Any advice regarding secondary school appeals please help!

Cellardoor93

After all the factor of why he can't go to HH is a crucial point in my argument. The smell. Nothing to do with the actual school itself. My son is refusing to go back to a place that's triggered him.  It's so sad:(

Flugelhorn

Cellardoor93 said:

After all the factor of why he can't go to HH is a crucial point in my argument. The smell. Nothing to do with the actual school itself. My son is refusing to go back to a place that's triggered him.  It's so sad:(

Have a read of the FAQ linked above, you can mention such things but the focus has to be the match between your son and the school you are appealing for

Cellardoor93

Flugelhorn said:

Cellardoor93 said:

After all the factor of why he can't go to HH is a crucial point in my argument. The smell. Nothing to do with the actual school itself. My son is refusing to go back to a place that's triggered him.  It's so sad:(

Have a read of the FAQ linked above, you can mention such things but the focus has to be the match between your son and the school you are appealing for

Thankyou, yeah I have looked at ofsteds and used information from our tour also. I know what the school offers and why he needs to be there 

grumiofoundation

Cellardoor93 said:

After all the factor of why he can't go to HH is a crucial point in my argument. The smell. Nothing to do with the actual school itself. My son is refusing to go back to a place that's triggered him.  It's so sad:(

Have you contacted HH since the first visit? 

There are things they will want to do - but also need to consider if you are going to use the fact HH is unsuitable in your appeal you having all information in hand with what they have tried to do to support your son and what they will do next year can only help. *

Has your son only visited the school once in school hours? Has he met pastoral/ALN support? 

*edit: but as above focus should be on what your son needs and why school A is match for this (but if HH can’t offer this could help??) 

Spendless

Cellardoor93 said:

After all the factor of why he can't go to HH is a crucial point in my argument. The smell. Nothing to do with the actual school itself. My son is refusing to go back to a place that's triggered him.  It's so sad:(

The thing is you are going to need some medical backing on this. You can't prove someone is smelling what they are just on their say so (even if you personally believe them to be 100% truthful and can see the subsequent consequence) if others don't smell the same thing. . I do not hear   sounds  in the same way that 'stress' my DD and never have done.  Is there a noise  - yes, does it affect me the same way - no. 

Make an appointment, go and see the HT at his current school, get the ball rolling for assessment. Get some connected charities involved for the advice and expertise on his medical issue. From what you were describing, I didn't think it was *just* sensory problems. Tell your GP you suspect possible ADHD and how do you go about assessment.   

Cellardoor93

grumiofoundation said:

Cellardoor93 said:

After all the factor of why he can't go to HH is a crucial point in my argument. The smell. Nothing to do with the actual school itself. My son is refusing to go back to a place that's triggered him.  It's so sad:(

Have you contacted HH since the first visit? 

There are things they will want to do - but also need to consider if you are going to use the fact HH is unsuitable in your appeal you having all information in hand with what they have tried to do to support your son and what they will do next year can only help. *

Has your son only visited the school once in school hours? Has he met pastoral/ALN support? 

*edit: but as above focus should be on what your son needs and why school A is match for this (but if HH can’t offer this could help??) 

You make some very good points but no I haven't, as I cannot see how he could get around the smell of the whole building and I am not prepared to make him when he Is telling me he does not want to go there. All his friends are going there and he's still telling me he doesn't want to go. That speaks volumes.  What can the school do without causing further exclusion to him? Tell him he can only stay in the outside buildings? Tell him to use essential oils? What exactly will this do to a young teenage boy who as it stands doesn't have much resilience. How do u think i should best approach this? I also have spoken to a parent at the primary school my kids are out and she has told me it's strange I should tell her this as she knows of a girl who went to HH with sensory issues and had to leave after a year because of the smell. 

Cellardoor93

 The teaching style at preffered school is differentiated towards how much support each individual student requires and I feel this would benefit his learning style because of similarities to his previous IEP. There are no sets so no extra exclusion. As you know my son has spd and according to allocated schools ofsted  the way they teach would not be appropriate because he has spd this method of learning will not be the best fit for him due to his memory difficulties.

grumiofoundation

Cellardoor93 said:

grumiofoundation said:

Cellardoor93 said:

After all the factor of why he can't go to HH is a crucial point in my argument. The smell. Nothing to do with the actual school itself. My son is refusing to go back to a place that's triggered him.  It's so sad:(

Have you contacted HH since the first visit? 

There are things they will want to do - but also need to consider if you are going to use the fact HH is unsuitable in your appeal you having all information in hand with what they have tried to do to support your son and what they will do next year can only help. *

Has your son only visited the school once in school hours? Has he met pastoral/ALN support? 

*edit: but as above focus should be on what your son needs and why school A is match for this (but if HH can’t offer this could help??) 

You make some very good points but no I haven't, as I cannot see how he could get around the smell of the whole building and I am not prepared to make him when he Is telling me he does not want to go there. All his friends are going there and he's still telling me he doesn't want to go. That speaks volumes.  What can the school do without causing further exclusion to him? Tell him he can only stay in the outside buildings? Tell him to use essential oils? What exactly will this do to a young teenage boy who as it stands doesn't have much resilience. How do u think i should best approach this? I also have spoken to a parent at the primary school my kids are out and she has told me it's strange I should tell her this as she knows of a girl who went to HH with sensory issues and had to leave after a year because of the smell. 

I do understand you are pinning your hopes on him going to preferred school but I would suggest contacting the school (HH) with your concerns and explain the fact your son is [currently] refusing to go there to prepare for september if appeal unsuccessful.

There will be people there/they work with who are experts in dealing with pupils with additional needs (disclaimer: I am a teacher but not an expert in ALN). 

They can speak to your son, see what, if any, support they can offer and if this may help, even if initially all it does is get your son to agree to a tour outside school hours for example, meet some members of staff without other pupils there. 

As said above you need some backing for your claims so that isn't just you saying it (as above I agree should speak to current school, GP). The school speaking to your son can only help in this regard I think.


The fact all his friends are going to the same school but he doesn't want to go would raise the question is there someone at current school he has an issue with?

Cellardoor93

Spendless said:

Cellardoor93 said:

After all the factor of why he can't go to HH is a crucial point in my argument. The smell. Nothing to do with the actual school itself. My son is refusing to go back to a place that's triggered him.  It's so sad:(

The thing is you are going to need some medical backing on this. You can't prove someone is smelling what they are just on their say so (even if you personally believe them to be 100% truthful and can see the subsequent consequence) if others don't smell the same thing. . I do not hear   sounds  in the same way that 'stress' my DD and never have done.  Is there a noise  - yes, does it affect me the same way - no. 

Make an appointment, go and see the HT at his current school, get the ball rolling for assessment. Get some connected charities involved for the advice and expertise on his medical issue. From what you were describing, I didn't think it was *just* sensory problems. Tell your GP you suspect possible ADHD and how do you go about assessment.   

Thank you for your advice. I really do appreciate it. He does have a diagnosis. I have a letter from his gp that states he is a patient of his and he has a diagnosis of sensory processing disorder. When we went we did notice a smell but it didn't bother us. It bothered my son. It was a mouldy smell. I do believe him as he suffers with certain triggers alot of the time but can remove himself. If he doesn't he ends up with a migraine and throws up. It's so sad 

silvercar

The problem is that it would be too easy for anyone to claim the same. 

I still believe that the school you are appealing to will want to know why should go there rather than just saying the other school smells.