Help - Special Needs School Forcing Mainstream

[MrsDiggens]

Hi,

I'm a mum to 4 children, and one of my son's is 4 and has Sensory Processing Disorder and Speech, Lang and Communication Disorder.

We got his statement in July this year and he was placed into a special needs school of our choice in September.

They have told us he is above his peers and want him in a mainstream which is a huge shock as we know he won't cope. They had originally said about changing his class but this is a no go now. It turns out his head teacher has said they didn't want him at the school and she told the education board this but they told her she had to take him in. (Very Professional to be told this)

When we have asked to see his work they have now said they havent been teaching up to mainstream standard so it shows how behind he is, so even though he is showing allot better there it's still behind mainstream

A mainstream school went to visit him at his current setting and we were only told today no one had mentioned it so we couldnt even talk to anyone and to top it off his school don't see his behaviour issues and think they dont exist even though his escort and all the specialists who put input into his statement have.

I'm struggling with what to do so any advice really welcomed, his headteacher is really hard to approach and her tones and saying he is mainstream thats it has made matters worse.

Sorry one last detail our son was mentioned when a friend went in to view the school and she mentioned integration saying they had one boy they thought wouldnt need it.

I've asked for a formal complaint now and the local MP to come and help as I just don't know what else to do my only other option is to take him out as I know he doesn't need to start until the term after he is 5 but then I loose this place altogether

Hello lovely, glad you found the site. I'm sure everyone will give you really great advice - I know we couldn't talk freely earlier today, but I really felt for you & your DH.

(MrsDiggen's DS goes to my DD's school, btw).

So what you are saying is that the Head thought your DS was too able for the school in the first place, but County overruled her? Now she feels proved right?

As I said to you earlier today, you are going to have to do two things, I think. First off, you will need to gather all the evidence you have that your DS has significant SEN. The fact he has a Statement and was placed in a SS in the first place is a good start

I know County have told you that you have no choice over which school he goes to, and that it must be pure Mainstream, but that is frankly rubbish.

There are MS schools with SEN base, which are like a half-way-house which may suit. Don't opt for your local school - genieinabottle will tell you it is no good for SEN, and you already know that.

So your next priority is to decide where you want your DS to go, and push for it. Don't just cave in.

Can you ask for written minutes of the meeting you had? If not, if you could email the head, or write to her and ask for the reasons she believes the school is nolonger suitable, you would have something in writing you could work with.

Did she give you any impression that the school was 'inappropriate' when you were looking around?

Other question - have you been told what support the Statement will give in Mainstream? Will he have 1:1 support, and if so how many hours? Or will he be expected to be flying solo with general support like any other child without SEN?

What SALT provision is going to be in his new Statement?

Also, is this being classed as an 'emergency statement review?'

Oh blimey what a difficult situation. I can't really add anything to Lougle's excellent posts above. DS1's class teacher patently doesn't want him in her class and he is getting treated unfairly as a result. My head says fight it out, heart says cut losses and look for another school. Think the most important thing is not to be rushed into picking another school; fine they say theirs isn't suitable but they can only speak for what their school offers IYKWIM. I'm sure the LA didn't give him a placement there at a drop of a hat, so something seems off somewhere.

Have you tried speaking to SOS!SEN or IPSEA? sossen.org.uk ipsea.org.uk. I've found SOS!SEN easier to get through to (and more helpful).

Good luck.

I know private ones cost a fortune, and LEA ones are of variable quality and independence but is there any way at all you could get a very thorough ed psych reassessment and report? In the meantime the current school could be working really well on his communication skills and sensory needs; and making sure that his play and social skills are optimised. It may well be that the head is right and her school isn't suitable long term if it won't stretch your son academically. Either way, a school's never right for a dc if the head hates him being there.

I wonder if there's any way of you getting the head on board? IE: agree yes, this is the wrong school for him. He might need mainstream, he might need a base, he might need a different SN school, with your help and a couple of terms of your skilled early intervention he'll be ready for the next step.. (etc etc & more flannel as appropriate). She might be more helpful if she doesn't feel he's inappropriately stuck in her school for the next 7 years.

I feel a tribunal and a non-county placement coming on

I'm interested that they say "they havent been teaching up to mainstream standard," this is quite bizarre. Part of what they should be doing is differentiation, and that means up (and sideways!) as well as down. If he is capable of the work, then he should be doing it regardless of setting. They are undermining their own argument by failing to do this.

I would be asking, in writing, for plenty of evidence from the school. Ask for the moon on a stick - ask to go in and observe, to see all the work completed thus far, to see the teacher's plans which will of course include differentiation and show him as being targeted for stretching activities - presumably the classes are small? (My planning would have included the children's names, I only had 8 in my groups.) Ask for dates of assessment and to see the work that assessments are based on.

If they are right, and he would be better in MS (some kids are, DS1 has ASD that is mainly SPD in nature, but is coping well in MS with support), then you will have the evidence to reassure you. If they are wrong, then you have evidence for appeal.

Have you any clue what the motivation of the HT is? Does she just not like being wrong, or is the school over crowded? Or another reason?

Look for alternatives, if any
We have problem here that there is mainstream and SLD and nothing in between (all been closed).
If current school is the best bet stick to your guns but at last resort you could agree to gradual transition via a very long dual placement eg start mainstream 1/2 day a week with support from special school and build up very slowly.
When the special school here used to take more able children for nursery / foundation stage they typically transferred to mainstream around year 1 or 2 and took about a year to transfer over slowly.

Hi. Follow Lougles advice. And, write a formal complaint to the Head of Service in your LEA.
State that your ds was placed at the school in good faith. Your ds has well documented SEN and a Statement.
Enclose copies of any up-to-date Reports you have from other profess. invoved with your ds.
Your complaint needs to be blunt and to the point. That your ds is happy and settled in this school,(if he is.) That although he may be more able than some of his peers, he is still not capable of mainstream cuuriculm.
That you are shocked and saddened and angry to have been told, that Mrs X(HT), has never wanted ds in the school, and you find this unprofessional and unforgivable.(Shame the old bat-the LEA are playing "dirty" and so must you. You want a written apology for the distress this has caused you, since the school has a duty of care for ds whilst he is there.
That you find that someone from the LEA went to observe and "interview" your ds without your Consent is also unprifessional and unforgiveable, and you are considering taking this matter Higher, outwith the LEA.(If whoever went to the school, spoke with your ds, they should have obtained your permission, as if a dc is under 12,(in Scotland anyway), they cannot consent to this themselves.
That your ds will find any change MUCH more difficult than a dc without SN, and this will be detrimental to his learning, and his social and emotional well-being.
CC the letter to the Head. class teacher and your MP, so the Head is quite clear along with the LEA that you are serious and mean business.
Make sure you get all responses in writing and names and titles of anyone who you speak to on the phone.
Good Luck!

Thank you for all your wonderful advice.

We had to send a formal complaint in December with copies of birth certificates, driving licences etc to request his work, and also as they breached the SEN code.

I finally got his work sent home on a Friday, we had a meeting with the LEA on Monday so I could run through it. I must say it was lacking allot of evidence of work but can't say I was shocked either.

He was scored at P level 8 for his Maths and Communication, which I have no doubt about the Maths but considering he has a Speech, Language, and Communication disorder did not add up.

He received a P level 6 in his reading, and writing skills which is allot lower than what they had said in the initial meeting.

I have a copy of how the P scores are worked out and still disagree on allot of areas, especially when the dates are not in order, there is no evidence to prove them and they are all recently dated (end of Dec/Early Jan) but they said he achieved all these when our meeting was held in November. Also the scores were worked out on one example, so they had done billy goats gruff and it ticked a certain number of boxes, which is great but that looks like they have only seen these once I want multiple examples to prove he is capable and that they are teaching him/

The head did say he has not got a Disorder with Speech etc so we had a private assessment carried out which confirmed the disorder and also how he was finding it all too much after half an hour which we took to our latest meeting but didn't get much support from the teachers or LEA.

It was decided that we would trial a transition to a mainstream school of our choice (Kings Copse Primary) It has a VI unit attached with sensory equipment and allot of SEN staff inc Speech Therapy assistants too. They were very reassuring as they have children similar to George in their setting and at the meeting when they were asked what they had thought about it all from Paperwork they said they hadn't received any so couldn't say much. It felt good to know they would go up against the authority to say they had not done their job properly.

I'm so nervous about how this will go, but the new school have said we will do some sessions with current school, only a few then get them to not come so they can assess his needs without them as we know he is very scared of his teachers. We will follow it with a full week of just us taking and collecting to see what happens.

We have said to the new school, he has a Full 30 Hour, Low Incidence Statement so it would be in their interest if it was to go well to keep it and reduce it when the time comes as this is max funding and easier to go this way then try and fight to get it back. They have been great and said if it goes wrong after he was to settle in we could call a new meeting and look at a new placement which is great but I hope it doesn't get to that point it's confusing him enough as it is.

they have taken my folder with all his detailed reports, and have spoken to his preschool as us, and the specialist match in what we say and his school say different it really does feel like they are against us and that it could be parenting, even though he has his diagnosis of Sensory and Speech,lang, comm disoders. I have one older child in mainstream and a little girl at preschool which I have not had any problems in school with so I hate when they make you feel inadequate :(

I am finally getting a reading book sent home, and being told he is learning letters and sounds, just a shame it's taken this long to get it.

I am still hurt that everything has happened this way as I never thought putting my child with special needs in a SEN school would be so hard, I even find whilst he is still a pupil at his SEN school when we go to parents am we are made to feel like he shouldn't be there when his teacher make comments about him being above his "class Peers" and will be moving to mainstream very soon.

What year is your son in? And yes they will use pscales to proove he is mire able so should be in ms but remind them they need to look beyond academic side when considering how ge will cope in ms

ds is y1 and is between P5 and P7 and is in s&l unit

if i was in your situation i would be looking at language units attached to mainstream schools.