To push for exclusion over reduced timetable?

[OnTheGoAlways]

Hello, I'm hoping there's some experience here I can draw on.

My son is 8, has been on CAHMS waiting list for around 112 weeks, has a long history of difficult behaviour in school, suspected ASD, tics, slight speech impediment, 1 exclusion already and 1 police report against him (which he knows nothing about and was not taken further)...it has been traumatic. He is very, very different at home, it is the school environment which he is unable to cope with. He is incredibly anxious and has low self-esteem.

We are moving, I knew this would unsettle him, although I intend to keep him at the same school for a while afterwards and commute to help reduce his anxiety. He finds changes and transitions difficult, but less so when I'm with him.

He has a play therapist he sees once a week, when he was young I took him to a private outdoor school on the other side of the city, he will be going back end of April every Tuesday, so I will fund and taxi him there. I work and feel on the cusp of losing my job at times, this week especially.

School has now said he is excluded today, and then from Monday, he will be on a reduced timetable of 1 hour a day. I do not think that is in his best interests, I understand the need to exclude after he hit a child, but reducing his timetable to one hour feels punitive. He will arrive late and leave at break time. When his friends head out to play without him, it will exacerbate his "differentness." School has not provided me with a time frame of when ds could return full time.

Can I push for exclusion over this? Reduced timetable feels like a lazy box ticking exercise. I would rather he was excluded and at home, then exposed to seeing everyone else get on with their day then have to leave.

I am going to lose my job, I am so stressed and need help. We are in Scotland.

Hi Op, this sounds so stressful. I don't think they can legally insist on a reduced timetable without your consent. The IPSEA website is a great place to start looking for advice.
Also, I'd recommend getting the EHCP process started - you don't need a diagnosis for this as it is based on need.
You need to start looking for a specialist setting for him

Thank you @BrummyMommy ,have just looked on the IPSEA website, one of the first sentences refers to collecting a child early for cooling off is unlawful...I have been asked to collect my son around a dozen times this year. Last week I was asked to come in and get him, I asked for this to be put in writing (for the first time), the HT then called me when we got home to say that I misunderstood, that I didn't have to collect him and it was my choice. It felt like gaslighting as on the first call she had said "we wondered if you'd be able to collect DS, we feel if he's not collected he will be heading for exclusion, could you get here as soon as possible" . That doesn't feel like I have a choice.

Sounds really difficult for you. Can you speak to your work to see if there’s anything that could be done to help support you to keep job while juggling this?

I’m just coming out of the other side of this but still battling with Local Authority on IDP provision.

DS (9) is now in a specialist STF for children with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. To get there we had years of waiting for an ASD diagnosis, and ‘informal exclusions’ before finally a reduced timetable. It ended in my removing DS from school completely in October, exclusion was inevitable and it wasn’t a suitable environment for him. He was out of school for months while I worked to get the LA to take ownership of his IDP and provide a suitable school placement. He eventually returned to school in February. Things look okay for thé moment but the LA want to completely remove his 1:1 support. Luckily I have a very supportive employer and I can WFH but it’s been a nightmare few months.

Does your son have an IDP (or English equivalent)? Is there enough support in place? Is the school able to meet your child’s needs?

So is he moving schools? If he is I would probably suck it up for sake of a few weeks and start afresh. If not what support is currently in place? Does he have a Sen plan? I agree I would be starting a ehcp , asking school to iniate it or doing it your self. Your council should have a independent team to support with this.

Hi
If he is going to be moving schools with the house move. I wouldn't postpone it to be 'settled' from the house move first. This will just extend the transition period and he will be in limbo the whole time.

A friend had a son at a special school and they made many big changes in their first term. At first my friend had wanted them to do a change at a time. But the school were right. All the changes at once allows settling sooner.

Hth and good luck. It is very hard. You are doing well x

Sorry, just saw that you are in Scotland.

The other thing is that the purpose of the reduced timetable must be with a view to reinstate full time schooling, not as you say - a punishment. Are they putting any additional support in place to move back to a full timetable? Do they have timeframes?

Thank you for your replies, @SplunkPostGres , I'm so sorry to hear, that is a truly awful experience and I really hope after all the fighting you shouldn't have to have done that things stay improved.

We are in Scotland so there are no EHCP, ds does have an IEP which is shit, it involves him sitting down, and sitting down for lunch in the lunch hall (which is too noisy so he often goes to sit with the janitor)there aren't any learning goals, and all agreed he has not engaged with the curriculum at all this year.

HT previously told me "do you know how much funding and paper work is needed for a special school" in this snappy voice, but it is clear ds cannot cope in that environment and has lost almost a year of learning.

I don't see how a reduced timetable to 1 hour is helpful and in his interests. If they exclude him they have to provide some sort of teacher interaction I'm sure, but if he goes in for one hour they can say they are doing that. HT said yesterday that he can go in and be with a learning assistant and draw or make a cake.

I WFH most days, have just put in for reduced hours under statutory change. I got promoted in January, and I have been on a downward spiral since. I shake with stress.

Pretty sure the IPSEA website only deals with English law, not Scots.

I'd suggest you talk to Govan Law Centre to find out the legal position where you are.

@OnTheGoAlways Lots of empathy here for what you’re going through. It makes me so angry that you’re needing to step back from your work, obviously fine if that’s your choice, but not to be forced on you. It seems the implicit assumption from all professionals that you will but as a lone parent, I refused to give up my career.

I think the recommendations about legal advice are good but to be fair, I’ve found that researching the legislation myself to be fairly straightforward. It should be on the Scottish government website and will set out the requirements for Local Authorities and Schools for SEN (now ALN in Wales).

I think you can ask for the IEP to be reviewed. The reduced timetable is evidence that it’s not working. The school need to be demonstrating that they’re putting sufficient support in place. And there should be an appeals process too if you’re not happy with the content of the IEP.

It’s really unfair but you’ll need to become the expert in what they should be doing. Some people will also recommend charities too such as National Autistic Society but I haven’t found them great; they refer to local charities which are often funded by the LA and have no teeth.

Try Enquire Scotland. They have an advice line to help with additional support needs

https://enquire.org.uk/contact/

Have you spoken to the Enquire (the Scottish equivalent of IPSEA)?

Email the headteacher informing them DS will be attending full time unless he is formally excluded. Remind them informal exclusions are unlawful and part time timetables should not be used to manage a pupil’s behaviour arising from their SEN.

Thank you. I have checked through my phone messages to try and find dates for the informal exclusions were I have been asked to collect ds early, I have 4 dates, but I know its more, I just haven't messaged any of my friends about it.

I am a lone parent too, and have worked hard to get my career, I did a masters for it, and now I can feel it slipping away, and my stress is bleeding out into work, I've taken 4 days to do a 2 day data pull and my LM has told me 3 times this week to stop being so hard on myself. I feel I have to reduce my hours because then I feel less likely to be let go or not hit performance targets.

I will try to call enquire this morning.

It is clear that school cannot provide an environment for ds to be educated in. He has been failed and we have not been listened to, ds was first referred to Ed Pyche 3 years ago and is yet to be viewed properly, I met her for the first time 4 weeks ago. The first time was viewed was 3 years ago putting his coat on.

I do not agree to the PT timetable and will not be going through with it, I think it would be devasting for him.

At the heart of it is an 8 year old boy, who is for the most part, certainly outside of school, a kind, thoughtful, considerate and funny boy. I know he's in there, I just need to help him find a school which is right for him.

I'm sorry things are so stressful and drawn out for you. CAMHS in Scotland is not fit for purpose and hasn't been for a long time.

Do you have support? Someone mentioned NAS above, who are great. Do you have a local parent peer support? Peer support is invaluable when you have children with additional needs. Also, get in touch with your local Carers Centre, who will be able to support you, and point you in the direction of other people and/or organisations.

Aww, I've been here. You need to push back at the school and start referring to Illegal exclusion as that is what it is. Also, they will doing you no favours as none of the exclusions will be recorded with the LA and that will make life difficult to access other more specialised provision. It's hard, but stay strong and use IPSEA as pp have suggested. Have you been in touch with local Parent partnership services?

@onthegoalways I should have said, for me this was over 13 years ago and I too was a lone parent, trying to do my best with a son that the school felt was basically feral 🙄😢 (Asd and bloody traumatised by school) But! He is now in his 2nd year of Uni and they were wrong, you know him best 💐