Have we been misled into an ARP?

[Ennabelle]

Hi, Here is our situation. 8 year old son in year 3 was previously in a mainstream setting with EHCP (speech delay and diagnosed with autism and adhd).

We had many challenges in the mainstream leadership as we felt lots of disability discrimination- but he proved many wrong when we got high marks on his year 1 phonics test and breezed through his year 2 maths KS1. However he was segregated due to him not liking the large classroom and as a result has 1:1 TA support (year 2 TA was great before they didn’t try with him). We felt he needs friendships and were told the ARP would be smaller, help his regulation and re-introduce him to others.

one term in this new ARP and we have realised most of the kids are non verbal and our son while he has challenges mainly regulation, he is pushed down on his reading and maths level even though he is doing great at home. They barely listen to any feedback from us and tell us to trust the process and then give him reception level work when he has shown he is way beyond this. It seems very lazy.

what are our options as his EHCP is coming up and would be interested to hear other parents experiences of ARPs and challenges faced?

Unfortunately, yes, it sounds like you were misled about that specific ARP.

During the AR, you can make it known you want a change of placement, why and reference any supporting evidence.

Following the AR meeting, the LA has 4 weeks to inform you if they are going to amend or not. If they aren’t, you will get the right of appeal at this point. You can appeal. If they are going to amend, you will get the opportunity to state your preferred placement. Then, when the LA finalises, you will get the right of appeal.

Is there another placement you have in mind?

Hi yes we do. Basically move him to the mainstream at the same school but with a 1:1 TA. He may have some challenges but at least he will have some academic push which he is fine on otherwise we fear he will regress. We will just have to supplement extra things outside of school. The sad thing about this ARP is that it is sold very well but it’s a complete fallacy. Something we have to challenge

Are you sure that will work? Most ARPs enable DC to attend mainstream classes for some of the week. And there was a reason you moved from a mainstream class with 1:1 to the ARP in the first place. If DS struggled with a mainstream class beforehand, are you sure that won’t be the case again?

If the EHCP is written correctly you shouldn’t need to supplement anything.

It is not ideal but at least he won’t regress. He may fall behind but he won’t make friends in either set up to be fair but at least at mainstream with the right TA he has more academic targets in line with his abilities. To be honest it’s worse at the ARP. I spoke to a few parents and a lot of them approached me and said “your kid shouldn’t be here he is too capable” and that many see it is nothing more than daycare and not school. One parent shared with me that the main teacher said that most kids there end up in council assisted living - great positivity there.

Also forgot to mention we would love a plan to move to mainstream part time but they don’t actually do that like they first said they would.

Have you considered other placements?

It’s very limited where we live. I would love part time home school but not sure if we can make it work due to our jobs.

either mainstream with 1:1 or this current ARP. Alternative is a school that focuses solely on speech and language from ages 7-19 that is 20-30mins away that we can also consider. Seems like unless the ARP show us some flexibility at the upcoming annual EHCP review we have to move forward

25-30 minutes is well within the 45 minutes typically considered the maximum travel time for primary school pupils. Although some travel further than that. So if you think the school 25-30 mins away could meet DS’s needs, it is worth a look.

Whether DS stays in the ARP, moves to the mainstream class or moves to another placement, it sounds like section F needs improving. Provision DS requires shouldn’t be left to the promises of the school. It needs to be in F.