To wonder where these kids are meant to go?!

[Wonderberry]

Unfortunately, my child's school is closing due to the VAT imposition on private school fees. She has special needs, and her fees are paid for by her EHCP, as it is a cheaper alternative to a special school. I am not rich. She cannot attend a state mainstream due to her special needs, and the council agrees with this.

I now have no school placement for her. The special schools are hugely oversubscribed (over 10 applications per place). Even if she could go to a state mainstream, there is no space in any of them, due to lots of schools closing locally. I have called dozens of them in desperation, as I need for her to go somewhere.

I have been frantically contacting the council to get her a new school place. They won't even respond. I'm faced with her being without any school place shortly. I cannot home school as I need to work.

My DD is far from alone in this. Unfortunately, the government has paid no thought into the wellbeing of SEND children, when imposing the VAT.

No that’s not what I’m saying. The EP/OT only have to be specific and quantified in their report, and so long as they agree that the provision is necessary, and so long as there isn’t a state school offering similar, then the tribunal must name the private one.

There needs to be a valid alternative, not a crackdown because the LA can’t come up with what the child needs.

Of course. And their recommendations would be specific and quantified. It’s not the parent or the specialist’s problem if the only place that can meet the child’s needs is independent.

A previous poster said she didn’t know how the brief had argued these cases. I was explaining how.

Well continuing to bancrupt councils funding private education for a few isn’t going to help. Once it stops and more funds are diverted to the state things will improve. It will be easier to look at best practice and follow successful
models .

@Laughingdoggo the high court case the pp was talking about is about VAT. Not about how SEP/placements in EHCPs are secured.

"Once it stops".....jesus christ! You need to understand how bad SEN support is in many mainstream schools, that's why children end up in specialist SEN schools in the first place(whether state or independent).
The government won't divert funds to mainstream, they will tinker around the edges with tiny % increases which are insufficient to meet the needs of those children.
Have you even stepped foot in a mainstream school to look at their SEN provision?

Yes I work in SEND provision and have a child with an EHCP.

This is what I mean about missing the point : the councils have a legal duty to discharge. And they are forced by tribunal to do it but the only options at their disposal are private provision because there are not enough specialist places and mainstream simply isn’t suitable/accessible for many kids.

So they need to change the way in which local government is funded, and also simultaneously build more special schools whilst changing the culture of the existing mainstream provision.

This situation is not the making of parents and children. It’s of a structural inequality in education and society. And also legally the law (Children and Families Act) would also have to be rewritten. None of that happens overnight.

So you should know then! The utopia of state supporting SEN properly doesn't exist in any universe. It's really not as easy as just tipping them all into mainstream schools and hoping for miracles.

The government are right with this. We simply don’t have the money anymore to continue as we are. Funding private education for a few is not a good use of the limited funds that we have.

Apologies.

@TesterP0t i think you must be in a parallel universe because most SEND provision isn’t like that and the only people bankrupting council are these insane ministers spunking £1 mill plus on the briefs defending their socialist ideologies

It does in many schools.

And? Run through the current alternatives

It really doesn't in many schools

Things will be changing so it’s best to look ahead to how best to provide better provision for more children rather than a few.

I don’t think you speak for all schools.

Your average mainstream doesn’t want EHCP kids. They are expensive and tricky and protected by scary legislation, and often don’t produce the academic and sporting results schools like. They are square pegs in round holes. And the underfunding makes them even less attractive as they’re then scapegoated as the kids who are “taking all the resources.”

@TesterP0t state schools cannot cater for all DC with SEN. Neither can independent SS. By removing other options, you won’t see a reduction in costs. There will be an increase in expensive EOTAS/EOTIS (with or without the C on the end) packages. And they can be far more expensive than an independent mainstream school. They are not the cheap option. And LAs like EOTAS/EOTIS even less than independent placements.

Please enlighten us as to what is changing?

@TesterP0t i don’t think you’re really getting it the SEND provision isn’t fit for purpose it’s a shit show it’s not a race to the bottom

And you certainly don't
Are Labour your paymasters?

Finding private education for a few with proactive parents isn’t sustainable and IS a race to the bottom for the majority. We don’t have a magic money tree.

Still waiting for your current alternative…

The reality is we can't afford to pay for private education for kids who cope better with smaller class sizes.

The vast majority of kids learn much faster/better with a better ratio of adult input. We can't afford it.

A child who can manage in a mainstream private, should be able to be supported in a mainstream state.

I suspect there'll be a shift towards providing "autism friendly" classes in state schools.