AIBU to now want to go above my DC's school and take things further

[ballerina1971]

I am very angry with my DC's school. My youngest DC, age 13 has an EHCP with 24 hrs support. last summer when it was exam time it came to my attention my DC did not have a TA for support in lessons when I raised it with the the school they stated all TA'S were helping with exams for 2 wks
• I advised that my DC TA was funded for them through the EHCP, a legal document, not to be used elsewhere DC wasn’t to be without TA again. The school stated they had always done this, I advised this didn't make it right. I had the conversation with the SEN Department, Assumed the matter had been dealt with. My DC then came home in September stating there was no TA again As they were being used for the year sevens, I rang the SEN & insisted that my DC had the
• TA in lessons & having had this conversation with them I didn’t expect to be having it again. A few weeks later my DC came home asking why I had been complaining about the TA’s I was quite shocked by this and I said why are you asking, my DC told me the TA had said to her during a lesson that she better not do ,anything wrong (the TA ) as your mom has already been on the phone complaining to the school about the TA’S! Then earlier this year after my child had stated the teachers seemed to be being nice to her, the same TA said to my DC it’s because they’re scared of your mom she’s notorious around here and laughed. WTAF! This is wrong in so many ways such as, unprofessional, breach of confidentiality. now I’m fuming this is just another incident in a long list of incidents that have occurred since my DC have started there. I’m not talking minor, insignificant things, as I would let those things go I’m Not someone who feels the need to complain at every little minor thing. Very significant things such as overdosing my child on paracetamol and not advising me as per their procedures that they had given paracetamol just to give one example. There are only so many apologies I can receive from the school before I have to take it further. I’ve now had enough, I want this to stop. AIBU to now take this further and not go through the Complaints procedure again. I have followed the school’s complaint process on everything and now I’m sick of it I wish to go to the Local Authoritytand further. The school needs to be accountable for what they're doing I don’t feel at the moment they are. I get a sorry but then they go on to do something else

That is utterly unprofessional. I'd have formally reprimanded any member of staff with that attitude. You don't get to punish a parent for complaining by providing inferior service.

If the EHCP is clear that OP's child is to have 24 hours 1-1 support per week, then that TA cannot be used elsewhere if it means reducing the 24 hours, nor can they be shared. If the school has other pupils who need support which they can't provide, they should be applying for EHCPs for them.

In your hypothetical scenario, the reader and scribe would be the same person, and I can't realistically see why they would need rest breaks during the relatively limited time allocated for a GCSE. If the pupils in question have a legal right to insist on the relevant support, it must be because it is specified in an EHCP and it is up to the school to push the LA for the relevant funding, not to take it away from another pupil.

Certainly the government is responsible. The answer is absolutely not to sacrifice vulnerable disabled pupils to make the school's life easier.

And? It sounds like you think she should be grateful. The provisions of an EHCP are a legal entitlement, not a gift.

Why does OP's child have to be sacrificed for the "bigger picture"? If the school can draft in admin assistants and librarians, it can offer a bit of money to draft in other temporary staff at exam times rather than sacrifice the education, wellbeing and mental health of children who are already very vulnerable. If EHCPs aren't adequately funded, they can join with parents to enforce provision through judicial review. Going all helpless and saying "Tough that we've thrown your child under the bus, what else can we do?" is just not the answer.

@GoldenTrout the staff they are drafting in eg admin assistants are ones who are already working at the school, not extra staff. Same way they are using TAs. Can't afford extra staff

If a 1 to 1 isn't available for your DC the alternative would be to send them home.

Would this satisfy you?

In that case the school is expected to be able to meet that child's needs within its normal budget, including the delegated funding it receives specifically for the support of children with SEN. If they can't afford that, then the child has needs that are over and above what can be delivered through normal mainstream resources, which is the criterion for issuing an EHCP.

What the school cannot do is decide to save money at the expense of the children whose support it is funded to deliver under EHCPs.

@GoldenTrout have you tried recruiting school staff?

If a 1 to 1 isn't available for your DC the alternative would be to send them home.

That would be unlawful.

No, there has never been two levels of EHCP. Each EHCP needs to set out the provision required to meet each child's actual needs, whatever that might be.

You may be thinking of the distinction between SEN Support and EHCPs. SEN Support is the support schools are supposed to give to pupils with SEN who do not meet the criteria for EHCPs.

And that still doesn't justify taking support away from children with EHCPs that are funding that support. It's quite extraordinary that any school thinks it does.

TBH OP, unless your child is extremely high needs, which I highly doubt if they are in mainstream, I think YABU.

You already seem to have a bit of a reputation. I think you need to cool down a bit.

That said, the paracetamol issue is really not good.

It’s also good for your DC to start developing some independence and to get used to being without a TA so they don’t start to become reliant.

That would be an unlawful exclusion by the school. The 1:1 is fully available for OP's DC, the problem is that the school is choosing to divert them elsewhere.

Irrelevant. OP's school has recruited a 1:1 for her child, using funding specifically allocated for that purpose alone. They are not entitled to take that support away

The school should be providing 1:1 if it is detailed, specified and quantified in F, but “I can't realistically see why they would need rest breaks during the relatively limited time allocated for a GCSE” is nonsense. Plenty of DC require rest breaks for GCSE exams.

@GoldenTrout most schools are on their knees due to funding crisis. Won’t help SEND children if they have their 1:1 but no teachers.

OP's son is exactly as "high needs" as his EHCP says he is. That document says he needs 24 hours 1:1 support. How on earth do you make out that she is unreasonable to expect the school to comply with its legal obligation to deliver that?

If there is a danger of the child becoming over-reliant on the TA, that is something to be addressed through the annual review process, not by arbitrarily taking the TA away at times that happen to suit the school's convenience. Clearly that was not the conclusion of the last annual review meeting if the support is still specified in the EHCP.

How does it help a child who cannot cope in school without a 1:1 to have a teacher but no 1:1? They still won't be able to learn.

It really is absolutely extraordinary how people on MN really think it's unreasonable to expect schools to comply with the law.

@GoldenTrout the pupils may be entitled to rest breaks, but they will need a member of staff with them, unless I misunderstood what you wrote. Some vulnerable pupils struggle to maintain focus during GCSE exams.

No one is saying that these situations are acceptable. Of course every child with an additional need should have the support quantified in their EHCP, according to the level of need. Children without EHCPs are also entitled to the support quantified in their access arrangements.

What several people are saying is that there simply aren’t enough staff to fulfil all the hours of support quantified and that is the reality. No one, absolutely no one, thinks it’s remotely acceptable.

It was the TAs who were said to need rest breaks in the post this was replying to, not the children.

No. It wouldn't. If a DC's needs cannot be met on a particular day it's home or social services.

Other DC's also have needs. Staff cannot be produced out of thin air. That's just daft.

The pp was saying pupils may need rest breaks

“As a hypothetical scenario, let’s imagine there are x number of pupils with EHCPs in the school. At exam time, three of those are taking GCSEs and are entitled to (variously) a reader, a scribe, extra time, rest breaks. TA support has to be provided for all of those and on some days, depending on the exam timetable, that TA support will be needed morning and afternoon.”

Yes, it would be unlawful. It would be an informal, unlawful exclusion. Staff don’t need to be produced out of thin air. The 1:1 is there, but being used for other things.

If the pupil needs rest breaks, logically the reader/scribe can supervise those. The implication seemed to be that a separate person would be needed for that.

What you don't address here is why it is acceptable for schools to break the law by taking away the support they are legally required to provide under EHCPs which, by definition, are only allocated to the children who need support most. If schools cannot provide the support required for children without EHCPs who need access arrangements, it cannot be acceptable or even sensible to hide the problem by taking away support from the weakest members of the school community.

Frankly, it would make much more sense to announce to the parents of all the children taking exams that the school does not have the funding required to provide access arrangements and to suggest they take that up with the DfE and their MPs. If that happened country-wide we might actually secure some useful change. But no, let's not bother with that, let's let the government get away with it while we quietly take away support from those nuisance SEN kids, with any luck they won't notice or their parents will be too beaten down by the constant fight to make a fuss.