Perm exclusion over-turned

[stressedmumto2]

<'> Just to give everyone some hope, the decision by my son's school of only 6 weeks to permanently exclude was overturned at appeal today. The appeal was against an illegal exclusion on the grounds of my son's disability and that it was in breach of the DDA.

 

This is a very happy moment for myself as it was a permanent exclusion that was appealed against, the principle remains the same for fixed term exclusions - if the child has been excluded for behaviour that was as a result of their disability, then it is illegal and I urge others to challenge/appeal it.

 

I would like to thank helen53 for her continued support throughout all of my battles, without her I could not of done it, she gives me 101% all the time and gives me the strength to fight for my child's rights to a good education and I know without her supporting giving us kick ass booty vibes, giving me the confidence to fight to get my son the right education, being at the end of the phone almost 24/7 and with her superior knowledge I wouldn't be where I am today.

 

Thanks Hel you are one inspirational woman and I hope one day you win all your battles, you deserve too and your son deserves the education setting that is right for him . <'> <'> <'>

[Bagpuss]

 

YOU GO GIRLS !!!!!

[Flora]

Bloomin' brilliant

 

Flozza

[helenl53]

All I hope Stressed Mum is that you girls go and support other parents through the processes you have been through.

 

You and the Rotty in training are really coming on and more parents will be helped by you guys.

 

Love

 

HelenL

[curra]

You Both are an inspiration!

 

 

Curra

[darky]

You go girl!! <'> A huge well done to you and helen of course. this decision will hopefully mean the school will think twice before excluding another child. i think we are on the up

[Kathryn]

Brilliant news!!

 

Lets hope that one day all illegal exclusions will be a thing of the past

 

K x

[lorryw]

Brilliant news, well done. I hope other parents will follow your lead.

[loulou]

 

Excellent news!

 

Loulou xx

[oxgirl]

An excellent and just result, stressedmumto2, brought about by your's and Helen's hard work and dedication. You should both be applauded!!

 

~ Mel ~

[UltraMum]

[JsMum]

Wow this is brilliant,

 

my few questions are:

 

did the school get any consequences to what they did?

can your child be given any compensation?

does the school get fined?

what can be done to the school if they do this again?

 

I am very excited that you won but what stops them doing this again to another child and his family?

 

JsMum

[helenl53]

There is very limited redress at appeal.

 

They can order the child to be re-instated

Suggest that the staff undertake training

The can order the school to apologise.

 

There is no financial compensation.

 

For the child, a note is made on the record that at appeal, the exclusion was overturned.

 

They could do it again and this is why parents should appeal fixed term and permanent exclusions when they are given as a result of behaviour that is attributable to the childs disability. It would be a matter of record and I am sure that under scrutiny, knuckles would get rapped.

 

The more parents appeal, the less likely they are to keep dishing these illegal exclusions out.

 

 

HelenL

[bikergal]

Brilliant, well done!

 

[JsMum]

There is very limited redress at appeal.

 

They can order the child to be re-instated

Suggest that the staff undertake training

The can order the school to apologise.

 

There is no financial compensation.

 

For the child, a note is made on the record that at appeal, the exclusion was overturned.

 

They could do it again and this is why parents should appeal fixed term and permanent exclusions when they are given as a result of behaviour that is attributable to the childs disability. It would be a matter of record and I am sure that under scrutiny, knuckles would get rapped.

 

The more parents appeal, the less likely they are to keep dishing these illegal exclusions out.

HelenL

 

Its not exactly justice then is it, those who have neglected the needs of children with SEN only get a wrap on the knuckles, I personally would want a bit more, and I personally wouldnt be reinstating my child back to such disgusting people who failed to meet the needs of a child with specail needs.

 

no fines I cant believe that, parents who fail to send their children to school go to ###### Jail, where as proffessionals are allowed to get away with mistreatment, and discrimination.

 

one rule for one and another rule for the others.

 

Is the apology a written apology?

 

I understand that parents need to take these discriminating educational establishments to court but the justice isnt what I would of had in mind.

 

JsMum

[helenl53]

me too!

 

Helen L

[stressedmumto2]

Hi J's mum,

 

my son won't be going back to the school and I go to tribunal soon to try and get him into a residential school as the school the LA are proposing wont meet his needs as they have no specialist provision and really he needs 24 hour curriculum, I'm also wary of him becoming school refusal if he goes to the local school and worry of the dangers present to him.

 

I only appealed it because I didn't think it fair to be on my child's record when it's due to the school not being able to meet his needs and I hope it may make my case a bit stronger, by showing that the two mainstream school's he has been at have failed him due to the LA not issuing statement soon enough, which in all honestly was lack on the first school's part.

 

A written apology would be nice, I still need to collect my son's bag from the school, you would think they can post it, lol but I doubt very much I will get one. I think the school will be very shocked to know that we've got it over-turned, I mean after all they supported him 2-1 which they did keep going on about, however you can have all the support in the world but with teachers that don't really understand how our children can react sometimes it doesn't count for alot.

[JsMum]

I can totally understand why your not sending him back to the school, and like you say I think they will be very surprised that the panel has actually listened to you and taken the facts that they didnt meet his needs and they couldnt cope with him and expelling him was discrimination, so they will have a black spot on their records now, but about the bag and the letter, I would be requesting the Education welfare be taking care of that, at the end of the day you shouldnt be having to face them after what they have done.

 

when I had evidence that a school that J use to be in where discriminating J and I was refusing to reinstate him they where really worried and trying there best to express how well J had been doing in their 20 minuete 1-1 specialist support lesson and how in that lesson he was progressing, I was hirate that I explained that there is another 35 hours of education hours and what was he suppose to do the rest of the week, they had failed him too.

 

They where slimy slugs trying there best to cover up their appauling behaviour, gladly have to say things are better now he is in a school that do their best to meet SEN children but J is still struggling in a mainstream and like you say even with a full time support they still have difficulties because many of the difficulties are a holistic management, covering all areas of their development, his school where he is now are doing their best but some children do need a wider programme that goes beyond education, but looks at emotional, social and mental health issues too.

 

I have a strong feeling you will be successful with the appeal for a residential school and the tribunal panel can see that LEAs are failing the most needed children in mainstream.

 

I am sorry if I havent come across as very supportive of your victory but I was annoyed that even when we do show the courts that our schools are failing to meet the needs of our children and discriminating children there is still no real justice, lets hope in the very near future those that fail our children can contenplate their actions in a 4x6 cell for a few weeks (I want to say years but I will be reasonable here) just like our children have to suffer when they are confined to their homes and cant go to school.

 

I will reliterate here though that you have shown great maturity as I know of a few mums who would of taken action in their own way, dont imagine too much here but its a little like that, you have done it the correct way, showing them that you are a positive role model and you have shown your child that what some adults are doing is not reasonable or acceptable behaviour.

 

so a big well done, and I am very very proud of you for doing it the right way.

 

JsMum

[helenl53]

Hi J's Mum

 

The schools and local authorities are trained in how to deflect confrontational parents but they are not used to dealing with parents who approach things in a calm and controlled manner and by routes such as the appeals process.

 

SMT2 was very good in the hearing and stuck to the main issues that pointed to the illegality of what they had done. They did try and bring in family dynamics and there were a few underhand cheap shots at her, but she ignored those and stuck to the facts and at the end of the day, the panel were there to decide on whether or not the exclusion was justified - that was all - they were not there to decide on whether or not they would believe the '###### mother' tag that the school were trying to pin on her. That was irelevant to the procedings.

 

She had prepared very well for it and deflected attempts to find out what her case was for the Tribunal! How sneaky was that - using the appeal to try and information gather!

 

She was a star and remained impassive and dealt only with the facts of the issue that we were there to deal with.

 

Well done SMT2.

 

HelenL

[Canopus]

hug.gif Just to give everyone some hope, the decision by my son's school of only 6 weeks to permanently exclude was overturned at appeal today. The appeal was against an illegal exclusion on the grounds of my son's disability and that it was in breach of the DDA. biggrin.gif

 

Excellent

 

I only appealed it because I didn't think it fair to be on my child's record when it's due to the school not being able to meet his needs and I hope it may make my case a bit stronger, by showing that the two mainstream school's he has been at have failed him due to the LA not issuing statement soon enough, which in all honestly was lack on the first school's part.

 

Exactly

[JsMum]

I have had to stand up to these bully proffessioanls too, that may of in the past be interprited as confrontational, when I had I difficulties with a certain school every thing was done by the book attended a meeting with the headteacher, who basically tuck strips out of me, he was dreadful, insulting me and humilated me.

 

I did it by the book and complained to the chair of govenors but nothing their, I tuck it the mp and thankfully there was a full investigation, J never returned and I have been told things are different for SEN but its still the same head teacher and I couldnt trust him after what he did to me and to my son.

 

In his new school it was really hard to put trust and faith, especailly now I had the experience you cant trust the most influencial people in the system.

 

Its been a strain but I have to say Js new headteacher is a different kind of person, and I am very impressed with his proffessioanlism.

 

I know that we need to be strong in the face accusations, insults and demeaning manner.

 

It sure does sound like Stressedoutmumto2 has had a very difficult time and as I have said she has shown great maturity and held her true charachter not the one they where trying to portray and puch the buttons that would result in her loosing it to strengthen their case, she stood bold, true and honest.

 

JsMum

[stressedmumto2]

Thanks, but I couln't of done it without the person sitting next to me <'>

 

The advice from these boards have taught me a great deal, that it's not just an issue one person goes through but an issue that so many of us are hvaing to go through, it seems to me that if the ASD is not so noticable in the child then there's too much pre-judging that goes on, friends I have whose children have been dx without to much trouble don't seem to get the bad-parenting label as much as there's a reason behind the children's behaviour, however many of the children are still being let down and very badly.

 

I hope now that people will begin to find the strength to tackle schools and the more cases we start winning I think schools will realise that they mustn't treat children and their families like this.

 

[jlp]

Well done smt2, you sound as though you've done a lot of hard work and been very profession (ignoring cheap personal shots can't have been easy)

 

Just out of curiosity, generally speaking, how can you tell if the exclusion was because of a child's disability? My AS son was excluded (fixed term) aged 5 for kicking his teacher on the basis that he knew exactly what he was doing. We thought 'fair enough' but the various professionals working with G were a bit outraged. We didn't appeal or anything - infact we apologised profusely. He's no longer at that school and the new school have put up with a lot worse with no (formal) exclusions.

Edited February 4, 2007 by jlp

[stressedmumto2]

Just out of curiosity, generally speaking, how can you tell if the exclusion was because of a child's disability? My AS son was excluded (fixed term) aged 5 for kicking his teacher on the basis that he knew exactly what he was doing. We thought 'fair enough' but the various professionals working with G were a bit outraged. We didn't appeal or anything - infact we apologised profusely. He's no longer at that school and the new school have put up with a lot worse with no (formal) exclusions.

 

 

I'll leave that one for someone better to come along and explain but in my son's situation he reacted badly to getting something wrong in the classroom, due to his anxieties, however the teacher assistant did not take into account his literal thinking when she threatened him with the police, so I guess you can say it was mismanagement of his disability. They excluded him on breaking the behaviour policy but adaptions should of been made considering he is a very violent child at times. I think the best way of knowing if it is due to the disability is if you think yourself that your child could not of helped it and as a parent you should know if really once given all the facts (always ask for incident sheet from all witnesses) if your child reacted badly to something that could of been helped.

 

Other examples could be when the school have not used appropiate stratergies when the child is not handling a situation very well, or when they have not acted soon enough in bringing in outside support eg, if you have been asking for support for say 6 months and problems get worse but they have not taken advice from yourself to get outside agencies in to advise the school. Another example could be that they are expecting your child with difficulties to follow their behaviour policy when adaptions should be made for ASD children.

 

Sounds like the new school are much better for him because they are taking into account his AS and that he may have problems and are not making a big deal of things. <'>

[loulou]

Hi,

 

Reading this thread is making me wish i'd appealed when Kai was excluded from school, but that was 3 years ago . He was excluded at age 5 for "physical assault on an adult". He was petrified of school and he was surrounded by about 6 adults in a dark corridor. He'd wedged himself inbetween two filing cabinets and when i managed to get him out he took a swing for one of the TAs. He never went back after that (hardly suprising really) .

 

I wonder if it's too late to make a complaint? After all, it's on his record now.

 

Loulou xx

[jlp]

I'll leave that one for someone better to come along and explain but in my son's situation he reacted badly to getting something wrong in the classroom, due to his anxieties, however the teacher assistant did not take into account his literal thinking when she threatened him with the police, so I guess you can say it was mismanagement of his disability. They excluded him on breaking the behaviour policy but adaptions should of been made considering he is a very violent child at times. I think the best way of knowing if it is due to the disability is if you think yourself that your child could not of helped it and as a parent you should know if really once given all the facts (always ask for incident sheet from all witnesses) if your child reacted badly to something that could of been helped.

 

Other examples could be when the school have not used appropiate stratergies when the child is not handling a situation very well, or when they have not acted soon enough in bringing in outside support eg, if you have been asking for support for say 6 months and problems get worse but they have not taken advice from yourself to get outside agencies in to advise the school. Another example could be that they are expecting your child with difficulties to follow their behaviour policy when adaptions should be made for ASD children.

 

Sounds like the new school are much better for him because they are taking into account his AS and that he may have problems and are not making a big deal of things. <'>

 

Thanks for taking the time to answer - I do see what you mean.

 

I think ours is a bit of a shady area. They were rehearsing the Christmas play and I had prewarned them that he'd taken a particular dislike to one of the songs (singing generally is something he dislikes) but apparently this time he'd been sitting nicely, when asked to move by the teacher he said no and when either asked again (teacher bent down) he kicked her with both feet.

 

I wouldn't take it any further, obviously it's a long time ago and he did kick his teacher. We also followed this up with a really boring day at home doing school work and us giving a very clear message that violence isn't on. I was just curious is the grand scheme of thing if school had acted wrongly.

 

I would be very unhappy with an asd child being threatened with the police! Has your son been off school since? My son reacts very badly to certain things and the new school work on a policy of backing off and distraction then discussing the incident later if he will talk about it, there have been times when people have tried to put their foot down and the situation escalates rapidly, sounds like it's been a bit like that with your son.

 

Anyway congratulations on standing your ground!

[stressedmumto2]

I got the letter through today, yippppppeeeeee no apology in there though and don't expect I will get one from school.

 

Lou lou, I've been told you can only make a complaint within 6 months, which is why I can't do it against the first school he was at, which makes me really angry cos my daughter is still there, starting to have difficulties and they are being a bit slow, hopefully word will get around and they may not mess us around, because if I have to challenge them I will.

 

I think with what happened with your son it would definatly be a case of mismanagement, poor little lad I bet he was scared, we often had this with my son he would be surrounded by teachers whilst he was going into one with them all just staring at him. I even have photos that the school took of him whilst he was in one, totally oblivious to having his picture taken and I only got the pic's by mistake when I aksed for his file of papers.

 

Jlp I don't know about your case, you would of needed to show that they did not manage him appropiatly and that was why he lashed out. <'>

[butterfingersbimbo]

well done thats fantastic news!!!!