Raising a formal complaint at school

[Ricecakesaremyjam]

My sons school are acting unlawfully towards him and have been for some time. All attempts to ask the headteacher SENCO to do their legal duty by my son are brushed off. I am literally gaslit every time I speak to her.
I am about to raise a formal complaint to the governing body but I’m scared 😂 will the school hate me and my kids forever? I
know I need to do it and I’m being stupid but I have a horrible habit of second guessing myself! Thanks x

The OP's situation isn't unusual - the LA has agreed to fund Alternative Provision but for the school to source it and make the arrangements. Clearly this school isn't one able to do that, which is why I (and a few others) have said to push back at the LA on their Section 19 duty, and cut the school out of the alternative provision discussions.

We moved DS3 from 1 independent special school to another at Yr7 transition and it hasn't worked out. He only ever attended for 2.5hrs a day and zero since February. My eldest is 19 and started school with a Statement, so I'm not exactly new to the world of LAs and schools, but getting alternative provision in place has not been successful. I've connected with many parents in my area in a similar position. Even those that the LA has agreed to fund AP for, get stuck in the awful matching system our LA uses with their approved providers.

I'm going way off topic now, but to the OP, forget the school, use the IPSEA resources re Section 19 and also push for an early review of the EHCP asap. Again the duty is technically the LA's, it doesn't need to be the school starting the AR process, the LA can do it.

Hello, just back with an update - I sent a complaint to the director of children’s services copying in my son’s case worker as suggested. As if by magic the very next day I was told some AP has been identified for my son, after months and months of being told there was nothing available/being gaslit and made to feel like I was being unreasonable by the SENCO/head for asking for it to be put in place. I feel more pissed off to be honest as it proves my suspicions that the AP was always there, the SENCO/head just had her own agenda and didn’t want to implement it.
Out of interest does anyone know why this might have been? Would it have been to keep his funding in-house (despite the fact she doesn’t let him attend for more than 2hrs!) rather than spend it on AP?
I would love to know what happened for AP to suddenly have been found the very next day.
Thankyou so much to everyone who replied and gave advice on this thread. I’ve found my journey with my son so hard, if nothing else I’ve learned a valuable lesson to not think the best of those who are supposed to be helping you, to get everything in writing, and to have the courage to be disliked and complain!

In terms of why it might be - the funding LAs send often lags the date at which the school pays which cam be a problem. It sometimes doesn't cover the cost of the service and finally schools allocate funding to other bits of the plan when the notional budget has already gone.

But I very glad it looks like the AP is now on.

A PMLD school is not going to accept a child who doesn't have PMLD my son goes to one all the kids have significant and complex needs.

Off at a slight tangent but I’m unsure where my son will end up (& the uncertainty is unbearable)
mainstream can’t meet need
I’ve visited high coin units where he also is unlikely to fit as the majority of the other children are non verbal, but I have also been told as he is so hyperactive he is unlikely to fit in with his peer group.
This obviously only leaves specialist, CSCN I don’t feel would be right for him. There is an independent specialist I am DESPERATE for him to go to but all I hear is how it’s basically impossible to get a place at an independent specialist.
so what next?

You have to.prove that the school you want him to go to is the only school that can meet his needs
Easier said than done I know

I genuinely believe it is. How do I do this?!

I don’t have money for private EP reports and all attempts to ask for reassessment come to nothing because as aforementioned, his SENCO is worse than useless, she’s actively obstructive

Have you spoken to the local SENDIAS ?they might be able to help and has he been assessed by the Ed psyche ?
As they can say where he is educationally and what provision might suit him
I know a few people who have secured places at private specialist schools ,but it's not been easy as they tend yo cost £££,s and LA,s are reluctant to pay for it so will always look for cheaper options

Do you have local SEN groups ,get talking to other parents ,they often have a wealth of information.

AP has materialised because the LA has seen you know the law, can advocate for DS and will enforce it.

If the LA refuses to name your preference, you can appeal. Is the school a section 41 independent or wholly independent? The rules for naming them are different.

If you need independent assessments but can’t afford them, have you checked if you would be eligible for legal aid if you needed to appeal? It is legal help for appeals to SENDIST and it can fund independent assessments if necessary. Even if you aren’t eligible for legal aid, there are charities such as Parents in Need who help fund independent assessments.

I wouldn’t go down the reassessment of needs route because it doesn’t guarantee good reports and you may still need you to appeal but having wasted time. However, if you do want to go down that route, you need to ask the LA formally rather than the school. It is an LA process rather than a school process.

My son attends a statutory independent school — not a private school in the traditional sense, but they charge fees that are met by the local authority. Is that the kind of school you mean? It was completely obvious this school was the only one that could meet my son’s needs as every other specialist school in the area catered to children with autism AND profound learning disabilities. They all stated they couldn’t meet his needs, his current school said they could. It took a few months longer to secure his place as the local authority had to send it to their high costs panel, but he’s been there for almost three years now and it’s been worth every second I spent fighting for him.

Your son sounds very similar to mine; bright, engaged with learning, no identified learning disabilities but completely unable to cope with the bustle of a mainstream class of 30 children and all the noise, smells and general irritation they bring with them. My son moved to the secondary school provision of his school in September and his teachers are already talking about him taking a full complement of GCSEs, and that they have no doubt he’ll achieve very highly. There are schools out there for our children, but you’re going to have to have the hide of a rhino and the determination of ten NT parents to get him there.

@perpetualplatespinning Hello, it is a wholly independent - does this make it easier or harder? (Think I know what you’re going to say 😂)
@NotSayingImBatman thanks for your reply that is encouraging to hear, do you mind me asking did/does your son have any behavioural issues?

@Ricecakesaremyjam it’s still worth pushing for the independent school but proceed with caution. Remember they’re a business at the end of the day, and if your son is too challenging you may end up back at square one.

My son exhibited extremely challenging behaviour in mainstream. He threw a toy phone at a teacher’s face and punched another one three times in the head. Not because he’s a horrible child, but because he was in crisis and couldn’t calm down. He doesn’t exhibit those behaviours at his specialist school, not saying he can’t be an arsehole because he absolutely can, but he’s never reached that level of dysregulation as they’ve got the facilities to help him calm down.

@NotSayingImBatman Thankyou for your reply. My son is only 5, he began school “hyperactive but happy”, but in recent months is becoming more disregulated - this looks like shouting at his teacher to leave him alone, running away, pacing the room anxiously, and on occasions lashing out (trying to push past teachers to get where he wants to be, has on 2 occasions bitten staff through clothing when in meltdown).

I’m worried schools won’t take him & he will only be offered SEMH schools that aren’t the right environment for him.
I truly believe if he was in the right environment with staff that specialise in teaching autistic children, he would never get to this point of disregulation.

It means you need an offer of a place from the school. Unlike section 41 schools, wholly independent schools can’t be named unless they agree. You will also need to prove the LA’s proposed school(s) can’t meet needs &/or that it isn’t unreasonable public expenditure.

Have you spoken to the wholly independent school?

I have done extensive research on this school and know the presentation of their pupils matches with my son’s, I have spoken to them on the phone too and he sounds very similar to their cohort.

Does the school think they can meet your child's needs?

Playing devils advocate here but worth thinking about what you want the School to do? I.e what would your Son’s day look like?
also. If this were working there is no way they would fund a specialist placement.
Schools are at breaking point.

Well its not working as the Ops child is only in two hours a day, so there is Clear evidence of that

@Ricecakesaremyjam you asked

'Out of interest does anyone know why this might have been?'
Likely to be because the school has to fund the AP out of their budget, which is likely to be extremely stretched already. Does he have an EHCP?

@Bushmillsbabe yes he has an EHCP. He also arrived at school with top level of funding and the LA advised they would provide top up funding for AP if needed, hence why I can’t think of a legitimate barrier to ever having put it in place.

It sounds like the LA was passing the duty to the school to arrange the AP, so they didn't have to bother to source and make the arrangements. Clearly your son’s school wasn't up to the task so you've got left in limbo. But this is why it's better to deal directly with the LA.

I'd push for a review of the EHCP, again take it up directly with the LA. IPSEA has templates you can use.

For an independent you'll need a written offer of a placement and they can't go over their maximum pupil numbers, so you'll need to make sure they have space.

We have just had the annual review where school have said they can’t meet need and are requesting a change of placement.
what I’m scared of is that the LA will try and send him somewhere inappropriate for him, and that it will be the fight of my life to get the school I know is right for him.

I’m so puzzled though WHY the school wouldn’t just arrange the AP, when they were given funding and top up funding to do so? Why wouldn’t the SENCO/head do this?