paulr

Most MP3 players (not things like IPods) are memory sticks with a little bit of extra circuitry to make the recorded music audible. So if you plug them into a USB port in a computer, they should appear as a new drive you can store things on. MP3 players usually play two formats. MP3 which is a generic music format, and WMA which is a Windows-only format. There are two ways you can obtain music in these formats. 1) Download them off the internet. Not easy if you are a rookie, and not legal 2) Rip them off CDs you currently own. The easiest way in Windows is to use the Windows Media Player, which will create WMA type files for you (and in some Windows may copy them to your player automatically). If you have a CD burning program (Nero and Roxio are the two most common) this will rip as well, usually to MP3 format. There are also various shareware and freeware programs. These can then be copied on the MP3 player in the same way you would copy a file onto a memory stick.

It seems to be the case nationally that PPs are ..... wildly unpredictable. Some are brilliant and fight your corner. Some are totally in hock to the Local Authority. So the answer would be to approach them with an open friendly manner, but don't *trust* them until you are sure you can. When sharing information, assume that the PP person might pass it on to the person you are battling with.

You could check at the Royal College of SALTs - and the various area phone books. There aren't that many private SALTs.

Really to check if this odd behaviour happens with any other modems. I've always used a router, but I can't fathom why plugging in a modem should cause the line to drop - unless it's broken.

Undoubtedly you are right. Unfortunately the HTs position is legally defensible, and you have to keep an eye on things. You could (I suppose) write a letter outlining your concerns, asking how the HT will meet the needs of the other pupils without accessing Ben's support, and reminding HT that it is a legal requirement, might be useful later, but you'll get the same answer back (99% probability a lie)

Little bit unclear ;-) I think you are saying that it's all wired up, and the moment you plug the Modem in, irrespective of whether it's connected to anything else or even if it's not plugged into the power, it stops working - and the moment you unplug it - it starts working. So your phone system is disabled by the simple plugging in of an unpowered modem ..... this makes no sense at all from a setup point of view, so I'm inclined to hazard a guess that your Modem is broken, possibly it's shorted out in the modem cable or that end of the hardware (so the wires are connected together, so when you plug the modem in it shorts the phone line to ground, for example) - IANATE (I am not a Telecoms Engineer ;-) ) It's a bit like when you plug in a broken piece of electrical equipment and it instantly trips the switch on your fusebox - except telephone lines don't have tripswitches. Do you have a friend who has a broadband appliance of any sort you can borrow just to check it is that - a router, another modem, anything ? It doesn't matter if you don't have a subscription or not, what matters is whether you can physically connect to the phone line. Either way, I don't think you've done anything wrong.

Yes, but it happens all the time. Very occasionally it is beneficial ; usually it is for the benefit of the school (who will say it is for the benefit of the pupil). They want to keep their numbers of exclusions down. In an "ideal" world they can keep the money and staff for the SEN pupil whilst avoiding actually having him/her in the school very much. If you do it "properly" you have to explain why, and take steps to stop it happening again - hence things like readmission meetings. There is also a limit on the number of excluded days (15 / year ?) The problem occurs when it's used as repeated practice ; the child goes to school, is difficult in somewhere and the school rings up the parent(s) to take him home as a way of "dealing with the problem". There is no thought, no strategies, no IBP, no plan as to how we are going to make things *better* ; just short term problem avoidance.

Everything borderline in health (SALT, OT etc.) is cut to the bone. Whereas previously finding a SALT for a job was like prospecting for gold in Clacton, the new graduates are often unemployed. The reason is that the public notice if A&E get the cut (they are, not as much) but OT etc. only affect those who directly receive it. You'll just have to fight for what is on the statement and wasn't done.

Yes, of course they do, but you are making the mistaking of thinking they care ; they just want an easy solution. There are two possible ways of dealing with this that springs to mind ; insist they classify them as "one day exclusions" (they will give you some cr*p about taking him home voluntarily and it not helping him if he as exclusions on his record), or, get caller ID or turn your phone off. It is the school's job to deal with it ; if they can't they need help, to think about what they are doing, or he needs a better school. They cannot simply offload him onto you every time it gets difficult. Notwithstanding the "reward for violence" angle, it's lazy. L8R: "'Did you see? Can i please go home now?' " if he's saying this you absolutely don't send him home at all unless it is absolutely unavoidable (rare).

I've never figured out exactly under what circs it does that - if you play around with dragging corners and edges about it does eventually work.

Would I be right in assuming that it works without your modem plugged in fine, the moment you plug it in it keels over ? If so, does it matter whether it is powered up or not ?

This is rapidly becoming a problem. LEAs are issuing massive statements great chunks of which are boiler plate text, especially in the provision.

The problem is they are completely untouchable. About the worst sanction I am aware of is being quietly pensioned off (except for the guy in Lincs who moved a bypass and got jailed). Round here SSD have been negligent in the deaths of at least 8 children over the last few years, some of which they've hushed up (legal reasons). Private company owners whose employees die are occasionally prosecuted and sometimes jailed for negligence/cost cutting etc., but LA staff ..... to the best of my (fairly extensive) knowledge of all the children no-one has been even reprimanded. If they dump on SEN children/parents from a great height nothing really will happen to them ; if you get a result from the Ombudsman they will do the bare minimum with bad grace and "Policies and Procedures have been changed ......" (they aren't). Any organisation which neither rewards excellence nor sanctions incompetence, negligence and dishonesty (most of the public sector) turns out the same way.

"We use TEACCH" is code for " the staff have made some velcro things and stuck them up on the wall". IME of those who claim they are doing TEACCH virtually none are. ROFLMAO ! What a plonker. I doubt very much this is legal, especially if the child is accepted as a "known potential runner".

It's sort of supposed to work like that. The real meat is in the statement itself. The statement should specify what's "wrong" with the child, then what sort of things are required to fix it - the named school should then match this description. The LEA will then suggest school(s) that may match the statement, and the parent(s) are entitled to approach other schools as well. If the two sides cannot meet, then the parent has to show that the school the LEA names does not meet the child's needs, and the school that he/she/they want does. This has to be explicit, for example, just "it seemed nicer" and other variants will not do. An explicit reason may be "there is no SALT at that school" "that school has EBD children and the statement says she will react violently to aggressive behaviour", the more the merrier. The more explicit the provision in the "description of provision" the better - ideally you want to identify your target school and write this part so as to point to that school and to discount (on grounds of not meeting statement) the others. LEAs will, as ever, write waffly rubbish in statements if allowed so that they can put a child more or less anywhere. Writing things like "the teaching staff should be trained and experienced in dealing with autism" and the like helps. There is also, established at SENDIST I believe, the responsibility of the LEA to spend money sensibly (Hahahahahahahaha). So if there are two schools that provide very similar provision, one may be LEA run and the other Independent (hence costs more), then the LEA can discount the independent one on inefficient use of money.