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Barred from Science (Health & Safety reasons)

MulgaBill

Our oldest boy (he's an Aspie) has just moved up to S2 (we're in Scotland) and, as well as all the usual turmoil involved in changing classes, he came home today to tell me that "I was locked out of Science". When I asked what had happened, he said his new science teacher had shut the classroom door in his face and locked it. He didn't know what was happening, so he stood outside the classroom until his guidance teacher eventually showed up. She told him that he wasn't allowed to do science for "health and safety reasons", and he'd have to spend science classes doing "other things" in the special needs area. It's ludicrous as science was his best subject in S1 and the teacher he had throughout never had a safety issue with him.

Has anyone managed to challenge a decision like this? And how?

BTW, I'm on my fourth letter to the school in 10 days to the school, copied to the QIO and Head of Education, not that they ever reply or take any notice. Yesterday's letter was about our boy being kept out of all his classes for an entire day, so he played computer games and watched videos in the special needs area. He doesn't know why and no one from the SMT was available to explain why. (He was quite happy to have a "day off", but I'm not.)

Parents

  • Were it just a case of the school failing to meet their responsibilities to a disabled pupil sure, but I can't believe the following:

    “Only two teachers could find anything positive to say and even then their overall tone was negative. As for the rest, their comments are vituperative, bullying, insulting and vile

    A deputy head conceded the tone of almost all the disciplinary referrals was hateful, angry, discriminatory and inflammatory, but said we had to accept that teachers find out son extremely frustrating and annoying. She also admitted she'd held some referrals back because their language was even worse than the ones we'd received.

    I'm in the middle of writing a letter about his S1 report, which is extremely negative, judgemental, prejudiced and discriminatory. Only one teacher (the probationer) wrote a professional, balanced, non-judgemental comment that reported positives in academic achievement, behaviour and social skills. I was shocked, not so much that the other teachers write him off as "hopeless", but they were prepared to put their comments in writing and that the Senior Management Team would allow such a report to go out.

    I asked what was up and he replied, "I must be a really horrible person." I asked why he thought that. "Because most of the teachers hate me and don't want me in their school. School's not for children like me, is it? It's just for the normal ones."

    (Later, our son told us he felt like he was in the bottom of a cave with a lots of big, red, angry faces screaming at him, so he just froze.) Eventually, they manhandled him out of the classroom and down to the special needs area.”

    I would have thought this constitutes hate crime.  They are insulting him using inappropriate language and terminology specifically because of his disability and the manhandling (which appears to have been totally inappropriate for the situation as he was not being violent or a threat to anyone) sounds like assault to me.  Or does he not have any rights because he's a child and schools can do what they want because no-one will do anything about it?

    Surely just because these individuals represent the school doesn't get them off the crimes they have committed no matter how many of them are doing it.  Their actions fit the legal description I gave above.

    The child in question clearly feels victimised by them and it is ongoing, they are ostracising him because of his disability by excluding him from lessons and school, and that is also illegal on more than one front.

Reply

  • Were it just a case of the school failing to meet their responsibilities to a disabled pupil sure, but I can't believe the following:

    “Only two teachers could find anything positive to say and even then their overall tone was negative. As for the rest, their comments are vituperative, bullying, insulting and vile

    A deputy head conceded the tone of almost all the disciplinary referrals was hateful, angry, discriminatory and inflammatory, but said we had to accept that teachers find out son extremely frustrating and annoying. She also admitted she'd held some referrals back because their language was even worse than the ones we'd received.

    I'm in the middle of writing a letter about his S1 report, which is extremely negative, judgemental, prejudiced and discriminatory. Only one teacher (the probationer) wrote a professional, balanced, non-judgemental comment that reported positives in academic achievement, behaviour and social skills. I was shocked, not so much that the other teachers write him off as "hopeless", but they were prepared to put their comments in writing and that the Senior Management Team would allow such a report to go out.

    I asked what was up and he replied, "I must be a really horrible person." I asked why he thought that. "Because most of the teachers hate me and don't want me in their school. School's not for children like me, is it? It's just for the normal ones."

    (Later, our son told us he felt like he was in the bottom of a cave with a lots of big, red, angry faces screaming at him, so he just froze.) Eventually, they manhandled him out of the classroom and down to the special needs area.”

    I would have thought this constitutes hate crime.  They are insulting him using inappropriate language and terminology specifically because of his disability and the manhandling (which appears to have been totally inappropriate for the situation as he was not being violent or a threat to anyone) sounds like assault to me.  Or does he not have any rights because he's a child and schools can do what they want because no-one will do anything about it?

    Surely just because these individuals represent the school doesn't get them off the crimes they have committed no matter how many of them are doing it.  Their actions fit the legal description I gave above.

    The child in question clearly feels victimised by them and it is ongoing, they are ostracising him because of his disability by excluding him from lessons and school, and that is also illegal on more than one front.

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