Working mum, child out of school, advice needed

[slowlylosingthewill]

I am a full time working mum. I have 2 DS. DS1 is not in mainstream education at the moment but is on a waiting list for a special school which he should be in by June. At the moment he attends hospital school which is almost equivalent to a full school day on 2 days and attends a morning school attached to the hospital on the other 3 days.

DH has been off work for a while but returns to full time employment at end of the month. My work have been very accommodating over the time we have been having but now comes the crunch that if I cannot do full time hours then alternatives need to be found. Have been asked to attend a meeting next week. I should add I have been working lots of hours from home to ensure all the work is completed whilst my hours in the office have been irregular.

I understand that my employer needs someone full time in the role that I do (I have been with the company nearly 6 years) and that they would do not want to have someone working PT in office and PT at home but are there any legalities that I need to be aware of regarding my situation so I can go armed with sound knowledge to the meeting.

Once DS1 is in the SS I will be able to resume full time hours with no problem but at the moment the struggle is with him only doing part days and as his issues are emotional/mental health related I am not sure if there are "childminders" out there who will look after an 11 year old for a few hours each day that would be able to cope with him.

Sorry this is a long thread, hope someone may be able to offer some advice.

Hi,
some info here from nhs site careres direct:
www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect/guide/parent-carers/Pages/caring-disabled-child.aspx

Combining work and caring

If you are combining work commitments with caring, make sure you know your rights at work. You have the right to have time off for emergencies and to request flexible working. If you are finding it difficult to combine work and caring, you could call the Working Families helpline on 0800 013 0313.

...also this organisation www.crossroads.org.uk/ may be able to help.

There are several of us on here who are lone parents with mortgages who have lost lucrative careers due to the sen system. The powers that be in the health and education sector don't give a toss if you can't work.

You need to establish a timelime for entry to the unit with the LEA and go from there. Get it in writing!

Kind employers may let you take parental leave unpaid to cover a term. The best place for realistic advice I've found has been the jobcentre as for obvoius reasons they don't want you to add to the list of claimants! They have up to date info on your employment rights, and can signpost you to legal help if needed.

They even wrote supportive letters to my LEA for me, which helped speed up my son's return to full time education. I'm mentioning them cos they were the last place I'd have thought to ask for help yet, they were one of the few "official" bodies that a/ recognised the financial toll on the family b/stuck their necks out to help at a time I felt the whole world was against me.

Thanks for the great advice.
It now appears there may be a dx of ASD on the horizon too, upsetting but not really a huge surprise.
Organised the letter for the timeline of the entry with the head of service, although I am not sure if things might change there now following today's news.
Also off to look at DLA as we apparently should have claimed this for some time and I may also get some help towards the childcare provision while he is out of full time education.
Apparently now DS1 may fit into a "SN box" so to speak so more support may be out there for us as a family too.

waving not drowning website
once you are claiming DLA for ds you will have more rights with regards to taking time off work to care for him

Thanks cornsilkidy - I will do this as a priority now.