Penalty notice Ds attendance

[Skylar123]

I arrived home earlier to a letter from Ds school as a formal warning that I am at risk of being in breach of regulations 2007 and failure to secure my childs attendance at school in relation to the education act 1996.

Ds has been late more or less everyday since November after he moved up a key stage at sch and things took a turn for the worse.

No one at the school has ever mentioned that this letter may be on it's way.

We had a meeting with autism advisory last week and some new strategies were put in place which we are currently working on.

The main issue is playtime.

School agreed that Ds could have a member of staff that would watch over him and help him interact if required and that he could take his toy out with him.

How do they think that fining me will help resolve the barrier my child is experiencing to his learning because of his condition.

I think they have had enough of me as we have gotten far more out of them than they have ever wanted to do. All strategies put in place have been agreed with autsim advisory.

Maybe I should quote a paragraph of the education act back to them.

Has anyone have experienced this with their childs school before, any ideas how to handle it.

I am going to call the AO tomorrow

Does he have a statement?- if not then apply for one NOW and include a copy of this letter in your application as evidence.

Do phone IPSEA, SOSSEN or contact a family as a matter of urgency. I think you need to formulate a written response listing his difficulties since the beginning of the year and pointing out that appropriate strategies to help support his disability have taken until the summer term to implement. However in your shoes I'd want support in phrasing that letter correctly.

Yes bochead we are awaiting outcome of staturtory assessment, should be a few more weeks yet. Shall I send the letter to our named officer dealing with it anyway to add to the billion other reports and letters they already have.

I will phone for one of the organisations tomorrow for advice re written response.

The annoying things is is that in feb I called EWO myself and said I was concerned about Ds attendance she advised me to arrange a meeting with sch head which I did. The head wasn't too concerned about his low attendance when we had our meeting in march even though I stressed about it she said it had been coded somewhere or other. Now this.

Can you get a doctor or paediatrician to write something saying this is due to his learning difficulties?

Agree with getting advice from IPSEA. This sounds very like disability discrimination to me.

The school hate us and want rid.

I'm going back to camhs with Ds soon as originally they said that Ds school anxiety was just part of his condition / dx however I've begged them to see Ds again and they have agreed on the basis that not all children with asd suffer anxiety and his anxiety is stopping him getting into school and therefore we need to address it.

'I arrived home earlier to a letter from Ds school as a formal warning that I am at risk of being in breach of regulations 2007 and failure to secure my childs attendance at school in relation to the education act 1996.'

Write straight back to them enclosing their letter plus your response along the lines of 'As you are aware, I am making every attempt within my power to secure my child's attendance at school in relations to the education act 1996. This specifically takes the form of a request for a statutory assessment in order to ensure that his needs are fully known in order for us to be able to work in partnership to address the difficulties ds has in accessing his education. I do appreciate your concern and support with this.'

And cc it to the Local Authority.

Thanks star

This is just bullying. Designed to stress you out and divert your attentions pre-Tribunal.

Don't fall for it. Yes, write back. Yes, speak to IPSEA. But in the highly unlikely event of them actually issuing a penalty notice, do not pay it under any circumstances.

It's like an unfair parking ticket.
You just appeal, and keep appealing.

I'd like to see them explaining to the magistrate how they thought fining you would solve the SEN

Just taken Ds into school and had the hear teacher having a go at me infront of Ds. Telling me his lateness is not good enough and that i better make sure if doesn't happen again.
She caught me on the spot but I told her she is fully aware of Ds difficulties around school and that being late wasn't something we were doing on purpose, she told me to make sure he is in on time tommorrow.
If I see her later I will tell her never to speak to me like I am one of her pupils again!

No. You can stop her surprise ambushes by writing to her, quoting the conversation in detail, asking her to make an appointment for a private discussion, (not one in front of other parents and children) if she wishes to speak to you about something.

DO THIS. She won't like the paper trail it produces and will cease. And having 'your side' carefully worded to show utter reasonableness will stop her from reporting anything otherwise.

Your right star and I shouldn't be as unprofessional as she was by sticking it to her infront of Ds and others.

Will write up a letter this afternoon.

Knowing Ds stresses about playtime and assesmbly once he had gone in she made her staff take him to assembly which had 10 mins left rather than him sitting out until it finishes like he usually does if he comes to school during an assembly.

On the up side he has made the last two playtimes with the new strategies put in place (my ideas) so that's progression.

HT has bullied many parents out of her school I expect she is trying it with me now.

I think there is a new attendance office at the school who must have given them a kick of the butt as they have been disinterested in Ds attendance until this week.

I hope Ds gets his statement I have spoken to LA , I called them last week and they said that Ds proposed statement doesn't have to be finalised until 16th June, however I am awaiting decision of nil or proposed statement so that sounds promising.

I'm sure as part of the 'assessment' they are trying to put some of the onus on you. This is normal.

Yes I'm sure. The guy at herts LA who I spoke to about progress with regards to Ds SA decision told me that it is unlikely they will issue a NIL as they do not usually go through 'all this' and then issue a NIl. Is he having a laugh!
I have a good feeling Ds is getting his statement but could be very wrong.

No. Herts don't often issue NILs iirc.

Forgot you were there though. They absolutely WILL find fault with your parenting.

That good then about Herts and NILs (or was that sarcasm...lol)

If I have escaped the SA and NIL appeal and only have to fight for content of statement when I was expecting all three I will be one happy lady.

Not sarcasm. They're so up themselves they'd think that issuing a NIL was some kind of failure to make an accurate decision regarding the SA.

No promises of course, but you'll also find they stick to the timelines well too and all of their tick boxes.

Skylar I think we may have been at your school! We certainly have met a head in a Herts school that behaves like this one does! I have to say in the end she won and we moved.

Seriously though, she is absolutely trying to make your life so unbearable you leave. Providing you can do so without harm to your or DS's mental health stand up to her. If you do decide to leave make as much noise about it as you can before going as it is disgraceful behavior.

Imagine what could be achieved if only the head would put as much energy and effort into actually helping your child....

Good luck with the SA

I'd love a DM with the name of both your schools. I met an absolutely appalling HT of an outstanding school ds was on the roll of who I found out was doing everything in her power to stop his attendance there.

bloss I wonder if it is the same school. HT is on a power trip, very controlling. Lots of children's parents have come to a head with her and had to move. Are you able to DM me the school you are talking about.
star happy to share with you .

I spoke to the EWO earlier she told me not to worry and that she will call the school but that I have to try and get some 'evidence' as to why Ds is frequently late for school. Ie his anxiety is stopping him.

You have to get evidence??
Why can the EWO not come to your house at 8am and see for self?
Is this a LA school or an Academy?
If its LA school I would suggest they send a teacher or TA or autism outreach worker to your house a few mornings to see the problems for themselves.
Then if they don't they can't complain about there being no evidence other than yours.

What Agnes said.

You are giving evidence. (Make sure it is in writing). You know there are problems with school so you are requesting a statutory assessment in order to address them. You are informing them that your ds was impossible to get into school that day (perhaps keep a diary of morning issues/reasons).

The EWO can come and see for themselves if they want to.

agnes they have not come to my house ever to see evidence but they have seen it on video recording and with their own eyes outside school gate x3. Complete breakdown, running off, refusing to go in, kicking and shouting.
I feel a bit more positive now as Ds seems to be much happier he can have his lego and choose a buddy at playtime. He has been far more positive towards playtime the last few days since this strategie was introduced.

staR the EWO was very understanding surprisingly she commented that sch know I am going through SA and should not have sent letter out. She kept asking me if I was sure sch had not informed me on every occasion that Ds was being marked as unauthorised . His attendance has gone from 98% to 74% since the start of the key stage 2 academic year last September . She also said that they should have discussed the matter before sending out the warning and that she did not authorise the letter as the letter implies.
She also told me must call in every morning if Ds is going to be late, even if it's 5 mins. I had stopped doing this. They didn't give a toss anyway.

agnes sorry just re read your reply. The EWO meant can I get evidence from medical profs such as autism advisory that Ds difficulties is sometimes making him late for school.

I have report from camhs that says Ds is severely anxious about school but that's it.

It is a LA school.

Could I get something from my gp as icimoi said above ^ he Is pretty good. But prob tell me to speak to camhs. What do you think, worth a try ?