolerance on this regardless of the settings.

Have also worked in schools were parents threatened to get solicitors involved because of wording on EHCP's.

A room used by others to be used solely for one pupil - parents demanding schools to build another room is a very common occurrence when the room is designed for others like sensory rooms, hydro pools, personal care facilities, multi-use rooms etc. Schools will ensure during that pupils time there isn't anyone else there, but space etc simply means a room cannot be locked for one person's use. Used to hate that part of my job, as I'd get parents pleading with me to help make it happen.

I've been a parent that has got a solicitor involved because of the wording on an ehcp.... let me rephrase that, I have engaged the services of a solicitor to enforce the legal right to education for my son when that has been unlawfully withheld. After asking school and the la to make the provision. As my sons advocate I hate that part of my job.

We had to get a solicitor involved to get the LEA to write a legal EHCP. Sorry to be that evil parent.

It's a shit situation on both sides. Sometimes when these things are written up they don't always take into consideration the limitations of the building. A few would get reworded as conditions etc to the pupil changed, and the school could no longer provide this. I'm not suggesting this is the case of anyone on this site, sometimes parents would also have unrealistic expectations.

Parents fighting the LA's I've lost count the number I've helped to get what they should be getting, fights for the correct school, access to equipment, respite, home ed they should have etc.

I've also spent decades on the other side as a parent having to fight every step of the way. I'd say it gets better, but once they hit adulthood I'd fill up the site!!

Every single parent whose child is currently denied the education and care they are legally entitled to should get solicitors involved right now.

@canigooutyet, I'm sure your post is well intended but if your child is now in adult services (I'm dreading that) you may not have seen thehanges implanted by the cfa2014 or benefited from them. As time has gone on more parents are getting use to the new way of doing things and their is more support for them to assert themselves. The cfa2014 gives send children more rights than the previous legislation and old statements of Sen.

The limitations of a building should never be taken into account for ehcp's. It should assess need (detailing, quantifying and specifying the provision to meet those needs and the expected outcomes from the provision). If a building and therefore a school cannot meet the needs of a child then the child should go to a different school. Where no school can be found eotas should be funded (there is no limit on the amount this can cost the la at all, it should give them all the education they would get from going to a school - usually a much bigger cost than Sen placement). The ehcp should always fit the child not the available provision, this was one of the points of changing from the previous legislation.

For those who think children can be turned away in September or those worried about being turned away with an ehcp, it is my understanding that.... of course it would be better to not have to enforce/ fight for any of it.

1. all risk assessments must be made jointly with parent/carers. Parent/cares ultimately get the final say on whether school is safer for their child. Note this has nothing to do with school staff or other children. Section 44 cfa2014 remains unchanged. Named school in section I. Risk assessments aren't legislated they are just the suggested means.

2. maintaining provision. Ultimately the la is responsible for all the provision in section f. The funding is irrelevant (how much, if the 1:1 is used elsewhere while child isn't in school etc), as long as it is specified and detailed so it is clear what the provision should be. If the la cannot make any or all of that provision they have to say why and at the moment this has to be linked to covid 19, they then should say what they are going to do instead. in looking at what provision can be made, the individual child's circumstances have to be taken into account. If it is critical that a child has that provision to access education then it shouldn't be weighed lightly against the covid 19 exemption. If you do not agree with alt provision you can challenge with jr, usually in the child's name.

3. children with send should be prioritised over non send pupils. Section 25 cfa2014- promoting integration, promoting the well being of children with send. Sorry @JaniceWebster

4. section 66 cfa2014. The school and their governors still have the responsibility of best endeavours to secure Sen provision.