To not know whether the school are at fault in how they dealt with my 16 year old and 10 months old very academic but immature Autistic daughter after she acted out due to her disabilties.

[Battlehorse]

DD is an extremely bright 16 year old who obtained 9 grade 9 s at GCSE this year. However, despite being academically very able feel is emotionally immature for Sixth Form. This in no small part due to her autism, meaning at times she can exhibit emotional outbursts that can not be predicted or mitigated for.

The school my daughter attends is a girls grammar school which highlights achievements of its pupils in magazines, newsletters and in the local media . This meaning in August, the school took the obligatory pictures of their high attaining pupils getting their GCSE results and putting the pictures in the September/ October newsletter.

DD who is very unsure of herself or her self worth, viewed the newsletter online.
This caused her huge emotional distress which led to her swearing at the head of Sixth form and running out of school in a state of anguish. The school have told her to stay home until Thursday. DD called me on her phone outside the school premises to pick her up today.

I can't help thinking the school in printing her name and picture and encouraging her to take 4 A Levels have not taken in to account her learning disabilities. This totally against my wishes for her that she takes no more than 3 A Levels and also be allowed three years for her Sixth Form study.

The school have been aware of her Autism diagnosis since she was 13. However, due to her high academic ability she does not have an EHCP, though the school previously have acknowledged they have a duty of care. This being the reason why a unofficial two day stay at home notice has been given, rather than as a potential suspension sanction against her.

OP there are some strange snarky posts on here just ignore them.
OK the Head of Sixth has been inappropriate, you can let the school work that out, but to focus on the key point for you- are they reinstating the supports your DD needs with immediate effect? And how will you and the Head be repairing the relationship with the Head of Sixth?

I think it might be worth you considering the social demands of the three year 4 Alevel plus now an additional college course. (Which is not necessary for journalism entry btw)

The friends looking after (your words) your DD will leave her grammar after two years in sixth form. She’ll spend the third year studying with the year below- are there good friends there too?. The suggested additional course is off site from school and will need to be navigated by DD completely alone. is that college going to provide same supports? And what about the unfamiliar social aspects?

While at the same time, in year 3, school will have in effect changed completely. These are all highly destabilising factors. The 4 A levels is a hedging bets manipulation by a grammar school just to keep their advertised A level results high. Stressful and a waste of study time and giving a feeling of failure for student who then go down from four to three A levels.

So if you want your DD to stay at that school there’s going to be a lot of work to do to get the Head of Sixth to become an ally and understand your DD (which is ambitious-does that seem possible?). I agree with PP- clearly your DD taking 3 A levels from the off is a reasonable adjustment. And to be clear school need to accept she will do 3 in 2 years always with an eye to whether doing 3 A levels is too much. Then DD can have a year out working at a low demand job and living at home before going on to whatever education or training she chooses and can access.

The current suggestion from school seems a huge lot to put your DD through when she isn’t even 100% sure of her path. (Which it is fine for her not to be) Political Corespondent or firefighter require completely different quals and skills. I also agree with PP that journalism in any area is a socially sophisticated field. Political journalism especially so. I would be encouraging looking at other types of job roles for your DD if she wants to be around politics or journalism

OP, please please pay attention to the post above!!

Thank you everybody. If the Head has breached confidentiality rules regarding possible action that his her mistake not mine. You are quite right, the school say they require a pupil to be in school lessons or study periods for a total of 25 hours a week for funding. Apparently the school have reserves whether though PTA funding or other areas I don't know, that has been previously used supporting DD through her schooling from years 7 -11

The head suggested a Level 3 course whereas I would of obviously preferred a Level 2 course in 'life skills' if they exist. Apparently a pupil has to be advancing academically, not appearing to flat-line. However, head suggested that an FE College could put a better application to attain a EHCP for ages 16-25 if they submitted an application rather than a girls grammar school.

DD loves the school she is at and feels very comfortable and will require support at the FE College to be comfortable in unusual surroundings.

Is her mistake

Why aren't you insisting on 3 A levels? Is it because you yourself are so entrenched in your 3 year view?

A girls' grammar school can just as easily apply for an EHCP as any setting. And they should have done it long ago.

Your head is passing the buck.

Three years gives her a chance to grow up in a socially safe and secure educational setting. I would personal want 3 A Levels and a EPQ over three years.

You've said she's academically gifted but you want her to do less than her peers. Autism isn't a learning disability and she isn't academically behind her peers so why would she take longer to do her a levels?

She still has to follow the same rules as everyone else. Thinking that her autism means she can shout and swear at her superiors and storm out isn't setting her up well for adulthood is it? Reasonable adjustments for autism are a quiet room for exams and extensions for coursework. Not being allowed to treat others like shit.

She's academically gifted, so don't hold her back academically.

1. She'll get bored.
2. She will be less occupied and focused and more likely to be derailed.
3. Taking longer to get qualifications looks bad to universities.

An extra year to "mature" isn't going to make a difference when she gets to uni. There's loads of autistic kids at uni, and there's loads of clubs and societies for all kinds of quirky people.

Stop treating her like there's something wrong with her and she might have the confidence to find her people.

You are quite right, why have the school not applied for an EHCP during years 7-11 I have just looked at some Ofsted stats and 5 pupils have an EHCP , 4% receive support.

Yes, autism is indeed not a learning disability in clinical terms - it's a developmental disability. However, the majority of autistic people also have executive dysfunction, which does affect learning - sometimes quite significantly.

I have autism but did my a levels in the usual 2 years then took a gap year which really helped me develop the skills to thrive at university. I think ideally I would have had two gap years.

I mainly worked and saved up, and those savings eased the pressure at university, but lots of friends were doing the same so had had people to socialise with. I also took an evening class which was a nice way to meet a range of people. I then did some travelling to stay with family and friends (because I didn't feel confident to travel on my own at that point)

Why haven’t you applied? Although lengthy you don’t need the school to do it.

Yes I thought parents applied for these? We did for our DD

You are potentially setting her up to fail in the long run. If she takes 3 years for something everyone else including most people with autism do in 2, she'll never have the self belief that she can meet normal deadlines and compete for jobs and in the workplace. It sounds a bit controlling.

If the child is on the SEN register. My daughter doesn’t have an EHCP but got extra support at school and in exams. When she started college the school sent a form to college so support could continue there.

School can apply but parents can do it too.

OP, this grammar and the Head doesn’t sound clued up on your daughter’s needs or EHCP at all. Really poor advice.
I’d suggest that you move this thread to the SEN area to seek out other parents with similar experiences