School residential, school have said they have to go

[Y4GoingAway]

School Year 4, but it’s a first school so the final year at the school.

Apparently it’s compulsory and there is no provision in school for those who don’t go as the class teachers plus several other staff go.

I don’t want DD to go. She has a genetic condition that affects her muscles and joints. She also has an EHCP due to SN (not ASD)

The trip is canoeing and rock climbing and zip lining and orienteering. Which all sound great but schools only adjustment for DDs condition is she can sit out if she wants to, which she won’t because she never does for Forest School or PE or anything else physical, school say they cannot force DD to sit out. They have PE, Forest School and the morning mile in one day at school and DDs generally screaming in pain by 2pm, I’ve asked for her to sit out of Forest School and the mile but been told that it’s up to DD to decide and she wants to be like her friends so will push herself until she can’t cope anymore – she’s missed school the next day because of the pain and school just shrug and say she needs to tell them when she wants to sit out, while in the next breath saying she seems to refuse to acknowledge her condition as she won’t talk about it!

This isn’t about DD being away overnight, she stays away from me with ExH EOWend for 1 night and he usually takes her away for 3-4 days in the summer holidays plus she’s just done a 3 day pack holiday with Brownies. Also it’s not a cost thing, the trip itself is free, we’re being asked to donate to transport there and back either by paying school for the bus or getting our DC there ourselves.
Brownies where brilliant, they let her choose one active activity per day and then put her in the group that wasn’t doing that activity after she’d done it, so she did crafts or similar, all the girls where given the same opportunity to sit out so no-one knew why DD only did 1 per day – and we’ve agreed that next time she goes she’ll do different activities so she’s tried different things which is a great compromise. Brownies also kept her topped up on her pain medication which school refuse to give her.

They’ve told me they have no provision for giving pain relief on the trip which is the same in school. They’ve also said if children sit out of an activity they will just have to watch everyone else do it, there’s no staffing for them to have a group at the centre they’re staying in doing something else – I even said DD would be happy to do worksheets or similar.

And before anyone says “But there’s more going with school” there’s the same number at Brownies and Brownies had a bigger age range as school only take the 90 year 4s, whereas Brownies had 60 Brownies (7-10 year olds), 30 guides (10-14 year olds), and a couple of Rainbows (7 year olds) who’re ready to move to Brownies soon.

School have said if she doesn’t go they will not be providing alternative work, she will be the only one in her entire year not going and she will be supervised by “whichever member off staff is free”. She does have 1-1 TA for parts of the day and one of her two 1-1s won’t be going and I’ve offered to get her tutor she has outside of school to provide work (tutor has already offered) and I’ve been told again the trip is compulsory. Apparently they've never had anyone not go ever.

So AIBU and just have to suck it up? The trip is after half term.

Why? It’s the schools legal duty to make adjustments for her daughters disability so she can go on the whole year group leaving trip, with all her friends, to do activities she will enjoy if regulated to her abilities. Why should she keep her at home, missing out on that because the school isn’t fulfilling it’s duties?

Easy to say, not so easy to afford.

Schools are really struggling financially and if the child doesn't have an EHCP yet they may not have appropriate funding for these extras yet.

I would also keep in mind that if the school are desperate for her to go, they might 'rosey' the trip up a bit. I've experienced this first hand with DS, who is being assessed for ASD. I was assured that he wouldn't have to participate in any of the very physical tasks that he would find difficult and that alternate sessions of other things would be available. Once home, it turned out he'd spent the week sitting watching the the other kids for hours as none of the eg mapping sessions ran.

I do think the kids get a lot out of being away together and it does help with their independence but I can understand why parents of kids with additional needs worry.

Sitting at the back of the room during assembly....

That's of no relevance though. The salient points is that a teacher could even think, let alone say, that there was an expectation that a child should be improving their disability.

How the heck has the PFA fund raised enough to pay for this residential for the whole year group? These residentials are £300+ per child, plus staff costs so that's coming up to £30,000 for the whole year group. Seems an incredible sum to spend.

She does have an EHCP, it's mentioned in the opening post.

Lots of us work in schools 🤷🏼‍♀️ School staff are just regular people like any cross section of the community. Some (most, hopefully) are compassionate, committed, knowledgeable and well-trained. Some are compassionate and committed but unfortunately lacking in training and ability. Some are lazy and looking for the easy option. Some are ableist/racist/sexist etc. Different schools have different overriding cultures depending on the character and efficacy of the leadership and/or the bulk of the staff. Some schools are great, some are absolutely appalling. To say "well schools are always doing their best and problems are always down to lack of funding" is dismissive and just plain incorrect.

The school could do more to make this trip inclusive. Undoubtedly. OP's DD has been a pupil there for 5 years. The issue of her medication and participation has not landed at their feet this week. This is an annual trip. There has been ample opportunity to plan for her needs and they haven't. Just as you are absolutely sure (with zero evidence) that the activities on this trip were completely inflexible and discounted in such a specific way as to make it impossible to accommodate OP's DD's needs, I'm absolutely sure that arrangements could easily have been made within budget to include her safely. It really isn't rocket science. Her needs are not overly complex.

So the solution is for disabled children not to participate in school trips? To be robbed of having the enriching and fun experiences that their classmates enjoy because nobody will make the small adjustments required to allow them to participate?

Easy to say, not so easy to afford.
Schools are really struggling financially and if the child doesn't have an EHCP yet they may not have appropriate funding for these extras yet.

But schools are not allowed to afford it for some pupils and not others. That would be illegal.

An EHCP is neither here nor there in this particular situation, the crucial question is whether OP's child is covered by the 2010 Equality Act. If they are, then the school needs to accommodate them or cancel the trip. In my personal experience, schools do start to take this sort of thing seriously if you quote disability discrimination legislation at them.

The only bit I agree with is your daughter needs to speak up for herself more, this is a good lesson to learn in life. Other than that, absolutely no way would I be sending my child in those circumstances. It will be a miserable time for her and they CANNOT make trips compulsory. Ask for some work for her to do at home, there's nothing they can do to you

Your school is discriminating against your child but not making allowances on the residential trip for her needs. School trips are not compulsory. I would keep her home and do some fun homeschooling activities around what she is learning at the moment.

It's not compulsory at all, school needs your consent.

Furthermore if they can't meet her needs including pain relief, they are not taking responsibility for her. I would be looking for reassurance of 100% responsibility, not nuanced threats, shame and penalties for not "going along" with their plan.

I'd ask for concerns to be addressed fully in writing, in the hope DD could join the trip. If this doesn't happen or their "plan" isn't suitable, I'd follow this up with a letter to the governors and DD wouldn't be going.

Although Brownies and school have different rules, school should still be able to keep her topped up, especially if it is prescription, and offer her an alternative.
I am a TA and have taken children with SEN on residential trips. One child had a skeletal condition and used a wheelchair. We adapted activities and she had things to do when she needed a break.
Sounds like they don't want to.

As a parent you have to give permission for them to take her. Don't give it.
Our school won't take my DDs 500 yards up the road on a bus if parents haven't signed the permission form.

And medication they can't say they'll take her but can't accommodate medication. We had a residential last year, medication had to be handed to teacher in sealed bag, labelled, and forms filled in to say how much, how often etc.

School sounds like it really needs to step up 🤷🏼‍♀️

Sorry, I haven’t yet RTT only a few pages BUT if they are saying they don’t have capacity in the staffing for someone to sit with her for breaks then I would challenge their staff ratio. I have run several trips and there should be capacity for this. If a child was ill or had an accident (which often happens on this kind of trip) someone would need to be with that child so there should be capacity to accommodate this.

I agree with the others about the discrimination aspects but thought I would offer this point from a school perspective. Good luck - your DD deserves better and I’m glad she only has six months left at this school.

I want her to go but the activities will be too much, how can we make this work?

You asked exactly the right question. The school have given several very wrong answers. You are absolutely not being unreasonable!

I’d contact the LA and ask for advice around the school being able to give medicine ‘when required’.

id also flag concerns around them not making provision for her disability.

a letter from the physio also

I’d also ask the LA if the school trip is really compulsory as I’d have massive doubts.

It sounds a bloody awful school

She’s your kid, just say ‘DD won’t be attending as you can’t meet her needs. Could you please supply me with some work if you would like her to do something?’. They can’t make it compulsory, this isn’t North Korea FFS.

The primary school where my youngest DS attends do 'compulsory ' residentials because they fall midweek. It was brilliant for my eldest, but in no way will it be for my ASD diagnosed youngest. He has said he doesn't want to go. I'm preparing myself for a battle with the headteacher. But he won't be going if he doesn't change his mind.

Can you get an emergency meeting with the SENCo and/or the headteacher.
Id email them both first and say that you are concerned that there seems to be no option to not partake in the trip, but you are not confident that they will be meeting her needs and keeping her safe. Remind them of her disability and educational healthcare plan, which is a legal document! I would mention in it that your dd is actually very keen to do the activities, so them suggesting that she can opt out, wont work, as she wont opt out, even if it risks her health, and that the school have said that they would not administer any medication PRN even if prescribed, so this leaves you feeling concerned that they wont be able to keep her safe while in loco parentis.
If they could let you know how they plan to manage this trip to fully and safely include her, then youd really appreciate a reply to the email.

If she actually wants to go, then it would be a shame if she misses out just because they cant organise a few reasonable adjustments

My dd3 has a genetic neurological condition and she can’t do pe etc. Shes in pain a lot and now she’s in secondary they can’t give painkillers and school refuse to let her carry paracetamol. There’s been lots of trips, rowing, skiing, biking, climbing etc she’s had to miss out on because of her disability because school can’t guarantee her safety. All out of school and holiday type clubs include sport or physical activity so she misses out on those too. She already misses a lot of school due to hospital and physio appointments. It’s so difficult but you need to think of the lesser of two evils. To us it was a choice of my dd not being in pain and possibly hurting herself or her missing a week or a few days at school. We chose missing a few days of school :(

Mine was forced to take part in various activities despite having an HCP saying they couldn't do certain activities. They were also forced to do an assault course blindfolded. They came back shaking and in huge amounts of pain. It is also not acceptable for your child to sit out on activities and do nothing.

My kids have been on residential in year 4, year 6 and year 7. I’ve also taken year 6 on similar residential trips as a teacher. My son has epilepsy. I had a meeting with both primary and secondary before all trips. We also spoke to the residential centre who without prompting, discussed their risk assessments, provisions, plans and how they allocated staff to key groups that might need additional support etc.
School administered medicine in all settings with no problems, adapted activities and the residential staff and school staff emphasised that residential centre were the experts running the activities and school staff available as additional staff ( who could
monitor my child.) School discussed their risk assessments and the residential centre also discussed their risk assessments with me. No adjustments cost any additional funding, just some thought beforehand with advice from us. Your school do not sound accommodating unfortunately.
My child is in a cohort that has quite a high level of SEN and complex medical needs and I assume they did they same for all children.
I hope you get lots of useful advice and can move forward with school so she can go and you feel assured she will be ok.

It can't be compulsory for her to have to be there but sit on her own and be unable to participate in activities. Personally I would keep her home that week.

It sounds like there's an ongoing issue of them having PE, 'morning mile' (assuming that's running or walking?) and forest school all in one day. I'd consider researching other schools to find one more suited to your child's needs.