School sen discrimination

[Hellobee]

I had doubts that my Autistic son was being left outside to play with his TA through out the school day and this was confirmed to.me by 3 members of staff. I'm extremely upset that the school has never contacted us to say this was happening. My son was taken to A&E last week due croup and he still has a chesty cough from when he started the school. My son is calm boy who is academically able to learn but this school has shown us dishonest from the start due to his Autism diagnosis. We were told by the head and senco that they are an inclusive school with sen qualified teacher but we have experienced so many problems. My son has an ehcp and LA are saying they agreed to meet needs and can meet needs. This is the second mainstream that has attempted off-rolling by not teaching my son and making life difficult for us. Both schools prejudged my son before they knew him and upset us with hurtful comments like 'your son is one of the most severist' 'he will find our setting challenging etc. I have extreme depression due to this and English isnt my mother tongue which is why they don't take me serious. Local authority will not let us choose a new school and i have no idea what to do. My son is being denied education due to his Autism

Regardless of your son's SEN it's the duty of the class teacher to make sure your son is included and the TA to provide to help him access the curriculum.
All children are capable of learning but for your son it may look different he might need extra support in place sensory breaks and so on. If the children are writing and he can't write they should provide sand or shaving foam for him to make marks and shapes on that's still a way to develop his writing. If they are doing a science experiment the teacher should make necessary adjustments to include him. If the class is too noisy for him they should provide him with noise cancelling headphones.
They should also be working with your son's special interest if he has one to motivate him to learn. He might learn differently from other children but he is still capable. Good teachers should have high expectations of all students regardless whether they have SEN.

Also I would ask to see your son's targets and whether he's meeting them. Schools should have targets for SEN so you will be able to see what they are working on with him.

You clearly don't understand what off-rolling is
www.senlegal.co.uk/post/unlawful-exclusions-off-rolling

People are trying to help. Off-rolling means they are trying to exclude him formally from the school , taking him off the register so his results don't affect the school's records. They aren't doing this -theirs is more of a social exclusion, which is wrong, but not off-rolling.

School are not off rolling. School are failing to meet his needs or follow his ehcp. This is what you need to say to them.

I would say if he is with a TA and doing some form of learning then they are supporting your son.

Be grateful there is a TA. With gov cuts etc there may not be for much longer.

I have a small class with high needs. Often ch ask to go outside to work.
If he is loud or refuses or is unable to do the lesson then what do you suggest?

I really think you need to talk to the school.
They are not attempting to off roll him. If they were doing that then he would be at home with you.

People know what off rolling is but from what you have posted that’s not what is happening here.

posters have given you lots of advice how to help. It’s up to you if you listen

My son has a lot of outdoor time for his sen with his TA it keeps him calm focused and able to learn

That isn’t what’s happening here.

You need to find out why they’re taking him outside so much.

Would you rather he’s distressed and inside? (That may be the alternative)!

So your son is receiving daily one to one support from a TA? If I were in your place (which I am, I have two DC with SEN) I would be grateful that he has this rather than seeing it as a negative.

Talk to the teacher about why he's outside so much, there must be a reason why he isn't able to be in with the class. Looking at it from the school's point of view it's a huge resource allocation, they wouldn't do it if there was no need for it.

Is the school making him go outside or does he want to? We have an ASD child who simply runs off outside (he can open doors, other then the security doors to the main entrance). We can't physically pick him up and bring him in therefore an LSA has to go outside with him.

In answer to PP's post, we aren't allowed to say DC would be better in special provision, we have to be inclusive.

You are clearly not interested in the truth and i did not come here to be gaslighted. I will not respond to you anymore and please stop commenting with your unhelpful comments where you are just making assumptions without knowing facts

Thank you for your kind message. I will hire an advocate

Exactly! It seems like some people here think all mainstreams are perfect when thousands of sen parents are taking schools to court for discrimination of sen children each month and social media is full of complaints.

I don’t know who you’re responding to in particular because everyone is saying the same thing. No one is gaslighting you. Everyone has tried to provide help and advice.

I was responding to the ladies who keep making the assumption that my son was taken out for his benefit when that its not the case here at all.

I now have sufficient evidence to make disability discrimination claim against the school who have admitted wrong doing.I will stand up for all sen children who are being oppressed in mainstream schools by heartless teachers who continue to get away with breaking the law. Not saying all mainstream are bad just many are. Go read posts on facebook education groups

Thank you to those who were helpful.

clearly not everyone

There is no legal definition of off rolling and it does including putting parents off the school so they find another school and not treating pupils well so parents are forced to home school.

Have you spoken to the teacher about your concerns? Generally you start at that level and then escalate through the complaints procedure up the chain. Start with questions, not accusations. Why is my child spending so much time outside? Here Id ask how they were meeting my child's right to reasonable adjustments to allow them to access the curriculum. I know England use different terms. I get you feel he's being excluded and denied an education, and that may be the truth, I know quite a few SEN parents who have dealt with all sorts of at times frankly nasty behaviour from schools. I also know SEN parents who've had great support from their child's school. My Autistic DC all go to a good schools, that don't marginalise children with SEN and I know we've been lucky there.

If you feel the teacher is fobbing you off or you're still unhappy with their treatment of your child you follow the school's complaints procedure, which should be outlined on the school website. There's usually a few hoops to jump through. Generally to be heard by those higher up you need to go through the process set out by your education department An advocate could be a good idea if you can get one, unfortunately it's often hard to access these services.

OP, in order for anyone to help you you need to answer posters’ questions and engage with replies. I think you have misunderstood some things.

Have you formally asked the LA for an early review? This is what you need to do. I know you posted you have named another school now, but you also posted you haven’t got the LA involved and both those statements can’t be true and also it doesn’t happen that quickly so I think you have misunderstood the process.

Is the school providing the provision in section F of the EHCP? Have you spoken to the SENCO? How old is DS?

Schools do off roll pupils, but unless there is far more to the situation than your posts suggest I don’t think they are in this situation. Although I do think they are failing to meet DS’s needs.

If you are going to use an advocate be sure to choose carefully as it is an unregulated business and some advocates can be more harm than good to your case.

You are right that people giving suggestions as to why your son is outside are unhelpful, but it's very hard to be helpful without information.

Have you been able to speak to the teacher and find out what your child's school day is like and why?

You said that the school have admitted wrongdoing. What did they say?

Sorry OP you may not want to hear this, however most mainstream schools are absolutely rubbish at supporting children with SEND. We’ve had nothing but issues as have many parents and friends. I feel mainstream does not have they facilities and training to understand my DC needs. We are now pushing for a SEND secondary school in a few years time. I think SEND schools tend to have greater knowledge and understanding on SEND and your DC may actually thrive in that setting. I recommend you go visit a few locally with your DC to see what they have to offer. Many will follow current curriculum but also have an alternative curriculum or life skills for those who are unable to currently achieve those goals.

This is all very confusing. I think if you answered some of the pp questions it would really help. Your DS has a 1 to 1 which is already a big upside to being in his current school - so many schools cannot provide this kind of support. What do you think he actually needs in order to be supported adequately?

so many schools cannot provide this kind of support.

If it’s in the EHCP it must be provided, the school can’t not provide it.

They can call an ehcp review and say they can’t meet needs though. They wokld need to be able to evidence what they have done but they can then say it’s not the right setting

And most local authorities deliberately write ehcp in such a vague way that what needs to be provided isn’t clear. Things like “high level of support” could mean anything!