School is knocking off 2 levels when marking schoolwork because of the ASD Statement… how to proceed?

[Lokovatoress]

My DS with ASD has a Statement in an overachieving grammar school, doing OK. However, I realised that they knock of a few levels when marking his schoolwork because of the support he receives as part of the statement ? basically they consider that ?it is not his own work?. If he does not get help in class he would fall behind in his development. When he does get the help he does he does not get credit.
For example the criteria for marking the essay include ?well structured?. DS has problems with writing , structuring and organisation, so the TA provides some support sheets that help to plan the essay ? I gather these sheets are given to all children, however the teacher told me that he is at a lower level that the others because ?it is all structured for him?. The school does a lot of home projects which are also assessed. So far he submitted 3 projects and they all say ? ?it could not be his work as in class he produced work to lower standard?. But of course he would ? he has well documented language and time management difficulties which influence performance in class. At home at his own pace he works better. The school say I do homework for his, which is rubbish.
At first I thought these were the teething problems. I tried to talk to them on the parent consultation evening. They ignored me and said to write. I wrote an email to the SENCO in December asking to discuss ? no answer. I sent a reminder a few days ago - total radio silence.
I don?t know what to do, really panicking now. I thought we had good communication relationship with the school, but apparently not? I don?t want this to escalate in a conflict but I can?t really let this to go on right until the GCSEs, can I?
Any idea how to untangle this in a structured way?

• Are there any official rules and documents on marking the levels?

• How they prove that it is not his own work ? how to challenge this

• Is there any way for independent review / marking of his work?

• What is the rule on internet research usage ? e.g. if the school asks to do additional research at home and the facts and ideas from this research is then reflected in the essay in his own words ?for me this is success ? it achieves the learning objective. The school says ?this is paraphrasing of Wikipedia?, but everything they write in year 7 is paraphrasing of the lesson, or their history book or some other book, not a blue sky research. ASD child is a visual learner ? learns by reading.

• What procedure to use to communicate and to force them to consider this issue ? informal already failed

Hi,

I would actually be looking at other schools now because these people are not willing or able to listen properly. It will likely remain so.

AttilaTheMeerkat I appreciate your advice and understand that changing school is a possibility.

However do you really think the solution is in segregating DS in a special school rather that challenging the society to integrate and accept them? OK now it is a special school bubble and what when he grows up - stamping envelopes in sheltered workshop? What about realising the potential and aspirations? He is doing well at school and the experience overall is very positive, the school is 3 minutes walk from home. There are more good reasons to stay put then to change. In other schools same or worse problems could arise.

I can't believe that accepting discrimination is the best and only option; there must be a third way. Many mums hear battle desperately to get out DC proper education and then what? If I accept that they sideline my DS now, a generation will grow up thinking that Aspies belong in a parallel world on Mars somewhere. Even in this forum there is someone complaining how annoyed they are to work with an ASD adult - have you seen the discussion about SN adult?

Is it arrogant of me? Please say something

Maybe any professional could advise how to engage with them effectively

Lokovatoress - Atilla never said move to a special school. Just to a diff school.

Loads of MS schools will be better. Your school sounds rubbish TBI.

A lot of schools are rubbish - but not all.

I don't think Atilla was suggesting special schools, more saying that other schools would be different

They shouldn't be marking him down as zzzz said the TA should be supporting, not doing and in that case it's still his work and should be marked as such.

Don't email, write and keep dated copies - if they don't reply you then have evidence that they aren't responding in a timely fashion (I don't know how long that should be in England)

Assuming that the national strategies outcomes are being used the same way as the Scottish curricular outcomes - the teacher decides which outcomes have been passed, there is no option to omit a TA's support.

I would write a dated letter outlining the issue, send it recorded delivery and wait for a response - if you don't get one or if it's not satisfactory, you have no option other than to escalate it if you want them to change their practice

Whoa Lokovatoress!

Thank you IndigoBell and tabulahrasa, I appreciate your comments.

Lokovatoress - I never said special school as an alternative (where did you get that idea from?!) - just a different one to the one he goes to now. I was thinking of a state school which will operate more within LEA guidelines unlike a presumably private based grammer which never do.

An "overachieving grammer" will not do what you ask of it; its their way or no way basically. They are clearly unable and or unwilling to listen to your concerns.

Lokova, if the school isn't responding to you, why not try taking it up with the LA? The school has a statutory duty to meet your DS's needs and if they are failing to do this - okay, he has the support in class but knocking down his marks every time arguably affects his self esteem and seems to be a very odd reading of the role of 'support' - the LA should be able to talk to the school.
The National Autistic Society has a great helpline you could ring. I would also contact the head and give them a deadline for responding to your concerns - the SENCO's being utterly crap! My guess is that in an overachieving grammar school she's not exactly overburdened with statemented children so she should have plenty of time for getting back to you...

they shouldn't be knocking off levels - they should be providing assistance so that your ds is able to access the curriculum despite his difficulties.
have a look at the JCQ website for access arrangements at GCE

BUMP

Thanks for all your very helpful comments.
The school finally replied with dismissive bla bla. Basically it is for his own good so he can write GCSE essays on his own. The problem is he can not learn to write if they don't comment properly on his work, just dismiss it. They are also destroying his self esteem. They write that it is not a DDA issue and that their obligation is only for "access". What do they imply? What is the trap about "access"?
Could anyone help?

the DDA doesn't just cover access, it covers the entire SEN system

www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/inclusionandlearnersupport/inclusion/equalityanddiversity/disability/a0012806/summary-of-schools-statutory-responsibilities-under-disability-discrimination

"schools and LAs must not treat disabled students less favorably without justification, and must make reasonable adjustments to ensure they are not disadvantaged compared to their peers."

that's the part I would say that they're breaking

Thanks tabula. I also think it is a DDA issue and this is why they freaked out in silence. Discrimination case is a nuclear option so they want to call my blef.

Could anyone comment on access?

Does it mean that within the Statement they only should do something if DS is failling completely? What is the criteria for access v no access?

Organisations that may be able to help you include SENSOS and IPSEA, also your local parent partnership (assume it is a state school).

They should be considering how to help your son "access the curriculum" which means far more than him just being able to access buildings. (They do sound useless, how long has the SENCo been there, since 2008 all new SENCOs should have an appropriate MA).

A special school is not necessary, a good MS school though should (and would in my experience) do better.