Reduced school timetable

[SunshineHQ]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of a Reduced School Timetable for a Child with SN (Aspergers and severe anxiety)?

He has a EHCP and one2one at school, and has for 4 terms now, but still isn’t working. Situation continues to get steadily worse.

LA are attempting to organise a managed move to a specialist school, but assessment is still not until mid November.

Does this sound right? I’ve no experience of this.

Agreement is 11-3.15 four days per week.

Not 'right' but not that unusual.
How old is your ds ?
What is unusual is that it is still happening even though they have 1:1 support.
Have you and the school met to discuss it? Is that the best time for them to be in ? In terms of anxiety at school, for many children on the spectrum, dinner times are the worst time of day, so it seems unusual to miss the first 2 - 2.5 hours (when, in Primary schools at least, maths and English are often taught) but then be in for the stress that is dinner time. If they have 1:1 support, can they not withdraw them from whatever it is that is causing so much anxiety ? Have the schools done a sensory assessment ? Have they made adjustments around that?

In terms of the assessment, I'm not sure who is doing it, but, yes, it is pretty usual for professionals to have full diaries some weeks ahead. (Although, of course I don't know when it was first requested).

DS is Year 6.

The assessment is a 4 day trial at the specialist school that LA is considering. The school was identified (and ‘papers sent’) as the preferred option back in July.

The reduced timetable is basically to try to avoid a permanent exclusion. He doesn’t go near the Dining Hall at lunchtime - has a packed lunch with his 121, and another couple of children and another TA.

Are you doing the communication with the specialist school or the LA? When we were in a similar position with ds2 we did the researching and visits and things moved probably a bit more quickly ( think six months from start of reduced hours to the specialist placement being given). I think it is really important to visit several schools to make sure it is a good fit for your child - different ones suit different children.

We did a reduced timetable for six months with my son. We started at 2 hours a day and then gradually increased to full days. I was in support of it.