Wtf do we do? Forced to private educate DS (4)

[Thehonestbadger]

DS is quite significantly disabled (ASD/PICA) he’s very well documented with lots of expert evidence and a strong EHCP and has been at a private nursery for over a year doing well with a 1:1.

Due to go to school this September but not legal school age till Easter/25 as that’s when he turns 5. I absoloutley cannot cope with him at home, I’m chronically unwell myself and had an actual breakdown before we found his current nursery. He’s lovely, but extremely hard work and the physical care is a lot and I also have a 2yo DD to consider.

Essentially every mainstream school we’ve consulted has now turned us down citing they cannot meet his need. Council say no recourse aren’t willing to work with schools RE funding…etc
All the specialist schools we consulted said no, some lower level said he was too high needs, higher level said not high needs enough and there’s over 100 kids for each space as is. We’ve been told he’ll be handed to some specialist team who can dump him anywhere in the region and won’t take our opinions/input into consideration and if we don’t like it we have to fight them legally (could be several hours away, could not place him at all as there’s no spaces anywhere)

At the moment our only option who might admit him is the local private school (a lot comes down to spaces they can offer/layout/staff ratio…etc) which our council worker is very ‘pro’ (their suggestion actually) and tbh everyone I’ve mentioned it to is adamant we should do as it’s ‘clearly the best option’ but WE CANNOT AFFORD IT! Council will pay for his 1:1 but not toward fees! It would be very tight and I would feel awful about sending DS but not DD and logistically wouldn’t be able to get them to two separate schools. We wouldn’t have gone private if DS weren’t disabled but it feels like we have no other option.

Ive invested so much time and energy over the last 2 years and I just want to cry now.

The tribunal is a specialist court.

Yes, the law for a non-section 41 school is as you say. However, the general principle from the Education Act 1996 that pupils should be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents also applies. And, as per my last post, the courts (or tribunals if you prefer) have been clear that it isn't easy for LAs to ignore a parental preference for an independent school, especially where, as appears to be the case here, there are no state schools able to meet the child's needs.

Obviously they have to be able to justify a refusal to name the school and name a school that can meet needs. However, anyone with any experience of working in the SEN field will tell you that that certainly does not stop LAs doing just that. Time after time they are happy to take the risk on the basis that (1) only a relatively small proportion of parents challenge them, (2) if they do appeal, it may well be 10 months or more till a hearing takes place and they hope to have cobbled together some sort of evidence by then, and (3) if they lose the appeal at least they've saved themselves a year's worth of school fees.

Yes, if the costs of an independent school and a maintained school or academy are not too far apart, the tribunal may do a balancing act and decide in favour of the more expensive school. But the difference in costs cannot be too great, and cases where this happens are relatively unusual. In most cases if the tribunal decides the LA school can meet needs and is cheaper than the parental choice, it will name the LA school.

Does your DS have an EHCP which I am assuming he has because of the council offering to pay for the 1-1. If this is the case and no borough schools are agreeing to having him then the council should fun the placement at the independent school.

Also if the independent school is mainstream what do they offer different to your local school. Also SEN schools cannot say they aren’t disabled enough that is discrimination.

i would definitely look at getting an advocate as they will know the law and be willing to remind the council of it.

Im not sure where you live but check out Talking sense. Ken the owner is incredible and a parent of adults now with SEN needs but he knows the law inside and out and will tell you what the council are required to do.

The tribunal is a specialist court.

Sort of, and technically. According to the MoJ, "Tribunals are specialist judicial bodies which decide disputes in particular areas of law. " More materially, on a site for non-lawyers, tribunals are considerably less formal than the courts and more accessible to lay people. Therefore it's helpful to talk about the remedy being via a tribunal, not least to distinguish it from other remedies which may only be available via courts.

However, the general principle from the Education Act 1996 that pupils should be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents also applies.

Which is exactly what I said.

It isn't easy for LAs to ignore a parental preference for an independent school, especially where, as appears to be the case here, there are no state schools able to meet the child's needs.

As anyone with experience in SEN will tell you, LAs find it all too easy to ignore this. Because of the lack of accountability in the relevant law, there is a growing chasm between what LAs should do and what they do do. I hope it won't be the case for OP, but what is all too likely to happen is that they twist some maintained school's arm into changing their minds and agreeing to take the child in question, often with promises of support which are strangely slow to materialise. Or they'll follow up on what OP says, and make arrangements for him to be placed in a specialist school which may or may not suitable and may well be a long way away. Yes, OP will have a right of appeal, but that may well take a very long time to resolve.

Agree with others that private schools, unless specialist, won't take/keep him. I talk from bitter experience after my son (who's moderately dyslexic) was turfed out of a sh*t private school in Newbridge near Edinburgh in the middle of his NAT5s. It was a horrible experience, and it could have had serious consequences, but thanks to an excellent state school, my son thrived and was far happier. I wish you luck but I'd defo explore state options first.

Please please don’t send him privately. My school has several kids with SEN who were told by private schools that they could meet needs only for them to kick the kids out after a few years. It will be much worse in the long run.

Hello OP, just wanted to say that I wish you well.

My DS1 thrived at a mainstream private school with full-time 1:1 support for several years until his needs became visibly significant enough that our (extremely unpleasant bunch of liars) LA eventually agreed to fund independent specialist. At the mainstream private his 1:1 support was funded by the LA. We paid his fees because we were so emotionally battered and bruised by then that we wanted the easiest fight possible. Three other students that I knew of in the school had their full fees as well as 1:1 paid for by the LA. In all cases, these pupils had ASD and assorted extras but were quiet, withdrawn young people who didn’t have obvious ‘behavioural’ issues. They all benefited from the smaller class sizes. In every case the LA had to agree that there was nowhere else suitable. It was a mainstream school but, at the time, had a fabulously well resourced SEN department with access to a sensory room and a brilliant full-time senco. Unfortunately I gather that the SEN provision there is now less good than it was. It saved our LA a lot of money though, as was significantly cheaper than all of the special schools in the county, independent and state.

I hope you are able to secure the the provision that you are happiest with for your DS.

This is 100% not good enough!!! I'm so sorry you're not getting what you need. I hope you receive the right help soon xxx

Speak to SENDIAS. There must be a special school close by to you? They normally offer to collect & drop back. There are 4 additional needs schools where we live, one for behavioural needs, 2 for ASD and one for complex medical needs. Do you need have these in your county?

I agree with this. A very bright girl at my daughter’s school was asked to leave as her autism was too much for the school to manage.

I have a friend whose daughter transferred to a private school as her needs could not be met locally in state school - they have been able to get the LEA to pay the fees but did have to fight for it

If your child has an ehcp you can request changes. If the local authority won't agree changes at annual review you can appeal and go to tribunal
You would need detailed assessments that are expensive and good legal advice but you can force the local authority to pay the fees.
I took kcc to tribunal for my youngest and we won. They pay 29k for him to attend a specialist school plus travel costs.
My son has gone from surviving to thriving but it cost me thousands!!
I wish you well!! The send system is broken!!
We have 4 neurodiverse kids. Child 1 survived grammar school and University, child 2 survived grammar school on apprenticeship , child 3 diagnosed at age 17 survived grammar school and is doing msc at uni, child 4 should be at grammar but is better in specialist independent school ( small classes) He is in yr 7 and already doing gcse maths!!

Sorry to hear this. It isn’t fair on you or your ds. Go through the non paying process. See where it lands.
Make complaints to the council.
Join networking and Facebook groups for school admissions for send and find out as much as you can about forcing the system to work - there cannot be a gap between not bad enough and too bad in the special education system. ❤️🙏 good luck. If you start down the private route it may be harder to force the state system to provide later.

I'm in the same position, my teenage daughter is autistic, can't cope with mainstream. Just sold my house so I can pay private school fees for an independent school that specialises in ASD.
It's shit and it's wrong but after being out of school for so long due to horrendous anxiety and autistic burnout I'm at the point where I will do whatever it takes to get her an education.

There may be schools a bit further away that can meet his needs and there should be a free taxi service. Our DC is at one but we drive him there but most get transport from over 20 miles away. Worth a look, though personally we didn't want the taxi rides, even though free, it helped them regulate on drive there. However many as young as 5 and with very challenging issues do it. X

OP- does he have an EHCP? If not get one! Goo as a parent can name a school on their EHCP and the local authorities absolutely do fund private school places.
my child attends a specialist private school as do lots of others where the school places are funded.
its by no means east but they will do it. Good luck!

Can you possibly speak to the head at the private school and see whether they offer any bursaries? Most private schools do these days.

Judiciary.gov describes tribunals as specialist courts - Tribunals - Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. However, this is semantics.

I am well aware that many LAs try to shirk their responsibilities regarding SEN. Parents must be prepared to fight and refer it to the SEND tribunal if necessary.

Do you have a preference for a mainstream school? If so, I would encourage you to relay that to your son's caseworker who can challenge the negative consultation response. Saying a child's needs are too complex or that the setting is full are not lawful reasons to refuse a place. Consultation responses should be the start of a conversation, not the end. If you feel strongly about a school and you think it would meet your son's needs, the LA can direct the school to offer a place.

Speaking to SENDIASS is sensible, but like the LA's caseworkers they have considerable caseloads so you may not get the tailored advice you need.

Bear in mind also the maximum travel time for a child of primary age is 45 minutes, so keep in close contact (if possible) with the LA as they sometimes do a scattergun approach to consultations without always checking how far away the school is. Good luck.

So sorry to hear this, it must be really stressful to have to work through this in addition to day to day. My parents went through a very long battle with our local council for my brother and sadly it was to no avail. They lost a very strong case, and what they did wish they had considered is that that local council had no precedent to support on the ways needed, so they would not fund a specialist school that would as needed. I urge you to investigate any similar cases with your local authority and what the outcomes were, before committing to a legal fight. It shouldn’t have to come down to you making a choice to fund school, it’s so outrageous that children are not supported properly. Ultimately you know what your child needs and what is best for your family. Best wishes and hoping a good solution arises for you

In what way is he disabled. I know you can take the council to court depending on medical needs. I don’t know everything, it’s listening to my sons talking as they have care homes for autistic adults

get In touch with your MP. I work for social care and complaints through the MP are usually dealt with ASAP. You can also request an assessment for short breaks through the children with disabilities team. Their support could also help get you on the radar.

check out your local offer through the council for SEND. Unfortunately you are one of many and it is whoever shouts the loudest!

I've explored this avenue of private schools (around me) however usually they expect high achievers so would not be able to deal with SEN needs. Is it a specialist SEN private school?
It is really really awful being in this position, there's just not enough specialist school places to cope with demand ☹️

If there are no other local schools capable of meeting his needs then the LA need to name the private school named on his EHCP and once it’s named they will HAVE TO pay for the private school fees. As there is no school available then that means your son’s school has no school named on it. I’m speaking from experience on this and will tell you that the LA wont tell you this. If they are unwilling to name the private school then get yourself a good education solicitor as any solicitor fees you pay will be a fraction of what you pay in private school fees.

Google IPSEA and you will find all the information that you need. Ipsea offer free education advice from solicitors but won’t do any of the paperwork for you. You need to do that yourself. IPSEA is an organisation that every parent of an SEN child needs to know and contact. They are great and provide you with the Specific education law on matters such as this