SEN child told he can not do his options because he will not acheive good grade

[hoxtonbabe]

Oh the joys of schools...

I really have heard it all now, my son has been forced to drop his options for a "skills" course that he does not want to do, was never consulted on or even knew about it, and nor was I for that, and had a lovely stern letter landed on my lap 4 week before the end of school and AFTER he had picked his options, that he can not do xxxx options, not becasue the course is over subscribed, under subscribed,lack of staffing or resources problems or even timetable clashes, but becasue they are convinced he will not get good grades?!?!

I do not even know where to begin on just how discrimitory this is, and have consulted with a number of solicitors whom are just waiting for the go ahead from to start porceedings.

I am still trying to clarify what their "good grades" are but knowing the school that would mean a A*-C surely they should be happy that he actually receives a grade that he can realistically pass considering his needs rather than what they want, what I find even more baffling is that the options they are blocking are options he is actually ok in!?!

Sorry, rant over I just had to get that off my chest, over the last couple of days I have just been sat in my house in disbelief.

You go ahead and rant! This is a disgrace and I hope you manage to drag the school through the law courts and the press for doing this.

My daughter was at a 'high acheiving' school (near 100% A*-C pass level for several years - last year was 100%) and I believe she was forced out becuase they thought her (minor) special needs (not diagnosed when place acheived) might have meant she might not acheive this level.

We are Home Educating now - do you know what you are going to do about his education now? Good Luck anyway

Morecats, this is EXACTLY what this is as well as some other politics regarding meeting his needs, etc.. but if they had been trying to force him out I woundnt have minded as I want him out anyway, but due to his needs not as simple as plonking him in any school but changing schools are actually in the pipeline.

I love the fact that they have not suggested "let us put more support in place" or "is there something you would like to consider" but the total extreme of let as take away his chosen options and replace it with life skills?!?!

I'm fuming for you!! It's disgraceful and all to do with having to look good in the league tables. Please make a huge fuss.

It's quite common around here, they won't let you sit the exams if they don't think you'll do well enough!

I would request a meeting with the school to discuss it. It may well be that life skills ARE more appropriate to his needs. Struggling with options that are beyond him academically might be worse for him. I think you definitely need to speak to the SEN teacher though & hopefully work out between you what is in his best interests.

Yes, that is fine, if for the last 2.5 years they had not been professing he is making progress and all is well, even though I have been saying "i dont think so" also they have not actually given me a reason other than he will struggle, they have not tried to address his "struggles" they did not advise him or even talk to him, just made the decision and said tough...my son is so upset, and naturally I am fuming as it has come out of nowhere.

If they said he would struggle to even get by on the coursework and will struggle to make sense of the work then maybe i could understand, but the words are specifically he will struggle to attain "good grades" why not be happy with what he can realisticlly do, and can not see how chucking on an alternative course he does not want to do and will still require the same level of committment as a GCSE, just not with a big exam at the end is going to be beneficial to him. Also that is the whole point of a statment to allow him to access the curriculum, and wherever possible to have the same opportunities as every other child.

I would rather them say ok, you will only do the Core subjects and lets really help you with that rather than do a course you have no interest in???

School targets seem to do more harm than good :(

Is there any way of moving him to a more helpful school?

"School targets seem to do more harm than good"

It's something they have with most targets (not including targets for shooting practise).

hoxton - are they afraid he will struggle, that the struggle will demoralise and upset him and that he will still fail?

Or are they just unwilling to allow him to get a "bad" passing grade?

Either way, they should have discussed this with you.

Your son deserves better than this.

they do this to kids without SEN as well, if they think you wont get good grades they wont let you take that option

They have not discussed ANYTHING (i do not mean to shout, just stressing the fact, lol) with me or him, so I have no idea what the "struggle" is.

It is as if they own him, like an oject and they do not need to discuss anything with him or me....that is demoralising and upsetting as they are denying him his right to a say on his education. Personally I feel this is an unwillingness to allow him to get a low grade, as if they were so concerned they would be flagging up issues with his worst subject Maths which he is at the level of a year 6 primary school kid. Maths is a core but he will certainly struggle with that, yet equally they will not fully admit to this as it will open a huge can of worms not only for the school but the LEA, as he really should be doing entry level in maths and not sitting GCSE, but the subjects he is actually doing far better at (he may not get A's but is better than entry level) they are saying he can not do.

It is due to this ridiculous reasoning as to why and the acual wording of the letter which makes it discrimitory. Its funny as no kids with SEN achieved any A*-D grades last year, which really doesnt surprise me after knowing what I have been going through.

Nailik, I have heard this quite a bit now. Is this something that they are actually allowed to do? What I do not understand if say a child is mentally only capable of acheiving a D or E, why is that child not allowed to try and get that D or E? rather than being told, no you are not allowed to even try. I am not being sarcastic, I genunely wish to know how all this works.

Thanks.

That's appalling - not to have discussed it with you even.

I don't have any experience of this sort of thing, I just wanted to voice my sadness that a school can behave so shittily to someone they should be doing their best to help.

what has your solicitor said? im amazed that they have been so blatant.i hope you wipe the floor with them.

I wonder whether writing to your MP would help? Might be good to draw attention to this sort of problem anyway.

"What I do not understand if say a child is mentally only capable of acheiving a D or E, why is that child not allowed to try and get that D or E? rather than being told, no you are not allowed to even try."

There is no good reason to stop a pupil capable of a passing grade from studying a subject and sitting an exam.

There may be bad reasons.

Even if he got a 'G' it's a pass at level 1. Maybe they can only be bothered to teach those predicted to gain a level 2 (A* - C) which makes a mockery of GSCEs as they are the standard qualifications of the 'comprehensive' system. i.e. available to all.

Why do they have D/E grades if children aren't suppose to be able to get them? It makes a nonsense of the whole idea of the GSCE system. It would actually make it more two-tier than O-level/CSE - at least then, if you weren't likely to get an O level you could still get a recognised qualification. This seems to be 'O-level equivalent' (not that it is now, I suppose) or nothing.

The data predicted my daughter would get Es in Core Science, Additional Science and French. I've no reason to doubt that data - she was in bottom set Science at KS3 and 5c in French. However, they didn't stop her trying and she has just sat the final exams and is right, bang smack on the C/D borderline. It's been hard work but a student motivated by an outcome can do well with hard work at GCSE. In fact, many of her friends who had been in higher Science sets ended up doing BTEC Science as they didn't work for the module exams and did really badly in them. So, yes, talk to the school about their reason and if it's not a good one, and your son wants to do the subject - fight for him. He deserves better than this, whatever his ability.

LOL at Vicar...

Isnt it just something, this is what I keep harping on about to my friend, the blatantness of it all. So let us lay it out:

Son has statment, very tight no room for misinteretation: Lazy, useless senco decides she cant be bothered to to implement, did 1 term and said he didnt need it...WITHOUT TELLING ME. I found out 6 months later.

LEA pay for speech therapist with taxpayers money, supposed to work with my son every week for an hour, she goes in every week for 15 months, at his review meeting she states it is my fault my son has SEN and he no longe needs help. When I ask for evidence of her decision, she has none, not kept notes, not written up any of the plans and stratagies as set out in the statement, no evidence whatsoever, she could have simply gone in and had a cuppa and a fag. Senco and SLT hatch this plan together as they are all firends.

LEA remove provision that he was not ever actually getting anyway, and not have is basic as in xxx hours teacher assistant support, there has been no documented evidence of how my son is helped or how long for.

The secno has never written an "proper" IEP, despite it being on his statmenet. By prpoer I mean actually drawing one up termly like it says and not simply change the date of the last one and everything else remain the same for the last 2.5 years, not new targets set, nothing.

The school sat back, waited for my son pick his options, no talk about struggles and difficultes, connexions advisior who saw my son in April said nothing did not discuss his options or anything.

Then a few days ago the school have the audicity and arrogance to say, sorry we wont allow him to do xxx options because he wont get the good grades and will struggle. When you look at the above, is it any wonder.

Well dont your daughter Kez100 :)

That is impressive.

And that is what a good schools should be aiming for - to get their pupils working to their absolute capacity, whatever their ability.

Anywhere can get an A out of a student that was always going to get an A, but it takes a special kind of school (not to mention parent and student) to support a pupil to outperform what is expected of them.

Grimma: EXACTLY, why bother have it if they are not supposed to get it.

Lee: That is what is really boils down to, the problem is by law they are supposed to help him and this is where they are going to have to explain themselves, had he not had the statement then it is a different, wrong as all kids should get help regardless, but as it stands the kids with statmentnts are entitled to extra help.

I am glad most people can see that this is wrong, if nothing for the fact that nothing was discussed with us before making their crazy decision. Sometimes as parents we can get so filled with emotions and anger at the injustise that our children face, wthat logic and rationale go out the window at times, and I like to deal with logic, facts and common sense, and the fact that the majority are saying "hmmm, something is not right here" has given me the strength to fight this.

Thanks all so much.

You know I am fuming on your behalf. Even in a MLD secondary school the dc have to follow the national curriculum rather then giving them extra time to do the core subject and life skills stuff.

Then in the non "LD" schools they stop dc regardless of SEN or not the opportunity to sit exams they have worked towards for 2 years. Now to dictate that your ds is denied the basic right to choose options it's quite frankly disgusting. What have they been doing for the last 3 years!!!! They should have been determining his strongest subjects and steering him towards those and sorting out his maths .

Isn't that what education is about for every child, helping identify their strengths and helping them achieve in those and the core subjects of maths and english?????

That is exactly what it is, a dictatorship regime. He calls school prison and longs for the days of primary school, not becaasue it was easy as it was never easy for him, but the more nuturing nature of it and the confidence they gave him. I cry for him everyday and I blame myself for this as I picked the miserable school. The only redeeming factor in all this is that he has his sights set frimly on being a police officer or the Army and knows he needs to do extra well for the Police force, so he while he hates his school, he does not hate education and he is all geared up for police cadets :-) I am also trying to steer him into a more pratcical profession just in case it doesnt pan out

This is a school trying to protect their precious A* to C % level but doing it all the wrong way.
I would write to the head teacher confirming that neither you or your child have been party to any discussion on what has been agreed, saying that you are making a formal complaint, that it is completely discriminatory and that they have 7 days to correct the issue. Failure to do that will result in you starting legal proceedings to take the school to court for disability discrimination.
Maybe the penny will then start to drop that they are discriminating.

This is appalling. I'm a senco in a secondary school (just started) and can not believe how much your son has been let down. I would demand a meeting with the head of the school and the parent partnership representatives in your area. It's clear in my mind that they are discriminating against your son's right to a broad and balanced education, particularly if it says in his statement that he needs access to all the curriculum with adaptations made as necessary.
Unbelievable. I hope this gets sorted for you.