special needs child burnt in school, when TA was not present :(

[keepsmiling11]

I have a 13 year old in year 8

He ha Aspergers and dyslexia......

hes not a fan of school and been thru alot

He has special needs and has a TA 11 hours per week (well meant to)

The lessons where the TA is present is all on paper and i have a copy of this..........we have a note in lieu as turned down for statement

Now hes had a bad week at school , he was "mocked" on wednesday and due to this refused to go on thursday

and then on friday another child burnt him on purpose with a soldering iron
The thing is the lesson where he was burnt there was ment to be a TA with him and she was not there

I have had a meeting with head who says "accidents" happen and the TA had gone home sick so basically tough poo........

Im so mad i dont want to send him back to this school

What would u do now if this was your child

Accidents do happen, and there are incident reports, improved protocols to prevent it happening again and a tightening in safety procedures.
All of which you could ask to see.
What was your son given as treatment? Cold running water? Icepack?

If your DS is anything like mine, he'd find it hard to judge if someone had done it accidently if he'd been hurt. Mine always assumed it was on purpose. So you need to talk to the teacher about your concerns that your son is being targeted, so that the teacher can be aware of possible future incidents.
If it was my child, I'd be asking questions to make sure that the school realised they had a problem with brushing incidents off lightly. Of the teacher, the HOD and the Head.
I wouldn't be looking to move schools on one incident, because the next school could be a lot worse. I'd work on making them get their act together first.

Thanks for the reply
what about the fact that there should of been a TA with him?

And it was no accident as the other child has admitted doing it

He was given a ice pack and i was called

Mine is opposite it your hes sees good in everything and have had problems with bullying as he thought it was ok if the person said sorry after :(

This is one of many incidents like him arriving home without them realizing hed gone
They also say when he hides under tables and bangs his head he is "just attention seeking"

I would b so annoyed but he didnt get a statement as school said they had all the funds they needed to give him a TA 11 hours a week and now the TA is never there :(

He has a TA for 11 hours a week, is she timetabled for specific lessons, this being one of them?
If she isn't there because of illness,and they don't have the staff to cover the absence, he either manages without or is with drawn from the lesson and that is a discussion you should be having. If she's not there for other reasons, then they need to provide cover.

There's a pattern emerging of lack of appropriate care for your son, they need to be much more aware of his needs and his whereabouts than they are.
Put your stomping boots on and go and ask them why they are failing.
Have you kept a paper trail of every incident? If not, it's time to start.

Yes i have a copy of where they say there is ALWAYS a TA with him but when i question where she was as my son says shes never there i get told shes in exams or in a meeting and this time shed gone home sick!!!!!

oh ive had a meeting and had my boots on but they just say "these things happen"

Yes i have a paper trail as just been to tribunal over refusal to statement

If he doesn't have a Statement, then there is no legal obligation for the school to provide a TA for your son. TAs for non-Statemented children are often moved to cover other things as necessary - they are a whole school resource, who is often available for a particular child, but wil be deployed on the basis of most need. So if they are short of invigilators, or need cover for a Statemented child, or need an extra adult on a trip, that will take priority.

And even if she was there, it is very unlikely she would be stood at his elbow keeping an eagle eye on everything he does. Surely you wouldn't want her to be?

However, that said - you do need to go into the school and find out what the circumstances were of this incident? How badly hurt is your son? I hope he is OK.

You say the other child admitted doing it - did he SAY he had done it on purpose? If so the school do need to be dealing with him.

it was a she not a he , she says it was a accident but after she did she laughed and said ooppp sorrrrryyyy did that hurt !!!!

Maybe it WAS an accident? If there is any doubt then the school can't really do much about it.... ASndf the lack of a TA really won't have made any difference.

Was your son badly hurt? What do you think ought to happen?

That's not exactly admitting that she did it on purpose though.
It could have been a careless mistake that she made, then added a flippant apology to.
Is there any lasting mark on your son, from the solder or is it a bit pink?
(DS often singes himself with solder, the slightest hint of damp and it can spit)
Have you got a copy of any incident report yet?

What about the TA? Is she actually his TA, as in written into his IEP or care plan or whatever, or is she just there as and when available for up to 11 hours?
How is yuor DS feeling about going to school this week?

Well he believes she did it on purpose as she shoved him out of was to get to iron and he had not finished.... u have no need to believe me but i believe my son .....

i had to take him to A & E as it was deep as she pushed it down thru his skin leaving a deep hole :(
it still has a dressing on it today

A have asked for a incident and will ask again for it at meeting tomorrow

And yes its his TA not a class TA , I have a copy of his TA time in his note in lieu

As for going back to school no chance hes even cut his school tie into little bits

OK the TA CANNOT always be there - she is only there for 11 hours a week, so 2h15 a day, or something like that. She is there to assist the teaching of your son, not to be a body guard.

I just think it is hard for some children (my son is one such child) to be really sure if something happened on purpose or by accident.

However, if the injury is as severe as you say (and not just a brush, so to speak) then the school really do need to take some sort of action - even if it is just reviewing their safety policies in lesson. Without proof that the child was acting intentionally they can't really punish her though....

Are you happy with the idea of your son leaving the school? What do you want to have happy?

I agree with sash. The TA is there to help your ds access the lesson. She can't protect him completely because that would mean second-guessing every other childs' actions. So even if she was there doing her job she probably couldn't have prevented the burn. It doesn't sound like the girl went and burnt him out of dislike, it sounds like it was an unexpected consequence of the pushing. The burn does sound horrible though, I hope he's ok.

she is only in certain lessons and this is one of them :)