To be this upset about a school place

[cdoth]

Been in tears since I found out my DS didn't get offered a place at the school I applied for.

For background - he has significant speech delay and is on the pathway for an autism diagnosis. He is currently at the nursery of the school we put as our first choice, he is really settled there and they have been fantastic with regards to his SEN. They are helping us to gather as much evidence as possible for his EHCP. The school is also the closest one to us.

I am distraught with worry for what the future holds for him now having to go to a completely new school. I can't stop crying because this seems so unfair for him. He is not good with new places/people, when he started his current nursery last year it took weeks for him to settle in because he was so upset. And for him to have to go through that again genuinely breaks my heart.

I know we can appeal but I don't feel hopeful. Has anybody else been in the same situation? I just don't know where to go from here now.

Im not sure I'd fully red flag a preschool for not getting the EHCP document ready yet. Often the LA want a years worth of plans, assessments/interventions with regular review before they will agree to an assessment.

It's usually called a pathway with one plans etc. (So usually multiple targeted intervention within a setting.)

Technically, the only two things you need to prove to the LA is:

Part one of the test is that the child or young person has or may have special educational needs.
Part two of the test is that it may be necessary for special educational provision to be
made for the child/young person through the issuing of an EHC plan.

A lot of early years settings will have regular assessments with targeted areas that are reviewed. They'll use these documents to support an application.

However, a parent can apply for an EHCP by writing a letter explaining how their child meets these two tests. You then can use all supporting evidence.

important always check with the school you want your child to go to if you're thinking about deferring a summer born. The school are not obliged to put them in reception years. Some will expect them to go into Year 1. It's technically that a child can start school the term after their 5th birthday. Whilst some schools do accept delayed start summer born into reception, you need to check that is what they'd do.

The LA can claim to want many things, but the only lawful threshold for an EHCNA is, as you say, a) has or may have SEN, and b) may need SEN provision to be made via an EHCP. Any other test such as having spent £6k, 2+ assess/plan/do/review cycles, 2+ years behind… is unlawful, and any good school should know this.

Absolutely, buy I wouldn't blame the preschool for following what the LA tell them. A lot of school settings and parents do because they don't understand the legal side of in. Very few people seem to know that those are the only two things you have to prove and it's why I say I wouldn't blame a setting for following what's been requested of them.

I don’t think this school is all it’s cracked up to be. Or at least not what you think it is.

Go to the ipsea website. Educate yourself. You need to start advocating for your child.

Proved what was wrong?

But education establishments should know the legal thresholds. Ignorance is no excuse. Of course, the LA are also at fault, but the education establishment should also know.

Right.

1. Take a breath.
2. Accept a hug off your mum / partner / best friend.
3. use the model letter on ipsea to apply for an EHCP yourself. If you use the model letter, you can do this stage in minutes. (The later stages take longer, but you can fire this off tonight) https://www.ipsea.org.uk/asking-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment
4. Get on the waiting list for your preferred school. You will move up the list if he gets an EHCP.
5. accept the place at the offered school
6. appeal for preferred school
7. breathe again

Whatever happens, he’ll be fine. He’s got a committed, caring mum. You’ll get this sorted.

I totally agree but I think you'll find a lot don't and will go through the process that is set out by the LA. Quick search of mumsnet will show how many education settings and parents will follow these protocols.

I know exactly what educational establishments do. I have helped hundreds on MN and IRL navigate the SEN system. You said you wouldn’t blame the nursery for giving incorrect advice. I replied because I would as they too should know the legal thresholds.

1. You don’t move up the list. You get a place.

Have you visited the school you’ve got the place at?

Have they changed how they do things now?

Do you no longer visit the schools to see what they're like before putting them down as your choice?

I don’t think you do in an infant class if there are already 30 pupils @niugboo

If a school is named in an EHCP yes you do. Pupils with EHCPs naming a school outside of the normal admissions round are excepted pupils therefore the ICS rules don’t apply.

Yes you do.

full is not grounds to refuse, they would have to accept 31 in the class.

Well, nobody has ever been forced to visit a school before filling in a form! Some people just put down their closest and don't give it much more thought than that (not suggesting OP did this).

Appeal. I appealed my daughters school place, we got turned down yet again but then out of the blue a place opened up and she got in….
i was also surprised at how much this meant to me

@niugboo
Sen parent here. Our ehcp was issued in week 17 with a full EP report and we had the full 6 weeks summer holiday in the middle this was 2022. So plans can be issued correctly and early. It depends where in the country OP is to how long the plan will take.

@ChocChipHandbag

Where did I suggest OP or anyone was being forced to visit a school?

I've seen so many posts on social media today where DC haven't been given the place of their, or their parents choice

Surely with so many people chasing the same school places it makes sense to visit more than one school.

2022 was a very different time, I also didn’t say it never happened I made it clear it was incorrect to suggest it should be by early September as that would require an early issue which in context of nationwide shortages is misleading.

i have never seen a brand new plan issued within 17 weeks for a child if this age which involved naming a new setting, particularly during a phased transfer. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen but the norm is 20 weeks (if you’re lucky at the moment) and to suggest otherwise is unfair.

@Crumpleton you were suggesting that the only reason OP might not have visited the other school was because visiting was not possible. I was saying that many people know it is possible to visit but don't bother. That's all.

*Have they changed how they do things now?

Do you no longer visit the schools to see what they're like before putting them down as your choice?*

Where in my post have I suggested that the only reason OP hasn't visited is because it's not possible?

I simply asked if things had changed now.

Er, what else can you possibly have meant by "have they changed the way they do things now?"

EXACTLY WHAT I WROTE...

So the answer is
Yes....You can still view
OR
No.....They don't allow that anymore.

Is there a difference between an EHCP and a needs assessment?

If you mean me.

I actually found out they bumped someone who had a place but who lived the furthest away. They went on the waiting list and got in a few weeks later when someone else said they didn’t need the school place

The mum of the child who got bumped down to the waiting list I got to know well and she told us what had happened in conversation and the timeline matched the date I was told there was a place available.
She was then given her closest school which was one that was definitely not oversubscribed. But she was holding out for the school she had received a place at and then had it taken away