complaints

[Feather]

Has anyone had any experience of taking their complaint about their statemented child's SEN education to the Local Goverment Ombudsman. I have been given advice about it, and we are at a point of either taking it to the Ombudsman, or seeking legal advice from an SEN solicitor. We have been very unhappy with the treatment of our ASD son in school, and ourselves when we have written complaint letters to the Head. We fell that we have reached a point where it needs to be looked at from a legal point of view. It is very sad that it has got to this point, but we feel the Head has tried to threaten us into not complaining any further, and hidden behind the Governors, and kept the complaints in the confines of school. We don't even think he has followed the correct proceedures when we have taken it as far as the Governors. He shouldn't be allowed to treat us and our son in this way, and he will carry on doing it to other SEN children and their parents if he is not stopped now. If someone can advise, I would relly appreciate it. Thanks

[Sally44]

It is hard to comment without knowing the circumstances.

What are you aiming for? Do you feel your son needs to be moved to another school, or do you wish your child to remain in his current school?

What type of school is your son at?

Does he have a diagnosis?

Does he have a Statement?

[Kathryn]

The LGO's remit has very recently been widened to consider complaints about the way a LA is meeting a child's statemented provision. See below, and go to pages 7 and 8 for a useful summary of who to complain to and when.

 

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/14656/Tr...uary%202010.pdf

 

Feather I don't know the nature of your problem, but have you complained to the LA, and have you considered a disability discrimination claim, if relevant?

 

K x

 

 

[Feather]

Thanks for replies. My son is in his last year at school and leaves soon. He has a statement for ASD. He only got this in November 2008, as he is very late being diagnosed. The problems are his needs not being met properly as listed on his statement. The Head has threatened us every time we have complained. We have had our MP involved, and have followed all the correct complaints proceedures, to the Council, Special needs office, Governors etc. The Head thinks he is untouchable and can hide behind his Governors. By the way is it only the Head of Governors supposed to deal with parent complaints, or should it be dealt with by all Governors at a meeting. We need all this adressed before our son leaves the school. Again the Head thinks he is leaving and that will be everything over with. From our point of view it wont be, and we need him and the SENCO to be held responsible for their neglect and treatment of us and our son. I have spoken to the local goverment ombudsman office and they say we have a case. I was just wondering if anyone else had taken this course of action, and what the outcome was.

[Sally44]

I've only complained to the LEA/school about a Statement not being met. They managed to get round it because my son's Statement was not specific enough in this particular area eg. it states the school should seek advice from the EP - so they phoned her! We have an annual review coming up in which I will be asking to make sure everything is worded as it should be. The EP should be going into school at least twice a year as he has a number of different dx that make it unsuitable for teaching staff to be making decisions about altering programmes or approaches.

I would be interested to see what the LGO do for you. So please post the results.

The only thing I would advise from previous experiences I have had, is to ensure that everything is put in writing. Always complain in writing and try to get a written reply. I have been amazed at how readily people will 'say' things, but ask them to put it in writing and they capitulate and do what you asked them to do. And always keep documents/letters for years.

If your son's statement is specific and the provision is not being met, then you do have a case.

Good luck.

[MadHen]

I have taken a compaint to the Ombudsman (which was upheld), but they could only look at the actions of the LA and not the school. I would suggest that you start by complaining to the LA as it is their responsibility to ensure that the school is doing their job - if they are not aware they are not in a position to do anything about it. Start with your child's case worker, if that doesn't get any action go to the head of SEN section, then onto Head of Childrens Services. I had to go to the MP before anything began to happen. Another piece of advice would be to send any correspondence by email and request a delivery and read receipt if possible - one of my emails got passed from pillar to post once inside the LA, but the Ombudsman ruled that because it had been read on a set date the LA were critisised for not taking action in a timely manner.

 

Also, if you do got to the Ombudsman make sure you give them a very detailed description of what the circumstances are and what you want to get out of it (I asked for an apology for the disgusting treatment my daughter had received and an assurance that my LA would tighten up their admin procedures to make sure that the same situation did not happen again). I left a lot of my complaint, which I couldn't add in at a later stage, so make sure you include everything that you want the Ombudsman to look into at the start.

 

Hope this helps & good luck x

[MadHen]

Oh, forgot - get a file of your child's school record - you are fully entitled to do this and I may even have a copy of the letter on file which you need to submit to the school. They are allowed to charge a small fee for this (usually about £5 to cover admin costs), but it is worth it as everything to do with your childs education should be in there. If the school claim they are doing certain things, then there should be proof on file - if it's not there, its very hard for them to convince anyone they are doing it. It can also throw up other little snippets that you may not be aware of. My daughter had been left outside the class to have a time out on her own, but was found half an hour later wandering around the school field by another member of staff - her class teacher or 1:1 hadn't even noticed she was missing!

[Kazzen161]

Feather, have you got a copy of the school's Complaints Policy? - that will tell you how complaints should be dealt with (it may be on their web-site if they have one). You can get a copy from the school office (ask for their SEN Policy as well, and maybe their Single Equality Policy - get them worried!). Generally, not all Governors will deal with the complaint, as there needs to be some untainted Governors for further up-the-process. It may be that the SEN Governor would be involved too.

 

The other option is a "6 day letter" - sent to the LA saying they have 6 days to rectify the fact that the provsion as per the Statement is not being provided (see IPSEA web-site).

 

In what way is the Head threatening you?

[Feather]

We have actually done all this, and our MP has been involved as well. We have still met a blank wall with the Head. He even tried to stop things going ahead at his review in January, but we stood our ground. The issue is about him threatening me in several phone calls, which he knows there are no witnesses. We were also told to take it to the Governors and that he wasn't bothered. He thinks he can hide behind his Governors, and he is untouchable. We complained to the Governors about the Head, and they have let the Head deal with it, so what is the point of that? We have followed the correct complaints procedure and are now at the point of needing legal help, which is why the Ombudsman have told us we have a case now. It is about the schools lack of help and support for our ASD son, and the way they have treated him before his statement, abd diagnosis, and after it. They have also treated us badly, when we have tried to ask for help and to complain. Our son leaves shortly, and the Head, SENCO, and some staff are not getting away with what they have done. I read things on here every day about parents just starting out for a diagnosis, statement, etc, and it really upsets me that we are all treated this way. All we want is the best for our children, to help them go forward into adult life. These people should be held accountable for what they do, and the way they treat people, and should be made aware of the consequences for these children. We have come this far through the education system with our son, and now we want some answers. Will keep you posted as to how we go on.

[Kathryn]

Feather - it sounds as though you've had an appalling time. Well done for pursuing your complaint; I think many parents are often so worn out by the time their children come to leave a school that they are just glad to be out of it and don't have the energy to take an issue further - that's how I felt anyway. I hope you get the resolution you're looking for: keep us posted.

 

K x