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Advice needed urgently re daughters A levels, school be unhelpful.

Sunderlandafclad

My daughter is currently doing A levels and is having numerous sensory issues and problems with work load being easy and she is bored as she has already done the work.

we have asked school (6th form) if she can reduce some of her lessons so she can do them at home due to the issues she has and then go into classes for experiments or if she doesnt understand things etc but school are giving no leway at hall to accomodate her issues, she attends or she will be kicked out of school. We have had meets but they are not moving on any of her issues. Is there anyone I can speak to who can help sort her some part time home teaching with part time school attendance as when required to easy the burden she is having. Academiclly she excells but the school enviroment is causing great problems on a sensory level. She feels she can cope with workload doing some at home on a text book basis then some in school on a bit by bit basis subject to her issues at a given time Due loud noises bright lights ect. Anyone who can give me some advice inregards who I can speak to, to help us fight our corner to allow her time out to study at home, at current rate they are going to kick her off the course despite her getting top of class grades. The school seem really hung up on attendance issues despite her hitting target grades etc. Thanks in advance.

  • According to the Equality Act 2010 disabled students are entitled to reasonable adjustments in law, all public bodies must comply without exception.  It sounds as if they are entirely ignorant of the law (shame on them) and the responsibilities on them, which means you need to bring it to their attention:

    http://www.autism.org.uk/living-with-autism/education-and-transition/further-and-higher-education.aspx

    and

    http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/further-and-higher-education-providers-guidance/key-concepts/what-is-discrimination/reasonable-adjustments/

    and

    http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/adjustments-disabled-students

  • Sounds like a school performance issue - they are trying to get a high percentage of high performers and if before a certain date low performers can be off-loaded then they can sustain the required percentage. Thus it is about the school looking good in the league tables, perhaps?

    Surely the primary purpose of the school is to support pupils through a difficult and stressful period. Sounds to me like losers get dumped in this school.

    But here we have insufficient accommodation, factory conditions and no room for exceptions. Factory farming just about.

    Its the way things are going because of the overriding emphasis on performance figures. The pupils are just there to make the school look good.

    Keep detailed records and get legal advice. If this school is prepared to override the welfare of pupils just to maintain its league position, if it has to come to legal solutions they wont look so good.

  • Well we have had a good few years of limited asistance with issues but now she has moved into the sixth form its like its a different school, the head of sixth form is refusing to asist in any matters, their policy is she attends all lessons and if she drops to 86% attendance she will highly likely asked to leave. The school has insufficent rooms for their needs and the once quiet room has now become more like a common room. All we are asking is that for some lessons she can do the work at home when she is confident she can do it and come in when if she has issues but they seem stuck upon this attendance lark with no room for leway. She is under the local youth mental health team for her issues and depession and this is just making things worse. Ive tried speaking to the school to no avale guess all i can do now is speak to local education auth etc and see where that goes. She aced A* for subjects in her last gcse and hitting top of class and all they say is she wont cope, she has had two months off for surgery on her hands and went back for 1 day and did a chemistry assesment and came out top of the class! She has the ability to do so well if given the right package!

  • If the school is aware of her disability they should be able to accommodate her needs. I suspect its the school playing at "teacher knows better than parents" whereas clearly they haven't much experience of autism.

    Your daughter ought to have access to a quiet place if she feels stress, so she can get upset with dignity and discretion, or wind down without environmental stress. It ought therefore be possible to get some quiet space for private study.

    If she is sensitive to sudden noise or bright lights they should be making provisions for this.

    You shouldn't really be placed in this predicament but autism awareness still falls short of adequate. Also a lot of information is based too closely around the Triad of Impairments, and understates the significance of sensory issues and sensory overload. The information the school has on autism may be inadequate.

    You should contact the Head of the school directly with your concerns. Ask to see their disability policy.