DD is 14 and in year 10. She started her GCSEs in September & until she broke up before Christmas, she had only been set one piece of (art) homework in those 3 months.
The school seem to have given up post Covid, as many/most parents did not do the home schooling and so the school are going over what would have been taught over the last 2 years, it seems.
We have been into school & met with the SENCO, form tutor & head of year. The school is in a disadvantaged area & it seemed as though they really understood the children & were able to accommodate different needs with smaller class sizes. The teachers seemed keen & progressive, when we were looking round secondary schools & it is a new modern school with lots of resources.
They are say the right things in the meetings but nothing changes. The school has a high number of children with complex behavioural needs, and this seems to occupy the teachers time & efforts. DD finds the behaviour of others very distracting & disruptive. The fire alarm is set off most days by kids vaping in toilets, so all the children are evacuated on a regular basis.
At primary school, she was assessed as exceeding in all areas except maths, where she was at the expected level. Before Christmas, DD was given a paper report to stick in her portfolio but it wasn't meant to be given to parents. She photographed it and she's been assessed at 2s or 3s for GCSE, which is very different to where she was at primary school.
DD has autism & Pathological Demand Avoidance but on the whole she manages to hold things together at school in class. She has recently been bullied by a group of girls & now has not got many friends. She dreads going every day & we are worried that she will eventually just refuse to go to school. She does not have an EHCP as the school didn't feel her needs were great enough (possibly compared to the very complex needs of others).
We have applied to move schools, but there aren't any places. We've tried emailing & ringing this new school to discuss the situation, but the person is always unavailable/ off site or in a meeting. She never returns our calls/emails. We are feeling really stuck & powerless as to what more we can do. We can see her failing & becoming more withdrawn due to school, but don't know what else to do.
Has anyone else been in this situation or do you have any advice, please?
Thanks.