Please can someone help RE: SEND/EHCP/School placement

[Sleepdeprivedmamma]

Just hoping anyone might have some advice.

DD is 4 - has had her EHCP since she was 2 - a diagnosis of autism at 3 - has full time one to one at nursery as stated in her ehcp.

i dont know how much weight this holds but every professional who has met her has said she absolutely needs to go to a specialist school.
So short story is - panel decided DD does not need a specialist school they will name a mainstream school of their choice and our only option is to appeal but this will take a year and in the meantime she has to go to the school they will name.

ive reached out to SENDIAS for advice what else can i do??

long story
she had an amazing ehcp co-ordinator who then went on maternity leave. I called to ask who the new co ordinator was and spoke to a woman who said it would likely be her - this was in october - i asked when the pannel was to discuss what school DD would need - she told me February and asked what setting we would like to put as parental preference.

december nursery called to query some funding issues and book her EHCP review - no body was returning calls or emailing back
January i called myself and was told DD didnt have a co ordinator as so many people were off long term sick. I said this was unacceptable I asked what date in feb pannel was was told the date and i said but if DD doesnt have a co ordinator will she be discussed - the woman said she definitely will be let me check the list - oh no - her name isnt on the list - im sorry - so
if i hadnt called DD wouldnt of been discussed at panel ?? They tried to assure me they would correct this she would be added to the list. I wasnt filled with confidence and complained to all of the managers / the director. Nobody answered so i emailed my local mp and copied in the managers and director again. I had a reply 10 minutes later from the director

we had an urgent review of DDS ehcp and in the meeting they said that basically due to members of staff being off on long term sick they didnt have acess to childrens files so had subsequently’lost’ them - the ehcp co ordinator said ‘they are now all coming out of the woodwork’. What a way to talk about disabled children.
panel was last week ive pestered for the decision since was ignored untill yesterday when i was told the specialist school we wanted is full so look for an autism base in a mainstream school.
today i was told that actually they will be naming a mainstream school on DDS report. What do i do???
sendias have advised a corporate complaint with regards to ehcp/send team

feel like i have failed my DD i am so so worried

Didn't want to read and run - can you hold her back another year at nursery in the hope that the specialist school will have an opening in the next twelve months?

You may get more answers on the SN children board here www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_needs or the SN chat board here www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_needs_chat

Thank you @TheodoreMortlock i wasnt sure how to find the SN children’s board thank you i will post there now

as far as I’m aware we cant because of DDs age - she turns 5 the week she should be starting school in September x

Strange, we didn't have a panel for my sons move to Specialist. They went to the specialist school asked if they could meet his needs and accept him and they said yes, it was really straight forward. Must go on the council.

That said have they even asked these mainstream schools if they can meet her needs?
I'd keep her back a year, legally she doesn't need to be in full time education till the term she turns 5.
Id also really keep on at SENDIASS to help, they are amazing.

Have they spoken to other SEN schools? Or just the one you requested?

Do you have the professionals saying DD requires SS in writing? Is the school you want wholly independent?

Phase transfer EHCPs are prioritised and SENDIST have held slots for this purpose so do appeal ASAP. You should appeal B&F as well as they will be written to support the placement the LA have named in I. Don’t bother with mediation, just get the certificate and submit to SENDIST.

If DD can’t attend MS in the meantime the LA must provide anything specified and quantified in F.

Be careful with SENDIASS, some are good but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies. IPSEA and SOSSEN are better. I second posting on the SN or SEN board, too.

Sadly in most areas this is how it works…..they will name a MS school and until you can prove your dc isn’t coping there they won’t agree to a SEN placement. If your dc has attended a SEN nursery at the SEN school you want named this seems to help but again getting a place in a SEN nursery is pretty tricky.

There are not many SEN placements for primary aged children because years ago it was decided that all children should have the same opportunities in a MS setting (what a stupid idea this was), a EHCP is to help provide the support for a child to access this, but we all know that MS isn’t for every child and they are being set up to fail ☹️.

My dd was pushed into MS primary school at 4, she was non verbal, still in nappies and with extreme sensory issues, she had a EHCP and had attended both MS and SEN nurseries. I was told that MS schools are perfectly capable of putting support in place to support children like my dd. I spent the next 6 years trying to get her out of MS, she went through stages of school refusal, she went missing several times whilst she was meant to have 1:1 and in year 5/6 she managed to escape from the school. Still the school kept telling LEA that they could meet her needs. It wasn’t until she was due to move up to high school that they admitted they could not meet her needs and advised a SEN placement for high school. I still had to fight for a SEN placement as LEA refused to fund it. Eventually I got my way and she went to a SEN/ASD school.

You have 2 options, you let your dd go to MS, hope you are wrong and they support her fully with 1:1. You see how it goes. Or you appeal their decision and delay her starting school in hope to get a SEN placement.

I wish I had delayed and got my dd into a SEN school, I feel 5/6 years were lost where she could have been getting the right help in a calmer environment, i believe dd would be very different now.

@MeMyCatsAndMyBooks thank you for replying!
DD turns 5 in September so i dont think we can do this but will absolutely ask!

so they spoke to the school we requested who replied they felt they could meet DDS needs
its the only one in our town but i also put down a few others we viewed in neighbouring towns - they said it’s unlikely out of area will probably be full with their own areas children but they will ask - i have emailed a couple of the other areas send teams today to ask for advice myself

@JustKeepBuilding yes the educational psychologist and the specialist teacher - panel said they took this into consideration 🤯

really grateful for your reply and about to look into everything you have suggested - im embarassed to admit i dont know what a lot of it means!
what is B&F?

@Lovemusic33 thank you so much for your reply!
i am so sorry for the fight youve had to endure for your DD - how is she getting on now in the setting you wanted?

Section B (special educational needs) and section F (special educational provision) are parts of the EHCP.

You can defer until January when DD becomes CSA. Even if DD isn’t summer born she can be educated out of her chronological year if it’s in her EHCP.

Many LAs claim to have panels, but they don’t always exist. Some LAs just like to hide behind it.

Unless your preferred school is wholly independent (is it?) the LA must name it unless the LA can prove:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs (“SEN”) of the child or young person; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.

Being full is not defined in law, and on its own being ‘full’ is not enough of a reason to refuse to name your preference (wholly independent schools excepted). The LA has to prove the school is so full admitting DD is incompatible. The bar is higher than many LAs claim, it is more than an “adverse effect”, “impact on” or “prejudicial to”. Unless the school is wholly independent the LA can, and must, name the school regardless of the school’s objections unless the LA can prove one of the reasons above. This applies to schools out of area too. Your LA can name a school in another LA even if the LA the school is in objects.

@JustKeepBuilding i am so so grateful for your reply!

the school isn't independent! We were told they take 6 children per class and are now at capacity

Has your son been offered a place this year? Could please tell me what county do you live in?

Sorry, this message is for MeMyCatsAndMyBooks.
Many thanks.

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/
i second checking out the IPSEA website. Loads of advice, support, information, sample letters etc. also contact them (but they are always busy- run by highly trained knowledgeable volunteers- often parents who have gone through it themselves and are able to support you from experience.