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

You have no right to appeal if you’ve triggered an annual review though.

Following a review, parents always get the right of appeal.

Parents can request an early review, but the LA doesn’t have to agree to hold one, and if they don’t agree to hold one there’s no right of appeal. Even if they do hold a review and then agree to amend, it will be a few months before an EHCP naming another placement is finalised.

Yes you can ask for an early AR but unless the school/LA agree to hold one you're stuffed.

And as I said, if the LA won't agree to a move, you're stuck waiting for an appeal for a year to force one.

You always have a right of appeal where a review has taken place. Where have you got that very incorrect information from?

Nothing screams how uneducated the SEN parents are on the reality of trying to provide for their kids every day.

Sounds shit the other way round too.

Stop being rude and let's work together. But while we're all fighting the system there's a kid who's getting no GCSEs because she lacks a scribe tomorrow....

Parents of DC with SEN are perfectly aware of the realities of the SEN system.

It isn’t working together for schools to stop providing SEP in EHCPs. Quite the opposite.

Just a poor lowly HoD in a school trying to do their job, whilst watching the system fall apart from inside.

I know it happens in my school that we have to move all TAs we possibly can (so probably only a few stay with the most needy kids) because there's simply nobody else to scribe for the exams.

Watching the head become more and more panicky about the lack of staff

Getting my own parent to apply to invigilate, (even though they don't want to buy they used to teach so they're half a step ahead) to get us out of a huge staffing hole.

Seeing my own child's SEN needs for their exam potentially get thrown under a bus. What do they matter eh, they can "cope".

If you take it "higher up" (L.A.), they will immediately return it to the school to resolve.

I think AIBU is a bad place for this post OP. Ask on the SEN boards in future.

An EHCP is a legal document. The EHCP states the child NEEDS one to one TA support (apart from 15 mins a day, according to you)
The school doesn't have the right to steal this TA/funding for other purposes.
Of course there's issues with school funding. Blame the govt and the people who keep voting for them.
Why should a disabled child's provision be taken away to save money for the school / LEA?

@FloofyBird and if there are no staff (and this is only going to get worse) what do you do?

at least in my council they have changed EHCP funding wording so it does not include hours but a certain level within a framework. It might be worth checking if that is the same.

If you take it "higher up" (L.A.), they will immediately return it to the school to resolve.

They can try, but ultimately it is the LA who is responsible for ensuring the SEP is provided.

at least in my council they have changed EHCP funding wording so it does not include hours but a certain level within a framework.

Any LA with this blanket policy is acting unlawfully and parents should appeal. F must be detailed, specified and quantified.

How much was the overdose of paracetamol?
Or was it not informing you it had been taken.
So you gave more. That's quite different.
I think the relationship with the TA isn't great. The TA should have informed you of paracetamol.
But I think you are very het up.
I don't think many schools will provide the care you want unless it's private.
Is your DC that vulnerable, that they can't manage for an hour alone.

I think you are a bit too upset. Unless your DC was in real danger. I don't understand. How will they cope at work or later on in life. If they can't have an hour or two alone. It will make it harder for your DC to make friends at school if you are always complaining too.
Is your DC happy there? Have they made any friends? If not. Then maybe move to a smaller school. But I think you being a bit too upset.

I'm only on page 3, but

All this talk about LAs, do we even know if this is a maintained school? There aren't many of those around anymore, so complaining to the LA is useless if the school is an academy and gets funded directly from central government. Who, as we know, are true chocolate teapots when it comes to education.

If it is an LA-funded school, is it in an LA that still has money? Haven't two large LAs recently gone bankrupt? So where exactly is more money coming from?

You can really talk all you want about legal responsibilities. Schools don't redeploy staff for fun. As I have mentioned before, schools also have to comply, legally, with the Equality Act. If that means that kids needs scribes and readers and the only staff in the building that are able to provide this are TAs because we also legally need an adult in each room and other staff are teaching (I mean, we might be able to ask our cleaners? But some are already doubling up as hallway supervisors) then where exactly are schools supposed to magic them from?

And how, without money? Shall we ask Sharon down the road if she'd fancy scribing for 6-8 weeks, without training or DBS (also illegal), for free? One of our optional exams is cancelled already because the school cannot find, let alone pay, the staff who were meant to supervise it. We do not have money for glue sticks, paper or pens.

Yes, complain, if you must. It will take up more staff time and take it away elsewhere, perhaps from another struggling child (because the SENDCo will be the first person to deal with it).

Or move the child and see the same thing happening in another school, because I haven't worked in a school in the last 15 years in which TAs haven't been redeployed for exams because schools had no choice.

Or maybe you are even successful, and leaving other children without any support, even if they need it just as much.

The only way for things to change will be a government which gives a damn about education. I am a teacher and a SEND mum, so see both sides.

The la can't delegate its responsibility. Parents can and do send prevaction protocol letters (start of jr proceedings) which the threat of is usually enough to get the provision puy into place.

For any parents reading: if section f is quantified and specified you only pay for the letter, the jr proceedings is usually done via legal aid in the child's name but rarely gets to that as there is no defence if the provision is worded correctly and parents have trued to resolve via complaints procedure (full procedure doesn't need to be followed if the deadline for starting jr is up- there are time limits).

The funding for TAs is always used for the biggest all round effect on the largest possible number of children. This is seen as feasible.
What you are claiming is that this ought to now be adjusted in favour of what you would like to have for your child, irrespective of any feasibility.
So if you achieved the one to one as you state is your entitlement,other children with entitlements (plural) would lose out.
There is a ceiling to your thinking that stops you considering this, and that would be a legitimate piss off for school staff. School staff try to be all things to everyone, and you are asking them to drop that and be all things to just your kid.
Schools are no longer about entitlement, needs, goals,targets, special provision. They are about feasibility. Please bear with us, don't complain to us, complain via the ballot box at the next Election.

#pre action not prevaction

All this talk about LAs, do we even know if this is a maintained school? There aren't many of those around anymore, so complaining to the LA is useless if the school is an academy and gets funded directly from central government.

It is irrelevant what type of school it is. The LA is responsible for ensuring all provision in all EHCPs is provided. Lack of funding is not a lawful reason to fail to ensure the provision is received.

I don't think many schools will provide the care you want unless it's private.

Support detailed, specified and quantified in F is provision that has been deemed to be reasonably required by professionals. It isn’t about OP wanting it. It is about what is required by law. DC don’t need to be in independent schools to receive provision via EHCPs.

Yep, I too teach and have SEND kids

Unless you've been inside the schools and seen it first hand, you won't understand the "robbing Peter to pay Paul" that has to go on.

I'm a TA in a mainstream school. We have a COIN centre which some children attend in the morning (during maths and literacy). Those children are in the mainstream classes in the afternoon. They all have EHCPs but there is not enough funding for allocated a TA to each child. This means we have situations where there is 1 TA for multiple children with EHCPs.

We have a few children who have behavioural issues with no EHCP who cannot/will not access classes. They have been allocated 1:1s because of their behaviours. So that's a number of TAs deployed to non-funded children.

If a child with an EHCP is considered to be settled in class and academically able, they will most likely not have a 1:1 sat with them, or even in the class at all.

I found out today that next year there will be no 1:1s. Each class will have a general TA and a Learning Support Assistant. I assume this means that the general TA will also work as cover in the teacher's absence. For an extra 50p an hour.

The system is broken.

Schools are no longer about entitlement, needs, goals,targets, special provision. They are about feasibility.

Thankfully, the law disagrees with you when it comes to SEP in EHCPs.

The fact TAs are expected to teach is absolutely criminal.

They're not paid enough for the job they do, never mind subbing someone else's too.

Teaching assistants are there to support teachers, who direct them as they see fit. (So technically, even if the TA is in the child's class for 24 hours, the TA might be working with a group to free up the teacher to concentrate on the individual EHCP pupil/the group they are in.)

It'll be the teacher who is having to do extra without in class support, but who is still responsible for ensuring all a children are able to follow the curriculum and make progress. The teacher will no doubt the one affected, not the child.

But does the funding cover a TA salary for that time? I’m not being obtuse. I’m trying to understand why a school wouldn’t adhere to the plan. This is the crux of what the OP needs to resolve to get her DC the support they need.

Thank you! This is what I was trying to understand.

They’ll probably be relieved they don’t have to fork out an additional 6k of budget TBH.