Secondary school place ASD/EHCP already falling apart

[onthegrindbaby]

Last week my DS started secondary school. He has ASD, but was only diagnosed shortly before covid and never had major adjustments made in primary. They refused to apply for an EHCP ('didn't meet the threshold') and in the end I did that myself, because I knew he would struggle majorly with transitioning to secondary. He now has a place in a small classroom in a small mainstream school. As far as accommodating schools go I think it fits the bill, but basically none of the transition activities recommended by the EP have happened and things have fallen apart much quicker than I expected.

So here we are, he is refusing to go to school today and I don't know what to do. I try to use PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, empathy) as recommended by the EPs here. It's also my preferred method and what got him into school in primary. But I'm finding it difficult to know what I can ask/expect in accommodations to lower his anxiety while all this is new.

He's having a quiet day. No screens allowed because no school. But what do I do come Monday, or whichever next day he refuses to go in again.

Does anybody have any ideas?

I'm sorry to hear this. My DS has also just started secondary - he's in a resourced provision for autism - and we've also an up and down time of it. It's so hard for our children - it is such a big adjustment.

Firstly, I would contact the school today (if you haven't already). Email his form tutor and the Senco. You need to get a paper trail going. Explain to them that your DS is unable to attend school due to lack of support/interventions that were meant to be in place and ask for a meeting asap.

What level of support is supposed to be in place via his EHCP? Do you feel his EHCP is fit for purpose? If not, you may have to appeal.

Can your DS explain to you what it is that he's finding specifically difficult?

Thanks @Toomanyminifigs, sorry to hear your DS is also finding it hard. It is a really big adjustment.

I've kept the school up to date with emails throughout the week and we have an appeal already scheduled because the plan is really thin.

It's a good idea to sit with him and write down exactly what is bothering him.

For me the biggest issue is that I don't know how to communicate with school about this. In primary I would speak to his teacher or the Senco and we'd work together from there, but that kind of back and forth doesn't seem to work now really.

I guess you're right and should just allow the process to happen. Keep a paper trail and see if the formalities can be tightened. It's just frustrating to feel we're not doing this together. I feel like a whining child!

When is your appeal? Are you appealing I as well, or just B&F?

Is the transition provision in the EHCP? If so, it should have been provided and you could have enforced the provision.

Do the assessments carried out during the EHCNA not state what accommodations and provision are needed? They should do. Have you had any independent reports done for your appeal?

In secondary communicate with either the SENCO, form tutor, HOY or 1:1 (if applicable) depending on what you want to discuss and who is most receptive.

Thanks, @overworkedrobot for all the suggestions.

The appeal is in two months. It's also for section I, although I'm not 100% sure I want to follow through with that since my preferred school (closer, ASD aware with a resourced provision if that turns out to be necessary, maybe it already is, and generally a good school) is over capacity already and quite adamant they don't want more students. It would also mean another transition process, which I'm not looking forward to, obviously.

The current school has a good reputation for supporting students with SEN so the lack of process has been quite a shock. The EHCP was issued very late and I'm completely new to what is involved both for the plan and just SEN provisions in general. My DS's primary was adamant he didn't meet the threshold for an assessment and hardly made any adjustments. So I don't really know what he needs and what is possible.

I didn't know how detailed the provision could/should've been. I've found it hard to find advice/support in these socially distanced times. I have an advocate now and she's helping me to formulate what is needed. But this is obviously too late for a gradual transition.

There were some general transition provisions in the plan but most of the concrete suggestions were in the EP report, which the school says they hadn't seen. And either way, I don't know how I would've insisted on them since contact has been basically 0. I tried to have a meeting with school to discuss transition from before the plan was issued, but only after intervention of the HOY this week did we actually sit down for a bit to talk. We now have a team around the child meeting scheduled for next month. Would that be the place to try and rescue things?

You had some more questions and I'm realising more and more how naive I still am in this process. Legal processes drive me deep into anxiety and I don't have the money to get all kinds of independent advice. I feel I'm in deep over my head, trying to keep the family running and having to do all this legal stuff at the same time. I've also come to realise that autism runs in our family, including me, and having to advocate for my DS as a disable child is throwing up all sorts of feelings.

I'll focus this weekend on regulating DS, getting his views on paper, and will try to set up direct communication with the HOY on Monday.

The EP report should be in the EHCP in section K, is it not? If the transition provision was in the EHCP and hadn't happened you could have insisted on it by threatening Judicial Review. If any provision that is specified and quantified in the EHCP isn't provided you can begin Judicial Review proceedings against the LA - it is the LA who is responsible for ensuring EHCP provision is provided.

During the needs assessment did DS have SALT, OT and some sort of mental health assessment (psychiatrist &/or clinical psychologist)?

The provision should be very detailed, specific and quantified. Nothing should be left for the school to decide. Who, what, when, where, why, how...

Be careful with the advocate, not all are good and some can make matters worse. If you are short of funds prioritise independent reports over an advocate. Provision in EHCPs is taken from reports, so if the reports are lacking, as LA ones generally are, the EHCP provision will be lacking.

Are you eligible for legal aid? This can fund independent reports. IPSEA, SOSSEN and here can offer excellent advice. Be careful with SENDIASS, some are excellent, but too many are not. They receive LA funding so will ultimately toe the party line.

The TAC is probably too long away. If DS is still unable to attend by then I would be worried he will struggle to ever integrate in to MS secondary. The more he misses the harder it will be for him. However, if he is absent for 15 days the LA must provide education for him outside of school.

@overworkedrobot Thank you so much for your detailed questions. Some are hard to read because they show how naïve I've been for the past year but I need and want to hear them so I can pull the plans on track.

The EP report should be in the EHCP in section K, is it not? Yes, it's part of the appendices, but senco says she's not received it.

If the transition provision was in the EHCP and hadn't happened you could have insisted on it by threatening Judicial Review.
The provision should be very detailed, specific and quantified. Nothing should be left for the school to decide. Who, what, when, where, why, how... The provision was definitely not quantified but they haven't even met the unquantified provisions which could have only taken place before teaching started. He hasn't been introduced to teachers, doesn't know who his key worker is, there's no quiet space to go to during breaks other than form classroom and he's not been allowed to stay in on at least one occasion.

The EP recommendations were quite specific and would have been common sense anyway for a child at risk of school refusal (which his whole EHCP is based on, really). I went to an EP drop-in this week and the psychologist couldn't believe her ears. The only actual adjustment made seems to be that he's in a small class. He seems to be one of the more independent children in it and just been left to get on with it until the meeting a couple of days ago.

My feeling is that the school is simply not ASD informed enough. They hear the bell of the need for adjustments but don't seem to get that these need to be embedded from the beginning and throughout - not just as interventions that can take place at some point after we all settle into the new year.

During the needs assessment did DS have SALT, OT and some sort of mental health assessment (psychiatrist &/or clinical psychologist)? No, he only had an EP assessment and an ADOS. Can I insist on adding these to the plan or would I need to organise these myself?

Be careful with the advocate, not all are good and some can make matters worse. If you are short of funds prioritise independent reports over an advocate. I get what you're saying and as I'm learning more I guess I'll be able to. I got the advocate because I needed to keep the appeal process going while I was stuck in anxious paralysis and our local SENDIASS was not great at helping with this. But I can see that after these first EHCPs are settled (my other DC is also in the middle of this process), my money is better spent on reports etc.

I'm not eligible for legal aid and struggle to get the help from organisations that I need because of my own communication needs. I seem to come across as this argumentative but on-the-ball person, while actually I'm the complete opposite: too easily swayed by the other side's concerns and completely hopeless at managing more than one process/task at a time. My written submissions are clear and detailed, but it takes me months of anxiety to start writing them. Masking at its finest, I suppose.

The TAC is probably too long away. If DS is still unable to attend by then I would be worried he will struggle to ever integrate in to MS secondary. I agree. If he still refuses to go in on Monday, I'll call for an emergency meeting with the HOY there, to formulate a plan of what to do while he's struggling and until the appeal.

However, if he is absent for 15 days the LA must provide education for him outside of school. Is that 15 days total or consecutive?

The SENCO is talking nonsense, of course the school have seen the EHCP.

Unfortunately, you would have needed to ask the LA for additional assessments during the needs assessment. At this point the best thing to do would be to get independent assessments for tribunal. As provision in EHCPs is taken from the reports without SALT, OT and mental health assessments there won't be any SALT, OT or MH therapies in the EHCP. If you can't afford assessment get in touch with parents in need, they can sometimes help fund them.

Unspecified and unquantified provision doesn't have to be provided, you can't enforce a woolly and vague EHCP. That's why it's essential section F is specified and quantified. Have the EP's specified and quantified recommendations been included in section F?

For ongoing conditions the 15 days doesn't need to be consecutive, it can be cumulative. The LA should not wait until 15 days have passed, provision should be made as soon as it becomes clear the pupil will miss 15 days.

She says she only has the EHCP main doc not the underlying evidence like the EP report. But yes, it seems unlikely to me too. Although I've heard from other sencos that it does happen sometimes with our LA.

The EP and ADOS touch on his sensory, communication and health needs (there are more issues than just ASD) and did recommend communication and mental health interventions, so I think there is enough evidence for therapies. We also had a discussion/assessment with an OT not related to the EHCP, so I can add that report for the appeal.

The EP's recommendations are in section F in general formulation and I think school will try to catch up so it seems they've been met. Lesson definitely learned. I'll appeal for changes to make specific the ones that are still relevant now.

He's rested a lot over the past two days and we have a Pokemon Go day today which he likes, so hopefully he'll go in tomorrow and we can pull things back on track for now - as long as school is okay with dialling down pressure. He is okay with doing the lessons, so with adjustments to make the environment less stressful he'll hopefully make it to the appeal without dropping out completely.

Do you recommend I allow him to stay home on the days he seems really worn out? It's hard to find the balance between preventing burn-out and slipping into complete school avoidance.

*mental health needs

It is unlikely adequate OT, SALT and MH provision will be detailed, specific and quantified in the EHCP without specific assessments.

I wouldn't recommended staying home if DD is able to attend school, especially as you've already got anxiety about attending. The more he misses the harder it becomes because they get out of the routine of going and worry about what they have missed on top of the original worries. I would go for plenty of time to decompress after school and at weekends. Although, if you think it would push DS too far then that's different.

The best advice I can give is to read the Code, slowly and carefully and with highlighter pens to hand. (My child's school love me!) A lot of what you have said already clearly breaches it.

IPSEA offer excellent advice on what an EHCP should look like. Unfortunately, most don't. They read as a friendly list of helpful suggestions, and not a mandatory, and clearly enforceable, minimum level of provision. Provision must be specific and usually quantified as has been said - where, when, for how long, for how often, and who by.

Sadly to get a reasonable level of provision usually takes appointing independent experts. LA and NHS ones are chary about suggesting anything that could cost any money. If you can afford it, an independent SLT and OT can be worth their weight in gold. If a reputable clinician states something needs to happen, a judge will probably order it, and LAs know that.

It's silly because with good support, so many ASD kids could thrive in mainstream. Crashing out from lack of it is why independent specialist schools thrive instead.

How are things going with your DS now @onthegrindbaby? Has he managed to attend school this week?

There is a Facebook page called Not Fine In School that might be helpful if school refusal does happen. Good luck.

At a very minimum they should sort a quiet space for him to sit if overwhelmed and a time out card to access it.

Thanks for checking in @Toomanyminifigs and everybody for your support and advice. It's been such a lonely road.

DS has been in every day this week, albeit late each time. Yesterday morning was tricky, but after I said no screen time for the weekend if he didn't go, he got ready.

School have started to make some adjustments like a time out card but it's slow and I don't get the feeling they really understand what this transition is like for him. During our ad-hoc meeting the Senco said a few times that she understood that he needed x, y and z, and that actually all students would benefit from these things. When I hear this I just get so frustrated, because I think they just don't see how he NEEDS needs those things, just to be able to be there.

He is still sullen now, angry with me and his brother (who has a placed at a resourced provision, which I think he's jealous off) and I'm wondering if an RP is the way to go for him too. Problem is that his brother's RP is good but in a rubbish school and I hoped DS would be able to escape the experience of a harsh class environment to be able to access the support he needs.

In the meantime the LA have not submitted an attendance list for the hearing, after the tribunal had given them an extended time for that. Or if they did, they haven't sent me a copy. Does this means they are now barred, as the tribunal order said they would be? And if so, what does that mean?

The school I'm appealing for has a RP too but it is so full, I'm not sure the tribunal will give him a place even if the LA is not allowed to reply to our appeal.

I want to look into more/private assessments, but to be honest it's taken all my fight to get here and I'm not sure how much more energy I have left beyond the day to day. Maybe it would need to wait for the annual review in Spring. Is that a possibility, to amend the plan at that stage based on new assessments?

If you haven't already, try and get through to Ipsea. They have a special tribunal helpline: www.ipsea.org.uk/tribunal-helpline

It sounds like you need some specialist advice - and quickly. I know you say you have an advocate: what are they advising?

My Ds's EHCP is also pretty new so I'm afraid I don't have much experience myself of how these things work. I think that you can name the RP in section I even if it is full - as being full isn't a good enough reason on it's own for them to turn him down. Obviously it will strengthen your case if you have specialist reports stating that your DS needs to be in a RP.

Are there any other settings you would consider? Any out of borough or independent schools?

It must be so hard to know what to do. Do you think if sections B and F were tightened up then it's worth continuing with the school he's currently at?

The other thing you can do is call an emergency annual review. You don't have to wait but as you've got a tribunal coming up, I'm not sure how that would work.

Well done to you and your DS for making it through the week. My DS needs so much support and scaffolding just to get through the day and it is exhausting.

Being 'full' (which isn't legally defined) is not enough of a reason to refuse admission, the LA have to prove they are so full it is incompatible with the efficient education of others or use of resources.

The EHCP can be amended following the AR. However, it will be easier to sort this now at tribunal than potentially needing to appeal again to get further provision written into section F.

If the LA are barred (which won't necessarily be automatic, see this case law) the Tribunal will be decided without them present at the hearing, although they can apply to be reinstated.

Personally I wouldn't ban screen time at weekends in order to get DS in to school. Screen time is likely to be DS's way of decompressing.

The SENCO seems to have very little autism awareness. How can they only just be giving DS a time out card, is it not in the EHCP?

Toomanyminifigs many ARPs won't be named as a separate provision in section I. Most will have the school named in I and the ARP in section F. See here.

@Overworkedrobot yes, the school is over capacity to the point where the LA are arguing incompatibility with efficient education of others/use of resources. Two children have already got a place this year through tribunal and according to LA there are two more appeals running and, basically, 'the tribunal can't keep adding children'.

So since we're appealing B, F and I it might still be possible to go for the ARP in the preferred school, instead of a mainstream place? Esp since he is struggling?

It is a much wanted school also for parents with NT children. It is one of the nearest schools for us and fits both children's needs, so I was clear from the beginning this was my preferred school. Which was maybe too honest because the whole EHCP process seems to have been an effort by the LA to steer both children away from it.

@Toomanyminifigs The EP report says that it should be possible to meet his needs in a mainstream high school where staff have a good understanding of autism. However, they will not be met without considerable planning and attention to detail. QED, I guess.

His current school actually cited their lack of autism knowledge when they refused to have my other son. Plus two other mainstream schools said they thought DS needed more autism support than they could offer, so there is enough evidence to argue he needs at least an 'autism aware' school. I'm not even sure at this point the senco is a qualified senco; according to the senco of DS's primary school she (or whoever was present at their school-to-school transition meeting) was an 'acting senco'.

The EHCP has a provision for a quiet space for him, but yes - they didn't have that in place from the get go. Neither a place to go to during unstructured times. And even now, the time out card is for a quiet room to do his work, not a sensory area to calm down.

It's horrible to see him falling and I feel very mean for threatening no screens. He was at that line of calculated refusal rather than full-blown overwhelm like last week. But seeing how mad he is today (not speaking to me), it was probably too much. Back to PACE, I guess. I just feel so torn between his needs now and his needs for the future, plus the pressure to conform from school and not being seen as the reason he's not going in.

By now no solution seems to tick all boxes. ARP with his brother will be a hard classroom experience for him. He's less robust in his autistic self than his brother, if that makes sense, and will likely sink quietly back in to the back row like in primary. They also don't get on well, so it might not work to have both in the same space.

His current school has a focus on subjects that he cares about and I can already see that he is more inspired than before, despite the issues. It is also supposedly good for pastoral care, and might be able to sort things out with a tighter EHCP and people telling them what needs to be done. But I can see it becoming a tedious struggle for every single new issue that comes up.

I want a school that knows what to expect. They are my first children and I clearly am not qualified to tell the school how to do their job. It's been such a revelation to talk to my other son's ARP staff. Proactive, to the point, understanding and none of that awkward 'why is she being so overprotective/difficult. He is fiiiiine in school'.

I don't know about other schools. Maybe I'm just too stuck on the unfairness of not getting the preferred school but I find it hard to let go when it could meet all his needs and is in walking distance.

The bar for incompatibility is relatively high - case law shows it is more than a matter of showing an adverse effect or impact. The LA unsuccessfully arguing incompatibility for at least 2 other pupils means I wouldn't trust a word they say. The 2 ongoing appeals are irrelevant, case law indicates the LA have to show how admitting DS would be incompatible not how admitting all pending appeals would be.

You can argue for an ARP place, although as Toomanyminifigs posted you will need evidence the ARP is necessary.

Are the details of the quiet space expanded on in the EHCP? If so, and if specifies a sensory area etc. complain, then threaten Judicial Review if necessary.

I empathise with no option being perfect. DS1 has an EOTAS package because of a lack of suitable school. EOTAS isn't perfect, but it is the only option as school can't meet DS's needs and would be detrimental to his physical or mental health.

Can i join? My ds hasn't gone into school this TERM (year 9). We've had a failed transition to secondary school because of the primary schools refusal to apply for an ehcp. So he went off to mainstream secondary, and sank like a stone. I applied for an ehcp in year 7 but now have to appeal on section F which is completely missing from the plan! I've not heard of Pace, thanks. Just keeping an email trail with the school and talking to the SENCo daily...

@MackenCheese I'm sorry to hear this. I believe that if your DS has missed more than 15 days of school, the local authority must make some sort of alternative provision for him. I'm not an expert though - hopefully someone will be along soon to clarify.

If you feel you're not getting anywhere with the school. You need to contact the local authority. It is they who are actually responsible for delivering your DS's EHCP. You need to start a paper trail with them.

What are the school saying/doing to try and help him?

Are you saying that the Plan has been issued without a Section F at all? Or just a badly written one?

Have you contacted Ipsea or SOS!SEN?

Thanks for replying. Yes, it was written without a Section F at all! I'm so cross I hadn't spotted it before. I have an email string going with the LA and due an annual review next month, where I plan to pick the ehcp apart and start again, including Section I because clearly the school - despite having an asd ARP- aren't meeting his needs if I can no longer get him through the door!
Sorry to hijack the thread, but wanted the OP to know there are others who are still trying to get the secondary school placement right, and it's not too late

Mackencheese the LA should be providing education. DS doesn't need to have been absent for 15 days already, provision should begin when it becomes clear a pupil will miss 15 days. It doesn't need to be consecutive days either, it can be cumulative for ongoing conditions. If you had a section F the LA would need to provide the provision in there too.

@MackenCheese I'm sorry to hear you're also in this boat. Are you getting anywhere by talking to school/senco? I feel as if I'm talking into the void, it's so strange. Now they are slowly catching up with classroom adjustments but DS is already in the next phase where he needs help and understanding just to come in at all.

He had another refusal day yesterday and I got him in on the basis that he could use his time-out pass to not be in class today, but in school they said it's only for short breaks when he gets overwhelmed. He's been great at articulating what he needs (ie today he was okay with doing schoolwork but not in class) but school doesn't seem interested at all, just trying to toe their own (unspecified, unarticulated) rules.

I'm going to use next week's meeting to document everything for tribunal and will contact the original LA caseworker, since the one responsible for the appeal has gone AWOL.

Well today we had a bit of a breakthrough, @onthegrindbaby in that ds was happy to talk to the SENCo on the phone, having declined to do face time on Teams earlier in the week. They have arranged to speak again later in the week. He is well over the 15 days with no education this term and the LA are missing in action; cannot get hold of anyone, just answerphones and out of office messages .
Finally got a date for the annual review next month, so onwards! I am so regretful that I listened to other people and put him in a mainstream school....

That sounds promising @MackenCheese . I hear you on the mainstream school. Esp for my other DS my feeling was that he'd feel/do better in a specialist setting. But he wanted to whole high school experience (too much anime watching) and so I decided I wasn't going to fight him on this and went with the ARP the LA offered, just to say we tried if it didn't work. So far he's been doing well. Some wobbles in the first week but the ARP has his back and he (and I!) Can see he can trust them to argue his cases with mainstream teachers etc. Question is how this will pan out next term when his teachers want to move him to all mainstream classes based on his academic potential. It's clear to me that it's the small nurturing group he is in now that makes the whole thing feasible for him. The ARP seem to get this but if school doesn't, we might end up in specialist anyway. Which would be a shame, because he is more than capable of a mainstream school as long as he has a safe and understanding base.