Will LA fund independent school place for ASD child?

[Ricecakesaremyjam]

Son is 5, diagnosis of autism and ADHD. Has an EHCP, in mainstream reception, on a heavily reduced timetable of 2hrs a day with a 1:1, school have said they can’t meet needs and are plainly desperate to get rid of him.
School that is my preference and would meet his needs and is very local is an independent.
How likely is my LA to fund this? If his needs are not being met and he is literally not in school?

I am absolutely broken on my knees with this shit 😫

@HarleyJae For goodnesses sakes there is really no need for such a snidely post, unbelievably I’m doing things other than using mumsnet! But yes I have written in my notebook to contact SENDIASS and SOS!SEN to gain further clarity on a complicated system I am struggling to understand, particularly when I have literally 2hrs a day when I am not with my son.
I really do appreciate everyone’s advice, thankyou ❤️

I only informed the case worker last week of the school’s behaviour. I called again today and spoke to a colleague of hers because the allocated case worker wasn’t in today.
I have also asked school to request for an Ed Psych to contribute to the new EHCP confirming he needs a specialist setting.

Email the Director of Children’s Services reminding them of their duty under section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to provide the provision in F and threatening judicial review should the situation persist. If that doesn’t work, you need a pre-action letter. SOSSEN can help with this free of charge, but there is a wait, so you might want to look elsewhere.

Have you followed up today’s phone call with an email? Get into the routine of following up all verbal conversations with emails.

When you say you have asked the LA to involve the EP, do you mean you have requested a reassessment of needs? Or do you mean have informally asked for them to have input?

If you wish DS to attend school full time, have you informed the headteacher DS will be attending full time unless they formally suspend?

I want DS to attend school full time, I hate that he’s missing out on so much. I hate that I have had to leave work to facilitate this timetable. His current school have made it so clear they view him as a problem that I now just want to move him on somewhere that would meet his needs and where he would be happy, valued and included.
I have asked for the EP to contribute to the EHCP, I don’t know if this is the same as a reassessment of needs?

Tbh it is difficult to get the LA ed psych involved after the ehc has been produced. This is where people often commission their own evidence. But do take advice. You may find for example that you would be better off getting a Speech and Language assessment or OT than Ed psych. Mainstream schools can usually provide for what an Ed psych report says. Ot and SALT need specialist support and you are more likely to be able to prove that a mainstream school can't provide it. My daughter has PDA btw.

So, if you want DS to attend full time, have you informed the headteacher he will be attending full time unless formally suspended?

Asking for the EP to have input isn’t the same thing as requesting a reassessment of needs. Just so you are aware, the LA doesn’t have to involve the EP now. But I wouldn’t go down the reassessment of needs route. Even if the LA agreed to a reassessment of needs, you are likely to need to appeal following it anyway, so you may as well just appeal and seek independent assessments when you have the right of appeal following the review. EPs, or good ones at least, don’t always include recommendations that mainstream schools can provide. It entirely depends on the child’s needs.

In my area yes loads of parents got there first choice of a private independent school for there children I have a state school place further away but better suited to my child's needs but I had to fight hard for it they were trying to send him over an hour away but I rejected them

To get the private school place all they did was talk to the senco and see if they could meet need they then consulted with the LEA and as soon as they said they could meet need they got a place

I will say though the ones that got places have children who are more likely to be able to take a GCSE in maths and/or English my son is unlikely to and needs more practical support plus education if you see what I mean? Ds might take GCSEs but it will likely be in college later than 16

I want him to go to School full time, but not somewhere that he is treated like a problem.
Where he isn’t even allowed to participate in bloody harvest festival, or the nativity.

While ever you continue to allow the school to unlawfully informally exclude DS, they will continue to do so.

Putting a stop to that doesn’t prevent you from pursuing further support and a change of placement.

You have had some brilliant advice on here and I agree it is a process. There are success stories but generally it's a slog and can take time.

I am in Kent and all of my sons attended independent SEN schools. We have lots in the area I live in and several are expanding which is at odds with what the local council are saying they want long term.

I do agree it's probably not best to pour all your energy into one particular school given your son's age. He js very young.

@Ricecakesaremyjam I used to teach in primary and specialist schools and I have to say that I think @DrAnnaTaylorRyan is right. You might find that your DS gets on a lot better in a mainstream school that actually follows his EHCP and tries to actively meet his needs.

Obviously I don't know your DS but I have taught DC in reception with similar needs and it is manageable. It is very challenging and requires a lot of flexibility and commitment and staff who are proactive about trying to meet the needs of all the children in the class.

It might be worth visiting other mainstream primaries and seeing if there are any with a genuinely inclusive approach. It might be that a specialist school is best for your DC either now or in the future but there may also be mainstream schools that can meet his needs and he can be happy and thrive.

Good luck with everything.

My daughter went to a mainstream primary. The big problem was that socially she was completely isolated. She would spend the breaks with the nice ladies in the office as she had no friends. And the curriculum was not suitable - she spent increasing time out of class with her TA. She is 27 now and went to axsen secondary and shudders when we pass the primary school. I wish I had never put her through it. They were less than friendly to me too. I volunteered for every school trip and was never chosen, not once. It can be incredibly isolating for the child and parent.

Sorry you are having a hard time OP - i think its quite a hard task - i have a very good friend in the same position but her daughter was actually asked to leave from all the private schools she was put into - atm - she is being home schooled as schools have not been able to help her - my friend is paying for this privately tho. Good luck. Her child is absolutely lovely - very very clever, just not able to concentrate as much as a school would like.

You could play hardball. You could drop him off in the morning, then email the office to say that you'll be collecting at the end of the day, and that you expect him to have a full-time education.

What have school done to try and meet his needs? Have they had the EP in or specialist teachers etc? Is there any outreach in your area from the special schools? The LA usually expect to see the school have made serious efforts to try and meet his needs, getting different professionals in and trying different strategies.
Does he have much 1:1 support? The school could challenge whether they are getting enough funding.

Definitely get some support from SENDIASS. The school are acting unlawfully.
Unfortunately it's getting too common, schools do this on purpose in the hope you will pull him out.

He’s funded for a full time 1:1 - but is only being allowed to attend for 2hrs a day.

An outreach worker from an ASD school visited him while he first started school.

Other professionals have visited and given odd bits of advice but they haven’t been specifically visiting my son, they’ve been visiting other kids I think and just passed comment on my son as he runs about etc

The reduced timetable I was initially ok with as I wanted him to have a gentle transition to the huge change of starting school. They would increase his time painfully slowly (like by 10mins a time) so for the first couple of months I went along with this, naively thinking they were speaking from experience of how to best help a child with his needs successfully settle into school. However his behaviour began to become more disruptive and his hours were abruptly reduced and they have said clearly they are not even considering increasing his hours, they have to consider the other children etc. When I have challenged this I have been told the placement will break down. They have now agreed they can’t meet his needs and will be requesting a change of placement, and I agree they obviously aren’t meeting his needs and want him to move on but I’m terrified of him getting placed somewhere totally unsuitable (just whenever there happens to be a space) and once he’s there he gets stuck there, which is why I keep banging on about the independent school nearby that is literally for kids just like him

It isn’t about you. It is directed at the OP.

if you read the thread, I and many others have given the OP a huge range of advice and where to seek more advice IRL, documents to read, legal process to follow, all have received a lukewarm reception, apart from yours which is direct advice about getting a child into an independent setting.

The point being, as already stated, that the OP, whether meant or not, gives the impression that she thinks she can just ask for her local indie, specialist provision and that is it.

Experience tells me, and shared with her, that it isn’t that simple and she needs to arm herself with as much legal advice, support and knowledge as possible if she wants to feel that she has the best outcome possible for her son.

Honestly OP you have to force schools hand. Ultimately you need the placement to break down so that other provision is considered by the LA.
So I'd be emailing in Monday that unless he is formally suspended then DS will be in school all day. Yes you know it won't be great but it will push school to either suspend or involve the LA quickly to move him.
It's in your interest really to move quickly now....agreeing to part time has just put your DS in this limbo unfortunately.

My DS was funded for a private SN college, but though that was 15 years ago it must still be possible since surely not all the students currently at independent specialist places are being funded by families?

They'll fight like hell to avoid it though, just as they did back then, so the best advice I can offer is to make sure you have excellent advocacy from someone thoroughly acquainted with the system - which doesn't necessarily have to mean expensive lawyers

Edited to add an obvious option - if you have a particular school in mind - is to ask them for guidance
Clearly they have a vested interest so probably won't advocate for you directly, but certainly they'll have been down this road before and will probably have worthwhile advice to pass on

Yes, when I wanted a particular independent school, I approached them and they gave us an interview. On this basis they offered my daughter a free taster day, which extended to 3 days. They ran speech and language tests on her and offered her a place. They wrote a report, which was extremely useful.