Advice needed- ADHD child consistently being failed by school (age 5)

[ZoeD23]

I've never posted on anywhere like this so not really sure how to start...!
Well my son is 5 years old and is in Reception in a mainstream school. He has an official diagnosis of ADHD and autistic traits.

Over the last few months the school have cut his 1:1 support from 25 hours to just 12.5 hours per week. This has effected his behaviour very negatively.
He is currently suspended from school for poor behaviour, this is the SECOND exclusion in just 7 days!!

I am personally appalled,the head teacher has openly shown her dislike of my little boy and I feel she is discriminating against him.
She has made it clear that his behaviour is unacceptable but she doesnt seem to care that he has SEN, to top that off she's informed me that he will not have 1:1 in Sept for year 1.

I'm terrified he's going to be permanently excluded and end up in a behavioural unit or something, I really need some advice!
My son does not currently have a statement of special needs, this has been applied for but its obviously a very long waiting game.

How far along is the statement application Zoe? Or are you at the gathering evidence stage ready to apply once there is enough evidence?
I am so sorry the HT has shown dislike of your child. Similar happened to my son early in his school career and the lack of understanding is heartbreaking. The end of the school year ( with concerts/ free time, worn out teachers and all the 'off timetable stuff) is a very tricky time for some sn children so I wonder if that is making it harder at present for your son? I also wonder if the exclusions are to add ammunition for the statement application? How do the school plan to support your son without 1:1 - are they planning on small groups support or what?

Hi, the school applied for his statement around 5 weeks ago, haven't heard anything since then.
I don't think they're planning on doing anything other than sticking him into a busy class and waiting for him to fail :(

Email the school. Tell them in the email that you are not happy that his 1 to 1 hours have been reduced from 25 down to 12.5 and now you are excluding him for bad behaviour when its the lack of support that is causing it and please remember his dx of ADHD so you are excluding him for things his disablility makes hard to control or stop without assistance. Tell them that you also find it dumbfounding when the school recognises he needs support and has applied for a statement yet advise me that he will lose his 1 to 1 hours completely from start of new school year in Sept? Surely this will lead to anxiety for your son and therefore increased behaviour difficulties which could lead to more exclusions resulting in deterioration of his education?

THEN tell them you understand that the school has made an application for a statement of needs 5 weeks ago and as yet have heard nothing. That you are concerned and have forwarded this email to the relative Authority.

AND POST the LA a copy with a letter of your own. Its all ammo in the right direction.

xxx

Oh and from now on keep all contact with school by email or if you have a conversation or a meeting always email them confirming the contents of the meeting saying "just to make sure I havent missheard" blah blah :)

Thank you!
Do you think I should write the governors? As the many many conversations I've had with the HT do not change anything.
I have a reintergration interview on monday so hoping to start the ball rolling.

I'm also very disappointed about my sons report...it does say that he's very intelligent and able but basically just about how awful his behaviour is :( To add to that, there's not single mention of my sons SEN on this report, do you think im being overprotective and petty?

I'm so confused by this horrible school!

In a week, the LEA's "refusal to assess" for statement will come. That means school will be left to meet his needs without LA assistance, according to their own capabilities and budget. If they do so, it 'proves' they never needed the statement and shouldn't have asked.

I think I would also ask in writing what their reasoning was for cutting his hours of 1:1, bearing in mind that due to his recent exclusions,it's fairly obvious that it was not to his benefit.

And always make sure you keep copies of everything. Put everything in writing - make them respond in writing. Paper trails are your friend!

Just to add, I'm sad that his report seemed so negative. They should focus on his positives and what he can do ... yes it can mention behaviours but that shouldn't be the main focus. My son has ADHD/ASD and his report mentioned the fact he is taught 1:1 and then all his positives.
I'm sorry they are not supporting you or him. Is an ed psych involved?

I'm sorry you're not getting the support you need in the school and the HT has shown a dislike towards your DS. We had problems in the first 2 yrs of mainstream for my DS and ended up moving him to a unit attached to a mainstream. This was the best thing we could have done. It saved all the heartache as they know how to look at things from a positive viewpoint instead of expecting, "normal" behaviour. It was a very difficult decision however, as DS has dx of AS and is bright. He's just had a fantastic year and the unit are going to challenge him more academically next session.

As a parent, though, you have more clout than you probably realise and the paper trails will help build evidence for this.

Hope things go better for you.

In terms of building evidence for a statement, this school is quite useful. They don't like him, and they'll say nothing good about his behaviour, but accept 'he's clever enough to achieve if he wants to'

The caring carrot approach of the "poor little special needs boy", can be worse as they turn a blind eye to behaviour struggles and expect them to fail in lessons too. And they won't put it in black and white until it's bad enough suddenly to ring social services about.

Long term, you need the third (very rare, "lesser-spotted orchid") type of school, the one that cares about your dc, stands up to their paymasters, and works with the parents.