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Written evidence from Young Person Submission 1

 

 

  1. I, [name]  went to [school] from September 2013- June2016, I have an [procedure], [procedure], and dystonic cerebral palsy. I would like to make a formal complaint about the following issues. 

 

  1. I want to highlight the discrimination I feel I have encountered from various professionals in the education system.   I want lessons to be learnt and for other young people with disabilities not to feel discriminated in the same way. I would like to think that the wishes and feelings of children with disabilities are valued and taken into consideration.

 

  1. During my time at [school], I didn’t feel that I was involved in choosing my last two TA’s.   The interviews were arranged for a Monday at school, a day which the school knew I couldn’t do at the time because I had [redacted] and [redacted].  There was no effort to try and rearrange this to include me.   The school went ahead and interviewed the TA’s and when I returned to school the TA’s had been appointed without taking into consideration my choice in the matter. I feel very strongly that young people should fully participate in choosing their TA’s given the personal nature of the job.

 

  1. During the summer term 2015, I had a [redacted] operation, after the operation the school said that as there was no hand rail in the loo I couldn’t attend school because of this.   After two weeks off school, my Mum bought a hand rail and took it up to the school only to find that they had a hand rail all along in the Disabled Toilet.  Basically they denied me accessing education for two weeks for no reason at all.  

 

  1. At times during year 7, I was too poorly to attend school and the TA’s would come to the house to set me school work.   On one occasion when I was in bed poorly, the TA walked into my bedroom and said ‘What is wrong with you – you lazy bugger?’  This incident has upset me greatly and I would hate to think that others would be talked to in such a shocking manner. [Name] would then set me work and for the rest of the session be on her phone.

 

  1. [School] had two lifts, the second lift was not fixed until I nearly finished at the school.   So basically from Year 7 to Year 9 there was only one lift in use.   This meant that when the one lift in use broke down, all the SEN children had to go to a room on the same floor as the main entrance for the day whilst the lift was out of action.   They could not access any lessons which were on the other floors or the dining room.   This meant that the TA’s or other students would bring work and food down to us.   Generally it took about a day and a half to get the lift back working, during which time we would not be able to participate fully in school life.  This did not happen the whole time but often enough for me to feel that this was annoying and unfair that we were missing out.    I also feel like there wasn’t a safe plan to meet everyone’s needs in the event that the lift broke down whilst the children with disabilities were on the 3rd floor for instance.

 

  1. I feel that the education plans from [school] were unclear, so much so that the Hospital Education had to draw up their own plans.   Their outcomes and objectives were unclear and I therefore feel that they failed to provide sufficient detail for my educationwhilst I was at home.

 

  1. Whilst I endeavoured to complete my homework, [school] didn’t mark my books I submitted, I did not receive any feedback.

 

  1. I requested feedback in my ECHP, the response was that they would give me feedback once a term, however they said that because I was not in full time education it was hard for them to give me full feedback.

 

  1. I wanted to leave [school] for a long time, as I was miserable there and I did not like the way I was treated, I was very unhappy however, SENCO kept on saying to have another go. Things would improve for a couple of weeks then it would go back to the way it was.   Communication with the school was poor.   I wouldn’t hear from the TA’s for ages, I would e-mail and sometimes get responses.   It was then suggested that Skype be tried but the communication continued to be poor.   Skype certainly wasn’t something that I was comfortable with.   I could cope with on line learning because no one could see me, especially if I was really poorly lying in bed; I hated to think that the camera was pointing straight at my face.    I didn’t feel that they werereally interested or cared about me and my actual needs.   It was very frustrating because I wanted to learn and get on despite my illness.

 

  1. On a day that I was felt like I could get out of the house,even though I was still really poorly, I did the [name] Walk up [redacted] with the cross, and a TA saw me and reported me, because in her opinion if I could walk up [redacted] then I should be in school, clearly forgetting that I've got [redacted] and on the one day that I felt I could get out the house due to my illness I get reported back to the school.

 

  1. I felt an enormous amount of lack of trust in school, and TA would say some nasty things to me and then would deny it when I brought it up with the SENCO and would tell Lies, at the time [name].

 

  1. I felt like the school didn't understand or meet my needs and wouldn't believe me when I was poorly. I had been off from September 2015-June2016 properly (tried a few phased returns but the pain I was in got too much for me to be in school). On the days that I was in school, which was only for a few hours, as soon as I got in my mums car I would burst out crying because of how unsafe and how they made me feel each day.

 

  1. When I started in Year 7, the TA ([name]) told me that before I had started she had told the SENCO that she didn't want me in the same half of the year as her son.

 

  1. Anything I would say at [school] I felt would get turned into Lies and then make me look stupid, when what I have and always said has been the truth!

 

  1. [School] didn't seem to careless that I hadn't been in school for 9 ish months, and made no attempt to make adjustments to meet my needs in order so I could get into school.

 

  1. In the 9 months that I was off school, on the one day I walked into [town], I got reported because I was carrying "shopping bags, and was seen in town."

 

  1. I have a Chronic illness, and I'm not going to not go outdoors for 9 months because of my health. Everyone needs fresh air. Would you not go outdoors for 9 months when your illness fluctuates? I don't think so.

 

  1. On another note, I would like to add that since leaving [school], I've had TWO MAJOR operations at [hospital], and am now pain free and can now eat properly, and am now in full time school. [School] did not believe that I could possibly be poorly for this long and that my parents were making it up and my illness when what they were only ever doing was telling them how I was, and expressing my feelings on my behalf.

 

  1. I went to Primary School with [pupil], and when he had the right support from a teaching assistant, he engaged well and would have a lot of laughs with the teacher and teaching assistant. [Pupil] is and was a great person to be around and was and is a great friend to many.

 

  1. In year 7, I wanted to go on a trip to London with all the rest of the Year 7's but couldn't go because one TA said she got travel sick, when she told me she went to London the following weekend to see a show, and the other TA didn't want to work overtime. My mum asked the school if the school would let my home carer come on the trip, but the school declined. It turned out I was poorly anyway but even I was well enough I was still getting discriminated for being disabled. [School] so say that "every child is included" this is so false because how can they be including SEN children, when I got discriminated for being disabled by not being able to go on the trip.

 

  1. I never went on a School Rewards trip, because my attendance was never high enough, but I was only ever off for my health, Operations or hospital appointment.

 

  1. I am now flourishing at my new school, and the right support, and hard work, has hugely made a difference to my education and when I'm not feeling well, there's a plan in place so that they can adjust what I'm doing for the day so I can access school.

 

  1. I feel really sorry and saddened that SEN Children, when it's not our fault that we have disabilities, are being discriminated and made to feel it's their fault they have disabilities, and because of them can't go on trips because [school] won't make any effort to adjust the trips to enable SEN Children to go.

 

  1. All what [pupil], me and other SEN Children want is to feel like having disabilities shouldn't stand out, how we are treated and with the right understanding, support and meeting our needs, we can flourish and achieve our full potential like any other child, even if it will take us abit longer in order to reach it.

 

 

June 2018