So angry

[Clareo2003]

 

Well where do i start... My son is 12 years old and started secondary school in September. This school gave us the spill of what a great school it would be for my son ect ect and although it is 10 miles away we decided to send him there.

 

He has AS and ADHD although his new pediatrician feels that he is just AS and anxiety disorder.

 

Anyway he is struggling at school big time and the school have a real lack of understanding on his condition, they even didnt realise that he was special needs and on school action plus til 2 months into the year!! I actually had a meeting with the SENCO and mentioned AS and she hadnt realised he had a diagnosis of it!!

 

Since January his behaviour has become worse and he has been sent out of alot of classes for disruptive behaviour and had alot of detentions ect

 

His teacher calls me from home to ask me if i know why my son kicked off today or why was he so figety today ect

 

My sons pediatrician is disgusted with the schools response and is planning a meeting with them to highlight the issues, and advised me to apply for an assessment for a statement which i did.

 

I received the reply yesterday and they turnt the application down so rang them to find out the reasons.

 

Well it appears that my request was very strong and showed that it is obvious to me he is in need of a statement but the schools request was very poor and behaviour was not even mentioned!!!

 

They also said that it was clear that the school had not taken any advice from the Ed psych report that my son had in Yr 6.

 

She suggested that i arrange a meeting with the schools SENCO and tell her what i have been told and ask her why her request was so poor ect

 

The LEA said that if the school are willing to spend more time on writing their request and re-apply then she is pretty certain that My son will get an assessment.

 

How frustrating is this!!!

 

I have already said that i will be taking my son to school when they go back after the hols because the last day of term he was poked in the chest by a supply teacher and told that if the class had been empty that he would have pinned him against the wall!!!!

 

 

I feel like i am constantly headbutting a wall i have had to fight and chase up everything since year 5 and getting him a diagnosis, we have had 5 different pediatricians due to retirement and stand-ins.

 

Even his new pediatrician now is frustrated with the lack of support we have had.

 

Sorry for the long rant but that school have done so much to annoy me in such a little time.. i want to move him from there but the pediatrician wants me to wait to get an assessment to decide what school would be best as she feels he is not coping with school life at all and this had been recognised since year 5.

 

Clare x

Edited April 9, 2008 by Clareo2003

[justamum]

I have already said that i will be taking my son to school when they go back after the hols because the last day of term he was poked in the chest by a supply teacher and told that if the class had been empty that he would have pinned him against the wall!!!!

 

In other words the teacher assaulted him and threatened actual bodily harm to him.....report it!

[Karen A]

Hi Clareo.

Sorry that the school have been so unhelpful.It sounds like the LEA understand the situation you are in which is good.It may be a good idea to write a letter to the Head Teacher and Senco stating that you are very unhappy with the current situation and that you have been informed that the request for Statutary Assessment was turned down due to poor documentation and understanding of your child's difficulties on the part of the school.

It may be worth discussing the situation with parent partnership although they do vary re how helpful they are in different parts of the country.

You could also make a formal complaint regarding the actions of the supply teacher.If you wish to do this then do make a formal complaint in writing rather than talking informaly to the school.

It would be a good idea to ask for a copy of both the LEA and school complaints procedure.Karen.

[Clareo2003]

Karen Thankyou for your advice

[ryansmum2]

 

Well where do i start... My son is 12 years old and started secondary school in September. This school gave us the spill of what a great school it would be for my son ect ect and although it is 10 miles away we decided to send him there.

 

He has AS and ADHD although his new pediatrician feels that he is just AS and anxiety disorder.

 

Anyway he is struggling at school big time and the school have a real lack of understanding on his condition, they even didnt realise that he was special needs and on school action plus til 2 months into the year!! I actually had a meeting with the SENCO and mentioned AS and she hadnt realised he had a diagnosis of it!!

 

Since January his behaviour has become worse and he has been sent out of alot of classes for disruptive behaviour and had alot of detentions ect

 

His teacher calls me from home to ask me if i know why my son kicked off today or why was he so figety today ect

 

My sons pediatrician is disgusted with the schools response and is planning a meeting with them to highlight the issues, and advised me to apply for an assessment for a statement which i did.

 

I received the reply yesterday and they turnt the application down so rang them to find out the reasons.

 

Well it appears that my request was very strong and showed that it is obvious to me he is in need of a statement but the schools request was very poor and behaviour was not even mentioned!!!

 

They also said that it was clear that the school had not taken any advice from the Ed psych report that my son had in Yr 6.

 

She suggested that i arrange a meeting with the schools SENCO and tell her what i have been told and ask her why her request was so poor ect

 

The LEA said that if the school are willing to spend more time on writing their request and re-apply then she is pretty certain that My son will get an assessment.

 

How frustrating is this!!!

 

I have already said that i will be taking my son to school when they go back after the hols because the last day of term he was poked in the chest by a supply teacher and told that if the class had been empty that he would have pinned him against the wall!!!!

 

 

I feel like i am constantly headbutting a wall i have had to fight and chase up everything since year 5 and getting him a diagnosis, we have had 5 different pediatricians due to retirement and stand-ins.

 

Even his new pediatrician now is frustrated with the lack of support we have had.

 

Sorry for the long rant but that school have done so much to annoy me in such a little time.. i want to move him from there but the pediatrician wants me to wait to get an assessment to decide what school would be best as she feels he is not coping with school life at all and this had been recognised since year 5.

 

Clare x

 

Hi Clare,

im suprised other people havent given you some ideas here ? I am still waiting on a dx for my son (nearly 8 years old) its been going on for 2 years for us.

i starting to think about getting him a statement,

anyway i may not be of much use to you, as i havent much experience but here goes anyway:

 

I think you should ask his scool for a copy of their SEN Policies

here is a brill site for everything to do with SEN and School : http://www.ace-ed.org.uk/advice/booklets/Assessment.html

 

when you son went from primary to secondary school, the primary school should of given the secondary school a complete run down of your sons problems, did this happen ? If not you NEED to complain to both the schools !

On School Action PLUE this SHOULD of happened - and even if it didnt - the School Action PLUS should of gone with him to his NEW school - you really need to find out WHY this didnt happen - and again COMPLAIN - the more you kick up a fuss the more they will take nottice - and CONTINUE to montior your son , because if they dont they know you will be chasing them up, and that you will not be fobbed off !

 

And as for the SENCO not knowing about the DX - well this is simply un acceptable - get onto the LEA and TELL them what has happened and COMPLAIN again !

 

Get onto the secondary school about the Supply Teacher and 'let rip' in this day and age this MUST NOT be happening and unless people are prepared to speak up,the these bully teachers will continue to get away with it ,

 

as for the Assesment / LEA i dont know but theres lots of info in the website ive recommended

 

FIGHT for your child - MAKE them listaen to you (tachers/LEA) KEEP ringing / writing to them, just keep on an on, till you get whet he needs.

 

i wish i could be of more help - good luck to you

keep fighting ;o) mel xx

[Clareo2003]

Thanks Mel so much for your reply,

 

The school had ALL my sons notes and he even went for a special one day a week visit to the school with 6 other Special needs children before he started. But when i saw the SENCO she appeared to know nothing about my son or his dx!!

 

When i spoke to the LEA about the assessment for a statement i did tell her the problems i have come across and she was in shock..so yes i agree i do need to take that further.

 

My son is on 2 week holidays at the moment but i am all ready to take him to school Monday and will demand that someone comes talk to me about the supply teacher and whilst im there i will ask to meet with the SENCO again and ask her what she is playing at!

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, ill let you know how it goes Monday.

 

Clare x

[Clare63]

Hi Clareo,

 

My advice would be to put in a parential request for a statement, that what we did, one year after our DS started secondary following failed promises, lack of understanding and support. By the beginning of Yr 8 he was so anxoius about school that he finally had a breakdown and has been out of school since Oct 07.

 

We now have a statement, well a proposal but it does not reflect the EP's advice whatsoever so we are appealing it, anyway its important to get the ball rolling as all this takes such a long time.

 

Wishing you much luck with your quest for some true understanding and support for your child.

 

Clare x x x

[Clareo2003]

Hi Clare, i did just put in a parental request for a statement and that when the LEA told me it was rejected due to a bad school request to back mine up!!

 

They stated that it is obvious by my request that i feel very strongly that my son needs a statement and advised me to go to school on Monday (they have been on 2 week holiday) and see the SENCO and ask her what on earth she is playing at. The LEA said that there wasnt even any mention of his behaviour on their report..yet i had just told them that he has been on report and always in detention and sent out of lessons on neumerous occasions.

 

If the school make a better request and they re-apply she thinks we will get the assessment.

[Karen A]

Clare Hi.

It might be a good idea to take somone with you on Monday to see the SENCO to take notes so you have a record and some moral support.

Parent Partnership may also be able to provide somone to come with you to provide moral support.Karen.

[purplehaze]

Hello Clare, sorry I have only just picked up on your post. This sounds much like what I went thorugh over the last few years. My son's first RSA was also turned down due to the school not doing enough. The LEA went into school to discuss what strategies they should put in place and also trained the LSA's. Then the school put the RSA in again and my son got the statement. The school only thought he had behavioural problems and ignored the ASD so they excluded him every week over a few months. However, the LEA thought this was the problem and they gave a statement for ASD (social, emotional, communication etc) and high levels of anxiety which causes the behaviour due to a lack of understanding etc.

 

You have been given some good advice such as:

parent partnership-they really helped me and would go to meetings and ask the right questions.

 

The ace website is useful

 

Is the EP going tp the meeting, I would ask her the more people you have on your side the better.

 

Before you go into school high light and add points to the schools copy of the RSA, so when you go in to school you can say why was this said/why wasn's this added. Have you any support from your local autism group, they can be very helpful with what things to ask in meetings also.

 

 

You need to complain about the teacher to the head and then to governors and ask if the teachers who teach your son have training and knowledge of ASD, how are supply teachers made aware of your sons needs.

 

Good luck for Monday X

[Annea]

Hi Clare,

 

I have only just seen your post too and it made me furious as my dd was in a similar position...

 

The first theing I would do if you have not yet done it, is to request under the data protection act, a full copy of your sons school record , their is a sample latter of how to do this on the IPSEA site.

 

As someone else said, you should also be looking to ask for current SEN policies, dis policies, aceesibilty plans etc.... <it turned out that my dd's school didn't even have these plans in place!!!>

 

I think you are dealing with several distinct issues....

 

The lack of statement which you need to appeal against at tribunal ---- maybe speak to IPSEA about this?

The discrimination issues, excluding your son from lessons and giving him detention and punishment because of behaviour that is associated with a condition that they are refusing to acknowledge is discrimination --- IPSEA can also advise you on this.

There is also a very strong case for making a compliant against the teacher who assaulted you son! Are there witnesses to this? < from experience I know that lies will come thick and fast when you explore these issues>

 

I would also say this to you, the single most important piece of advice given to me, was to not speak to the school by phone on any non urgent matter but instead insist everything is done by letter or email <ask for receipts of delivery> Also keep a diary of every incident, every remark, all upsets..... you will find these invaluable as you go further down the road.....

 

Utimately I would aslo say, is there another school you can look at for placement? my dd's school had no special needs awarenesss and even though when we won our dis discr case the school was ordererd to implement staff training, nothing is changing because at the highest levels the head and chair of governors do not care... Sometimes it can take a school years and years to put the basics in place and meanwhile our children suffer.... so might be good to look elsewhere..... if you are going to appeal for lack of statement you can request a school in or out of your area.... you just need to prove that the education can't be provided at the local school he is at now...

 

Anyway.. I always go on, still being in the thick of several battles.... I have my fight head on, but it infuriates me that so many of us are fighting the same battles over and over up and down the country....

 

Anne

[Clareo2003]

My meeting yesterday was quite positive although frustrating.

 

I first spoke to the head of year about the supply teacher and there is now to be an investigation into the incident and then i had a meeting with the SENCO.

 

She had asked her assistant to do Tyler's report and basically gave her a very brief summary ie name, DOB year group and lessons he has help in, well it appears that the assistant just sent that in!!!!!!

 

No wonder it was such a poor report, it wasnt a report at all!!

 

She apologised many many times and said that she would be on to immediately and then the school will re-apply for the assessment. So Phew thats sorted!

 

It was a great opportunity for me to tell her of all the mess ups that this school has done since Tyler started the transition to their school. I also took a member of teh local NAS group with me for support and that helped!!

 

She is also arranging a meeting me paed, head of year, class teacher, TA ect ect to all discuss the help that Tyler needs so i am waiting to hear from her on those details too.

 

Her exact words were "Tyler has slipped through the net!!" so i said well lets hope from now on Tyler will get ALL the help needed to make school life more manageable!!

 

So a step forward for sure i feel!!

 

Anne thank you for your reply too, it is very frustrating that we all have to go through this with our children.

 

I do document everything and i email and send a letter with any correspondence.

 

I am looking to change my sons school but the pediatrician wants him to be statmented first as she feels he doesn't cope with the whole school situation and he may need a special school.

 

So it wouldn't be worth transferring him to another mainstream school and all the same problems will be there still.

 

Thanks everyone for replying

[caren]

glad you got that sorted out good luck with the statement

[Karen A]

Sounds like you made some progress.Karen.