To send my SEN child to boarding school abroad?

[Aislyn]

My child is in year 6 and we are facing the local council naming a school which is a disaster for her. They have said already that they will not name any of our preferences. She has an EHCP.

Private school in the UK is completely unaffordable due to VAT. I am feeling aggrieved about potential extra taxation due to SEN. It is only due to SEN that I am having to look at private school for her: she requires small class sizes and strong pastoral support, but is very intelligent.

Private boarding school in Ireland is cheaper than day school here. She has an Irish passport.

I am alternatively considering sending her further afield, where we have family.

Any recommendations for Irish schools?

If the OP refuses the school place and electively home educates, the LA does not have to provide provision. The OP would be responsible for ensuring DD receives a suitable education.

But when she has the right of appeal, she can and should appeal if she disagrees with the placement named in section I.

I will 100% appeal but I am thinking about plan B if our appeal isn't heard in time or refused.

I have asked for the responses to the consultations, to find out more details, but the council has not provided this.

The council has said that they always refuse to fund independent schools.

Make formal SARs to the LA, current school, your preferred schools and any other schools you think may have been consulted.

It is a bit different when you have an EHCP. The other option is for the parent to accept the place but the child to refuse to attend.

No, it isn’t. If you EHE, the LA does not have a duty to provide AP even if the CYP has an EHCP. They don’t have a duty to provide the SEP in F if EHE.

@Aislyn

Something you could do is consult a team of solicitors dealing with educational matters, the one at Bindman's, for instance.

www.bindmans.com/legal-services/individual/education-law/

Are you hoping for a bog standard private school? If so, yes, local authorities don't normally fund that and they don't have to. But they fund independent schools with a sen offering. See Canbury in Kingston for example. And they might fund the additional support at a private school if you pay the fees - but they would have to agree that the school is suitable and they may think it isn't.

Many have to appeal (that applies to independent SS or independent schools that are technically mainstream but provide extensive SEN support and are not your typical MS as well), but independent MS can be named in section I/funded.

And just to add, they can't have a blanket policy. They have to meet the child's needs as outlined in the ehc and sometimes that does mean independent. Of course they don't want to fund independent. And you have much more chance of a sen independent school. They will usually only consider independent if mainstream can't meet needs and tbh, with an academically able child, it is harder to argue that the local comp isn't suitable with support.

@Aislyn

What was the reason for her being out of the classroom for years, OP?

Extreme dysregulation with associated challenging which meant she could not stay in the classroom for the safety and learning of other pupils. I was sending her to school but she was never in the classroom or learning. In hindsight, I should not have allowed the situation to continue as long as it did but the school reassured me it was 'just developmental'

What about that history tells you shed cope in boarding school in another country? How would you see that working?

If she is comfortable in an environment then she engages well and learns. It's all about the correct environment. I take your point re boarding school. The local school where kids fight constantly is completely unsuitable and not somewhere I will send her.

But what about after the school day when shed normally relax and regulate

Kindly, any chance you are also neurodiverse? This is not a typical response to the school situation. It's extreme.

As an update to the school situation we have been given our placement and it's very disappointing: it's an undersubscribed school that no one wants, and was none of my choices. It is also clear that they would not provide any support for her, should she go there.

I am appealling the decision but also considering all options.

Good luck with the appeal. I can't really add much over and above what I posted on p9, but I will just re-iterate make sure you really understand the difference between appealing for private/state/Sec 41/other schools so you can select the best strategy for the appeal. Not what the LA tells you, but the differences in law. Maybe consider using a SEN solicitor.

Sorry to say but don't underestimate the difficulty of finding a MS private school who will take on a child with an EHCP and a substantial history of challenging behaviour. I guess if it was years ago that is less of a worry.

This is hilariously clueless.

We moved our SEN child to mainstream private as it’s the only place where discipline can be maintained and the violence and disruption of state school can be avoided (we’re in Scotland). A calm environment is all that’s needed for so many SEN kids to thrive, and that’s becoming increasingly rare in the state sector. The private sector also loves the fact that our high achieving ASD kids regularly get full marks in exams an me makes their stats look great.

But yeh the VAT on fees funded by parents solely so their child has an environment they can cope with is a total piss take.

Good luck OP, whatever you end up doing.

@Aislyn

Did you ask at Limpsfield Grange whether you could visit them to discuss whether the school would be suitable for your daughter?

limpsfieldgrange.co.uk/about-us/admissions/