Social Services Involvement Help

[pope1]

Hi everybody i dont no if i am doing this thread in the right place but anyway i need advice.

My 9 year old Son has global developmental delay and is in a special school with a statement. yesterday i got a phone call from the head of year that my son is refusing to do religious education the topic was Hinduism mine and my childs religion is Muslim. she said that my child has said that he is going to Pakistan and they are coming to get him she also said that he has said that he has a blue colored mobile phone and that he speaks to them in his bedroom taking the above into consideration as my child is venerable that they are referring him to the Multi Agency Services Hub basically social services. I told her not to put the referral in as its a matter i want to discuss face to face so she said the other head of year will contact me as they have 2 of them and will put the referral on hold. when i went into school to pick my child up the other head of year and the lady who phoned me was there and advised that the referral has been put in even though i was advised that its been put on hold with out my consent. They also told me that ounce the referral has been put in the MASH have 24 hours to come back to the school and told us to come back to school today so she can tell us what MASH have said. when we got to the school she told us that its been 24 hours but they have not made contact yet and because of the weekend it will be Monday

Now me and my wife are so frustrated and panicking whats going to happen have MASH not made contact because they are not worried or have they started there investigation already?

The schools concern is its Terrorism related because we are Muslims and are ancestry country is Pakistan?

please help someone advice on what is going to happen or what i should do please as very upset dont no how we are going to get over the weekend.

many thanks

Hi Pope
Please do not worry over the weekend. As Teachers we have to train and understand the 'Prevent programme' and we have to report any concerns. We similarly have to report any child abuse concerns etc. What your son has said would alert some worries and would need to be reported but will be treated in context.

Try not to worry over the weekend. There isn't much that you can do between now and when MASH do make contact with either yourselves or the school.

I would be concerned as to where your son was getting this information from though.
What he has told his teachers does raise some serious questions regarding terrorism and radicalisation.

I'd be trying to get to bottom of where he got those ideas from.

I don't think the school can legally hold it back until they've talked to you. They have to report it asap, even if they think he's making it up.
I expect the first person said it was okay, but then the second person said that they couldn't.

I would think it would be 24 hours of a working week unless serious concerns, in which case Monday would be usual.

I do agree with the above though. That is quite detailed for a 9yo making it up. Have you checked his internet history? I wonder if he's seen a you-tube video with something that's sparked it off.

As the child has global developmental delay, could it be information he’s heard from someone else and is just repeating it. Who might have given him these ideas? Can he navigate the internet? What videos might he have seen when he’s not been with you. I think he wouldn’t have the imagination to make all of this up.

However, please don’t worry because it will be looked at in context regarding his SEN.

They would not have been able to just wait to speak to you again. We (schools) have to act in a timely manner. Considering it was Friday, waiting to talk with you again would have made the referral be delayed to the Monday.

Ok, in the off chance this was true AND something had happened over the weekend, the school would have been in lots of trouble.

A referral under PREVENT is a special kind of referral and discussions between a dedicated PREVENT officer and the school usually happens when concerns are voiced. If the officer says it must be followed through, the school can’t delay.

Please don’t worry too much. But, children like your son are very vulnerable AND if by the off chance someone is using the vulnerability without your knowledge, it is best to get it sorted.

Best wishes to your family.

The Referral was put in on Thursday i got the first call from the schools head at 12.45 and then when i went in to school to pick my child up at 3.00pm was told by the other head of year that its been put in. so they must of put it in between 12.45 and 3.00pm

can any body advice how long this will go on for what will Social Services do? Will they try and remove my child from me all of these thoughts are going through my mind. Thank you

@pope1 your son has raised some serious red flags regarding radicalisation.
They will want to get to the bottom of why he is saying those things and whether they have any sustenance.

How exactly social services will deal with it, I'm not entirely sure.
I'd imagine visits to your home, chats with yourself/partner and son. They will also talk to the school, GP and other professionals who have contact with your son to try and build a picture of what is going on.

It will all be explained to you though.

Work with social services.

My can't even count to 10 properly he does have a I-Pad but he only watches Cbeebies on there as he likes Mr Tumble any way the device has been Disabled so he can't access anything of a wrong nature and I never let him use it on his own? Thank you

@pope1 is there any other way that he could of accessed inappropriate content? A film on the TV maybe?

Does he have contact with other adults who could of been speaking about those things?

With his SEN I can't imagine him making this story up (with such fine details) from his own mind.

Have you any other concerns?

It’s really really hard to remove a child and for it to be done without lots of opportunities to rectify any perceived failings the child has to be at serious serious risk of immediate harm.

Most likely a social worker will make contact in due course, within a week or so. I doubt they will rank this as a priority! I made a referral back in April and still waiting for some proper contact from the social worker!

Yes my son has SEN but he also likes tell tales and likes a bit of audience and attention. Like ounce he told his teacher that my dad had a big car accident last night and is in hospital so the school phoned me and asked if every thing was ok i was approaching the school gate to pick him up so went in to show my self that I am fine and there has been no car crash. On another occasion he refused to listen to the teacher and participate in any think in class and insisted that he wants to make a birthday card for his younger brother as it's his birthday so the tearchers helped him make one. When I went to pick him the teacher said happy birthday to my younger child so I told her it's not his birthday. He does these kind things because he finds it funny.

Are ancestors are from Pakistan and so is my wife as well so he does no about Pakistan. Weather he has seen something on TV I don't no because he always watches Cbeebies and he has no contact with anybody else except parents.

Will the Social Services do a Section 47 enquiry? I am searching the Web and finding lots of thinks dreading what's going to happen tommorow.

pope1 stop worrying yourself, please. From what you say your child is not culpable, however he has heard something, maybe from the news? Social services will only want to protect him.

Just been contact with the school the head assistant says that MASH have still made no contact with the school. She also said that she has some Safe Guarding time and that's when she will phone up and ask