School Help Needed

[Alliegid]

Hi all - apologies if this is in wrong section.
My 6 yr old neice has recently been suspended from her current Steiner School for behavioural issues and I fear this may end up as a suspension. She is v bright, but her birth mother was an addict and my neice had a v poor start in life. Behaviourally she is immature and school was aware of this before they agreed to take her - she had already been excluded from her previous school. They have just started statement ing proceedure.

If school will not take her back after half term what happens? I know that legally she must be educated but they are running out of schools.
Any advice appreciated

[Mosaic]

Are you in touch with child psychology services? That would be something to ask for. Without knowing what the behavioural issues are, it would be unusual and difficult for a primary school to go straight to expulsion. The statementing process ought to have as at least one of its results that your niece is provided with a teaching assistant's time and support, so that at key times she can continue learning away from the main class but not be able to upset others and wind herself up. So this might not be a bad thing. Hopefully she now has a stable home background and over time her behaviour will hopefully settle down.

[Alliegid]

Thanks for that - she now has a very stable loving family ( & has had since she was a baby) They are in touch with psychology services, but things are moving at a glacial rate. School may suspend to move things along faster apparently.

The worry is that since she is at a private steiner school ( parents thought it best option) would she get the class room assistant help in class?
Will her parents get sent a letter telling them where to take her after the half term break if school refuse to take her back?
She is Very determined and I imagine a nightmare in class if she doesn't want to follow instructions - safety of other pupils a definite consideration.
So sad as she is a lovely girl most of the time

[Mosaic]

At a private school they may recommend a TA but the parent to effectively pay the wage. I have seen this in action at other private schools. So hopefully this will be the solution for your niece - and maybe if the parents went into meetings with this as an up-front suggestion then it might expedite the process all round. I agree in principle that a Steiner school would be a great environment for any child, so hopefully this one will work out for her.
It can take a lifetime for people to come to terms with a bad start in life and every individual needs their own amount of time to flourish.

[sherrardk]

Try talking to these people - http://www.parentpartnership.org.uk/

[diddlydo]

The Local Authority has a statutory duty to provide a school place for every child. So forget the private option, contact your LA and your niece will almost certainly get much better support in a state school.

[Mosaic]

Diddlydo, I don't think anyone can judge the quality of the support she will be offered but it's not always the case that state provision is better. Let the parents see what's on offer and take it from there.

[sherrardk]

I back up what Mosaic has said. They wanted my youngest son to attend a specialist unit (miles away, he would have had to have travelled by taxi to get there). I firmly believe he would still be there if I hadn't have stood my ground. See what's on offer and then make a decision.

[Alliegid]

Many thanks for variety of answers - sherrardk the website is a very helpful link and my brother has contacted them. The Steiner school just doesn't seem able to cope. The school is 40 miles from home, which makes for a long day, but her elder sister is thriving there.
I presume she wouldn't get a LEA classroom assistant in a private school.

One of my own children is dyslexic and LEA provision was rubbish ( he is now at Uni doing rreally well after i moved him to a private Christian Charity school - brilliant place)

[sherrardk]

I managed to get thing 2 sorted before he even started school. There was no way he was going to a special unit (he had very bad speech problems). He is at a main stream school and had a TA in place when he started. However, I have time on my hands and some knowledge of the education system. It has worked brilliantly for him, the alternative would have been awful. Hope it all gets sorted soon.

[Alliegid]

Glad that things are working out well for your son sherrardk.

My brother & his wife have been kind of ignoring the elephant in the room ( her behaviour) for too long in the hope that it would improve ( they are knee deep in self help & child rearing books) It is so difficult not to be critical when they are doing their best & I need to keep lines of communication open.

[sherrardk]

My personal feelings are that Steiner schools are not everyone's cup of tea. We have one here and someone I know was considering it so I did some research - all a bit airy fairy, discipline doesn't seem to be high on their agenda. Each to his own but wouldn't be my choice and if all Striner schools have the same ethos it probably isn't the best setting for your niece (my kids roils hate the lack of structure but my wild five year old would love it).

[sherrardk]

Would ^ not roils