Year 3 SEN child on reduced timetable, work and mortgage at risk

[reddaisyandcake]

My DS is in Year 3. He can't cope in mainstream school, hasn't been in class for most the year. Im called in often to collect him as he struggles with everything school related.

Highly sensory but no official diagnosis yet, on the pathway for ASD and Adhd. Query PDA.

On the sen register.

School can't manage him. They've pressured me into a reduced timetable. The local and also further away PRUs are full.

EHCP agreed to assess but not started yet.

Im a single mum, no help. Have a mortgage and I work. But I had to go locum due to demands of meetings/early pick ups for DS. As such, no job security and only get paid for hours worked.

This week after 2x suspensions due to SEMH and heightened behaviours, they put him on a reduced timetable meaning my wage drops from 40 hours p/w to 10 hours p/w. I won't earn enough to cover bills. With my commute I can only go in for 2 hours rendering my work pointless.

They have left me with no alternative and its likely after further issues this week he's facing permanent exclusion meaning I will have to stop work completely.

I dont know what to do and need advice please.

I feel forced into this. School offered me a food bank but that won't pay my bills.

What week of the EHCP process are you on? Is the LA adhering to the timescales? Have you requested all the necessary advice and information, e.g. SALT and OT?

You will find it helpful to read the suspension and permanent exclusion guidance.

If you want DS to attend full-time, he can, unless formally suspended or permanently excluded. A formal suspension/exclusion rather than an unlawful informal exclusion will a) provide you with evidence of unmet needs, b) force the school to follow due process, c) limit the number of days the school can suspend for, d) allow you to challenge any suspension/exclusion, and e) ensure DS receives alternative provision as a result of the suspension/exclusion once he has reached that threshold.

If DS is unable to attend school full-time, the LA has a duty under section 19 of the Education Act 1996 to ensure he still receives a suitable full-time education. This applies whether the PRUs are ‘full’ or not. PRUs are not the only option. In fact, they may not be suitable for DS. And ‘full’ isn’t defined in law, anyway. Have you requested alternative provision?

When you say you are “called in often to collect”, are these formal suspensions? Or informal unlawful exclusions?

The school should not be using a part-time timetable to manage behaviour. The guidance is clear on that. It states “A part-time timetable should not be used to manage a pupil’s behaviour.” It also states they should not be excluding pupils just “because they have SEN or a disability that the school feels it is unable to meet”.

Are you receiving all the benefits you are entitled to?

Thankyou for this information.

I have a specialist OT report that details recommendations and highlights the severity of sensory needs.

Week 7 of the ehcp, initially they declined to assess so I paid for the private OT assessment which overturned the decision. They have agreed to assess but no worker allocated yet.

I have contacted the PRUs myself and tget have been the most helpful, but they are full and can't take a referral from myself anyway, it needs to be through the right channels.

Prior to this week, I was called many times since September to collect early. This week he has been temp suspended 3x. This is since putting in the reduced timetable the same week.

I have no income without work, they know this but say they can't help.

The senco has queried s19 but nobody is taking any action.

They just keep saying sorry they can't help me, even though they know I'm without earnings as a result.

Have you requested any other assessments that are required e.g. SALT? If not, do that. On their website, ISPEA has a model letter you can use.

Is the OT sufficient for the EHCP i.e. does it cover needs, provision, outcomes and is the wording for provision detailed, specified and quantified? If not, also request advice and information from OT.

You can’t refer directly to the PRU, but you can request section 19 provision yourself. You can email the LA. On their website, ISPEA has a model letter you can use. It doesn’t matter that the PRU is ‘full’. There are other options. There is also the possibility the LA could place there anyway even if they say they are ‘full’.

Alongside this, you can inform the school DS will be attending full-time unless formally suspended. You don’t have to allow the school to act unlawfully. They should not be informally asking you to collect. They should not be using the part-time timetable to manage behaviour. They should not be suspending just because they can’t meet SEN.

Have you challenged any of the suspensions?

The ot assessment is thorough. Contains everything but the school wont implement recommendations as they say they can't fund/facilitate without the ehcp.

He has a salt assessment, I've requested a rereferral to update this.

Ive challenged the suspensions today. Ive written to my MP and school governers. I initially refused to collect him early as id only just arrived in work 1hour commute away when they asked me to come back. He's on the reduced timetable and I was collecting in the morning anyway but they said I needed to be there immediately. 3x suspension in 1 week is excessive in my opinion. I objected but they said he cannot return till Monday.

You don’t need a normal re-referral to SALT. That will take too long and 99.9% of normal referrals won’t result in advice and information written in the right way for an EHCP. It should be part of the EHCNA.

The school is right that without an EHCP, they are unlikely to be able to implement all the provision in the OT report. However, that doesn’t give the school a free pass to act unlawfully.

So has DS been suspended today? Formally. With the right paperwork? How many days has DS been suspended for this term? If more than 5, you have the right to request the governors meet and you attend. Even if less than 5, the governors must still consider your representations. Is the suspension just because they can’t meet DS’s SEN?

I appreciate the limitations for funding and 2bf on the whole the school have been good, but its knowing I can't earn, knowing its due to SEN and forcing me to not work as a result i can't accept.

Every early finish prior to this week was not formal. This week it has been 2x half day suspensions, plus today and tomorrow. Return monday. Ive no paperwork.

Its entirely SEN, he has high anxiety and left school ground on arrival. Then he was unsettled and upset so they called 9:45 asking me to collect. He's in isolation every day, not been in the classroom in months.

It will help you to read the suspension and exclusion guidance.

You don’t have to allow the school to continue to act unlawfully. They should not be informally sending DS home. You don’t have to allow them to continue to do that. If the school is formally suspending, you need the paperwork. Are you sure the suspensions this week are formal suspensions? It doesn’t sound like it. You don’t have to allow the school to put DS on a part-time timetable when they should not be doing that to manage behaviour.

Alongside this, request s19 provision from the LA.

Yes they are formal, prior to this week they weren't.

Thankyou for all your advice.

If they are formal suspensions, you should have paperwork for them. There should be written notification.

They've provided this today at my request.

In all honesty I’d consider a nanny / au pair to look after your child in order for yourself to keep working. Depending which LA your in some can take forever to sort out section 19 and to be frank can be practically useless as you will still be required to be a safe guarding person for the supplier (yes parents are not legally allowed to be this person but LA force it on parents and it’s a battle and a half to get an LSA / second adult) or unless you child is happy to go to other places but then it’s getting them there and back etc.

Yes there is a law to follow but many LA are corrupt and don’t follow it. Which LA you with? Is the dad around to help?

The Sen pathway is highly stressful and you could have a child at home 24/7 with nothing even though the law is there to ensure every child has a legal right of a full time accessible education but in reality depending on the LA it doesn’t happen.

I’d hire a full time nanny and don’t be a “carer / full time trapped at home looking after a sen kid” got the t shirt and it’s very difficult.

Good luck

(even after the 20 weeks then they are likely to push you to a tribunal for more wasted time honestly it destroys people get a nanny and keep your job)

“Pathway for ASD / adhd” - is that with right to choose? Or Cahms? (They can take forever too)

If adhd is in question I’d consider going private if you are wanting to medicate if behaviour is very difficult. That could be quite quick. But it depends on your child’s views and also whether you would want to medicate or not. For some kids amazing others not great as titrations take quite a long time.

psychiatrist will able to offer other kinds of meds (if necessary) plus adhds ones but £££££

Can you speak to your occupational health department for advice. Even though I did ultimately resign they did suggest some options to me that I had not previously considered such as unpaid leave, more flexible hours etc. You would also not be wrong to go to your GP and ask to be signed off work because of stress - I found this situation so very, very stressful. Also think about if you did have to give up work whether you could apply for benefits - at the very least if you have not already make sure you have applied for DLA for your ds - you do not need to wait for a formal diagnosis for this.

We are a long time past this but from the time when exclusions started happening to the ds's getting special school placements was about eighteen months. After that things became more settled again and I could restart working even if I opted for more flexible self-employment.

I'm not allowed a phone during work. I never picked up a call from school. They always found a place for my son, usually in the school office, to wait until the end of day. It wasn't great, but there is no way school can expect you to pick up or agree to a reduced timetable. Until things are properly in place for your son via an EHCP you have every right to not answer the phone. I assume you are a GP, so you have every reason not to answer private calls at work and leave work. A teacher wouldn't be able to take calls in class and just leave. Once you stop picking him up, the school will be much more helpful supporting EHCP and assessments. It's most important to think about what you and your son need long term. Is his father in the picture at all to help? He realistically needs to help more.

but then it’s getting them there and back

LAs often say they don’t provide transport for AP, but they can. They mostly don’t unless parents force their hand because it saves them money, but parents can challenge the LA (LA in general because transport to AP isn’t always via the transport team). It is possible to force the LA to provide provision that doesn’t rely on parents and transport whatever LA you are in though.

Do you get DLA for him? If not apply ASAP, local parent carer groups will often help you with completing the form if needed. A DLA award will then increase the amount of universal credit you would be entitled to and remove the requirement to work a certain number of hours.

Let CAMHS or whoever manages the autism/ADHD assessments know that he has been suspended, this might meet their criteria to expedite the referral and there may be other support they can offer

My heart goes out to you, its so difficult to be at home as sole carer navigating sen. Thankyou for your message. Id love to get a nanny but I've looked into this and financially can not justify working to cover their salary. The LA won't assess for Direct Payments for a PA at this stage either and I'm not even sure what qualifies families for help at home. I have a daughter too (not SEN) so the support would not be for her.

Adhd is with CAMHS they are close to assessing and need completed forms from school, but he's not in school.

Right to choose for ASD and still probably a year to go waiting.

I considered private but have heard go's often dont support continuing meds so even with a diagnosis he could still wait to to a year for the medication recommended.

I went private with the OT assessment. Its a brilliant assessment but the school can't offer the support recommended.

Unfortunately I don't have access to OH, sick pay or reduction in hours. I gave up permanent work to be as available as I could for meetings, difficult days etc. Im agency now, contracted for 40 hours p/w but had to drop to 10/12hrs p/w due to this reduced timetable. Now he's suspended I can't even do that. I only get paid for hours worked- no holiday/sick pay.

I have applied for DLA, they said up to 25 weeks for a decision. This was in January. I had no idea he was entitled to this until recently by chance.

No im not a gp, but I do have a pressured job. They ring repeatedly, b2b calls. I answer as he has escaped School grounds several times and I get anxious at any missed calls.

Thankyou ill look into this

At the moment, new DLA claims aren’t taking the full 25 weeks they are saying. Most are coming through much quicker.

If DS is then awarded mid rate care (MRC) or high rate care (HRM), you will be eligible for carer’s allowance as long as your earnings are below £196 pw after tax, NI and certain other expenses.

In the meantime, have you looked at UC? If you aren’t eligible for UC now, check again once awarded DLA because there will be at least one extra element, maybe two, depending on the rate of DLA awarded. Also, have you looked at council tax reduction/support?

There may not be anything suitable for DS, but it is worth checking your local short breaks offer.

If you have been refused an assessment by social care, on their website, Contact has a model letter you can use to complain. If that doesn’t work, you can ask for an independent review (not really independent, but part of the process to go through to challenge the LA’s decision), then complain to the LGO. Depending on specifics, JR may be possible, even more so because advice and information from social care can form part of the EHCNA. I appreciate that doesn’t solve the here and now with the school.

Also not immediate, but if you have to appeal a refusal to issue or the content/placement of the EHCP, you can request SENDIST considers social care too. The recommendations SENDIST make for the social care provision are not binding in exactly the same way as the education sections, but if the LA refuse to follow them, you can look at JR or LGO. And some social care provision is actually special educational provision so should be in F of an EHCP.

When a child cannot attend school because their needs cannot currently be met, the Local Authority may have a duty under Section 19 of the Education Act to arrange suitable education outside the school setting.

Schools also should not routinely use part-time timetables or repeated requests for parents to collect a child early as a way of managing SEN difficulties. Those situations can sometimes amount to informal exclusions.

It may be helpful to ask the Local Authority formally what alternative provision they intend to arrange while the EHCP assessment is ongoing.

Thankyou all for your advice. I explored this further and thanks to your help I raised formal complaints via school and LA.

The LA supported me to confirm unlawful actions by reduced timetable for SEN, early pick ups and suspensions.

S19 agreed and started. Alternative provision off site provided with support and a plan to transition back to classroom by the next half term all being well.

I wouldn't have known what to challenge or what to ask for without your advice so thankyou to all who commented, you helped me a lot.