Me again DS (6) and exclusions- meeting Tuesday

[pinkandsparklytoo]

Hello, I have posted about DS a few times on this board over the last year. I'm on the mobile app so can't link to my previous threads but they should be easy to find by searching my name. Basically DS is in yr 2, is on SA+, has an IEP and a PSP but no statement or diagnosis. He is suspected to be autistic and is being assessed by the Umbrella Pathway. Out of the last 2 weeks of school, not including the half term holiday, he has been excluded for a total of 6.5 days, (5 full days and 3 half days). He only does part time as it is. The reasons for exclusion were violence against a member of staff, damaging school property and assault against a child. I don't know what the triggers for the first two were but for the last one the child had laughed at him walking into a wall and they had fought, ending with my child having him against the wall apparently with his hands around his throat. I'm not sure whether the other child received any punishment or was purely the victim. On Tuesday we are having yet another meeting about strategies to use with him. How can I tell them that yes, I agree that he needs a punishment and this behaviour is unacceptable, but that they should be able to manage him so that it doesn't reach this point so frequently? If anyone has any links to relevant information that would be helpful too.

As you've probably been told before, if he is on part time schooling the situation is illegal. If this school can't cope with him full time, it should be jumping up and down to get more expert help, or should be helping you to move him to a more specialist school. They should certainly be supporting you 100% in getting a statement.

He needs a statement and you need to apply for it yourself asap. Its the only way forward now and doing that should get an EP (Ed Pysch) into school as well.

All is Umbrella Pathway stuff is really just a lot of hot air and a distraction from the main problem here in that your son's needs are clearly not being met. It just adds to the unacceptable delays already and you and your son in particular are suffering as a result. The school keep excluding him which is also good evidence for you to use re his needs not being met. They either cannot or do not actually want to help him; as it is the current situation is untenable.

I would look at IPSEA's website re exclusions as I think what this school are doing is actually quite dodgy and could be illegal.

IPSEA's website is useful anyway as it gives information on statementing too. Seek proper independent advice as well.

www.ipsea.org.uk

Jane McConnell, IPSEA's Chief Executive says:

“The exclusion of a child with SEN is very clear evidence that their educational needs are not successfully being met at that time. The current SEN legal framework, if followed correctly, is an effective way to review what is in place and identify what needs to be in place. Too often schools are not aware that it is the duty of an LA to ensure a child’s needs are being met if the school is unable to do so out of their existing SEN budgets.”

Also IPSEA now do a call back service but you need to access that via their website.

This is basically all happening because this school cannot or equally will not meet his additional needs. I would start looking at other schools as well.

Thank you. I've bern trying to contact IPSEA for a few days but they always seem to be engaged. And the call back thing was fully booked the last time I looked.
I've decided not to send him back to school until after the meeting tomorrow, I don't think it's worth the stress it causes him. When he comes home he really is on a short fuse. He gets more work done at home in an hour than he manages in his half a day.
He started the term well so the head teacher thinks he is capable of it. She is conveniently ignoring the fact that he was progressively coming home with more dots than ticks before he started having meltdowns nearly every day. I think this was purely due to him starting year 2, with a new teacher, and a new classroom to get used to. She is blaming my husband losing his job on the change in DS' behaviour however as I said his behaviour was deteriorating before DH lost his job.

They put him on the part time timetable because when he was on full days he was being excluded for having meltdowns involving throwing furniture and hitting out at staff. That's what is happening now but without being on full days. And it is happening just as frequently as before, when he was 5, except he is only there until 12.

Course it's happening more. He has learned that the school will send him home for bad behaviour and since school makes him so unhappy he knows what to do for a bearable life.

A word of caution pink
I went through similar and did everything they asked of me but they still permanently excluded in the end. Being too compliant does you no favours sometimes.

How did the meeting go?

Well the school are finally making noises about getting him a statement. The SENCO said that the panel doesn't sit again until April so there wilk be lots of time to gather evidence and write a good report. She also said they won't get any extra funding for him even with a statement. The OT will be seeing him tomorrow, someone from the CCD team is seeing him next week and the EP will be seeing him soon. The week after next he will be going back to the short stay school for another 6 week program which is 3 days there followed by 2 days at his normal school.

'The panel doesn't sit again until April' - what a heap of crap that is.
My LA 'panel used to sit fortnightly' but in fact there is no 'panel' sitting there making the decisions, it is down to one SEN Manager.

'She said they won't get any extra funding even with a statement' - another load of crap.

I had the CCD Team and EP visit and make various recommendations to school but school never implemented these. The only way you can get proper support is through a statement which are soon disappearing and which is why they're putting you off until April. You'll probably get to April and be told they're not sitting again until October etc etc.
Start applying now. If he has to spend more time in a PRU than in a mainstream school he is clearly in the wrong environment and needs appropriate provision.

Pink, the SENCO might not be lying, but if not, someone has been telling HER porkie pies!!!!

The panel, smanel....

Ask them how they meet their statutory duty to assess if the panel only meet twice a year and all statement requests have to through them.

Honestly, when you apply, they are given 6 weeks to respond. This is statutory. You are allocated a named person who is SOLEY responsible for this decision. If they want to ask a panel for their opinion then so be it, and they'd better request the sit next week then. Otherwise this named person is qualified and BOUND to make this decision themselves.

That's the first myth busted.

Next myth: the school won't get funding. Now tell me, what bloody use is money to your child? He needs reasonable adjustments, training of staff, support, interventions, strategies and possibly some 1:1. These can be bought or met by a member of the WI with relevant experience and qualifications who fancied a voluntary job in the local school.

And another thing. Why would he need EXTRA funding when the school has already been allocated a wad of cash to meet the needs of their statements pupils. If they need money, they can use that instead of holding off paying TA every afternoon so they can pay a gardener instead.

For goodness sake, ignore the school, just get your own request for statutory assessment in. There's a precedent on the IPSEA website. Then check the time limits very carefully - 6 weeks for a decision on whether to do the assessment. If they go a day past that, tell them you're applying for judicial review.

I took DS back to school Wednesday after the meeting as they had someone coming in to see him from the CCD team. He has managed to just about stay at school for the full half day the last 3 days although he has been removed from the classroom a lot. I told him if he managed three full days (by full I mean the half day he is allowed to attend for) I would take him to the soft play and he did. When I picked him up from school today the Senco said he hadn't been in the classroom since 11. They weren't going to send him outside for break time but he asked and they let him as she stayed with him. Apparently he was pulling children around and hitting them with a skipping rope. He also hit and kicked her but they didn't exclude him. When we were at the softplay the head teacher rang me to say she was going to have to exclude him for all of next week as well before he goes to the short stay place as he is too dangerous for the other children and himself at the moment. She also said that he had hit one of the other teachers who was handling him. She said that she had rung the exclusions team about him and they were surprised that the sort stay place had taken him again as apparently it is rare to get two stints. She says she is doing everything she can to avoid excluding him.

Oh pink what a pile of shite for you.

I have no words of wisdom to offer you - despite working in education my legal SN knowledge is crap!

However I will tell you that the school is not doing its job properly and you need to kick up a stink. It is a sad sad fact that the parents who shout the loudest get the most done for their kids.

We used to have a child at school who had a raft of problems. He lashed out, threw stuff, launched himself at kids etc. He had a 1 2 1 carer in the end but we all worked as a team to keep him, us and the children safe. If we were walking down the corridor and saw him exploding at his carer we would cheerfully intervene, distract etc. He was never allowed to be alone with other children - he was shadowed at break time by one member of staff and we tried to support his play. He was never excluded or put on a part time placement.

When he was pulling other children about what did she do?

I hope you can find a resolution for you and your DS.

Honks.

Please tell me you've put in your request for statutory assessment and are not leaving it to the school to do it?

' She said that she had rung the exclusions team about him and they were surprised that the sort stay place had taken him again as apparently it is rare to get two stints.'

The LA clearly know that there is a problem so what are they doing about it? If the PRU had not taken him he would, again, have been left with no education. It is ultimately the duty of the LA to supply this.

'She says she is doing everything she can to avoid excluding him.'

I'm not convinced that she is. We were told the same when it was clear that even basic stuff was not in place. I would be asking her to confirm, in writing, all that is in place to prevent these incidents occurring.

Hope you can get something sorted but you may have a long wait

It seems that it's my place to provide him with an education. I'm not sure whether he has actually learnt anything so far this term. On the rare occasion that they do send work home its practising a single letter, or maths sums that are really easy for him. He refuses to do the writing so I have been trying to get him to write his own things. I just don't see the point in even sending him when he just ends up excluded.

What do you think will work? You need to find that placement (for DS its ABA at home and part-time in school) and get it on the statement. DS was just like your DS before he did ABA but now his behaviour is really good, or rather its really well managed!

Do you think mainstream can work? Or is it beyond them even on a good day with the wind behind them?

Mainstream could never had managed DS, we struggled at home with his behaviour and just knew if we couldn't do it then school had no chance. It was obvious specialist input was needed.

I think you need to ask yourself that question. If it works at home / at the short term placement then perhaps its getting the school to adopt those measures that work. But if its more than that, then you need to be looking at SS, units, indep schools, ABA etc even if its just for now and he moves back later on.

If the right placement costs £30k or £60k then thats what it costs and PT timetables and short term PRU are just fiddling around at the edges and the LA delaying having to pay more.

If you applied for the statement and appealed then on the basis of lack or progress and behaviour you have a good chance of winning a specialist placement. We won ABA when DS was 3, with less evidence of failure. Tribunals will award expensive placements for challenging behaviour. Don't feel like you have to just accept the next rung up the ladder. If you know mainstream even with more support won't work then aim for what you know will work and push for it now. Better to get this sorted at 6 or 7 than 11 or 16.

Pink

Nothing will change at school until you yourself makes a request directly to the LA for a Statement. It's not something you can trust the school to do.

For a start you've been lied to. Panels sit a minimum of fortnightly. They don't even need to have a Panel - mthe LA is quite able to make decisions with running them past this (plastic) panel They just tell you this nonsense to fob you off.

Don't be fobbed off - your DS's education is at stake here.

Oh - and April is the start of the new financial year - that's the real reason they want to delay giving your son the education he is legally entitled to.