Vulnerable/keyworker children

[pumpkiiinpiiie]

At your kids school was there a strict rule of who would and wouldn't be offered a place during lockdown or was it based on each child individually?

My daughter (reception) has (very strongly) suspected autism and is going through the process of being assessed and an EHCP is being applied for.

Would you think she would be offered a place or not based on the fact that nothing is set in stone yet?

I am keen for her to continue in school as the Christmas holidays have really affected her in a big way and is obviously in need of routine.

Complain to your caseworker. Its possible the special school have misunderstood. Or it could be they dont have enough staff which is a different matter.

They closed last time to from march to September as did many special school,s yet again the most vunerable children are being forgotten about.

My DC were in for the summer term and like others have pointed out it's very different from normal schools. They are mixed age sibling groups. I know one bubble has reception with year 6. They do try to get similar aged children into same bubble so your reception child won't (hopefully) be the only reception child in the bubble with other year 6s. Similarly DC were in bubble with children in both their years and they are 4 school years apart.

Also sibling groups are tough for only children. They are encouraged to stick with their siblings and not mix with others to be covid safe.

My sister/Niece are in very similar circs to you op
My Niece went back early June the last time and will continue to attend if he locks down again and 'closes' the schools.

Our school was fantastic, they prioritised vulnerable/Sen kids. No specific criteria, they spoke with parents individually. They the worked on the list as:

2 keyworker parents working out of home.
2 keyworker parents, 1 out of home
1 keyworker parent out of home, 2nd parent working non key worker.

They were so brilliant they even had a rota to maximise the keyworker kids they took as there were loads (I'd estimate 50% of DSs class has 1 medic parent). So each week when we got our rotas they worked in it which kids come in for which days.

The school that I work at would give her a place, but we are very wide in our definition of vulnerable - and indeed any parent generally who was struggling would be given a place - we had children whose parents split up in the Easter holidays who were just in general unsettled by all the uncertainty at home and in the world at large so our pastoral lead invited them in to give them some stability.

@X2boys They closed last time to from march to September as did many special school,s yet again the most vunerable children are being forgotten about.

But, last time from May until the end of term, LAs no longer had a duty to provide the provision in EHCPs, they just had to make their best effort or words to that effect. There has been no such change this time which means legally the LAs must provide the provision that's in the EHCP. There will inevitably be issues with staffing etc of course,but blanket bans are not acceptable.