Part time timetable In Reception Class

[curlydiamond]

Hello, we're pretty new to navigating the various pathways and systems as parents of a child with special needs.
Little one has just turned 4 and started school less than a month after their 4th birthday. We considered deferring entry but were convinced by the school that they would better off resitting Reception class if needed than staying in nursery an extra year.
Little one is awaiting assessment for ADHD and autism, very very impulsive and hyperactive, struggles to focus unless is something they love then the hyperfocus sets in.
Only 3 weeks into term and the school have requested we agree to part time timetable as they are failing to meet their needs, especually in the afternoons when behaviour dips. Has anyone had experience of this and did it help your child?
Just seems to help the school but I cannot see the benefit to my child - looking for experience from others who have been through this. Biggest issue is that my child does not follow instruction (hearing is fine, comprehension fine, they just want everything on their terms). I can't influence this, at home they need lots of prompts and encouragement to do things they don't want to. In school they have fulltime higher needs funding for support, awaiting EHCNA at the moment plus Ed psych assessment and SALT (NHS) input. Also have arranged OT (private) assessment.
Am at a loss ATM. If school can't get them to listen and join in (they are currently not accessing the learning at all) does this mean we need to start thinking about specialist provision options? I am aware places are rare as hens teeth and they would need to be specified in an EHCP, just want to start doing our research if this is the road we need to go down for our child to be supported. We think little one is bright and it's too soon to know if there are learning difficulties, they are counting to 20 fairly consistently and recognise all the letters in the alphabet but speech is unclear with lots of echolalia.

Thanks for reading.

You are entitled to send DC part time until they are compulsory school age if that is what you want. But, DC is entitled to attend full time if that is what you want. The school cannot force a part time timetable unless they are formally suspending DC. It sounds like they are trying to informally exclude DC.

Has an EHCNA actually been requested?

It may be specialist provision is needed. But it may also be that their needs can be supported in MS (at least whilst younger) with more support/therapies via an EHCP once DC has settled.

Hi Overtaken (love the name btw),
Thanks for replying. We don't want a part time timetable as we don't see how it is beneficial to our child. My immediate feeling is that they are trying informally exclude them and it feels discriminatory. LO is not disrupting the rest of the class but is lots of work for their 1:1 as is often in a separate room or outside. They just won't do as asked, peer pressure does not work on them, they are happing joining in outdoor games, colouring dancing and story time, just not the more structured elements of the lessons. We had warned the school about this, as had their nursery, meetings before we applied for the school place and lots since their place was confirmed. We just think school thought they have lots of experience and knew better than we do, underestimating us as parents as our older children attended the setting and were really well behaved and very academic.
EHCNA has been requested - the school were planning to plan/do/assess/review for 3 terms with the aim to start ball rolling for EHCP after 3 terms of evidence gathering - I didnt see the benefit of waiting that long so have submitted parental request for EHCNA.
They are saying my child is violent (awful word to use about a teeny just turned 4 year old) - apparently they are physical with the adults supporting them and kicking other children. Clearly this is unacceptable but we've never had violence at home or nursery so definitely a sign of unmet need. I imagine it's from them putting demands on LO repeatedly to join in and LO being overwhelmed and eventually lashing out when they've insisted and tried to grab LO - I have requested full reports of the circumstances that have led up to the incidents but so far the school have been very vague. We've had no reports of issues at pick up and been told they'd had a good day so we were shocked by what they told us in the meeting.
They've already refused LO access to breakfast club and after school club which is a nightmare when we both work fulltime, we reckon LO would be fine as it's just free play but they're not prepared to give LO a chance. Just so disappointed, we know the school well and it has an excellent reputation for supporting SEND - if they're this bad I have little hope that any of the other local MS schools would be any better.

Put everything in writing so you have a paper trail as evidence. If you want DC to attend full-time you can insist unless the school formally excludes/suspends DC. You don’t have to let them informally exclude. Often schools don’t go on to formally exclude/suspend, but try not to worry if they do because it will a) provide evidence of unmet needs, b) force the school to follow due process, c) limit the number of days the school can suspend for, and d) allow you to challenge any exclusion/suspension.

Make sure the LA stick to the timescales.

You could submit a SAR if the school is being evasive.

What hours was your dc doing in nursery or preschool before starting school? Was the preschool attached to the school?

Nursery not attached to the school, attended 4 days per week 08:30 til 4:30 or 5pm depending on the day, full of beans in the evenings even after swimming - this child does not tire easily. Just seen one of the nursery workers this afternoon who asked how LO is doing at school. I explained and she just said weren't they listening when we told them what LO is like! They're not impossible to teach but you need to figure out how to engage them. Made me feel better that I'm not misremembering and not going mad.
We have a call with Sendiass this week, will see what they say and start planning forward from there.

Be careful with SENDIASS. Some are good, but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies.

I've heard that technically a school can put a child on a reduced timetable until the child is 5 - at which point they, or the LA, are legally required to provide a full time education? @OvertakenByLego I'm sure you will know the answer to this?

My son started on a reduced timetable and I totally feel your pain - how are parents supposed to work and pay the bills when you're cut adrift by the school system like this??

@Scratchybaby No, they can’t. That would be an unlawful exclusion. DC are entitled to attend school full-time from the September following their 4th birthday. It is in the admissions code. Parents can choose to send DC part time until they are CSA, but that is the parents’ decision, the school can’t impose it.

ah thanks @OvertakenByLego ! I was told differently, so that's really useful to know

@Scratchybaby LAs and schools often like to say they can. But, unless they formally exclude/suspend they can’t.

I'd look at IPSEA as well:

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/informal-exclusions

Part time timetables are supposed to be short term only.

Part time timetables, short term or otherwise, should not be used to manage behaviour. It explicitly states this in the government’s exclusion and suspension guidance.

Thanks all, school have again insisted it's not a formal exclusion as LO is not CSA. They're saying it will help LO to learn to regulate themselves better - I still don't see how.
I'm going reply saying we do not agree it's in our child's best interests not to be in school fulltime, they will have to formally exclude LO. They leave us no choice, we have 2 other children to care for and a mortgage to pay, we can't manage part time schooling if LO is excluded the LA will have to find an alternative provision.

Be aware that the duties for LA’s to provide alternative arrangements differs for those below CSA.

Looks like my only option now is to see if I can get the local authority to identify a different provision that the higher needs funding can be transferred to to cover the afternoons - school can't be getting full time funding if the child isn't there fulltime.
Sendiass are saying they can unfortunately insist on informal part time timetable for a non-CSA child for short time and 6 weeks is apparently a short time, but they can't when they're getting funding. They can of course also go down the route of exclusion which also doesn't help us, as they won't find LO fulltime alternative provision.
I can put in a complaint but it doesn't help us in the meantime. It's all just wrong. Another discussion with local authority tomorrow then seeking legal advice to ensure we are not being deliberately misled. What joy.

A suspension is better than an informal exclusion because it a) provides evidence of unmet needs, b) forces the school to follow due process, c) limits the number of days the school can suspend for, and d) allows you to challenge any exclusion/suspension.

SENDIASS is wrong. Part time timetables should not be used to manage behaviour, this applies equally to those below CSA (Page 18 of the statutory exclusion and suspension guidance), so unless the school is formally suspending DS they can’t insist on a part time timetable.

Parents can choose whether to send pupils below CSA full time, not at all until CSA or the beginning of the summer term whichever is earlier, or part time until CSA. Page 25 of the statutory admissions code.

Thanks @OvertakenByLego that was my understanding from what I've read, they're not allowed to use it to manage behaviour. Will try to get hold of the inclusion team too as school should be including them in their discussions.
We just keep not picking LO up until the end of the day carrying on as normal, no calls yet demanding we come get them before lunch (they want to reintroduce LO to school lunch after half term).
We will have to reply to the school's email at some point saying that we cannot agree to a part time timetable and see what happens next, just want to take some more advice first. Can't believe we've totally lost faith in the school already, I dont know how we get it back.

A part time timetable can be used in exceptional circumstances to meet a pupil’s needs e.g. where a medical condition means they can’t attend full-time, but it shouldn’t be used to manage behaviour nor for the convenience of the school. This is an old thread but you might find it useful, especially prh47bridge’s posts.

Thank you. I've have had a response from the local authority SEND team - looks like reduced timetable is a new response developed by the SEND team to help children adapt to the new school setting, introducing them over an extended transition to gently acclimatise the child. The school is following the instruction from the local authority.
Thing is, that approach probably works great for anxious children who otherwise have to be dragged into school, or those who mask and then pop at home. My child does not fit either of those profiles, they are happy as anything bouncing into school and always come out smiling. They are happy to talk about what they did at school and who they played with. A 6 week transition will not address the unwanted behaviours because they are nothing to do with overwhelm from the class environment or fear of the new - it's the impulsivity and not listening that the school have a problem with. I'd love it if a few short weeks could magically fix the behaviours as it would make the rest of primary school so much easier, but that obviously isn't going to be the case.

The school may be following LA directions, but that doesn’t make it lawful.

It will save you a lot of time and stress if you realise now LAs and some schools act unlawfully all the time. Do not trust them for information. Be careful with SENDIASS too. Some are good, but many of them repeat the LA’s unlawful policies. They receive LA funding so aren’t truly independent and many will ultimately toe the party line.

Stand your ground. Firmly tell them no, your child will be attending full time. Do not allow it, do not accept it, in my experience it is never short term.

My ds was on a part time timetable for reception, yr1, yr2 & yr 3. This was originally supposed to be a ‘short term arrangement’ couple of hours to begin with then a mix of 3 or 4 hours a day, periods were they’d ring after an hour to collect him, times were they’d ask me to keep him home for school trips / sports days etc, he was fully excluded from everything school related and in a makeshift classroom with his 1-1’s.

He only went full time the second week of year 4 when he was almost 9 years old, 14 months after attending a specialist school.

All due to ds behaviour.

The arguments I had over the years with both schools and the local authority,

@openupmyeagereyes will vouch for me here with what I’m saying. 😭

I had sendiass involved (absolutely shite) and also IPSEA. Also head of send at the local authority, I found her email address online and sent her a personal email as I couldn’t get through to anybody. She got him up to full time in yr2 and within weeks they were phoning me daily asking me to collect, refusing to take him into the classroom / making excuses up why they had to send him home.

Always against my will, I have all the saved emails I sent to both schools / local authority over the years, some not so nice emails. I had so much shit with it all.

He does do all day now, leaves my house at 8.20 gets home 3.40. Has done this for 1 full year now.

His behaviour is no better now really but tough shit, he goes to a special school, it’s literally their job to get on with it.

@danni0509 In case it is relevant in the future, you could have enforced provision. Also, once CSA the LA has a statutory duty to ensure DC receive a suitable, full time education and that can be enforced via JR if necessary.

We couldn't support a part time timetable even if we wanted to since we both work, I just wanted to satisfy myself that I am definitely acting in my child's best interests not my own. I've yet to see any reference from the school or local authority to how a change in school attendance would benefit my child's particular needs so we will be continuing to send LO in as normal and pick up at the end of the day alongside the rest of their classmates.
Thank you for your advice and experience, I will not be falling for their unlawful tactics.

If you don’t already know I think one of the key things to ask is what school are doing to support him and to teach him the skills he needs. At 4 he’s got a few years before he can trial meds for e.g. ADHD which may or may not help anyway.

I would be applying for an EHCP and requesting evaluation by EP, SALT and OT. The part time timetable is good evidence to support the application.

@curlydiamond I just wanted to reach out as your experiences sound to be quite similar to my own. We also have a four year old who started reception this year. He was full time at pre school and largely ok but has been really struggling since being at school. This has included violence and lots of distress and attacking other pupils and staff.

School haven't put any support in place and aren't even speaking to sen about it but are trying to push for a part time timetable. They are also mentioning the possibility of a formal exclusion.

Another thing they have done is to ask us to come and pick him up early (three times this week) due to his behaviour. They haven't formally recorded this as an exclusion but seems to me it might fit the bill of an informal exclusion and so be unlawful. Yesterday his teacher emailed and requested that he only attend for half a day today at most. Again this would seem to be an informal and so unlawful exclusion.

I really hope your child is faring a bit better and your efforts to challenge the part time timetable are going ok?

I am despairing a bit and don't know where to turn for help. Take care! This stuff is so stressful.