Is it worth battling with complaints or not?

[complaintsgalore]

Bit of a long story but will try to keep it brief. Ds has a sm and was placed on a PSP with a part time timetable of 22 hours to match the sm provision. We were told this would be short term but it ended up as virtually the whole of the school year. He was then excluded and I requested an emergency review and insisted that he went back full time but were told by school that he couldn't go back unless funding was arranged even though the sm said that any extra support over 22 hours would need to be supplied by school! I complained to school asking why the extra provision had not been provided and why he had been part-time for so long. Only response from them was that whatever they did was in his best interests with the resources they had available and evaded answering the questions. Also complained to council over failure to provide the provision on the sm and basically they've admitted it is 'unusual' to be part time for so long but said school did their best to include him etc.etc. Do I go back asking for direct answers to my direct questions or are they likely to just all back each other up and close ranks? They have now agreed to increase the hours to full time so maybe they think I should just be happy with that.

What do you hope to gain from complaining? A genuine question, not taking the piss. Are you going to get anything out of it that is worthwhile and useful (funding/extra support/etc) or is it just going to get everyones backs up and potentially put a black spot next to your names?
I know nothing about SN or its provision. My point of view is this; I could have taken my previous employer to court for wrongful dismissal. It would have taken lots of time, energy and financial outlay but I would have been cleared and probably got some money. However, I was so stressed and ill from the whole thing, found out I was pregnant, I'd already got a new job who knew all about how badly I was treated and I live in a VERY small town so everyone would have known. So I didn't bother. It wasn't worth the energy as I wasn't really going to get enough out of it.
Only you will know what outcome you want and whether it is worth the energy or do you need to focus on the new term at full time?

Hope my ramblings help!

I would complain. You need it on record what happened and that you were not happy about it, in case you need this as evidence later.

I would suggest the following:

1. Assuming teh cuhidl is over 5 then he is entitled to full time educaiton. Forthe sch/LA not ot provide it is a abdication of thier statutory duty.

2.

I would suggest the following:

1. Assuming the child is over 5 then he is entitled to full time educaiton. For the sch/LA not to provide it is an abdication of their statutory duty for which there is no easy excuse. Complain.
2. What did the sch/LA do to address these issues?
3. The fact that he is now on full time proves that they recognise that they are wrong. Complain.

Sorry about the earlier post. Finger trouble and no secretary.

I know what you mean Camper but this is the third school that have failed in their duty and they all just get away with it knowing that they can . It just makes me and I know a lot of us here go through it but there's no justice for our dc's who end up suffering because of their actions.

There is no-one to complain to about schools except the Dept of Education. If the LA are at fault as well (e.g. if they knew FT was not being provided by school) you can go to the Local Govt Ombudsman. but if it was the school's fault then basically there is nobody to complain to now this govt has removed all the so called 'red tape' which used to provide redress. So you should write to Michael Gove. You could also write to OFSTED. They probably won't do anything as a one off but it may make them ask more questions next time they inspect.

Appropriatelyemployed is going to set up a name and shame website I think. I think this is really needed - there was a website called Dr Foster which rated NHS Trusts and Drs and now its become standard to ask for success rates of drs etc. and while they was a big fuss at the time now being transparent with patients has become something Drs have to put up with.

Need to be careful how things are phrased for libel etc but I think parents being able to say things that are factual rather than subjective on a website e.g. if a SEN child has been excluded from a school trip, or made to attend part-time etc - thats a fact and other parents should know this stuff about schools before they put their children there. There has to be a way of giving parents back some control against schools like this who think they can get away with it behind closed doors.

You could complain to the governors but as most of them are other parents and volunteers thats not usually very useful.

I complained to Ofsted about a previous school,they inspected it and still gave it a good rating because these schools always manage to come up smelling of roses and covering up their shameful behaviour. They never apologise for all the stress they cause but then they know that they don't have your child there forever so can string things out until they leave. I have been a governor so I know full well what goes on behind the scenes unfortunately.