Reduced Timetable in Reception - Advice needed please

[Lottie917]

Hello,

I'm just after some advice on reduced timetables, and sorry this is long, so please bear with me:

My son started school last week in Reception at our local mainstream. For context he is suspected ASD and ADHD (sensory processing difficulties, social / emotional regulation difficulties) and has a speech and communication delay (approx 1 year behind). We're on the waitlists for both diagnosis and an EHCP.

We knew school would be a huge step for him and did everything we could think of to try and prepare him for this new chapter. He was previously doing 3 full days at a pre-school, but they put a lot of provision/adjustments in place for him but ultimately he was doing the days and enjoyed his time there with little issue.

The handover was thorough between the settings, I've had multiple meetings with the SENCO, his teachers, etc and we did loads of transition sessions prior to the summer holidays and my son seemed to enjoy the setting; he was excited to start school last week.

He, and his peers too, (so not just him) have had a very phased start with half days etc, and today was their first full day at school. My son wasn't keen on going in this morning and apparently there was lots of tears and he took a long time to calm down. He's been becoming more and more reluctant as the week has gone on, and his sleep is also starting to suffer and he's started waking up at odd hours of night with his mind seemingly racing which also won't be helping him during the day.

The teacher today said that she thinks he would benefit from a reduced timetable. Now I know from conversations with the SENCO and doing my own research this was always a possibility but honestly I didn't think they'd suggest it so soon?

When I asked what's prompted this, she said he's had a difficult day and didn't settle in very well. I've not had any other negative feedback about him all week, only on one morning I was told he was 'slightly unsettled' so I assumed (maybe wrongly so) that perhaps they were managing the difficulties I knew he'd face and we'd discussed, and he was mostly okay with some support. I plan to ask further at my meeting next week for more specifics.

If a reduced timetable will help my son to build confidence in this new setting and settle in more at his own pace then I'm all for it. Tbh I did worry it might be too much too soon for him. But I am going to ask for a formal integration plan as I don't want him just indefinitely on part time hours. There needs to be a clear plan for progression to full time attendance or as close to as possible in my opinion.

However this is all very new to me, so I just wanted to reach out and see if there's anything else I should be asking of the school or what I should know about reduced timetables before having a further conversation with his teacher & SENCO next week. Any useful resources would be gratefully received - it seems a real mixed bag of info when I Google 🫣

Also has anyone been in a similar situation and would be willing to let me know what did/didn't work for their child with regards to reduced timetables, and what your integration plan roughly looked like so I have something to work with at my meeting next week?

He is 5 early next year if that makes any difference.

Thank you if you've made it this far!

There isn’t a waitlist for EHCPs. Has an EHCNA request actually been submitted to the LA?

What support is the school providing? I would request another meeting with the SENCO. Follow up the verbal conversations with emails. That way you have a paper trail.

If you want DS to attend full-time, he can, unless the school formally suspends. You don’t need the school to agree.

If DS is 5 early next year, he will be compulsory school age from the begging of the summer term. Until DS is compulsory school age, you can choose to send DS part-time if you want to, but it is your choice, not the school’s decision.

2.17 of the School Admissions Code (which you can see here) makes it clear it is the parents’ choice:
“Admission authorities must provide for the admission of all children in the September following their fourth birthday. The authority must make it clear in their arrangements that where they have offered a child a place at a school:
a) that child is entitled to a full-time place in the September following their fourth birthday;
b) the child’s parents can defer the date their child is admitted to the school until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age and not beyond the beginning of the final term of the school year for which it was made; and
c) where the parents wish, children may attend part-time until later in the school year but not beyond the point at which they reach compulsory school age.”

You may also find the school suspension and exclusion guidance helpful here. Most of it applies to those below compulsory school aged. Where it doesn’t, it explicitly says so as stated on page 6.

Some bits you particularly might find helpful are:

“19. Suspending a pupil for a short period of time, such as half a day, is permissible but the formal suspension process must still be followed. Each disciplinary suspension and permanent exclusion must be confirmed to the parents in writing with notice of the reasons for the suspension or permanent exclusion.”

Also of interest may be:

“20. Any exclusion of a pupil, even for short periods, must be formally recorded. It would also be unlawful to exclude a pupil simply because they have SEN or a disability that the school feels it is unable to meet…An informal or unofficial exclusion, such as sending a pupil home ‘to cool off’, is unlawful when it does not follow the formal school exclusion process and regardless of whether it occurs with the agreement of parents.”

And

“30. A part-time timetable should not be used to manage a pupil’s behaviour”

@flawlessflipper thank you for the info and suggestions, that is really helpful to go into this with; thanks for taking the time to reply.

Yeah, so an EHCNA has been submitted and we have recently been told the LA have accepted our request. Sorry, my use of terminology may have caused confusion but from what I've been told in our area, despite the statutory timeframe an EHCP must be completed within, our area is consistently falling outside of this. I have been told by his pre-school SENCO (who submitted the EHCNA and went to panel for him) and his school's SENCO separately that my DS is unlikely to have an EHCP in place within the next 18-24 months, it's that bad at the moment - it's a huge, huge issue where we live 😬 Apparently it's something to do with the fact that they only have 1 educational psychologist (?) currently that's covering the whole of our county's requests, when I've spoken to other local SEN parents in a similar situation.

You don’t have to apologise. It isn’t you. It is the LA giving misinformation.

The statutory timescales are just that, statutory. Unless you have to appeal, which I appreciate you might, you don’t have to let the LA get away with dragging it out 18-24months - you would be able to look at enforcement via a pre-action letter/judicial review.

Lack of EPs isn’t a lawful excuse. If the LA cannot assess in house within the timescales, they should commission an independent assessment. Other children and young people waiting is irrelevant.

What week are you on? If the LA has agreed to assess, have you requested all the necessary advice and information is sought?

The LA must seek advice and information from:
a) the child’s parent or the young person;
b) educational advice (usually from the headteacher 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.

H includes SALT and OT (including sensory OT).

Looking at this from another angle.
As long as he is in mornings he won't miss key learning.
So why not plan for mornings until start of lunch until half term.
If that is ok then add in lunch for 2 weeks and see how he gets on with the free for all unstructured time.
If he copes great, if not let school put in lunchtime provision. Only when that is working try a full day.