Subject access request for an academy

[MamaTess]

Hi all, just want to tap into someone's legal knowledge if possible..

I have been requesting my son's school assessments since his reports came out in July, the school have outright ignored me.

They called me in for a meeting on Monday this week, and I asked to record them as we just go round it circles with them promising actions that never happen, they said I could not record but that they would take minutes. In the meeting they said they cannot provide his assessments or any data/scores around it as it's not information that they actually keep. They changed to an academy in September and all there systems changed so they don't have access to this information, but even if they did, it doesn't exist. I asked for his year 6 ones as they did baseline assessments at the beginning of this year and they don't keep them either...

This doesn't ring true to me at all so I asked them to refuse my request, with the reason in writing. They are ignoring me again. I want to put in a legal request for the information, so that they have to refuse it in writing. However I have just read that a SAR does not apply to an academy. Does any one know if there is other avenues? Or if the SAR might apply to all information held before they became an academy?

I'm so fed up of being ignored, all I originally wanted was to ask some questions about why his school report differed so much to the cognition and specialist report they had done a few weeks before. I just want an accurate picture of how far behind he is, and they just keep telling me he isn't, but won't provide actual information. 😩

Yes, I started the letters with 'I am writing to make a formal complaint' I never actually chased afterwards though tbh, it was more to record my complaint if that makes sense. They didn't respond at all. I will definitely look up the new policy though. Thank you

The school are not required to keep any ‘evidence’ of the level a child is working at. It is also possible for a child with significant needs to be working at or near to age related expectations, and therefore not need any additional funding for interventions which are additional to, or different from, those which are already provided by the school. Both you and the school can be telling the truth here.

You can request an EHCNA yourself. On their website IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

It is also possible for a child with significant needs to be working at or near to age related expectations, and therefore not need any additional funding for interventions which are additional to, or different from, those which are already provided by the school.

Being near, at or above ARE does not mean a pupil does not require SEP that requires additional funding.

Just be aware that if a SAR request is put in it will almost certainly result in taking staff away from supporting students whilst they trawl through and redact 1000’s of emails.

Then they should be more supportive of an EHCNA request and OP may not need to submit a SAR.

Are there other local schools?

I agree, and I am more than happy to concede to that fact if they can show me that it is the case. I would be genuinely over the moon if that is actually true, I'm honestly not trying to catch them out.

The issue is, I am asking them why their reports state that this is the case, but the professional reports are placing him significantly behind, and saying he needs this support (that they aren't putting into place). They can't answer me, that's why I have requested his assessments, they didn't reply to any of my emails regarding this, just called me into a meeting then missed that off the minutes...I don't trust them anymore.

This has been ongoing for years now, not this specifically but aspects of it, and I am upset and frustrated. I ask for referrals and they say no, as no issues in school, I go around them or push and as soon as we get professional reports they indicate significant issues. His ADHD for example they outright refused to refer, so we went via the GP instead. The ADHD nurse observed in school, and my son wasn't doing anything except looking out the window and fiddling with the displays, we have had the exact same thing with his dyspraxia and dyslexia. I have really had to fight them every step, and it's such an insult that they aren't actually putting in the recommendations - they have said they aren't, their attitude is basically what's the point in teaching him to spell he has dyslexia!

My son locked himself in the toilet at school, and was banging his head on the wall, and shouting he wanted to die, as he was so frustrated with his school work. He is telling me he is crying in class daily. He is not doing ok, and they aren't recognising that he just can't access his work.

I hope that gives you a better idea of where I am coming from. :-)

Yes, he is on the waiting list. But now he is in year 6 I'm not sure if it's right to move him from his friends either tbh. Its a no win really. At the moment unless he actually gets a place somewhere else I don't need to make that decision in guess. I will discuss with him if it ever happens.

I sent his younger brother to a different school - just haven't been able to have him join him. :+(

As said they are not exempt from sars. You can also record any meeting you like without asking their consent as long as it's for your personal use only and you don't share it with anyone else. I believe you can transcribe and share if necessary.

Definitely do an EHC needs request op also take your son to the gp and have his MH difficulties documented and ask for a referral. If school is impacting his MH so badly consider keeping him at home the same way you would if he was physically ill. Tell school he is off due to anxiety and MH due to his unmet special educational needs

Just thought I’d raise a quick point - as a year 6 teacher! They absolutely should be keeping evidence of where he is at this year. They will have moderation in the summer. We collect evidence of maths, writing and reading the whole year as we will get given a random selection of children and have to justify where we have placed them (eg expected, working towards etc). So I find it difficult to believe they have no evidence at all from the last 6 weeks. We still have our baseline assessments so we can use it to target inventions and see progress in set areas. This should be standard, even academies will have moderation in year 6. I can understand having little evidence generally but they should definitely be building it this year for every student and you SHOULD be able to access that.

There's only teacher assessment for writing now though, maths and reading end of year levels come from the SATs tests, so technically you don't need to evidence those. However, I can't believe that any Year 6 class hasn't undertaken any tests before now, either end of year 5 assessments/beginning of year 6 baselines or practice tests of SOME description. Similarly, it would be a very unusual school that didn't have some form of end of year assessment, even if just ticking off objectives achieved. Again, the only statutory assessments that will have been completed are the year 2 SATS so I suppose your child COULD be in a school in the country that doesn't have any form of tracking between year 2 and year 6 but I highly doubt it!

I didn't know this. Thank you

OP you need to be clear what your want the outcome to be. You are going to complain that assessments have been provided or put in a SAR to receive iso records. If the complaint is upheld you will be given a pile of potentially meaningless information. Even if you do find out if he is behind - that is the end of the process.

From what I can gather is what you want is additional support for your son. Complaining about not receiving assessment information or putting in a SAR will not secure that.

A school cannot typically refer for an ADHD assessment- it is the GP.
Dyspraxia is a medical diagnosis- not a school one.
It is very very rare for a school to do a dyslexia assessment They are very expensive and many LAs do not support schools funding them. The school was not be awkward by not commissioning one- it is exceptional that they did.

1. You need to ask for a face to face meeting with the SENCo. You should be having those anyway if he has a support plan (he should be on the SEN register and have a support plan- might be called an IEP) You can then go through what additional support he is receiving and the progress that he is making. Go through each specialist report and identify what support the schools should be giving- get that put in the plan with a 6 weekly review initially and them termly
2. You can submit a request for an EHCP linked to his ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia . You can do that without the school (probably better if you try and do it with them). You may or may not be successful but if you are it will detail the additional support that he needs- and the school will be obliged to supply it. It takes 20 weeks minimum (LA dependent). You can receive an EHCP with no additional funding.

It depends on where the OP lives. In some areas, schools can refer for an ADHD assessment. Same for dyspraxia.

Evidence gathered from a SAR can support an EHCNA request and, if necessary, an appeal.

With a few exceptions that do not apply to the majority of cases, the EHCP process takes a maximum of 20 weeks. This is a statutory timescale that applies to all LAs (even the ones who think it doesn’t) and, if necessary, can be enforced where LAs breach it.

Many (if not most) LAs are failing to meet 20 weeks.
20 weeks from submission is a pretty realistic minimum, I am not aware of any LAs currently doing them in much less that 20 weeks

But if you could name some that would be very helpful the OP if she happened to be in 1?

I didn’t post LAs were doing them quicker, did I? As I posted, the 20 weeks is a statutory timescale that can be enforced if necessary even in LAs which believe it doesn’t apply to them. Parents do not just have to accept LA’s breaching statutory timescales.

Think it is more like 18 months here but our LA SEND team is in special measures

Parents don’t have to sit back and accept the LA taking 18 months. They can challenge the LA and enforce their DC’s rights if necessary, which is why it is important they know the law behind the EHCP process otherwise they don’t know the LA is acting unlawfully.

How was your son assessed as being significantly behind? What assessments did they use? Have you tried asking how he has performed on any mock sats tests? That should give you some idea about where he sits now in relation to where he needs to be by the end of the year.

All of these come from the school where I am and this is the only avenue I had in terms of diagnosis assessment. The GP initially sent us back to the school for ADHD referral, then he did it for us when I went back again saying they were refusing, as he could see as clear as day that my son met criteria to be assessed, he told it was always via school.

The OT referral for assesments related to dyspraxia also had to come from school. We saw an OT and then a consultant to confirm diagnosis. This is the norm here.

I'm not sure where you live, but it's certainly not exceptional for Dyslexia assessment to be done by the school here! It was that, or go private....which we weren't sure would be accepted by the school (our private OT report was ignored)

In terms of the outcome right now I want them to put the provision in place that he needs, as they are ignoring the reports, and saying he is working at expected levels. I'm questioning this, and they are outright ignoring me. I'm hoping the SAR will either confirm they do not hold this information (in writing) or give me the information I need to take the next steps. I have lost all trust in them, and as others have said it's not normal that they can't provide me with the baseline assessments he took at the beginning of this year, or any information around that, at the very least.

I hope that explains some what where I am at and my intentions.

I dont see the point of being observed in a classroom for adhd.
Dd is on the pathway but observation in class would imply nothing.
Its not like shes running round in there she is likely
Talking (if she knows the person next to her)
Biting nails
Drawing
Not doing the work.

Similarly she struggles queuing but its not immediate, she will sgart messing about with her sister.
Her main symptom is impulsivity.
So a playground observation would show more.

Regarding the info why not do sats practice tests at home? Maybe one set now and another in january.

This is the issue with no levels you have no idea where a child is. Dd2 scraped a pass at ks1 sats still given met. But other sats subject got exceeding on but still only given a pass. So its manipulated to show whatever.
Sven the books dont show the full licture as with dd1 i didnt realise they hand out the maths sheets so some kids only get the basics. The book not telling me that dd1 missed all extension work!

With spelling our school dont teach it so much as test the kids.
Maybe try spellig shed or squeebles spelling or just writing out several times.

One child got full marks on the sats spelling - its about their memory plus for that dc a lot of reading. In the end it doesnt really matter as much as their imagination and arguments etc or comprehension.