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SEN

Here you'll find advice from parents and teachers on special needs education.

Violence at school

3 replies

Frustratedsenmummy · 09/05/2020 18:58

My DD is 5 and has complex SEN. EHCP application submitted. She can be violent at school and school have done all their risk plans and how to handle her plans. I'm happy with their approach.

I'm struggling with the guilt of knowing she is hitting/kicking teachers and throwing things at them. That she is incredibly defiant and keeps being rude to them. That other children have had to be moved.

Has anyone been in a similar position and it massively improved?

OP posts:
Ellie56 · 09/05/2020 20:39

Violence and disruptive behaviour is usually because of unmet needs. Hopefully if the EHC Needs assessment is carried out properly, her needs will all be identified and provision specified so things should get better.

Is she the same at home OP?

Frustratedsenmummy · 09/05/2020 20:46

Yes she has unmet needs, huge sensory problems. Developmental trauma and very likely ASD.

She is and she has never been an easy child but it has catastrophically spiralled downhill at home since she started in September. Then January school started getting snippets and then March she fully does what she does at home there too. It's just spiralled and spiralled and I feel like I spent 5 months screaming that she was struggling to be told she was fine and now I have no idea how we get her back

OP posts:
Ellie56 · 10/05/2020 10:52

Unfortunately this is often the way. What you need to make sure of is that a full needs assessment is carried out, so all of her needs are identified.

Information here:

www.ipsea.org.uk/what-happens-in-an-ehc-needs-assessment

In particular note who the LA should ask for advice:
The list is set out in Regulation 6(1) of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 (the “SEN Regs”):

a)the child’s parent or the young person;
b)educational advice (usually from the head teacher or principal);
c)medical advice and information from a health care professional;
d)psychological advice and information from an educational psychologist;
e)advice and information in relation to social care;
f)advice and information from any other person the local authority thinks appropriate;
g)where the child or young person is in or beyond year 9, advice and information in relation to provision to assist the child or young person in preparation for adulthood and independent living; and
h)advice and information from any person the child’s parent or young person reasonably requests that the local authority seek advice from.

In your position I would be insisting they seek advice from OT because of the sensory issues and a mental health assessment because of the trauma and possible autism. You might also consider advice from SLT there will be social communication issues if she has autism.

It is crucial that all needs are identified so that provision to meet those needs can be put in place. The EHCP is essentially drawn up from all the information and advice in the reports, so if some advice is missing, some of the needs won't be met.

All the professional reports should identify all of the needs the child has (which will go in Section B of the plan) and there should be provision to meet each one of these needs (which will go in Section F of the plan).

The provision should be very specific and say who should be doing what, how long for and when.

For example you might have a Speech and Language Therapy report which says "X has great difficulties with social communication." This would go into Section B of the EHCP. The SLT might go on to say "X needs a social skills programme devised and delivered by a qualified Speech and Language Therapist for one hour each week." This would go into Section F of the Plan. Clearly this is very specific and no one should be in any doubt as to what should be happening. If the report just said "regular access to SLT," that would be wide open to interpretation and very difficult to enforce.

You should be given copies of all the reports and if any of them are are vague and woolly and use phrases like "requires access to", "would benefit from," "regular" "high level of" tell the LA they are not acceptable and they need to go back to whoever wrote the reports and make them more specific.
Information here:

www.ipsea.org.uk/ehc-needs-assessments

www.ipsea.org.uk/what-to-do-when-you-receive-your-draft-ehc-plan

www.ipsea.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=afd8d11f-5f75-44e0-8f90-e2e7385e55f0

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