Traumatised by school - what to do?

[stilllooking]

Ds had an awful time at Infants but we had hoped that he would put it all behind him at Juniors. However he cannot forget what went on and didn't tell us until over 1 year after he left there because he thought 'all schools were like that'! He recalls being dragged down a corridor by 4 staff and being locked in a cupboard (small chill out room). Has been having nightmares on & off about being trapped there and can't look at the building wthout shaking. He did have behavioural problems, is on SA+ and currently awaiting paed appt. (suspected HFA/AS). Current school are also trying to get counselling for him due to the 'trauma' (their words)he has suffered. We were naive and trusted that school to do the best for our son and are now really upset that we didn't do something. They also lied on an IEP,sent him home sick when Ofsted visited and although he had social communication problems separated him from his peers at playtime. At one time he even had to hold hands with LSA or only go a certain distance away from her(great when he played hide & seek)etc. Any ideas what action we can take? Head is very devious and I now realise that all complaints that we made were never replied to in writing presumably so they didn't have to keep records.School is rated outstanding! Grateful for any help.

Thanks Riven. Not really sure what to do for the best. Will wait and see what consellor says but as he may have ASD wonder if his acute anxiety will be linked to his condition rather than what he went through. We believe any complaint to that school will be dismissed as their word against his. any time we complained about other things we were always told 'that didn't happen,that wasn't said etc. We had to have behaviour support come into our home because they were convinced his 'problems' were due to bad parenting.

Hi, I am so sorry your poor son had to go through this. It sounds dreadful. The school clearly were not able to meet his needs, and seemed unwilling to ask for assistance and support to put them in a position to be able to do so.

I think though that you have hit the nail on the head. If schools are prepared to lie and cover up complaints etc, it is very difficult. Taking on any institution is stressful, but one that is prepared to lie is doubly hard. Moving is best for your child, but, after you have moved, it seems to me that there is little you can do.

As I understand it, you can only make a formal complaint to the Governors while you are at the school. Did you try this while you were there? There is, however, nothing to stop you writing to set out your concerns so that it is brought to their attention. They are not, I think, obliged to respond, but, it would be good practice to do so.

I understand the circumstances in which the LA can get involved are limited and I believe (though you would have to check) that there is no direct access to the ombudsman against an individual school unless a child is statemented and you are at the school.

You can complain to Ofsted as this would fall under the grounds that Ofsted can deal with e.g. that the pupils? personal development and well-being are being neglected. However, you are no longer at the school so I don't know that Ofsted would puruse it, and, if they did, they would deal with the school on face value (i.e. they wouldn't investigate the specifics of your individual complaint).

I think you perhaps need to look at this not as a complaint in which you will be vindicated but as an awareness raising exercise so you can write openly to the Governors, LA, Ofsted, Head and tell them of your experience and how let down you were.

You might not see any action as a result personally but a reasoned letter like this should be taken seriously and will embarrass the school.

How awful, and what a disgusting abuse of your trust of the school.

It's worth knowing that if you make a complaint to Ofsted they have to at least look at it no matter whether your child is at the school. (I complained about our former childminder a year after I had removed ds1 from her care, they took the complaint up, made an unannounced visit and she had to do training in behaviour management.) I should say these things are something that Ofsted should look at fairly seriously, particularly if your son is still adversely affected.

Writing to the Governors is also a good idea because they may have no idea what is going on in the school. It won't change the past but it will set it on record and that's important so you can move on and face the future with your son.

If you want to see whether they have kept written records of incidents or conversations, you could do a subject access request under the Data Protection Act for his school records. If anything is written down, it will provide evidence and give weight to your complaint. I am not sure how long schools keep records for though, I have heard of records disappearing as soon as a child leaves but it seems to depend on the school.