What recourse do I have for school refusing to give “vulnerable child” place to DC with ASD (but no EHCP)

[Fr0thandBubble]

DS1 has autism and is struggling to access online learning. He struggles with concentration and executive functioning and finds it very hard/impossible to work independently at home. Both DH and I have full time jobs and have very limited time to sit with him and help him.

We have therefore asked his school for a place as a “vulnerable child”, on the basis that he is having difficulty engaging with remote education (one of the stated grounds). They have said no as they already have 18 key worker children and children with EHCPs in his year who have places in school (my DS does not have an EHCP but does have an official diagnosis of autism and is registered with the local authority’s children centre and CAMHS). 18 is a lot less than his usual class size of 30.

I’ve just had a huge row with his SENCO and made it clear that I consider that they are failing their legal obligation to educate him but what the hell can I actually do to make them give him a place? I know this isn’t an AIBU but posting for traffic - if anyone has any advice it would be very much appreciated.

I wish people would stop saying about OP doing her bit. Her child should clearly have a place and I'm sad that you've been refused.

@x2boys

My sons special school is closed every child is vulnerable due to their disabilities and every child has an EHCP 🤷

This is against all DfE guidelines. And should be reported to the Local Authority.

So what’s your plan to work with the school to make sure you are able to fully suppport him from the safety of your home?

Well, the situation is you haven't got a place so what next...

Well there are loads of resources out there that can help support the transition for home learning. Ask your senco but we have services like an EP advice line to talk to parents, social stories to support home learning, zoom calls to maintain connection. Etc etc etc. Look within your local area too. There will be charities on Facebook, camhs on Facebook or their website all with resources you can use to help with this. Special needs jungle has a pdf full of resources that will no doubt be useful.

What you could do is say to them that if someone no longer needs their place or they are able to increase their numbers at any point could he be considered for a spot? Ours increased by a couple of bubbles last time when the situation was more stable

Christ.

There's two of you at home. He has six hours school work a day. Do one on one with him for an hour each over your lunch breaks, do two hours before work and two after work finishes if you think there's absolutely nothing he can manage on his own. If pre and after work isn't an option, shake it up, do sat and Sunday school and knock the hours off of the weekdays.

Vulnerable places aren't for kids who just benefit from having a teacher - they all benefit from that. You'll have to cope. You know, like the rest of us.

@Fr0thandBubble you might be best off posting in the SEN section.

For what it's worth, my children's school is providing face to face teaching too. 18/90 is very low - surely the school could put them in two bubbles if necessary?

Our school is two form entry with both classes bubbled and around 10-15 in per year. The teachers are taking turns week on week off. My son is in, he does have an EHCP. The school have also offered his older brother a place as a young carer. I hadn't realised how brilliant our school are being until I read this thread tbh

[quote Fr0thandBubble]@Snowbeau DH is self-employed and has clients that pay upfront so he is contractually obliged to provide the services for which they have already paid. He has to do the work unless he wants to open himself up to being sued for breach of contract. His income has already been slashed to about 20% of what it was in 2019. He is a sole trader and there is no one else who can do the work. What are we meant to do? I get that it’s hard for everyone but it’s ten times harder for the family of a child with special needs.[/quote]
My goddaughters both have additional needs and one of them has a echp, but as they only have one key worker parent they aren’t getting a school place. I think the reason you are coming across as so entitled OP is that there are thousands of families with ND children up and down the country that aren’t getting school places for them either-but you had a row with the school and seem quite demanding. These are extraordinary times and you can’t expect things to function as they should be right now unfortunately.

This is against all DfE guidelines. And should be reported to the Local Authority

No. It is not. If the school cannot open due to no staff, they cannot open. If staff are being faced with a school fully open with no additional protective measures then it's likely their staff will be stating it is not safe to work in school under section 44 and therefore remaining at home.

The LA have a duty to ensure directives from the government are carried out so if a SN school closes and parents need a place, they should discuss this with the LA to see if another local school or hub can support the child.

Or locally a few parents have received quite a lot of support from the LA when they've contacted them for kids in similar positions

@SlipperTripper

Christ.

There's two of you at home. He has six hours school work a day. Do one on one with him for an hour each over your lunch breaks, do two hours before work and two after work finishes if you think there's absolutely nothing he can manage on his own. If pre and after work isn't an option, shake it up, do sat and Sunday school and knock the hours off of the weekdays.

Vulnerable places aren't for kids who just benefit from having a teacher - they all benefit from that. You'll have to cope. You know, like the rest of us.

We have another young child too who needs help - reception year.

I work 12 hours per day - not from choice; that’s my job.

And no, sorry, parents of children with special needs aren’t “like the rest of us”.

@Fr0thandBubble you might be best off posting in the SEN section.

This is the most helpful and sensible comment on the thread, I would say OP.

Go through CAMHS and ask them to speak to the school - or through the LA children’s centre

@lemonsandlimes123 I apologise. I concede I was projecting frustration with my own family’s situation, and my comment to you was uncalled for.

@Porridgeoat Thank you, I’ll do that.

But he doesn't have an ehcp, which demonstrates clearly that the school can meet his needs with reasonable adjustments. Therefore educating from home is far more comparable to "the rest of us" because all of our children's needs are also being met in the same way.

It's hard! Every family will have its own unique challenges depending on their setup and needs of the child. This isn't a competition about who has it worse. You need to accept there is no place for your child at school. Even if there was, I presume you would have to be supporting your 4 year old anyway so you wouldn't be able to be working as normal either.

And you have chosen to do the job you are doing, so 12 hour days are a choice because you have an option not to do it.

Yes, please do post on the SEN section. There has been a bit of a pile-on here and you are absolutely justified in pushing for a school place. None of the SEND legal duties have been waived and a school still has to use its best endeavours to meet your child's needs regardless of whether they have an EHC plan or not.

@porridgeoat CAMHS will absolutely not do this. Its not within their remit. They might provide a letter stating their views if the child is well known to the service. It doesn't sound like he is.

If he has a consultant ask him/her to email the school also

Snowbeau if a child's disability means that they can't access the remote learning set, the onus is on the school to make better provision for that child.

Not necessarily on the school site, but to adjust online provision to be suitable and accessible for that child.

We had the same, before the national lockdown they had decided that DS could be apart of the vulnerable people and continue as normal with the 2 other students and teacher he has been with since September, but because of the full lockdown too many people and not enough staff. We are on the last legs of the ECHp application, been waiting for the last bit since March lockdown, it’s been delayed, we were due to complete it in February and now that will be delayed again, all because some useless SEN Teacher at his primary school who didn’t do it properly otherwise we would have had it 2 years ago. He told me before bed that he hates homeschooling and would rather be at school, and he loathes school. Not sure I’m gonna be able to get him to do much, I’ve got dd8 to help aswell. My mental health is hanging by a thread so gonna be a shit couple of months.

@christinarossetti19

Snowbeau if a child's disability means that they can't access the remote learning set, the onus is on the school to make better provision for that child.

Not necessarily on the school site, but to adjust online provision to be suitable and accessible for that child.

But that has to be a two way street and from the OPs post it doesn’t see like she is willing to work with the school to find ways to make it work sadly.

Porridgeoat- that is terrible advice. There is little that schools like less then medical consultants telling them what to do!

@Snowbeau So my choices are:

1. Quit my job which I rely on to support my DS, probably for the rest of his life.

1. Suck up the fact that my child with special needs - who is already behind in school - will not have an education he can access.

Very helpful, thank you so much.

@christina
Snowbeau if a child's disability means that they can't access the remote learning set, the onus is on the school to make better provision for that child.

Not necessarily on the school site, but to adjust online provision to be suitable and accessible for that child.🐵

Absolutely agree. This would be a far more measured response to ensuring the education needs are met as there is no place in school for him. I wonder if the OP would accept this