Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi there!
Our son is currently in Y8. After a particularly tough year through the transition of Y6 to Y7, he has struggled with school. He was diagnosed with High Functioning ASD last October and in April of this year, his EHCP was finalised.
After a number of meetings at his current school, it has been suggested by the SENCO that he may be better suited at a school that has an ARP.
His current school have said they can do all they can for him but that isn't working. We had a meeting with the SENCO who let it slip that a senior member of staff had said the our sons pupil plan (the flow chart kind of thing that every teacher has to manage any meltdowns) isn't defined enough.
We now have a second meeting with the school next week of which we think is going to be the 'big one' where they say they can do no more.
I know the anxiety and change is going to be massive for OS and for this I feel extremely emotional.
Do we fight with the school he is at, due to what the senior member of staff said or do we 'do as we are told' and find another school knowing full well the change is going to be ........... ????
Apologies for the long winded post but we are just feeling totally helpless. It feels as though the last two years have been a total waste of time - we don't want to waste anymore.
Thanks for taking the time to read xx
Hi sje1973
As a general rule of thumb, I would advise never to do as you are told, unless you are confident that what you are being told to do is in your sons’ best interests at all times.
In light of the painful transition he has already experienced, I understand how much moving schools would be a last resort. However, this in itself (his hard transition) is ringing alarm bells for me that his school may not know what they are doing. In this respect, moving schools may not be a bad thing. And your son may well benefit from a school with an ARP. However, the first question to ask yourself is: does your son want to move schools? If he doesn’t, that in itself is enough for you to do all you can to try to ensure he can stay where he is.
If your sons EHC Plan considers it appropriate for him to attend mainstream school (without an ARP,) then the mainstream school he is currently in has a duty of care to ensure that they are doing all they can to make sure that he can manage there. In other words, presumably your son’s current school was identified as being suitable to meet his educational needs on your sons very recent EHC Plan in April, so what, in the schools opinion, has now changed since his EHC Plan was created? What is now happening that makes your son’s SENCo believe his needs have changed since April? You see, usually, if a child needs an ARP, it will have been clearly identified as being required during the creation of his EHC Plan. Often, due to limited places, ARPs can’t accept a child without it being first specified as necessary by their LA (on their EHC Plan.)
The second critical question to therefore ask yourself is; do you believe it is a genuine case that your son can’t manage mainstream school without an ARP, or do you believe he could manage at his current school if better support and adjustment was put in place for him there?
If your son’s school is suggesting they now believe (since April) that he cannot manage mainstream school without an ARP, they really need to get together a decent report outlining why they believe this to be the case, what they have done, why or how it didn’t work, what other professionals they have sought advice from, and most critically, what support your child needs that they are not able to give him. So, another critical question to ask the school is; what exactly do school believe your son needs (and will get at an ARP) that they themselves are not able to provide? Getting a written report from school outlining these things will not only help you with any upcoming decision making, but will prove essential if you want future help with finding a different, more suitable school for your son. Rule of thumb 2: Always get everything in writing.
You are not really meant to be having to make these sorts of difficult decisions on your own. It is not enough for his school to simply place this ‘he needs more help than we can give him’ or ‘what we are doing isn’t working ‘problems in your lap for you to solve as a parent, alone. There are appropriate channels they need to go down as professionals. Asking for a ‘Team around the Child’ meeting to take place could be worth considering, wherein other professionals supporting your child will also be asked to attend (ask your LAs Disability Advisor to attend too as they tend to be excellent at knowing whether a school is really doing all they can) and discuss his needs with the school as a team, not just covert meetings taking place between you and the school.
School needs to provide robust evidence that they (or indeed ANY mainstream school without an ARP) can’t manage your son’s needs, not just pressurise you into believing they can’t so you quietly take it upon yourself to move your son, under the radar. And if school can produce this evidence that mainstream school is not suitable for your son, then his EHC Plan needs changing and the LA then has a duty of care to find him a suitable school place (with an ARP) that does meet his needs.
So, try your best not to feel pressurised by his school into believing that finding solutions to your son’s educational needs is your job, when really it is their job, and if they can’t find solutions, it is then the LAs job. Certainly don’t make such a big decision as changing schools on nothing but the verbal advice alone that one school SENCo is currently offering you, (and in only two meetings no less!) without satisfying yourself (and other professionals who also work with your child) that his school really have done all they possibly can to help him to stay with them.
Best of luck.
Wow! Thank you so much for you in depth response! It really does help and you're so right about how it shouldn't be lumped on our laps to sort. I really do feel the school has an issue with OS as I had a phone call call Monday to say that "he had a really bad day, this behaviour is not acceptable" blah blah blah but, on OS report card (which HE likes to have as a way of knowing he's on the right tracks, he hasn't been 'put on report' by school), his report card shows every lesson a 3 (0 being bad and 3 is excellent). Go figure!
He's also funded for 25 hours of TA. OS says that in most lessons she is shared amongst other students?
We really believe the Pastoral Manager can't be arsed with OS. I don't think she has any understanding of ASD and although she may come across as all mumsy to the students, effective and practical help just isn't there. We're not long off Y9 so I'm hoping that a new Pastoral Manager plus plenty of ammunition from us as parents (especially in light of your response) will enable him to get a more effective and different approach to what he is receiving now.
Thanks so much again for taking the time to respond so indepth.
xx