Is there a way of getting a child into an oversubscribed primary on the basis of SEN without a statement?

[crimplene]

I'm trying to make up my mind about whether to apply now for a statement for DS or not as he's approaching 2. I've been making enquires on the grapevine and it looks like I'd be in for a good hard fight with the LEA that could go either way - they could quite reasonably argue that his present needs can be catered for on SA+ and his visual prognosis is uncertain at this stage (can they argue that?).

DS is partially sighted and in a good, supportive, school would be OK on SA+ for the first few years - sitting near the front with larger print and blinds on the windows. In the future, his vision could improve to near normal, in which case a statement would be premature and overkill or it could stay the same, in which case I think he'll need one to get the technology he'll need to keep pace later; or it could get worse, in which case he'll need one sooner.

He will not cope in a rowdy environment as he needs to hear what the teacher's saying and tends to get overwhelmed anywhere it's noisy, but the only two schools we're in the catchment for are very rough and don't have the resources to cope with all the children without SN but with very high levels of social deprivation; they will not cope at all with a bright, sensitive child with a sensory impairment and he won't cope with them - everyone's trying to get their kids out, bullying's rife, staff turnover's high so moving would be a no-brainer if DS didn't have and SEN.

I don't want to move house as everything else is fine, I can afford it and DS is happy here.

Is there any other mechanism for getting a more appropriate school? or is my best option to fight tooth and nail for a statement, but move if I fail?

or should I accept that if DS had no SN, I'd have to move anyway? so get on with it and leave the statement for later. I'd kick myself if I was having to work all hours to pay a whopping mortgage, then he still needed to be statemented and travel to a school with a resource base.

I've wondered about just applying for a good, but undersubscribed, school that's miles away and just paying a taxi to take him myself?

Sorry, this is much longer than I expected!

Any thoughts?

[KarenThirl]

Go for the statement.

I'm in the process of applying for my son age 9. I've put it off several times over the years and now I need it to get him into a half-decent school that can meet his needs. Sure, you may be knocked back but you can appeal, and with luck and determination you'll get him the support he needs during his primary years. I dread to think how my ds will cope in secondary if he doesn't get a place somewhere supportive, and I really wish I'd applied when he was first having difficulties in school. Go for it, and good luck.

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Would agree with Karen's response - apply for the statement now.

SA plus to my mind at least is not worth the paper its written on.

Would also suggest you post on the Special Needs forum of this website as you'll get replies that way too.

[cory]

Go for the statement if you can. Our local LEA have told us that they don't do statements for physical disabilities (dd is an occasional wheelchair user) but we're appealing for her to go to the secondary school of our choice on the strength of medical letters anyway.

Get as many supportive letters as you can- from his GP, his optician, anyone who can testify to his emotional needs.

Work on the assumption of a worst case scenario- it takes forever to get extra help if a child's condition deteriorates; if they get better you can just let the LEA know and no doubt they will be grateful.

[Blu]

Crimplene, DS was offered places in two over-subscribed schools (which we were not even borderline in catchment for), and has no statement.

He has some mobility difficulties, and for one school year will need a school which can accommodate him in a wheelchair and on crutches. I wanted a school which is small (for the same reasons as you) had a good family atmosphere, good policies about supporting children with differences, anti-bullying etc - and one with mostly flat access.

We submitted our applications with a letter from his consultant and one from our GP. I also sent a copy of an article in a magazine about a child with a similiar condition, saying how vital the support of the right school was (and oh boy - how true that is turning out to be!!). I enclosed a letter detailing the things that I thought were 'right' about our chosen schools - e.g focus on arts for extra-curricular rather than sport sport sport, close / convenient travel to physio and other places we have to go for numerous appointments so that he would miss as little school as possible - that sort of thing. Two schools offered us places on the basis of SEN (one community, one foundation CoE), and one turned us down, even on appeal - on exactly the same application!

But that was before the system was centralised, so not sure what is different now. I think under the new system you cannot use any NEW info to appeal with - if you want anything to be taken into account as SEN you have to submit it all in the first place.

Our borough is actively adversarial about statementing because of the cost . They have a bad history of refusing statements and then taking it to tribunal - where they lose, of course....I didn't think DS would get a statement, so didn't try - but being on an IEP, for e.g, would be a good indicator of having SEN - so get the nursery or pre-school to do an IRP.

Wouldn't like to advise you that what we did was the best course of action fr you, with your child's needs, and in your borough - but it can be done.

Oh - and this despite the fact that our nearest community school with places was actuially very accessible physically - brand new school, fully accessible buildings. BUT it is a bigger school, a very new school with unformed home-school relationships and lots of unresolved issues around inclusion, social friction etc, and paradi=oxically, the excellent physical access meant that the whole school was like a racetrack of children zooming along the ramps and wide open spaces! DS would have been mown down in an instant. All this was fully accepted.

[crimplene]

Blu - that's interesting. The system here is centralised and all places are allocated by the LEA - so perhaps I should just ask them if they're able to take into account supporting evidence and SENs without a statement.

He's already on EYA+. They are not too bad at statementing here, they still resist, but they're not the worst in the world. I was dead set on getting a statement, but DS's vision has improved lately so I do think they could win as things stand; and they don't statement on the grounds that the child's needs can't be met in the local school, rather that his needs are considerably different from most children? or have I got that wrong?