My child being placed with immediate effect on Reduced Timetable (Reception)

[breakingdads]

Hi,

Would like anyone who has experience with primary / reception education to help if possible. My child is in reception (he is the youngest in the year - in fact, born 2 days later would probably be starting this coming September). He has been in nursery and pre-school care full time since 2 without any problems, in fact glowing reports which eased my worries of him entering reception this past September. However in the last 3 months, apparantly, he has started to have some problems in class, with concentration, being tired, territorial etc which have resulted in some aggressive acts - hitting out. I have had this flagged up twice, but the school have said they have been able to deal with it. However last week, we got a call to say that he had injured a teacher and for this reason, he will be put on a reduced timetable with immediate effect. Obviously this has had a major impact on how we manage things with him not being in class at all now 5 mornings a week. Since it has happened I have found out that the incident seemed more accidental than premeditated (he had fallen asleep and the teacher had woke him up, which startled him and he jumped off the chair indavertently onto her hand which was on the floor). Now in the conversations I initially had, I was in absolute shock as I was being told "my child had broken a staff members arm) so was apologising profusely, to the point that I was just agreeing to everything they said. However as the matters sinks in, I am starting to wonder if the way they have acted is a)lawful b)ethical and c) in the best interest of my child. At this point in time, I have had no written information about his behaviour in class which has resulted in this reduced timetable, I have had no information on what they plan to do going forward, no plan etc I have signed nothing saying that my child can go to a reduced timetable. Literally just been told he can't come in anymore in the mornings - deal with it. I've just accepted things and muddled my way through this week. Obviously a solution could be that we have to continue with the reduced timetable and look at deferring him till this coming September. However all feedback received from the reception teacher is that he is managing his school work well, its just that he is not coping emotionally with the reception class. I've been told that with a class of 30 he can't expect to get any personal treatment, but the more I am reading about this - it seems there is an obligation for the school to look at every possible way of keeping a child in class and integrating them which doesn't seem to have happened. His behaviour with me is absolutely spot on so I am also trying to work out what is triggering his so called behaviour in class ( which again seems to be unrecorded and anecdotal at best ). If anyone has any constructive advice it would be much appreciated, as I feel I have agreed to something under "the fog" of being made to feel guilty on something that myself and child shouldnt really have been made to feel guilty of. Muddling through this week, but very difficult when full time working at the same time. My child hasn't got a clue what is happening, just keeps on asking when they can go back into school. Thanks again.

Poor kid! I hope you can clarify the situation with the HT…

School should have followed the behaviour policy. The incident should have been logged. You should have had a meeting to discuss the way forward, is this for an agreed period of time, will he gradually extend his time in school etc. There should then be another meeting before he returns. He is nearly a year younger than some of the children in the same class, the days are long, you need a very clear picture of the incident itself and how it was dealt with and if anything was put in place to support him prior to this...
I feel that the school have missed out some pathways and protocol and gone straight to reduced timetable.
If they are not willing to discuss or you feel they are not listening to you look for a place at another school where EYs specialists are more aware of the differing needs of children. Good luck x

No it isn't. He's not compulsory school age yet.

I worked for 23 years at school and a good teacher will spot a tired out child and let them have a nap on the class cushion or the book corner or pop them to the well being team for some quiet time out in a peaceful spot... I wouldn't be happy with the reaction you got, it wasn't pre meditated or done in a rage, he was startled, sleepy and is only a dog, we ask so much of our very youngest children IMA

Dot not dog...

Yes it is. The statutory exclusion guidance applies to those below CSA too, as you can see from one of the links in my pp. Children are entitled to attend full time from the September following their 4th birthday. Parents can choose to send them part time or not at all until they are CSA, but it is the parents’ choice.

The school have handled this really badly. I have a kid who has some behaviour issues as part of SEN. At one point she was on a risk reduction plan, which we had to sit down and agree with the school. It was part of a structured pathway to help identify adjustments and manage behaviour in kids that demonstrate risky/aggressive behaviour. This only happened after a pattern of difficult behaviour had been identified. (the plan worked, we now have a kid doing really well in school).

They shouldn't just slap on a reduced timetable with no run up, no discussion on how ti get back to full timetable and no discussion on what adjustments your child might need.

This all sounds really really off.

Seems like a massive over reaction on their part. My son started reception this year and he is typical of other boys in his class who have taken some time to adjust and behave. With my DD I never heard anything like this but all children are different and DS's behaviour, while a few things which are tbh quite similar to things your son has had flagged up, nobody has ever said it's either atypical or needs further action.

I wouldn't want my DC at a school where they couldn't handle a tired and slightly overwhelmed sounding 4 year old little child.

Also my friend's son has suspected SEN and has had some lashing out behaviour/meltdowns, from what she's said the school are being great about it and all the focus is on helping him avoiding triggers and meltdowns. This sounds like avoidance of the problem rather than management.

This is what I now think should have happened, last week I was a rabbit in the headlights, but I am starting to understand things a little more this week. The lack of discussion, documentation, evidence and openess has been staggering - last week I was just in a daze thinking what has my child done to a teacher and feeling guilty / apologetic. Now more is coming out I feel that protocols have been breached. It does feel like they are trying to do things by the back door and hoping as one of the posters said be "that parent"

It also sounds really silly and backwards to me on a fundamental level for a tired child to be told to not come in in the mornings but go in the afternoon - he's likely still going to be struggling!! Would an earlier pick up not have made so much more sense??

Hi op

please ask to see the schools policy on exclusion - should possibly be available on their website.

write a complaint to the governing body if it hasn’t been followed correctly.

but ultimately sounds like terrible management - I would look at changing schools ASAP

It's illegal.

You cannot exclude without paperwork.

First thing tomorrow you email in and say if you don't have the official paperwork for each half day he's been excluded for since it started you'll be a) sending him in full time for anyday you don't have the exclusion paperwork for when school starts and b) reporting to ofsted as you believe they are trying to off roll him.

If you were in discussion about this and it's was agreed mutually you could do half days as he's not yet after the term he turns 5. This is very unusual though as they miss out on the learning their peers are getting.

Also why is he in just afternoons? That's a shorter session? And every infant/ primary school I've ever worked in they do maths/ phonics and core subjects in the mornings and topic etc afternoons.

Fwiw (not much, I know) when I started school last century aged 5y2m, the start of the Easter term after I'd turned 5, the entire class had to lie down on mats for a proper rest at the start of the afternoon session. It was not unusual for children to fall asleep. Your son @breakingdads is much younger than we were. Everything about this feels wrong to me. Contact Head and governors.

If he’s missing the morning isn’t he going to miss all the literacy and numeracy elements? As he can’t redo reception that’s going to make next year a nightmare!

I’d definitely apply to defer if you can. It’s ok not to be emotionally/ socially ready for school. It’s much easier in preschool where you can have a snooze on massive cushions if you need to. Next year will be easier.

My August born child has SEN needs which weren’t fully apparent to us until he was in a class with his peers. He was excluded for injuring a teacher at the beginning of reception and then put onto a reduced timetable as he wasn’t coping with a full day at school. We made the decision to keep him in reception instead of progressing to year 1, which was definitely the right decision. We are now very slowly increasing his timetable (having previously attempted, many times, and it not working out) and he’ll go up to year 1 in September. When all this happened, we were really worried about discrimination (mainly because we didn’t understand how badly he was struggling initially) but the school have been incredibly supportive since and the LA got involved to help support him further. It was a blessing in disguise. He’s had an early years inclusion worker as a result of his exclusion and he now has an EHCP (helped by the evidence!) and a 1:1 LSA who is fabulous. As it’s relevant, my son also used to fall asleep at school. He also loves school and always has - he just wasn’t ready and has SEN needs.

Again, as you will see in this thread, I have no explanation on why things have happened in the way they have and why mornings were requested by the school for him to be excluded. Plenty of questions to go back to the Head Teacher with now I have gathered my thoughts and got some really useful info from lots on this thread.

My son has repeated reception. It’s not for everyone and wasn’t a decision to be made lightly but it is possible.

@SeenYourArse Your children are not reflective of all other children. Not all children would need that amount of sleep and some children might need more.

No chance, if it's that bad as they say he should have 1-1 support with this

A class of thirty? Is that normal? Poor wee mite. Sounds exhausted, doesn't sound like a great environment for him. Why did she wake him? He was obviously exhausted.

No, this isn't correct. My Summer born DS started reception and despite attending the nursery part time previously quite happily and having a very nice reception teacher he was very stressed by the whole experience, he would wake at night upset and worried about school the next day.

I insisted on taking him out and putting him in part time child care then he restarted reception the next time around. It was perfect for him and he fitted in much better and all anxiety disappeared and he made lots of friends.

Understandably, school tried to talk me out of it but I wasn't about to back down as I went through this with an older summer born boy and was told back then I wasn't allowed to defer so didn't question it - which I regret.

I was warned he may have to miss a year at some point but that hasn't materialised and he has just received his letter to confirm high school place with it not even being mentioned.

I think you should go back to the head and say you were in shock initially but want to discuss it all again. First thing that stands out is that they have said he is tired but have asked him to come in the afternoon. I would request mornings and agree a fixed amount of weeks to reintegrate him into a full day. He is still very young but I suspect he did full days at pre-school? Also if you have work you need him to do full days.

I deferred my DS starting until the month he turned 5, so he only did less than half a year of reception. However he stayed at his pre-school until that time and ironically had a slightly longer day at preschool. It worked out well for him though.

I think if your child is 4 years old they don't have to be in school. Are there any relevant policies on the school website.