LEA have offered special school for sept.

[JsMum]

I cant believe it but they want us to visit a local special school for sept for children with complex needs similair to Js and with transport too,

 

I am fighting for a place at a out of area residential special school because I felt that the Mainstream system wasnt meeting Js needs, but after writing to our LA they are finally seeing that J cant access mainstream any more, so we visit soon,

 

Its such a reliefe to know that I dont have the worry about J starting a mainstream secondary school in sept, what ever happens its going to be a special school.

 

JsMum

[oxgirl]

Wow, great news, JsMum. That must be such a weight off your mind. Hope the visit goes well and that you love the place. <'>

 

~ Mel ~

[Bagpuss]

Good luck with your visit <'>

[annie]

Great news JsMum. Hope the visit goes well

 

Annie

xx

[Flora]

Jsmum that's fantastic news. Hope the visit goes well, but even if you don't think the school can meet his needs you are one huge step further in that the LEA have acknowledged that your son needs a special school placement. Well done you <'>

 

 

flo' XXXXX

[JsMum]

thanks guys, I am truely gobsmacked, the phone call was rather funny, because she was trying to get her sentence out about telling me about the special school but I was ranting and raving that I cant believe they think they can send my son to a mainstream secondary, when all they wanted to tell me was about this special school, I feel kind of foolish now, but I really am gobsmacked now, the visit is in a weeks time so I will let you know as soon as I see it.

 

<'>

 

JsMum

[baddad]

Well done!

Not sure from your post if you feel this school is suitable, but either way a precedent has been set which defines a specialist placement, which is a major battle already won if you do decide to push for the residential placement

 

CONGRATS!

 

BD

[Karen A]

I hope the visit goes well.

It feels like it has been a good few days on the Forum in terms of people getting appropriate educational provision. Long may the trend continue. Karen.

[JsMum]

Well done!

Not sure from your post if you feel this school is suitable, but either way a precedent has been set which defines a specialist placement, which is a major battle already won if you do decide to push for the residential placement

 

CONGRATS!

 

BD

 

 

I am pleased that the LEA have offered a local special school, but I still have my preferance on the residential school, before today I was under the impression the LEA felt J could cope in a mainstream secondary, now today they realise that with the complexities of my sons special needs that isnt the case any more.

 

The LEA say that this special school can meet his complex needs, but it is a day school, the residential is a 24 hour curriculum and would offer J great opportunites and goes right up until he is 19yrs old the local special school is from 5yrs-16yrs.

 

yes I am pleased the LEA are now looking into special school..... but...... If I want the residentail school I have to go to sendist, which I am still doing, but its just always a fight isnt it,

 

in some ways the local special school it would mean J can stay here at home but he wont get the same opportunities he would get at the residential school as in social things like activities and clubs, so there is still reservations,

 

I still do have a more of a preferance of the the residential, its now going to be harder which one I choose as there both going to be specialist education.

 

but I am very very pleased the LA have offered the local special school.

 

JsMum

[Janey]

Great news J,s Mum, I'm just starting my battle with our LEA for a statement for T. It,s so nice to hear some good news to keep what little faith I have in the system.

 

Janey

[bid]

Brilliant!

 

The most important thing is the fact that they have agreed the need for a specialist placement.

 

Well done <'>

 

Bid

[Kathryn]

Well that's a huge step further forward, J'smum!

 

One step at a time - once you've visited the LEA school, and seen what it has to offer you can start building your case for the residential school you want.

 

Good news so far, and I hope J's doing OK at the moment.

 

keep battling on

 

<'>

 

K x

[pearl]

Great news! Let us know how the visit goes.

[hev]

js mum,good news that things are moving long for you good luck next week <'>

[stressedmumto2]

Fantastic news J's mum, I would say still go with SENDIST because if you don't you will always wonder what if, if you're not sucesfull at least he has a special school lined up. <'>

 

The only probelm you are going to have now though is proving that he needs a 24 hour curriculum and this is where you will need lots of evidence to support this, reports etc.

 

Good luck and I'm glad the LEA are finally listening, it must be such a big relief <'>

[smiley]

Ohhhhhh sweetie - hate to be all doom and gloom but this is exactly what i've just been through.

LEA had agreed mainstream wasn't right - suggested i visit special school (yay thinks i..) special school not suitable - even head of special school agreed it wasn't the place for him.

Independant resi school was looking to be the only option - LEA then turned about and said mainstream with an added five hours (that he already gets.......) and took away my right to appeal.

 

Trying to unpick it all now .

 

Excellent news <'> - and i hate to make you worry - but just incase............

[madme]

I think Smiley is right. I have heard of Leas saying that they will consider something to get the parent to drop an appeal. Do not drop the appeal until its all in the Statement. Ours also tried it on saying that we had the school but had to pay for the transport despite there being no other school and also for us to pay for all of the extra lessons. We just got on and got the evidence and they backed down eventually agreeing to it all. Unfortunately even if they know you are in the right they will still try it on or offer something less in the hope that the parent so exhausted will just grab what is offered.

[JsMum]

I will still appeal for the residential school but I do want to see what other options are available first, the appeals is my solisitor and we are going throw all the assessments, diagnosis, reports to ensure that when it goes to sendist it stands a good result.

 

I am appealing on part 2,3,4 of the statement as they have not included all of Js diagnosis.

 

JsMum

[JsMum]

Hi Guys well today is the visit of our LEAs special school visit, so wish us luck,

 

J went to see his choice of secondary high school mainstream this week too, and he loved it though he is picking the best bits out and not seeing the whole picture, he was stiff as a board when the bell went and the river of children spilled into the corridor and flowed into different classrooms so there would be lots of times J would get nervous, the school itself was fantastic and the specialist unit was fantastic but only for short periods of time would they access this or if they became disruptive in the classroom reinforcing bad behaviour, it would be in seconds that J would put two and two to realise that to get out of a noisy classroom all he has to do is become disruptive and he will be taken and only voluntarily into the specialist centre where its set up in the same way as the residential school is but the mainstream secondary school the specialist unit is not long term having to place J in a stressful enviroment again which is why we are seeking a specialist residential education that meets all of Js special needs.

 

I am still very excited however to see what the local day special school has to offer and I compare the two between provisions in that school and the school I am gong to sendist for.

 

JsMum

[Karen A]

<'> <'> JsMum.I hope today goes well.Karen.

[JsMum]

Well the visit was appauling and I was shocked by what I witnessed while on our visit.

 

We where meet by three different teachers in the beginning until we where finally introduced to the Headteacher of the school and she led us straight into her office and went straight into this comment.

 

Well what Can I do for you, I understand you have come to have a look around, at our very good school! who sent you, I explained to her the LEA has because I am requesting a residential specialist school for J, she asked what was his difficulties, I explained his diagnoses, she then asked who from the LEA had sent me to have a look around her school, so I told her the name.

 

I asked her if her school had any places for sept and she said that they are full, they have capacity for 70 and they are well into the 80s figures,

I said how could J be given a place then if its full, she explained to me that its up the LEA body and that if they say he has a place then they have to obide,

 

I expressed concerns of this asking if it has an impact on the education of others if the school is so full, she said they wouldnt comprimise health and safety but they have to take on children by the LEA.

 

The Headteacher then went on to express how she had found a teacher that had agreed to give up her her time to show me around her very good school of which will fly throw the ofsted, she said that she got the impresion I didnt want to be there, I explained to her that I didnt want to waste our time looking around a school if it had no places, she went throw the whole LEA policy and again repeated her sentence then accused me of been in her face, but I was just been very clear that I dont want to get our hopes up for a school that has too many kids in, she then looked at J and praised him for sitting nicely and then said she will ring the named lady at the LEA while this lady who had given up her valuable time to show us around.

 

We viewed the computer suit, a partitioned area in the hall way, cramed in and compact and classrooms leading in all directions, but with good facilities, then she showed me a classroom where the younger children where , on the tables there was strips of pictures that illistrated a days routines on a table where a child would of been seated but the children where in the playground, the room was spacous and clean and nice, as we left the room I noticed the star charts for the children in that class most children had 2 or more but a child had none, that left me feeling that was a little unfair that they couldnt find anything positive to give this child his first star.

 

We enetered the science lab that attracted J to looking at the models of the body and I gazed outside to watch the children play in the playground, I saw a girl sat on a benched her legs crossed in front of her and her elbows resting on her knees and her head down staring into the ground, she looked so bored, fed up, even depressed, she was alone, and no adults had aproached her or other children, I then saw another girl in the middle of the playground alone and pacing up and down with her head looking into the sky, then I saw a group of around 8 boys what I can only describe as bullying another boy who was alone, and backing off from the group.

 

I couldnt see the buddying sytem or activities or games for socail skills, and it was very disturbing to witness the children who wondered aimlessly and I couldnt see any staff only in a fenced area so I was under the impression she was supervising all the children alone.

 

The children filtered into the corridors and a large group of children entered the classroom who just stared at me and J and wondered who we where?

 

a boy had aproached a teacher and the boy said to her

 

" miss a boy has been horrible to me, saying he hated me and he was going to kill me, "

 

The teacher told the boy straight away that the boy had been in hospital yesterday and he wasnt very well, and to stay away from him, the boy then left.

 

I was taken back, wondering where was his praise for aproaching a teacher, using very mature verbal skills and having the courage to tell someone, but no he got told to stay away from this boy, I wanted to see if the boy got any reasurance but he didnt.

 

I was then taken throw a corridor and a classroom to access another classroom, with older children who where all arguing, and again a very large number of children and then all of a sudden a women leaned over a desk towards a teenage boy and shouted at him in front of all the other children and in front of me and J and I was in shock,

 

I asked the women showing us around why couldnt the teacher take the child somewhere private and talk to him, rather than humiliate him in front of other children, I expressed how I would be upset if J was treated in this way, she said to me that she wasnt the one who was dealing with the boy and there was nothing she could do, she continued to show me equiptment and explaining the curriculum but nothing was been absorbed, only vivid pictures of the girl on the bench sad, the boy who was told to leave the boy who had threatened him alone, the teenager who had been shouted at and humiliated, the headteachers big headed aproach to her good school.

 

only I couldnt see it and I certainly wasnt experiencing it, I told the women that I felt very uncomfortable and requested we suspend the rest of the visit as nothing was going in because I was so upset and I wanted to leave, she showed me to the exit and both me and J left totally disapointed and personally totally disgusted that this was what the LEA was offering and for me it was a school, but for kids who would cause distractions in a mainstream, its like there placing these special needs kids all in one place irespectable of the individual needs of each child and its over spilling and the kids are not really listened to.

 

SENDIST here I come J deserves a decent education.

 

JsMum

Edited March 15, 2008 by JsMum

[Kathryn]

Interesting observations - preserve this post for future reference!

 

One hopes you just caught them on a bad day but...maybe not. At least you now know what you don't want.

 

K x

[teachermum1]

The school doesn't sound great but then every school has its own incidents. The sad girl may have wanted to be alone, for example. And I've never been in a school, including special schools, where the staff don't occasionally shout, especially if a child has done something wrong. Sounds like the visual charts and rewards look good.I don't know - I just think it would be a shame for you to have to send J to residential school - you said you want him to have access to leisure stuff and clubs, but you could get more support from SS to allow him to access clubs and still be at home with you. You two are clearly so close - how would it affect you to be apart all the time? And you don't drive, so I guess you would only see him in holidays? I just feel sad for you that you're going to have to go through a massive battle (that doesn't sound like it will be an easy win) and wish there was some alternative for you - is it worth going back again to see if it was just a bad day?

[JsMum]

The school doesn't sound great but then every school has its own incidents. The sad girl may have wanted to be alone, for example. And I've never been in a school, including special schools, where the staff don't occasionally shout, especially if a child has done something wrong. Sounds like the visual charts and rewards look good.I don't know - I just think it would be a shame for you to have to send J to residential school - you said you want him to have access to leisure stuff and clubs, but you could get more support from SS to allow him to access clubs and still be at home with you. You two are clearly so close - how would it affect you to be apart all the time? And you don't drive, so I guess you would only see him in holidays? I just feel sad for you that you're going to have to go through a massive battle (that doesn't sound like it will be an easy win) and wish there was some alternative for you - is it worth going back again to see if it was just a bad day?

 

 

Hi, I understand bad days, I have them too as a parent, but I took J out of a school that had a teacher that use to shout at him in front of other children because he would have Panic attacks at home and have severe anxiety of the next time even if it was not him the teacher shouted at and it was other children it still made him anxious and scared.

 

his present school take the child out the classroom and they discuss the behaviour or the situation, they dont humiliate and scream down their throats!

 

As a parent, I have shouted of course I have, but thats a mother and son relationship and we always discuss it afterwards and look at better ways to communicate, and we now have widgets to help this.

 

I absaloutly dont want J to go throw a similair expereince again in a special school,

 

The girl who was sad, to me she looked depressed, and no teacher did aproach her, from what I saw there was no teachers in the playground just one that was in the fenced area and looking after the younger children.

 

I wont be going back to that day special school.

 

I personally saw enough,

 

As a experienced parent of bad schools I know now to trust my instincts.

 

the residential specialist school that I want J to go to is absaloutly a match to his difficulties and he will be with other children who have the same diagnosis and he wont stand out.

 

I would send him to another country if it was the right place and he could be given the education that meets his needs.

 

I am writing the visist day special school in a report and adding it to SENDIST to express how difficult it is going to be to access the right education as J has complex needs, but spersific and individual and that placing him in the special residential will meet these needs,

 

I know when a school has a bad day and when its quite simply the wrong place for my son.

 

I will move closer to the residential school for a short period to be close to J and to remain that close relationship and help us both deal with the complexities of transition of residentail and in the beginning it will be for short periods first with lots of day visits so it can be gradual.

 

social services are incompatant at times and I dont trust them, there always cutting budgets and withdrawing support, I had to just fight to get Js sessional worker increased as they reduced it after 5 sessions, so I dont like them that much and they are defo not there when you need help as they only are available from 9:30am - 12: 30 pm and then its the duty team who know nothing about you, so I dont bother and I get on deal with it myself.

 

We are often left with no support, I am going throw a complaint process at this present moment as I am unsatisfactory with the social services and care because quite simply they dont understand children with complex needs like my childs because they are a family support team and there for NT children mostly and they contridict and suggest things that dont work for children with special needs.

 

I still have not had any telephone call to inquire if we are ok, nothing, they simply dont care.

 

So I dont want to have to consider using this appauling services for the next 10 years of Js life.

 

I would rather be seperated from J knowing he is in the right place if he were to go to residential school, of course its going to be hell but we are in a hell of a situation in the situation now where I am home schooling because he cant cope in a mainstream setting.

 

I dont know how long we would remain together either if he where to attend a day special school becaue his behaviour is very volitile and at times he has harmed me, so when he gets bigger, stronger who is to say what he may be capable of doing then, and would it be that he wouldnt be able to stay with me anyway, and because of his behaviour towards me he could end up in care, unit, institute that could do more harm than good especially if they dont take into consideration his specail needs.

 

I am to now ring the police when he becomes in this state, and he is only 11yrs old, the police dont always understand Special needs either and it will casue further trauma to J so I dont even ring the police now, and at times we are under very stressful situations, the pressure is massive.

 

so I am looking into the residential school to help his needs in all areas of his development not just his education, but his whole well being.

 

He wont defo be going to the special school I saw yesterday and I am working on gathering evidence so I can fight all the way to get J into the specialist residential school.

 

JsMum

Edited March 15, 2008 by JsMum