Can school exclude sn child from trips in general?

[user1476527701]

Ds being assessed for asd. It is school that are pushing this rather than us. Last meeting I had with new teacher she mentioned in passing that she wouldn't be prepared to take ds on school trips in case he ran away. Is this ok? And if he isn't allowed to go can I keep him off school? We have never had a prob with him running away from us but all his probs are still school and he has run down field couple of times this year, I've not got to bottom of this yet

No, Serendipity, I would not be fired for refusing to take a specific child on a residential, because I am not obliged to do residentials. The safety of the children comes first and if I do not have the support to guarantee it, or I don't think the children will be safe even with 1:1, I would not be taking him. End of.

Surely you should be pushing to get children adequate support to ensure that they are not excluded from school trips, not assuming that excluding them is automatically the only response? If 1:1 isn't adequate, you look at 2:1. If your school is happy to risk successful disability discrimination claims, I hope it's prepared to comply with tribunal and/or court orders.

Of course I would push for appropriate support. However, if I didn't feel that support was adequate or it wasn't forthcoming, I wouldn't take him. I would support a decision by my school to exclude a child if excluding that child made him or other children and adults safer.

And if the resources aren't there, they aren't there, Serendipity. It's all very well sitting behind your screen signing blank cheques but the real world doesn't work like that.

Oh and I don't think the school does receive funding for OP's child, as he is being assessed at the moment. I see how hard our Inclusion team works to secure funding for children who clearly have SN and they quite regularly don't get it, so it is by no means as simple as saying 'Oh well, they need to get an ECHP.'

The way the real world works is that, if a child is excluded unlawfully from a trip because the school won't make reasonable adjustments, that school can be ordered by the court to do so - which will cost it a hell of a lot more than doing its job in the first place. Don't think that it doesn't happen, because it has happened several times.

The school gets delegated funding for each child with SN, whether they have a diagnosis or not, and whether they have an EHCP or not. If they believe that children who need EHCPs aren't getting them, they should be helping parents to appeal by providing evidence and referring them to lawyers and organisations like SOS SEN and IPSEA for that purpose. It's such a shame that councils regularly get away with ridiculous refusals of EHCPs because parents aren't encouraged and helped to challenge them.

I'm sure you're right, Serendipity. But at the moment, given there is neither a diagnosis nor any indication that the lad does in fact have ASD, I think the OP may need to go a bit further down the investigative route before the school is ordered by a court to do anything. And since she is clear that the school is pushing that investigation and she isn't, I think it sounds like they are doing what they can. What they shouldn't do is take a child on a trip who can't be properly and safely managed with the resources they have. That is asking for trouble.