She should be provided with an alternative education

4.8% of all pupils in England had an EHCP in 23/24 (at the time of the annual census anyway). To give historical context, this has increased from 3.7% in 20/21, 2.9% in 17/18 and 2.8% in 14/15 (when looking at EHCPs & Statements of SEN).

Transport isn’t limited to those with ASD &/or in a special school. Neither are EHCPs or section 19 provision, both of which can include online provision.

The OP's daughter is not autistic, however, and does not need a special school. She needs another school to the one she is at, or an online school. My point is that the parents should be exhausting all the other options here before going in and threatening the Powers that Be.

The number of students with an EHCP is teeny. Less than 5%. Yes numbers of EHCPs have increased but overall something like 4% of the school population had them 10 years ago and now it's 5%.

@endless has the exact figures I'm sure.

Schools do NOT have a deluge of students with EHCP.

that frankly makes them unenforceable.

No, it doesn’t. Enforcing provision is successful.

The reasons for EHCP used to be serious disability, now emotional distress will do it.

The legal threshold for an EHCNA and an EHCP has not changed. DC with SEMH needs (and BESD/EBD before the switch to SEMH) have always been able to qualify for an EHCP (and statement of SEN before that) if they meet the legal threshold.

Parents enforcing their DC’s rights are not at fault for the system being as it is anymore than women who have been raped who report it to the police are responsible for the low conviction rate in the broken system. (Not that those who don’t report are to blame either, my point was more about comparing reporting unlawfulness/illegal activities and trying to pursue justice.)

But when they made it the case that a child has these legal rights, they didn’t foresee the explosive rise in parents enforcing them that frankly makes them unenforceable. The reasons for EHCP used to be serious disability, now emotional distress will do it. You’re breaking the system then complaining it’s broken.

Massively this. Why do mnetters now think every upset or worry is autism?!
OP's daughter was being bullied, its natural that yes this will have caused her to feel anxious. The way to sort this issue is stop the bullying. Ideally the school should be doing that but in this case they aren't, so surely the next step is to attempt to move schools, not try and secure an autism diagnosis, EHCP and Sertraline?!

Threatening judicial review all over the place seems to have become the knee jerk reaction for almost everything.

It isn’t a knee jerk reaction. It is the process to enforce the child’s legal rights. Often LAs don’t take notice of parents until they threaten or then take enforcement action. Few actually get to JR proceedings themselves. LAs often concede before then because they know they are acting unlawfully. It is the course of action recommended by SOSSEN, a leading charity supporting parents with SEN matters.

Maybe the bullies should take responsibility in this case. If they hadn't been cunts, the little girl wouldn't be needing to find an alternative.

Not schooling advice, but could you afford urgent EMDR therapy for her trauma?

Although the reality is that there are very few judicial reviews or even pre action letters sent. One LA complained that it was getting a "flood" of these when in fact it had zero of either that year.

"Threatening judicial review all over the place seems to have become the knee jerk reaction for almost everything. "

It is the only thing councils will listen to. Ds is 17, is severely autistic and has needs so complex he requires 3:1 professional support. Currently he is home with me providing all care and education and the LA are providing nothing. No school on his EHCP and no out of school provision. The LA won't communicate with us. Hopefully the imminent judicial review will do something.

What advice has the counsellor given so far? Has she discussed what she thinks the root of the problem is? Is it CBT based? I'd try and seek CBT rather than just standard counselling if possible.

@mychilddeservesaneducation if you want some online lessons as a temporary measure, Oak Academy is free.

https://www.thenational.academy/pupils/years

My autistic child is at an autism school 10 miles away that I drive him too and get paid transport budget by the council so I’m one of the people on your post that’s helping my council go bankrupt. I would absolutely love him to be going to the local mainstream, I drive past kids his age walking on their own to school whereas I’m having to do a 20 mile round trip before even starting my commute to work. He is mainstream academic level and started off in mainstream, I’d have loved him still be to there now but it just didn’t work.

Who educates her though if she not doing online and presumably op can’t afford to pay for tutors either?

It’s very clear that the school is terrible and isn’t going to support your child. You can’t continue sending her in if she’s that traumatised by bullying. You said there are no other schools in your area and you can’t afford transport, so it sounds like home schooling is your only choice.

Kings Interhigh is £6000 a year. You might have to get credit card debt or get a personal loan or remortgage to pay for it for two years. You might have to switch jobs and work from home so you can be there to motivate your child to engage with school.

Alternatively you may find that taxis to another school will work out cheaper once you factor in not having to change jobs.

What you can’t do is just sit there letting your child have no schooling, because basically you want someone else to sort it out and pay for it. Yes I know they’re supposed to, but they aren’t and won’t.

Try writing to your MP, the Director of Education, your local councillors and anyone else who could intercede on her behalf. Your daughter has a legal right to an education and the school has failed spectacularly in their duty of care. They need to have clear plans to safeguard her or the LEA needs to offer alternative provision.

@mychilddeservesaneducation have a read of these documents about what school should be doing to support you. I'm sorry for you and your DD that they are being so shit.

hsm.manchester.gov.uk/kb5/manchester/directory/advice.page?id=17Mj5WlOnyE

Can't your GP refer to CAMHs if your dd is having suicidal thoughts?

Have you explored where there are any bursaries for kids with MH issues from families on low income? Or compassionate grounds?

Any grants available? - not just LA - any private grants - as in people have left funds after death for the benefit of young people in the area (or some such)

I dont think you've been very proactive to be honest in supporting your daughter so why should the school bother?
Did you consider a private tutor, home schooling? Therapy at least?

would you really take advice from total strangers on the internet?

What is the purpose of this thread then?

What is the purpose of mumsnet, why do people post on mumsnet asking for advice from total strangers?

Did you even think that bit through, before posting? You realise you ARE on a site designed for people to ask strangers for advice, yeah? smh 🤔🙄 We're all offering help and advice to the best of our ability. So please back off with your attacks and judgements and bullying and leave me alone if you have nothing worthwhile to add to this thread, and go sit in judgement of yourself instead.

There are over 800,000 children currently missing school for non medical reasons. There is zero hope of providing them all with the level of service expected on here because there are so many of them now and there are no resources to do it. Threatening judicial review all over the place seems to have become the knee jerk reaction for almost everything.

Agree. And a lot of the responses to threads like this are an indicator as to why we have councils literally going bankrupt - school transport for kids with tricky needs in rural areas has been cited as one of the biggest factors behind this.

The OP needs to facilitate some sort of schooling here - either move, or find a way to drive her daughter to another school (which might mean one parent has to talk with work and find a way to accommodate this), or find a way to finance online schooling (which might mean downsizing something, selling something, taking on extra weekend work). Her daughter needs to be in school of some kind, and it’s already been a year.