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.

Admission exactly, why don't they protect their precious grades by giving students the support they need to achieve them!

"why don't they protect their precious grades by giving students the support they need to achieve them!"

No, no, no

That kind of thinking is part of the problem - it pretends that all pupils are capable of certain grades if they work hard enough/are taught well enough.

And it's just not true.

For plenty of kids a D or an E is a good grade, and stupid target grades completely ignore that.

I think that being denied the chance to do a course is a difficult one as lots of kids without SEN have the same issue. For example only the top set in a lot of secondary schools are allowed to do triple science. Being weak at English sometimes rules out doing a second language.

I think its one of those things you need to think carefully about before jumping in all guns blazing. If your son's educational levels are low then a skills course may well be more appriopiate to his needs. If he comes out of the course with a "U" then it has done him no favours.

What are your son's national curriculum levels. How far below the norm is he? Its hard to know if the school are being discrimatory without know what type of SEN a child has. For example a child with aspergers is easily capable of a normal curriculum, but there might be some special needs where the parent simply has their head in the sand.

I thought that GCSE grades A*-C were supposed to be equivalent to old O-level passes. Only the top 25% of pupils ever got to take those. Add to that however many got Grade I CSE .... that should be approximately the percentage who get these grades. I don't believe kids have got that much inherently brighter, maybe the teaching is somewhat better but surely when GCSEs were designed the majority would have been expected not to get C and above?

Really Tired. My sons options are not anything like triple scinece, that I could undertand and ALL the pupils are told from the off what they can pick depending on their sets. My son picked all options that he was supposedly allowed to do for his set. He picked subjects that he was better at at. he picked his 4 and they allowed him to do 2 (history and ICT) but these were the the 2 he consistantly does better in becasue he has always had a keen interest in from age 8, History will still require as much coursework and the format will be more or less the same as the subjects they have denied him. Had they simply said right you will only do these 2 options that is different as that will free up more time to concentrate on the the cores, etc...but instead they denied the other 2 options which he likes and chucked him on a cousre he has no interest in whatsoever. They said he could not do PE due to the science/biology involved but when I look at the options booklet it does not state that there is any kind of written exam?!? (all the other options do) yet there has been no concerns raised about his core science, geography which was another option they blocked, this I could understand somewhat as there is quite a bit of coursework, but no more than History, but why not see if there is something else he would like to do, or give him extra support rather than flat out denying and picking a course he has no interest in, this is where is becomes very suspicious.

Having a statment does change things a bit because he is allocated additional support, and that additional support should be used appropiately and I would think puting it towards the subjects of his choice is just that. His levels are not so low that he would get a U in his subjects, that much I know, with the right support, decent teaching and the right tools he can acheive reasonable grades, this is what they did in Primary, so no reason why the same can not be applied in secondary, and if too time consuming or not in the best interst of the other pupls then the school need to be admitting they can not meet his needs, and they still need to explain how if they are saying he can not do Geog or PE, how on earth he is going to cope with the cores??

For instance his handwriting is slow, they have commented on this many times, yet sat there and watched his struggle to keep up rather than issue him with a laptop which will help and been advised they dont bother, it is this nonsense that drives me mad as my son is not struggling due to being thick, it is because the school have not bothered to support him and when I ask them they complain that I am on the phone at them again?!?! Primary school they gave him lots of support and over the years became independent and it was due to that support and understanding he reached a level 4 in year 6 and this was a child with severe needs if he had kept at that rate of primary school, he would probably not even need his statment anymore... but ever since secondary he has been on a downward spiral, and they have done nothing to rectify this, just sat and watched the decline and now they say he cant cope when they have never even tried to prop him up so to speak, so yes, I will go in guns a blazing as it is morally and ethically wrong.

I agree with Admission and hope the threat of legal action makes the school reconsider.

Given what you have said about the failure to deliver the support set out in your son's statement, I would also contact the LA. They are responsible for ensuring the support is delivered and are clearly failing to do so. I would highlight their non-compliance with the statement and the action the school is now proposing to take and tell them that unless they start delivering the required support you will refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman.

the school has failed him completely and utterly

We are going to court next month (the LEA) over all parts of his statement..this is another reason why the have done this, they actually think this is going to help keep him, his funding and theycan continue to put him down. The SEN code and the UN conventions of the rights of a child have stated children must have their voice heard in all decisions relating to their education...I would like to see how the LEA and Head are going to get out of this as they had decided, sent the letter and not told my son

The LGO have already found in my favour regarding the school/LEA not implementing half the provision on the previous statment...you would have though the LEA and school would have bucked up their ideas after that as they had to compensate..oh no, it actually made em worse, LOL

All this has done is add to my appeal, but I really could have done without it, and this legal battle will now be directly with the school rather than the LEA

What will the outcome be, will they start actually providing him with the support he is entitled to or are you looking to move schools?

Looking to move.This cant go on, its draining me, its stressing my son, hes not making progress, hes now going to have to do GCSE options he does not want in a school he does not want to be in, and do not allow him to have a say they have had almost 3 school years to get things right and they flat out blatantly refuse to do anything, the are of the belief it is just my son who can not manage himself, and give him detentions for not getting his homework up to their standards (we are talking things like 5/10, not like 1 or 0) even though he can not always do it due to his needs, the list goes on...

Dont get me started on the speech therapist who I am taking to the HPC, and then the LEA back to the LGO as I am still none the wiser as to what she has done with £3000 worth of tax payers money as she sure as heck didnt use it on my son as his levels are no better now than it was in year 6 and she has no papertrail of what they paid her to do (nor does the school for that) yet we have public spending cuts left, right and centre. When I queried with the LEA they said she did no wrong..I explained that you have paid her to do xxx and she has not and can not prove she has, they said "oh well" again if they admit, then it will prove that they have not been ensuring my sons provison has been implemented so would rather make him suffer than admit...

There is only so long things like this can go on before it starts to all unravel and the truth is revealed, and I think that it has started.

Have you looked around at schools and identified any that you think would suit him better? Presumably if they have spaces you can move him regardless? Then yes absolutely continue with the fight.

So on his behalf that he has not received the help that was funded for him. WTF giving him detentions for stuff he is not capable of achieving.

I would hazard a guess that it is to do with the new 'linear' GCSE's, that I wish I had been told about before my DD and I chose the 'traditional' options route for her.

Under the 'modular' system, her school (after consultation with me) were happy to let her do the GCSE's rather than life skills, and in her options, she was predicted 'C' in Health and Social Care, 'B' in Textiles, and 'B/A' in Catering.

Her core subjects, she was predicted 'D' in English, 'C' in science, and 'E/F' in Maths.

Now, under the new 'linear' course, she will probably get 'U's for all of it.

It's going to totally fuck her entire life up.

If I thought I hated Gove before, now I positively detest him, and an wishing evil things in him. My first wish for Gove is a plague of body lice, then maybe a plague if termites in his underpants!

So, OP, my DD is also in Y9, and recently chose her options. She has SN, but they still let her choose traditional
Options, despite the fact that she will be unlikely to get 'C's in her Core subjects.

I think had the school been fully aware of the changes to linear exams from modular courses, though, their answer may have been a bit different.

This school is top of the league tables for our town, and has been for some time. I see that changing for DD's cohort as they have let lots of DC's with SN's do traditional GCSE's, assuming a modular course, which will now result in more DC not getting good enough grades, and thus slipping them down the league table.

If my DD's school had done this on the explanation of 'not good enough headed expected', I'd be going batshit tbh.

Random., I have named a school but lea are kicking up the biggest fuss, which is to be expected to a certain extent but the school Are the ones who are really getting to me as they are cruelly keeping him with no intention of supporting him, just so they do not face any criticism.

Thing is my son IS capable of achieving BUT with the correct support and environment, to show how lazy they are like is said the subjects they have allowed him to do he always get good grades in, but he has always had a good knowledge in those subjects from primary school. The subjects they have told him he can't do he enjoys, not as knowledgeable as the other 2 but he enjoys, but as it would be easier to just dump him in the class that he is good at and give him minimal help that is what they have gone with. The school have never given him any help to actually know what his full potential, had they exhausted all their options and did all they could and he was still getting low grades then what they are saying would be logical, as it stands it a bit rich to say he would achieve good grades when you have not tried to help him and remove any barriers.

The school I have asked for will cost the lea so they have all banded together to hatch a plan to block this, which anyone with half a brain will see what they are playing at problem is I have to pray the appeal panel are morally and ethically capable.

god this is so depressing, but so familiar.

Hoxton - you sound like you have your head screwed on but i appreciate how utterly knackering this all is,

i started down the SEN tribunal route....i wish i had just kept on with it but it wore me down. (DS has aspergers, dyslexia and dyspraxia) that said, his school did support him, but via the back door - he piggy backed someone elses provision.....

you might find with a good solicitor and some backbone they might just cave in at the last minute....you know tribunal costs the LEA ££££££ just to go....

stand firm, and have in your mind the least you will accept, i think if you demand more, they will try and give less, so ask for much more and you might get a middle ground.

I have heard of couples divorcing over SEN tribunals due to the stress, and I can totally understand, the strain it has put on me and my boys is unreal and many times I have wanted to throw in the towel but after a good cry I come to my senses and say no I have to go on. Lots of people told me that secondary school is a pain with SEN but I did not realise just how bad it was. We are supposed to try and come to an agreement on as many things as possible, and this is where the LEA will use the "mother is being unreasonable" trick. I will not and can not compromise on this.

To those with children doing PE as an option, how much written work is there and how complex is it as the school are making out like it is highly scientific "The big bang theory" style level of work. On the options booklet, it does not even refer to the written work side of things.

There is a lot of theory on the course our school follows. It's either 40% or 60% of the total grade on the syllabus covered in our school. It's the theory that let's our school down but they have said that is because the teachers don't spend enough time on it - they spend a lot of time on the practical because the kids tend to enjoy that more.

I also agree that if they are letting him do History (which is considered as notoriously tough in our school - up there with Chemistry, Physics and Maths) then why on earth he can't do Geography, I don't know.

I have to admit, I really am in a muddle over all this, as so much does not make sense. For instance he must take RE as a core, there is no coursework and will have to sit a 2 exams for 2 hours each!!! My son loathes RE and is constantly noted as not doing so well in this, and although a core at the useless school, it is not a core the govenment imposes such as English, maths.... i would be wanting to take him off RE instead if they were so concerned.

Geography is 3x1 hour written exams (25% each) and the remaining 25% coursework, the to me would seem far better for DS when comparing it to RE

I could be looking at this all wrong, if so please advise me.

Thanks

I thought RE was compulsory per Government. They don't have to do an exam but they do have to do the study, so may as well sit an exam.

Not for my son, studying for it is one thing to sit a 4 hour exam after and needing to search in his memory for 2 years worth of information is not going to be easy, so why put him through the stress of an exam when he does not need to.

I know all schools need to do RE, but was not a core (am I making sense??) Just thought it was something they had to fit in somewhere

Yes, you make sense.You are saying they could get it into tutor time or something, rather than have to teach it formally. I have to say, I thought they did have to teach it for an hour a week and couldn't lose it elsewhere but I am no expert - hopefully someone on here is. Academies might be different as they have much more freedom with the curriculum.

l go and have a look at the DfE website a minute.

I cannot find anything as prescriptive as I say, so it looks like you may well be right.

RE is a statutory requirement, but not part of the National Curriculum. After reading all this thread, my biggest concern is that, as you've presented it, your son is being discriminated against, based on his disability and the school are not doing what his statement says he needs, to engage with the national curriculum.
I completely understand that the school want to maintain their golden standard of a* - c, but they are now being rated on how well they move on SEN students from KS2 to KS4.
Supporting SEN students in secondary school can sometimes be more difficult than primary because of the different amount of teachers they see, however, the school needs to make adaptations for this, and it really is as simple as that. It makes me livid to read cases like this.

Eletal, my son has just told me (he is still up watching the footy) that 2 boys in his class that are less able than he is are doing 3 of their 4 options...yet my son who is untill last week was always one of the most able is doing less.

this just gets better....