Advice on problems with special needs school

pinkpauline34

Hi all

I desperately need some advice on a problem I am having with my daughter's school.

To summarise, my daughter is 8 and she is autistic. She attends a special school in Scotland. I have had many problems with the school which resulted in a meeting with the Education Department, the Head and Deputy Head. This was about 6 weeks ago and everything has been ticking along nicely since then.

To cut a long story short, I wrote to the school in March (and sent the letter recorded delivery) withdrawing my consent for my daughter to be videoed in school. The school had used a video camera which really upset her so I withdrew my consent for this. The Deputy Head wasn't too pleased about it but the man from the Education Department told her that they had to respect my wishes.

My daughter was taken out of school on a trip and when she came home yesterday she told me that the classroom assistant's husband (!) had video filmed her class and she was made to sit and watch the video in school. She was completely traumatised by this and I had steam pouring out of my ears yesterday, as you can imagine.

Please can anyone tell me what on earth I can do about this. I know that this took place outwith the school premises but she was under the care of the school at the time. My second concern is what on earth this classroom assistant's husband was doing by filming them - I don't suppose he has been Disclosure Scotland checked and my biggest worry is that this video could end up in the "wrong" hands. I have tried to contact the man at the Education Department but he doesn't appear to be around today. As the school term ends on Friday, I really need some guidance as to where I stand legally and what I can do to prevent them going against my wishes in the future. Neither the Head or Deputy are particularly approachable but I'd appreciate advice before I go in, guns blazing.

Thanks in advance

Spendless

Hi

Well when a parent refused permission to photograph/video their child at sons school,it meant that none of the children could be photographed/videoed, not just that child would be excluded from any pictures/films.

AFAIK In England anyone who works within a school/with children has to be CRB checked (I was as a relief dinner lady). Not sure how the system works in Scotland but I would have thought the same sort of checks were made to anyone working with kids

Nicki

Daughter has a right to privacy under Human Rights Act so shouldn't be filmed when she has expressly declined consent. This is why TV companies now fuzz out the faces of bystanders who don't consent to participate when they show candid camera type set ups.

Also your daughter has a recognised disability under the law, and the school must make reasonable adjustments to enable her to access education. They have already accepted, albeit reluctantly, that not photographing or videoing her is a reasonable adjustment, and by reneging on this they have potentially fallen foul of the Disability Discrimination Act (if there is something similar in Scotland, which I think is almost certainly the case)

I have every sympathy for you as my daughter is also autistic and I know how difficult some apparently innocuous things can be for her, and also how hard it is to get others to respect her needs when they don't understand them. That being said it might be counter-productive to go in threatening legal action from the outset, as having school on your side is so useful for things like DLA claims, statements, annual reviews and just general support. I would be tempted to go in quite calmly, state what happened and the effect on your daughter and seek reassurance that it will not happen. Only if that fails would I mention the law, and even then on a calm and quietly informed basis. Whilst they may not acknowledge at the time they were in the wrong, if they know that you are informed about the legalities, they are likely to pay more attention to the situation in the future. Hope this helps

pinkpauline34

Thank you both Spendless and Nicki.

I have now managed to speak to the man at the Education Department who was horrified when I told him that my daughter had been videoed. He clearly remembered (during the course of our meeting at the School) that I had written to the school withdrawing consent. He has now spoken to School and asked them to destroy the video tape and he will confirm to me when that has been done. He has also promised to reiterate to the Head and Deputy the Council's policy on video filming and photography.

I am not holding my breath for an apology from School but it would be most welcome if it were forthcoming. Usually the consent forms are sent out in August so I will be completing it in red letters and keeping a copy on my file, just in case.

Thanks again for your support.

x

Prudent

I teach in special ed in Scotland. I can confirm that the school has no right to video your daughter if you have stated you don't wish it to happen.

Did the man have a disclosure Scotland check? If not why was he on the trip? Only parent helpers on trips tend to be exempt.

Make sure your daughter is told by the school as well as yourself that it has been destroyed. Do you use social stories with her? If so it might be worth doing one to give her a bit more peace of mind.

I think the council will tell the school to apologise.

pinkpauline34

Thanks Prudent - I guessed they were sailing close to the wind by going against my wishes and it's reassuring to have this confirmed.

I think the very least the school can do is apologise but we will see - I will post if an apology is forthcoming before Friday. I do use social stories so will prepare one to try and calm her down a bit - she has been very wary about going to school since this happened, understandably.

Thanks again and I'll post if there is any further news.

Savvy_Sue

You may well already know about IPSEA, but if you don't, it sounds as if they might be helpful to you!

pinkpauline34

Thank you Savvy Sue - that looks like a very interesting website which I'll look into in more details.

Our Schools have now finished today for Summer and I've had no apology from the School about the incident.

Anniek1969

Is it possible that the staff on the day trip hadn't been informed about you not wishing your daughter to be filmed? As far as I know anyone who works in a school environment and also anyone who accompanies the kids on trips must have their disclosure. My daughters school wouldn't let any parents accompany them unless they had their disclosures.

My DH who's a bus driver and all of the other drivers all recently had to have their Disclosure Scotland, he doesn't do school specials but it's in the event that he might have to then they all had to have their Disclosure.

In your case with it being a special needs school it's very important that each child is treated as an individual as they all have different needs. My sister works with a man with autism and I know that some things that don't bother other people can really upset him. I hope that you get this sorted with them especially if in general your daughter is happy there, I know how hard it can be to find the right school and if she's settled then it wouldn't be fair to her to uproot her and send her somewhere else, but I do think you deserve an apology and an explanation as how your wishes weren't carried out, it's the least they can do.

pinkpauline34

Thanks for your input, Anniek1969. I am quite sure the staff on the outing were aware as it was the class teacher who was accompanying the children and I would hope that he had been made aware of my wishes.

I am fully in agreement with the Disclosure checks but for some unknown reason, this school don't appear to comply. There was a note that came out asking if any parents could help on this particular trip - I have never been Disclosure Scotland checked. At my other daughter's school (mainstream) all parents who wish to help out at school trips/discos etc have to be Disclosure Scotland checked.

It is a really tough call as we have such a lack of special needs provision in this area and this is the only school suitable for her. As no apology has been forthcoming, I think I'm going to write to the School and my contact at the Education Authority stating how unhappy I am that my wishes were ignored and that they have not even have the courtesy to apologise to my daughter. I will make it known that if this ever happens again, I will take the matter further. The schools are now off for 8 weeks so as soon they return, I will send a letter by recorded delivery.

Thanks to all for your support and advice - it's much appreciated.

elantan

hi pink pauline, i live in scotland also and work with special needs children including autistic... a job which i love by the way ... things i can advise you on .... firstly .. minumum any one that works in any way with children has to be enhanced disclosure scotland at the minimum.... every time they want to take a pic they have to ask permission...once a year is not enough...your first route of complaint is the care commission..(oh boy can they kick !!!) make sure you have a copy of the national care standards that are appropriate to you..(there's loads of them now) you can use an advocate..they are free and also put some weight behind you..your child like every person in the e.u is protected under the human rights act and disability discrimination act as nicki quite rightly told you ..and ultimately what your child has suffered is a form of abuse....deff not a nice word to use i know ..i hate all thoughts of the word but when i read your question i like you had my blood boiling.... i don't know where your daughters school is..but i am sure you will have them quaking in their boots ....please for all involved in the care sector go forth and kick !!!....i wish you well