What to do when school are not meeting one area of needs?

[TrumpyandGired]

My DS is nearly 15 and is in a school for children with social, emotional and mental health issues. He has ASC, PDA, and severe anxiety.

He has been in this school since year 9 after previously having 2 years out of school. It took him a little while to settle but overall the school has been amazing for him and we have seen a lot of improvement in his wellbeing. He is a very bright boy and we were assured that this school could cater to all of his needs.

Now he’s more settled, he wants to focus on his exams but it’s apparent he has missed a lot of formal education. DS says that the level of teaching in the school is aimed much more at children who are working behind. For 2 hours per week, DS is taught 121 to his own ability.

DS is now becoming bored because he’s not learning, he’s just repeating basic things he already knows. His behaviour is therefore starting to dip in the classroom. Nothing serious, but his teachers are suprised at the change. He has no chance of accessing his exams at the frequency he is being taught at his own level and he’s starting to panic. The majority (if not all) other DC in the school are working below expectations. DS has always worked at or above this level.

There is no way DS can go back to mainstream and also HE is not an option; he wants to be in school and is generally happy there. He just wants to learn.

What can I do about this?

More 1:1 can be provided. Have you spoken to the school about that possibility and requested an early review of the EHCP?

@StrivingForSleep I did. They said to offer more 121 they would need to employ a full new staff member specifically for DS and it would be highly unlikely to happen due to budget constraints. They said I could appeal if we had an early review but I’m loathe to do that unless absolutely necessary as appeals are so far away. It will be a wasted year for DS.

It was also mentioned that as DS has no 121 written in to his EHCP, then technically I’d have to appeal section B too. Everyone knows DS is able academically so why would I need further evidence for this?

Unfortunately, you may have to appeal B&F. 1?1 would be in F. Provision in F is the provision required to meet the needs in B. That is why you would probably need to appeal B as well as F. The content of B&F is based on evidence. Although, depending on what evidence you already have, you may not more.

@StrivingForSleep Thankyou. If I were to offer some cheaper solutions to the school, is it possible they would agree? Or will it have to be evidenced based still? I’m not sure how I can evidence that DS is academic (they know he is and this is written in his plan) but also that he is not receiving enough formal, higher level education to enter exams.

Appeals are so far away, it hardly seems worth it as the school only goes to age 16 anyway.

The school may provide other provision. It is worth asking. However, if it isn’t in the EHCP, they don’t have to and they may not because they are unlikely to receive funding for it. You could ask about some online tutoring if that would be suitable for DS. Does the school have a relationship with any mainstream schools?

Evidence from the school and an EP report can demonstrate DS’s academic ability. Although if it is already included in the EHCP, those needs may not need amending (although it sounds like B more widely does need improving) and it may just be the provision to meet the needs which needsamending.

Does the placement you are thinking may work for post 16 take pupils before 16 too? If so, you could pursue a move sooner than pot 16 transfer.

@StrivingForSleep Unfortunately the next setting does not admit below age 16 so that wouldn’t be an option, but DS is becoming worried about attending without GCSEs (it’s a mainstream setting).

It’s all such a mess and I feel like DS has been utterly failed by the system. We were hopeful after the initial move that he was finally settled but it looks like that is going to be at the cost of his education, having been led to believe otherwise.

Do you have evidence the school originally said they could meet DS’s academic needs?

I would speak to the mainstream setting DS wants to attend. Is it a level 3 course he wants to do? Would doing GCSEs in Y12 (and maybe Y13 too) and then attending the mainstream setting for Y13 or Y14+ be possible? The EHCP can last until 25, or 26 in some cases, so there is still time.

I don’t as it was a verbal meeting when DS was moving over to there. However, they do enter children for exams so it would be reasonable to see why they said they could meet his needs. However it just is not enough for him to meet the levels he’s capable of.

That might be an idea. I will need to talk to DS. He’s very clear he wants to do exams next year but I just can’t see how it’s going to be possible.

Going forward, follow up all verbal conversations with emails so you have a paper trail as evidence.

How good is DS with independent study? Could he work his way through textbooks/revision guides? At least in some subjects. I know that won’t work for many with SEN.

@StrivingForSleep It varies. Sometimes he can learn on his own for short bursts but other times he can’t and it causes conflict. We have tried home education when he was out of school and it was terrible for all involved. Thankyou for the advice. I am going to ask for an early review.

Rather than home education, I was wondering if DS would be able to work independently at school or with staff support to stay on task but not direct teaching. As part of the 2 hrs 1:1 teaching targeted at DS’s level he currently receives, the school could set some independent study he could complete during the lessons that are targeted below DS’s ability. Then review the work during the next 2 hours 1:1, do a bit more direct teaching then set more work.

In terms of something to discuss in addition to the annual review (and I agree that this is needed, as you need to formalise the support he needs), what is he currently doing for the 23 or so hours that he doesn't have 1:1 teaching? As striving said, could some of this be transferred to independent study in the classroom he would otherwise be in? Or do they have/could they get access to any computer based learning programmes that he could work through and then use the 1:1 time for support on the bits he was stuck on? It would be really good for them to find what works before the annual review, as otherwise it might name provision that doesn't actually work for him.

If it might work, there's the option to do some GCSEs next year and then more in year 12, if the college is on board with this or it is written into his EHCP (ideally both). This could give him confidence this year that would set him in good stead next year.

It's a difficult one because when students are working at age related, they usually don't have much in the cognition and learning section, which is often not an issue at mainstream schools, but is a huge issue at schools where others are not working at this level. But all schools should be differentiating to the needs of their students, and they don't really have an excuse not to. That's just good teaching in any setting.

@StrivingForSleep That has given me food for thought and it is something I’m going to raise at our meeting. I’ve had a phone call from school today after I asked them for an early review and they’ve agreed to start the process. I just hope they agree with me that his work load needs to be addressed as I only have DS’s account of what he does in a day.

@ThesebeautifulthingsthatIvegot Due to the needs of the school (SEMH) there are lots of additional activities during the day such as therapeutic hobbies, life skills and emotional based therapy work. This has helped my DS hugely in that aspect.

I agree more independent study with learning programmes is possibly something to look at. A good point about the cognition and learning and I’ve also noted that to bring up at the early review. Thankyou.

Surely you could just get some private tutoring for him? That’s what would be done with children in the mainstream schools that are either far ahead or far behind

It will be easier for the teachers to differentiate within a lesson or support independent study within a lesson for subjects where they are teaching GCSE/iGCSE subjects that aren’t tiered. So it will be harder for maths, sciences and MFL if they are teaching others the foundation content. What subjects is DS wanting to sit? Do you know what tier the schools teaches/enters pupils for.

If it would work for DS, I even know DC who have had online tuition/schooling while on-site at their existing school during part of the school day.

It definitely sounds like B&F need improving. C&L is about more than just being academically behind.

It is the LA you need to request an early review from. I would do this yourself even if the school has said they will. IPSEA has model letter you can use.

It is nothing like some parents of DC in MS choosing to arrange tuition on top of the teaching their child is receiving at school.

@Waterballoons Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

Why?

@StrivingForSleep That makes a lot of sense and is probably why DS is not getting the best out of learning. There are no DC being entered for anything above foundation papers, but DS is certain he can do the usual papers with support to get him back on track (and I believe he can too). He wants to do maths, IT and MFL; his school will offer this but he’s not working on the content to achieve it. I’ve certainly got some suggestions to go back with thanks to this thread, thank you.

I will look at the model letters on IPSEA to request a review myself.

IT or computer science? This is one of the harder areas to staff. Not all subjects have tiers, so other subjects such as English, history, geography, DT, music, etc. shouldn’t be as difficult to differentiate within the lesson.

It not being simple could be for numerous reasons including but not limited to finances (families with disabled DC are more likely to live in poverty and SEN specialist tuition can be very expensive) and DS’s SEN (some DC are unable to cope with tuition on top of a school day and some DC are unable to cope with tuition outside of school because school is school and home is home).

A couple of further thoughts. If the school would source online schooling/tuition, the good news is maths and MFL are easier to find. And, if DS is mathsy, Maths should also be easier for DS to study independently/with support to stay on task etc. but with less direct teaching.

Does the school teach MFL at all? If not, that might make it a bit harder because of the speaking part of the assessment. But it isn’t impossible, it will just taking more planning.

@StrivingForSleep IT is where his interest is. If I’m understanding you correctly, are you suggesting that as maths has levels, then it is harder to differentiate the curriculum in those lessons? And this is why DS is learning the same as the other DC on a group level?

Thankyou for articulating better than I can.

@StrivingForSleep Would the sourcing of online maths tuition at school likely require alterations to B and F? I would really like to avoid an appeal but it appears it may be a much more cost effective option all round.

DS learns Spanish at school already so I think this may be something to be explored as an exam option too.

To guarantee online provision, you would need to have the provision in F. However, it is worth asking the school now and reminding them they said they could meet all needs, including academically. You may get lucky.

Maths and MFL GCSEs/iGCSEs have a foundation tier (giving grades 1-5) and a higher tier (giving grades 4-9).

If the school is teaching the content for the foundation tier, it will mean the school isn’t covering some of the content on the higher paper. So it will be harder, although still possible, for the teachers to differentiate the content to the level of a pupil working at the level of the higher tier within the same level. Whereas, for say English, there is only one tier covering grades 1-9.

Science is also tiered, but the grades available for that are a bit complicated because it depends on the type of science.

To complicate matters further, MFL has a qualification called Foundation Certificate of Secondary Education (FCSE) which are not GCSEs but the grades (Pass, Merit and Distinction) correspond to the old National Curriculum levels 4, 5 and 6.

ICT would need to be an iGCSE or some other qualification rather than a GCSE.

@StrivingForSleep Thankyou for explaining; everything is a lot clearer now and I have a better understanding of what to ask for. Thankyou so much.