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SEN

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

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Original poster

My ds is to be excluded as there is no help for him. Also they are now looking at special needs secondary school.

60 replies

HappyNewYearFeet06 · 06/03/2008 09:52

He was down for a mainstream secondary and it was named on his statement. From a meeting at school last night I found out that his helper that he has within the classroom has resigned and is leaving tomorrow and that when she has left there is no other help and so he will have to be excluded should anything go wrong and that will build up to a permanent exclusion. As for secondary in Sept, they are now saying he won't cope with mainstream and will need something else. The Ed Psych has named a school that has spaces but I have been told about this school and haven't heard good things. So where do I go from here????

Thanks. xx

OP posts:

cornsilk · 06/03/2008 11:18

If he has a statement that states support is to be provided in class then the school have to provide this. Contact your LEA as a matter of urgency and insist on this.

NAB3wishesfor2008 · 06/03/2008 11:20

I have no experience of this but that sounds awful. What do the school expect you to do and why was there no notice of his support worker leaving? I would request an urgent meeting with the school.

bundle · 06/03/2008 11:20

I thought that children with SN were treated as priority when it came to school allocation..

dustystar · 06/03/2008 11:22

I agree with cornsilk. If the statement states that he should have support then the school must supply it. Contact your LEA and also IPSEA.

ancientmiddleagedmum · 06/03/2008 11:42

also, I believe they have to give you 6 months notice of a change of school, particularly at the stage of transfer to secondary, and they have to go through a proper "amendment of statement" process. It is ridiculous to say they can't find another LSA. If you google Code of Special Education Needs practice" and "secondary transfer" you will find out exactly the legal position and agree with Dusty that Ipsea can help, or SOSSEN, (number on web). I am going through the same kind of thing at primary level, but it must be even harder at this age so my thoughts are with you. If you have no luck on google, let me know and I will get a copy and write it for you.

Original poster

HappyNewYearFeet06 · 06/03/2008 11:57

Thanks guys. I spoke with the headteacher this morning as I missed the end of the meeting last night. The conclusion is that; ds will still attend school after support worker has left. However, with no support he is unlikely to do well so if needs must and he behaves inappropriately then they will exclude for a fixed period of say two days. He will then return to school. However if it keeps happening and he is excluded on a number of occasions it will then become a permanent exclusion.

They have told ds this morning about his support worker leaving and about what will happen and he cried, qutie obviously. As much as he misbehaves and wants to be in school full time, he hasn't been full time for a long time. Sharing his school time with time at a nurture group which he dislikes.

I havr looked at the special needs secondary school in the internet and it soudns awful especially from the Ofsted report.

ancientmiddleagedmum, thanks for all of the different options to follow. I am off to have a look now and will ask your advice or help if I need it. I hope that is ok.

OP posts:

dustystar · 06/03/2008 11:59

What does his statement say in part 3 though? If it states there that he is to have support in the classroom then the school legally must provide it. They can't say he will just have to do without and if he misbehaves they'll exclude him

edam · 06/03/2008 12:03

I am no expert on SN but the people posting saying that the school MUST provide support are. Please do go back to the school, point out that what they are planning breaks the law and it is THEIR job to employ someone to replace his helper. They can't just abandon their responsibility to do this.

motherinferior · 06/03/2008 12:04

Agree with Edam (hello E!)

cornsilk · 06/03/2008 12:09

Happynewyear I am so cross for you! How dare they do this!
Do NOT accept this. Phone up the LEA NOW!!!!

needmorecoffee · 06/03/2008 12:11

they are breaking the law. They must provide what his stamenet says and no child can be excluded cos they have SN.
What the head is saying is wrong, if its his SN that lead to the head axcluding him then its discrimination. As Edam says, the Heads plan breaks the law.

coppertop · 06/03/2008 12:12

That's awful. Please don't let them get away with this. The statement is a legal document and they have to provide the help. Contact the LEA asap.

Blandmum · 06/03/2008 12:13

If he has classroom support as part of his statement the school is legally required to supply it

Original poster

HappyNewYearFeet06 · 06/03/2008 12:29

Yes, his statement says that he needs the extra support and am sure it says he needs smaller group time too. They are going to readvertise for a new support assistant but until then he is on his own unless the school can call upon someone already within the school but they have said that is unlikely.

OP posts:

dustystar · 06/03/2008 12:34

Does it state how many hours of support he should get? They have to provide some. they can't just say he has to do without if its in his statement. They will have to find someone else in the school to support him until they employ a replacement.

DS is only 7 but his TA left last year and the school didn't find a permanent replacement before she went (which i was a bit pissed off about) but they did give him a temporary 1:1 for a couple of weeks until they found a replacement. They had to as his statement states that he gets 25 funded hours of support from the LEA and the school must provide a further 5 hours from their budget.

cornsilk · 06/03/2008 12:35

This situation is the fault of the school management. The helper would surely have had to give notice to resign. The Head and the Governors are at fault here.

Original poster

HappyNewYearFeet06 · 06/03/2008 12:38

She gave 2 weeks notice and is due to leave tomorrow but the headteacher said this morning that she has said she will stay on until Easter.

Am off to double check his statement.

OP posts:

Blandmum · 06/03/2008 12:41

I'm not sure about this, but i don't think that TAs have to give the same amount of notice as teaching staff. (I'm sure some of the TAs on MN will be able to clarify this)

dustystar · 06/03/2008 12:42

They would need to find a replacement though wouldn't they MB? Even if its a temp TA while they find a permanent replacement.

Blandmum · 06/03/2008 12:47

Yes they should. But I think that they would be granted 'reasonable' time to do that. There isn't (AFAIK) a 'supply' organisation for TAs in the same way there is for teachers.

they have a legal dulty to replace the TA (as well as a moral one!), but that will (even if they were doing all the right things, which it doesn't sound as if they are) take time. I would have thought a minimum of 2 weeks.

Awful situation, and that can't use the loss of the TA as an excuse to exclude

Original poster

HappyNewYearFeet06 · 06/03/2008 12:52

They aren't really using the loss of the TA as such but is going to have a knock on affect on his behaviour by not having one there, iykwim.

So as the TA isn't there to support him his behaviour may worsen and as such they will have reason to exclude him for a fived time of 2 days the head said. Then she was saying that she was hoping to exclude him enough times for it to be a permanent exclusion as it would 'help him' to get the help he needs???????

She said that morally it didn't feel right and she didn't want to do it but had the backing from the Ed Psych from the meeting last night?

OP posts:

Blandmum · 06/03/2008 12:56

Do you feel that he will make progress in MS school? Or do you think he would be better in a special school (you are the expert here)

dustystar · 06/03/2008 12:59

Well its possible she actually is trying to help him then but if thats the route she's taking she shouldn't be doing it without discussing it with you first. My mum is a SENCo and she often says about how frustrating it is when you support a child so they acheive and then the LEA refuse to fund the school so that they can continue the support. Sometimes an exclusion seems to be the only thing that gets the LEA to agree to decent funding.

Have you read through his statement yet?

Original poster

HappyNewYearFeet06 · 06/03/2008 13:03

I am unsure. If he can't cope in mainstrwam primary without a TA then how is going to cope with all of his different books, places to be, lessons etc..... in a school of up to 1000. Everyone keeps saying that once he gets to secondary they won;t have any of his misbehaving etc.... but if he is statemented and has a recogniseable condition then surely its understandable that he is going to sometimes behave differently and may need extra help?? Our local secondary that I put his name down for does have a good special needs department comapred to other local schools.

Just off to dig out his statement.

OP posts:

Blandmum · 06/03/2008 13:06

sorry to be dim, but what is his dx?

How big is the school he is going to go to, and how much provision will he have there?

Does the school have a good reputation in dealing with children with his difficulties?

What are the scpecial school options like?

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