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SN children

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on special needs.

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Original poster

Can't (but can) believe this

36 replies

Blossomhowl · 04/10/2005 21:16

When speaking to dd's teacher yesterday she said that they have had letters before asking for their children in the ms to be moved away from the children in the unit/with special needs.

I just cannot believe people (adults) can be so cruel and discrimnative.

The teacher said she tells the parent ot speak directly, not write letters and that the school has a fully inclusive policy.

Just but not really iykwim

OP posts:

maddiemo · 04/10/2005 21:21

Easily believe it. I have a unit and mainstream child at the same school and have sat through meetings where m/s parents complain about the unit kids bringing the school SATs results down.

anniebear · 04/10/2005 21:22

Thats so awful

QueenVictoria · 04/10/2005 21:26

I was totally ed when my mate told me that when she went swimming physio with her SN son, the group inc her had to be asked first if they minded the inclusion of Downs kids because some parents object to it .

You would have thought, perhaps, that parents whose own kids have SN would be the last to be that way, but apparently so.......

Original poster

Blossomhowl · 05/10/2005 16:46

mddiemo - why is it that people automatically assume if your child has sn they have learning difficulties? Again it's down to the stereo typical view people have on sn.
I just get so as children with sn are indivduals like everyone else!

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madmummyof2 · 05/10/2005 16:57

yeah. my son has SN and is in a mainstream school.
i have to drop him off early, bring him home for lunch and colect him early. partly because teh school cant deal with him but also because the school dont want the parents to complain about a SN child in their own childrens class.

it is absolutly disgusting

Original poster

Blossomhowl · 05/10/2005 17:56

Madmummyof2 - That is terrible . How on earth can they class that as inclusion?

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Socci · 05/10/2005 18:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

coppertop · 05/10/2005 18:24

So much for inclusion.....

macwoozy · 05/10/2005 18:29

Thats absolutely terrible, I would be very upset if I heard that being the case in my ds's class. Awful.

madmummyof2 · 05/10/2005 18:48

It absolutly tears me apart. i meet with the senco every week to discuss George's progress ( which he never does) and every week i build my hopes up that i will be able to persuade her to reconsider the current arrangement. and every week i sit in my car and cry as i get the same answer.... NO!

i would love to be able to send my son to a speiclist school but (i have posted under soo angry at education) there arent any... and even if there were the lists are so long he would be 16 before he even got a place.

the idea that this is what the government consider as the best environment to teach a child is beyond me.
you czn guarentee if Tony Blairs son is discovered to have Sn he will soon fight to keep his local SN school open!

it is yet another case of men in grey suits who have no idea what they are talking about telling us, the REAL experts ( the ones who deal with this on a daily basis) what is best for our children.

it makes me sick

ghoulgrrl · 05/10/2005 18:48

that's terrible.

just to say though - my dd who has DS has been in mainstream reception class for a month now and it's absolutely brilliant. She is the most popular child in the school, it seems. The staff love her, too, and the entire school has done a Makaton course.
She does of course have a learning disability but the other children have been very accepting. Though I guess it would be a lot harder if dd wasn't so well-behaved and friendly - I am sure parents of little ones with behavioural issues face a completely different battle.

happymerryberries · 05/10/2005 18:51

I have had a very hreated 'debate' with a mate who has been responsible to helping to shut special schools. His argument is that they often had poor standards of education in the past. the answer seems, then, just to be close them. Not improve them. makes me want to pull my hair out. he has never taught a day in his life.

Just let one of these people shaddow a kid with ASD in mainstream and see how well they think inclusion works then

LadyFioOfTipton · 05/10/2005 18:57

my daughters special school has beacon status
alot of the kids go on to get gcses, do vocational courses and the like. i cant see how that is failing?

life skills are far more important to me and my daughter than academic gain

horrendous about what you heard BH but not bloody suprised. Do you ive in posh area by any chance?

SoBlue · 05/10/2005 19:38

MM2 i thought i was the only one with the pick him up early etc ms. They wont take my ASD ds (5)full time so he doesn't stay to lunch yet. He just got his statement which now allows for this but still waiting for a date.. As they didnt get 100% 121 ft funding they are now saying they maynot even take him ft in Jan 06!

PeachyClairPumpkinPie · 05/10/2005 20:09

It all depends on the school. Sam was on the brink of lunch time exclusion when we moved, but here we haven't had a single bad word about him. The rules for dealing with a kids with sam's sn (aspergrs) are effective for general discipline in education anyway.... routines, clear rules, structure. IME when a school can't manage to attain this fairly basic system, the ones who fall out first are the sn kids.

Original poster

Blossomhowl · 05/10/2005 20:22

Fio - hardly. Dd's school is erm not exactly erm, Well it is a bit rough but the unit is fab!

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LadyJimjamsofChigley · 05/10/2005 20:27

hmb- how are they judged I wonder?

DS1's school is a local centre of excellence (can't remember what they call it) and provides support for 3 LEA's. It's so far from failing. OK I think all children leave the school at 19 still on p scales (if they progress more than that then they would move school), but they also leave able to go to supermarkets, cafes, having had horse riding, having gone to the cinema, theatre (things that I wouldn't dare do with ds1).

Would you like to introduce me to your mate hmb. I feel very strongly that special schools should not be being shut.

happymerryberries · 05/10/2005 21:05

As do I!

While it is undoubtibly true that there were some poor special schools in the past the same could be said for all schools.

Simply closing special schools is farcical, verging on the criminal.

Who cares if kids are leaving on P scales so long as they are making progress. The one size fits all attitue to schooling, all schooling not just for kids with sn makes me livid. All the more so because decisiona are made by people who have never spent any time with these children. ARGHHH! And my kids are NT. God knows how you must feel!

Original poster

Blossomhowl · 05/10/2005 21:07

Can I ask what P scale is please?

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happymerryberries · 05/10/2005 21:10

Levels that children can be graded on before level 1 at KS1. So children with special needs can still have their progress tracked in a reasonably effective way. they start iirc with things like, turns towards a voice etc

Original poster

Blossomhowl · 05/10/2005 21:11

Thanks HMB

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MeerkatsUnite · 06/10/2005 07:07

I would echo ghoulgrrl's comments re behavioural issues. That to school is a totally different ball game; one in which some schools don't readily play.

I am fortunate with my son and mainstream (following a few hiccups in reception) but it could all too easily be different (as the following example from the same school shows).

Some time ago now an autistic boy at my son's infants school was "permanantly excluded" as school could not cope with his various problems. This was inclusion in name only; the only lesson he openly participated in with the other children was PE. The children in his class were totally accepting of him, it was the adults around him in school that caused the underlying tensions. His mum had to sign a disclaimer form for lunchtimes.

I was also shocked to learn that 20% of all special needs children get excluded from school.

skinnycow · 06/10/2005 07:15

There's a little boy in my ds's old school (just started reception so not yet 5 - will be 5 in November) and he certainly has some behavioural problems, the Head has told his mum she must collect him at 11am each morning as he has 1:1 help for only 2 hours a day and they're not prepared to keep him for longer until they really have to to say she is hurt by tthis is an understatement. And this is a school with a growing reputation for having an excellent special needs facility (in fact I think they spend more time, money and energy promoting this aspect)

coppertop · 06/10/2005 09:49

When I went to meetings about ds1 starting at the local mainstream school the Head was very keen on having him stay part-time for the whole of the Reception year. The Early Years Inclusion Manager was seething. Both she and the SALT advised me not to let that happen and to push for ds1 attending full-time as soon as he was ready. Apparently the Head was well-known for using this as a cost-cutting exercise. Fortunately ds1's Reception teacher was keen to do everything she could to help ds1 settle in and he was attending full-time within 3 months.

LadyJimjamsofChigley · 06/10/2005 11:57

I spent the first year of ds1's schooling running round like an idiot after ds1's schooling. Dropping him at 9.10 picking him up at 11.30- can't believe I did it now. In year 1 the school decided they had to cope with him full time (term after he was 5 so legal requirment) and they lasted a term ha ha.

HMB- these suits have no idea what autism means - or any SN come to that. hmb - do you know where there is a good site on p scales. I think once a year we get sent ds1's assessment and I never have any idea what they mean (I'm not particularly bothered- more intrigued to see how he is assessed)

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