School attendance - is this allowed?

[UndertheCedartree]

My DD is in Y7 at mainstream secondary and is autistic and very anxious.

HOY keeps chopping and changing plans for my DD with no consistency or communication. Essentially, on my side of it school are just making things worse.

As an example today there is a Reward Trip for those with over 100 achievement points and less than 8 behaviour points. My DD has 130 achievement points and 0 behaviour points but has been excluded from the trip as they felt they would need to send an LSA which they didn't want to. At our last meeting I expressed how unhappy and left out she was feeling as all her friends are going on the trip and naturally excitedly chatting about it at school as well as out of school. I was told by her HOY that they were planning a Reward Day at school for those who met the criteria but couldn't go on the trip for whatever reason. I've been asking for information about this but only been informed this morning that they decided to not do the Reward Day in the end!!

Her HOY has now decided to implement a new plan - I've not agreed with any of it as I find it inappropriate but the specific thing I wanted to ask about is his plan for me to bring DD in the morning and if they can't get her into school within 5 minutes I have to take her home. Presumably if I bring her in they can mark her as in on their attendance figures, but don't have to bother with giving her an education. Apparently I should then bring her back for afternoon school and if they can't get her in within 5 minutes I have to take her home again! So their attendance looks great but my DD gets no education. Is this allowed?

OP, I've only read up to page 4 of this thread, but there is already a lot of absolutely ridiculous advice from a lot of people on this thread who are using a lot of fancy terms without fully understanding what they actually mean and suggesting you 'demand' stuff that you are absolutely not entitled to.

If you approach the school in the way they suggest, not only will you be completely incorrect, you will likely destroy any goodwill there is from their side and make them see you as a loudmouth who has no idea what she is talking about rather than someone with whom they can work with.

I would suggest you find someone competent who is a specialist in the area, and can give you specific advice about the best way forward. Do not take advice from random people on the internet about this.

Many have given me links to specialist organisations. I've definitely not taken away from this thread to be 'a loudmouth' or 'demand' things.

What is it you particularly have an issue with?

The main suggestions are I make a complaint about the school trip and actions of the HOY, that I apply for an EHCP assessment, that I contest the unauthorised absence marks, speak to the SENCO and make sure all plans are set out in writing.

I think @Proserphina's advice was very good. Eyes on the prize - this is fundamentally about getting her needs met, not complaining about individuals. Approaching it all through what her needs are rather than complaining will get you much further. A complaint about the trip is probably fair enough but I would actually hold back on that and bring it up informally in a meeting. If the SENCo holds their hands up in horror then I would let it go, but if they back the HoY's position THEN you complain. Giving a 3rd way to gracefully back down, as @Proserphina put it, can work really well.

Apply for the EHCNA yourself, don't go and "demand" they do. Keep the SENCo in on the loop but don't expect loads of replies or meetings because they are often v overworked. Generally if you ask for specific adjustments that are easy for them to do, they will say yes, like the lunch queue thing. The problem comes when you are asking for things that are expensive or take a lot of their time.

One thing I have never quite mastered is this right to a full time education. Yes you can insist they take her, but if she is being traumatised by school and/or you think they are not meeting needs, then wouldn't insisting that they take her anyway make you part of the problem? Above all else you are your child's ally and advocate, and long term the less further damage she sustains, the quicker she will heal. Bring her with you on the journey, explain to her where you think things are unfair or illegal because that is validating and protective for her to hear. She will feel safer understanding what you are doing for her.

Also re the trip - sometimes with the best will in the world things go awry and there aren't enough staff in the building. Your daughter is safer at her school, who didn't let her go without a one to one, than at ours which promised my son a one to one (as per his EHCP) and then did not provide him with one. It's something of a race to the bottom, but if they take seriously their obligation to keep her safe, things could be worse! The fact they couldn't give her the support they deemed she needed is good evidence for an EHCNA.

One thing I have never quite mastered is this right to a full time education. Yes you can insist they take her, but if she is being traumatised by school and/or you think they are not meeting needs, then wouldn't insisting that they take her anyway make you part of the problem?

@Piony if CSA pupils can’t attend school full-time the LA has a duty to ensure they still receive a suitable full-time education under s.19 of the Education Act 1996. IPSEA has a model letter parents can use.

Like what?

OP can take advice from who she likes, but please rest assured there are some very knowledgeable people supporting others on MN SEND boards, including this one. What exactly are you bona fides?

*your

My child's school said he would not qualify for an EHCP. We pushed and pushed for the school to apply for one, and what the school wrote was not worth the paper it was written on.

I did it myself in the end and he now has one!

This happens a lot.

Lots are parents are actually knowledgeable in this area because they have had to fight the system to get their children’s needs met

Quite.

@Star20,in addition to our prolific and generous poster here who regularly supports other parents at tribunals, I'd wager there are several more PPs here who have represented themselves through the appeals process, and are very familiar with the SEND Code of Practice 2015, Equality Act 2010, including the technical guidance for schools, regulations on school attendance and statutory guidance on school attendance.

If you can spot errors in advice being offered here, I am sure everyone would welcome your corrections for the benefit of OP. Advice that is 'absolutely ridiculous, about things that OP is absolutely not entitled to, sounds very dramatic. As PP has asked you, what are you referring to?

In my opinion (as a teacher), if she doesn't come to a lesson/tutor time/support hub etc, she shouldn't be marked as present on the register- particularly if the school know she is likely to leave ASAP. Is she physically going into the school building? An unwell student sat in the car in the car park wouldn't be marked as present.

I've had this issue in the past with student support wanting me to mark students present when I haven't physically seen them, and my HoD said not to do it- they can register students if they want to. It does all seem very disingenuous and I would take it over the HoY's head and complain via email.

I would also raise the fact that it could cause confusion in the event of a fire or similar if she was marked as present but not actually in the building. This would potentially put staff members or firefighters at risk.

In terms of "meeting need", if they say she needs an LSA for certain activities, but none are available, they're not meeting her needs. As she goes higher up the school, trips and fieldwork may be required for certain subjects, so she needs to be able to access these!

I think tou could quote the Disability Discrimination Act at them for not allowing her on the trip

As you suggested on this thread I will apply for the EHC assessment. Why would I 'demand' anything? I have tried really hard to work with the HOY and feel something needs to be said but it will be factual.

The point is as I have said I want my DD attending school, happy, learning and thriving. The HOY's focus is attendance and punctuality. I have made progress with a strategy that has been helping her go into school happy, the HOY just wants her in on time no matter how unhappy and then if she is too anxious to send her home. She is entitled to a FT education so therefore she needs to be allowed to use strategies that help. I can assure you I am not 'part of the problem.'

Yes, I'd love to know. The advice I've been given has included lots of links and names of regulations/guidance and has been very balanced. I'm incredibly grateful.

Yes, I always bring her into school.

It's the Equality Act 2010 now.

What is it that has been suggested on here that you say OP's child is not entitled to? Most of the advice has been around the fact that she should apply for an EHC needs assessment, and on the facts given here she easily meets the relevant statutory criteria. Other advice is around the fact that refusing to make reasonable adjustments to enable her daughter to go on a school trip is disability discrimination and therefore unlawful; also that regularly sending her daughter home early means they school is imposing unlawful exclusions and therefore is breaking the law again.

If you say any of that is wrong, would you care to identify it and quote chapter and verse in respect of the law you are relying on?

Push for an EHCP, you can apply yourself directly with the your local authority. It's time consuming but worth it in the end.
I would also suggest speaking to the school SENCo, and also the head. If things don't improve then write to the school governors.
Does the area you live in have a local NAS group?
Excluding your daughter from a trip because she is autistic is discrimination. They can't have it both ways saying they can't accommodate her on the trip because of staffing levels and then saying she doesn't need an EHCP because they can meet her needs.

You can always spot the school staff on these threads can't you. They're often woefully uneducated in send and equality law.

It's not good is it. I do hope MN threads play a role in ensuring children don't lose out on the support they desperately need if they are not to have their life chances adversely impacted, and which they are legally entitled to.

Present company excepted - there have been some very supportive and helpful posts on this thread.

I feel for them though. I struggle to manage a single child with SN, often in a considerable better environment than a classroom. How the hell does a single teacher manage to meet loads of children’s needs, especially when several of them are contradictory, whilst also doing all the other things a teacher has to do, with little or no support? It all school staff and all parents knew the law there would be absolute chaos as, in no way, is there the budget or workforce to properly accommodate every child’s needs. If we did manage it, though, the decrease in many other budgets (social care, prisons, health) would go down massively in the future.

And is it teachers’ fault they don’t know about SEND law? They are clearly no adequately trained in it with refreshers as needed. With their workload is it any wonder they are not educating themselves on this?

"School staff" doesn't necessarily imply teachers in my mind. That school staff at my DD's school whose actual job specialism is this stuff - the SENCO, the attendance officer are woefully underinformed.

I don't expect any specialist knowledge from the teachers, but the SEND and attendance specialists yes I do.

@CrepuscularWeasel well, sencos and slt absolutely should know the law in these areas and everyone in a school should understand the equality act imo. Ignorance is no defence in law unfortunately.