Support for DS at new school

[extremepie]

Ds has finally gotten a place at our first choice school to start in sept.

He has ASD, borderline severe, non verbal, no fear or sense of danger and several other charming ASD traits :)

He had a 1:1 who was with him at pre school every time he was there, which was only 2 mornings a week since we couldn't get funding for the required staff any more than this. It has occurred to me that the new school might not be able to provide a 1:1 person for him, at least maybe not until after he gets a statement which will probably be months away.

Given his sn are they likely to give him a 1:1 person?

I'm just quite worried how he will cope if he doesn't have one, he needs to be supervised pretty much all the time and it worries me what he might get up to at school if he doesn't have someone there specifically for him!

What are your experiences with this?

Hi my dd dosen't have a statement and she will be going into reception in september.
Last year she had 1:1 support for an hour a day to help her with her mobility.
obviously she will get support for longer when she is in reception.
Have you spoken to the School and the senco. What have they said about it.
I'm pretty much sure that there will have to be someone there if he needs the support.
Maybe the school isn't telling you much at the moment because they are still in the processs of applying or maybe they want to see how they manage with the staff they have. I think for them to apply for it they need to know what your childs needs will be. But they wont be able to just leave him to his own devices if there is a danger of his safety being at risk.
When dd started nuesery last september i didn't know what support she would get before she started, they needed to know what support they would need before applying. But she was never left to be in any sort of danger or anything.
The person she had for her support already works in the school anyway.

Given his needs, I would have thought there is no doubt he will need 1:1 to keep him safe primarily, plus support communication. Have you already applied for a statement and if so when is it due to be finalised? If not likely to be in place for a september start, there are still ways round it.

Ultimately the school have a legal duty of care. They may respond to your son's needs in a number of ways. They may be able to fund support out of their own resources while awaiting conclusion of stementing process or they may push the LA to make emergency provision in interim.

However, they may downplay ds' needs and maintain he does not need this level of support or may choose to (illegally) exclude him if they cannot cope with his behaviour by asking you to collect him earlier than normal/keep him on part-time timetable for longer for example. Hopefully this will not happen but if it does you can challenge it with support from groups like partnership with parents, ipsea, sossen, national autistic society.

I know schools have shut now for the summer but you can still keep things moving with the LA sen support department over the summer. Ask for a meeting to confirm necessary support will be in place for september - if possible have independent supporter with you to take minutes. Good luck and let us know how you get on.