unjustified detention - aaaaaaargh!!!!

[medmum]

My year 7 son got detention today for forgetting to get his planner signed in the last week of last term. He was made to do 50 lines.

The issue is that he has dyslexia. He is very forgetful and disorgansied as a result and finds writing very slow and difficult. He therefore took so long doing these lines that he missed lunch.

He was punished for forgeting which is part of his dyslexia, and then further punished by being forced to do a task that he struggles with! I think that this is very unfair and some consideration / allowances should have been made. I have written in his planner saying the above.

However, I still need the schoool on-side to help him [so far they are mostly talk and a little action], so how much further should I take it?

It has me so cross that I am up here writing this rather than sleeping!! What should I do next?

Go straight to the SENCO, ask for a copy of his IEP, get SENCO to liaise with all his teachers so that they know his specific needs and how they can support him.
Keep on top of it and push. It will probably take the rest of Y7 to hammer out an understanding, but it will be worth it for the rest of his time in school.
Ensure that any future punishments are not linked to his dyslexia, we have litter picking and tidying etc as alternatives.
Post on the SN boards here for more support and advice.

The teachers know but I don't think they understand. The teacher who did this is new and has a boyfriend with dyslexia so I thought she woud be sympathetic. I even spoke to her last term and she seemed to want to help!
His tutor group has a number of disruptive children in it and he may have got caught up in that. A lot of parents have complained. I have asked for him to be moved but was refused. I have not yet pushed it but I can see it coming.

Good idea will also post on SEN board - thanks

Put your requests in writing and emailed to at least 2 members of staff. Then there is a paper trail, for yourself at any rate.

I agree about the time it can take for things to be ironed out at secondary school. Don't just expect things to switch to 100% ok over a 2 week period.

Remember to remind the relevant teachers of whatever it is at the start of every term and half term, the support needs to be ongoing, so your support/contact with the staff needs to be ongoing too.

Nice chocolates with a smile as an encouragement can't hurt! (I need to fix this for my son's school over the next few days).

I have an update on above.

My son didn't go to school today as he "felt unwell" and although we thought he was probably faking we didn't know for sure.

Phoned the school to tell them and ended up speaking to a Pastoral support person who spoke to all teachers - his tutor [the guilty party], the SENCO and HoY etc. His tutor is a new teacher and now realises that she was a bit excessive, although did have good intentions.
He is to see this pastoral support lady on monday so that they can start "mending bridges" with him.

So a bit of a result - a lot of concern an willingness on the part of the school to put things right. I also raised the issues about being at the back in some lessons and his Set for maths. Hopefully this episode will not be repeated and may serve to expidite resolution of the other issues!?!

To be fair YOU know his planner needs signing on a weekly basis so that is something YOU can help your child with.
In my school detentions are issued for unsigned planners - your child will soon learn how to forge your signature as most of my form have :)

If he is forgetful and disorganised because of his dyslexia or otherwise, then he needs to (with your help) come up with systems to remind himself of things that need doing, such as getting his planner signed.

If you try and get him out of detentions for disorganisation, you won't be doing him any good in the long run. He will eventually need to organise himself and allowances won't be made for dyslexia in the 'real' world, so why not start now?

Maddy - lol - my son also regularly forgets to get his planner signed - forged my signature and had a sarcastic remark from his teacher about the 'very unrealistic signature' - good on her! - rather than giving him a detention - which he knows IS the punishment- embarrasseed him into getting me to sign it. It worked for him- he hasn't forgotten since!