Raising a formal complaint at school

[Ricecakesaremyjam]

My sons school are acting unlawfully towards him and have been for some time. All attempts to ask the headteacher SENCO to do their legal duty by my son are brushed off. I am literally gaslit every time I speak to her.
I am about to raise a formal complaint to the governing body but I’m scared 😂 will the school hate me and my kids forever? I
know I need to do it and I’m being stupid but I have a horrible habit of second guessing myself! Thanks x

Maybe they didn't want the responsibility? The school would be effectively taking on the safeguarding and suitability duty for the LA.
Have you seen any alternative provisions you feel would be suitable for your son? I'm not making excuses for the school, as they should have told the LA to arrange it themselves, but depending on your area there may be limited choice of suitable providers for his age.

My LA uses a hugely complicated matching system for AP and it's a total nightmare tbh

My son’s case worker said we have given school the AP funding and it’s up to them to use it however they want, it’s hard not to feel anger towards the SENCO/head for withholding education from my son both in the traditional sense and via AP

Likely to be because the school has to fund the AP out of their budget

Ultimately, they don’t. Under section of the Education Act 1996, the duty lies with the LA. Same for anything detailed, specified and quantified in F of the EHCP under section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

OP, the duty ultimately lies with the LA, not the school. The LA is fobbing you off.

How do you know this?

@Moglet4 This didn’t happen and I don’t know why that poster was so adamant it did 😂

Has the wholly independent school agreed to admit DS yet?

No because he has literally only just had his annual review; none of his paperwork is ready yet. There is apparently a meeting in a couple of weeks where they decide whether he needs a change of placement or not and will then start to consult with schools (I think that’s how it works?)

I do understand your frustration, DS3 is on roll at an independent special, only ever part time and not at all since February. His school offered to sort out AP but it was either unsuitable or inaccessible. We’ve ended up with nothing (apart from an offer of workbooks, paper and fidget toys from the school) and the LA turned down my section 19 request as I'd refused the school's offers of AP. His school fees are about 70k a year

Hindsight is 20:20 but I should have just made the Section 19 request directly to the LA from the get-go and spared myself the nonsense. EOTIS is now agreed from September so I've escalated to the LGO rather than going down the JR route.

Oh wow, that’s crazy. I hope you get things sorted soon. It’s stressful isn’t it ☹️ sending solidarity x

Thanks, it's frustrating but I've self-funded some AP and it's going well, so I'm working towards getting these providers agreed for his EOTIS package.

You're getting there, keep going and just focus on the LA, as the duty rests with them. Keep an eye on the timescales, again IPSEA is good for that

New alternative provision guidance: What it means for local authorities and schools

I honestly feel like it’s going to be impossible to get him into the school I want him to go to ☹️ that’s all I hear about getting a place at a specialist independent

I did have a tribunal to get DS3 into his first independent, but his mainstream primary was claiming they could meet needs. You don't have that barrier, so it's about the professional evidence and what placements are suitable for your DS. If none of the resource provisions and maintained specials are suitable, then it may not be as challenging as it seems.

But just push the LA and get advice from the likes of SOSSEN/IPSEA for your particular situation.

What if a maintained CSCN school miles away says they could meet needs but I feel it’s wrong for him/that he wouldn’t have a similar peer group? Would I still have a chance at the school i want for him then?

Assuming the wholly independent school agrees to being named, if the LA doesn’t name your placement, you can appeal. Just because a school says it can meet needs, doesn’t mean SENDIST will agree.

Peer group is important. It really comes down to what is in Sections B and F of the EHCP, though.

Because he bites. Noone wants to come to work to be bitten!

Well that's good evidence he should be in a specialist school then isn't it like the Op wants?

The OP is talking about arranging alternative provision, not at the school

you need to bring calling an emergency ehc review and putting a compliant into the la not just the school.

At least read OP’s posts. She has just had an AR. She doesn’t need to request an early review.

If you read the thread before posting about a disabled 5yr old, you would see this thread is about arranging alternative provision for the time he isn’t in school and moving him to a specialist placement. Thanks for the insightful comment though

If he has top level of funding I presume this is around 25k and he has a full time 1:1? Who will be under contract to the school for at least this school year, possibly longer. And even if he goes to AP, the school still has to pay this person, plus the cost of the AP.

It's just really rubbish right now, children aren't getting what they need, schools are stretched to breaking point - as EHCP funding almost never funds the full cost of a child's provision, so they have to take money from elsewhere, and council budgets are massively overspent. I have no idea what the solution is, but I hope you figure this out for your son.

Hopefully it's helps your case that current school have said can't meet need, but it's not a 'done deal'. The school I am governor for currently has around 8 children on roll where it has stated cannot meet need, most of whom the school said couldnt meet need before even started, but council forced the school to take anyway, based on parental preference.

Yes he has a full time 1:1 but he is only allowed in school for 2hrs a day. The 1:1 therefore is used to support other children who are there full time without ehcps and 1:1s allocated to them….. I don’t doubt the school are stretched, but my son still needs and deserves an education 😕

Absolutely, every child does. I was just trying to give some context, as sometimes knowing the possible reasons behind a decision can make it easier to know how to challenge it.