national curriculum not working for us Highlands

[sesley]

p is a challenge his behaviour is unpredictable,won't use school toilets, has constipation problems,ok just now, he is very willful he is 8 now and school curriculum not working,they don't know how to tap into his potential,so meeting last week, can't find anywhere suitable for p to go to,otherwise would recomeend he leaves us to go to another educational unit,so school will re think a taylor made curriculum suitable for p to cope with,starting after Easter break, i expect you people are just as frustrated as us in there is a complete lack of knowledge on autism in the Education system all around the British Isles, the special teaching they are supposed to have is generalised to intergrate all disabled children into mainstream school,but the problem is autism/aspergers is such a complex and big spectrum, and all the children/young people have different needs and challenges which the speacil needs teachers and schools seem to fail to understand, to be fair our teachers are trying and are not ready to give up yet,but i am wondering when they will come to a point and say,we can do no more and p would be better off some where else with other experts that can help him, we can't anymore.

[krystaltps]

Hi, can I ask which Local Authority you live in, Sesley?

In Scotland, we don't have a National Curriculum - that's one of the beauties of Scottish Education - however it does trust that LA's, schools and teachers "know what they're doing". A good LA will provide access to training for the staff who work with your son, and it should also provide access to experienced and trained educational specialists. In my LA we have Area Network Support Teams (of which I am a teaching member) and each member of the team has a specialist area (i.e. the additional support need in which they specialise). If we come across something new, there is a large CPD (training) budget to cover the cost of training courses.

Does your lad have a Support Plan or Co-ordinated Support Plan? It sounds as if he should at the very least have a SP. Is the class-teacher in charge of the SP?

All of this is not specific to my LA, other LAs in Scotland will have similar provision. The Additional Support for Learning Act (Scotland) has given you, as a parent, rights... and there are tribunals happening all over Scotland at the moment as parents are exercising these rights.

Because where I live is geographically large and mostly rural, we have children in our schools that would be in specialist schools if they lived elsewhere. These children are accomodated in mainstream (with the exception of "my boys", who are not in classes) and their needs are met.

That's the important part - the needs being met. If they are not then you have cause for complaint... no matter how hard the teachers are trying, it's the LA that's letting you down by the sound of it.

If you need any advice on the ASfL act, or anything else then please PM me.