WiBU to deregister rather than fight on?

[NotEnoughSpecialistPlaces]

Instead of putting more time, effort and money into trying to persuade the system to correct my child's EHCP and name a suitable secondary placement WIBU to plan structured home learning, for Key Stage 3 (in part with Wolsey Hall), and deregister from September?

The amount of t,e&m used in the last couple of years would probably have funded a couple of years of WH.

I would be happier to be supporting my child's education than fighting the system with no hope of getting a good result. My child would be happier A, knowing their plan for September and B, being definitely home based rather than 'failing' at mainstream.

(For context the named mainstream can't meet need but LA has named anyway. Evenif I 'win' at tribunal there are not enough specialist places available)

It sounds reasonable, and you'll probably feel relief once the decision is made.

I'm sorry though. The system is failing children. Your DC is so lucky to have you.

Thank you @Quokkafeet

Sadly the system is partially broken and a lot of children and families are being let down.

I'm a send parent myself and I know only too well. All the best to you and DC

It's strange how my local council can find £50+ million to do up a run down pier. But says it can't cope with its statutory responsibilities re social care and education.

Op if you can homeschool do it. There are a lot of resources...but make sure your child still interacts with other kids...my friend has done it and her daughter doesn't have any social skills with kids her own age and struggles more s she get older

Yes. I did similar and DC did return to school/college when older.

Yes, I am prepared for the reality of what this decision will mean.

In my own experience, there was not much difference in the time, energy, cost and also impact on my own career whether I was engaging with the LA/School and when I was home educating. The difference was the experience/education/quality of life/mental health of DC.

Going to war with school/LA cost me so much and did not result in any improvements for DC. Home education cost me so much in every way, but DC got a decent education and improved health. Ironically we got the EHCP aged 17 and the level of effort/energy/money etc has remained the same.

OP - please do whatever is best for you and DC.

Yes. This is exactly the situation.

I am fortunate to be able to choose between something very difficult, demanding and constructive and something very difficult, demanding and destructive.

I deregistered. The standard advice is not to but i don’t regret it. We self studied GCSEs rather than going for an online schooling option and dc got A and A* grades.

I don’t regret deregistering. However, online schooling is cripplingly expensive and if I was going down that route, I’d probably want it funded.

Another option would be to pay for online schooling, whilst fighting the tribunal, and making a case for the LA to fund the provision as EOTAS. Represent yourself rather than using solicitors. However, if you can’t face it, it’s absolutely fine not to.

This. Keeping them registered was actually harder for me.

YANBU As per government figures, 45% of SEN kids fail to reach level 2 attainment (ie 5 GCSEs at 4 or above) by the time they finish school.

So even with appropriate support the outcome may be suboptimal.

Evenif I 'win' at tribunal there are not enough specialist places available

So you can make an informed decision, ^this isn’t how it works. If your appeal is upheld and Tribunal orders your preferred placement is named (i.e. you ‘win’), the school must admit. You don’t then have to wait for a place.

Can you afford any/all therapies such as OT DC needs? These can be incredibly expensive and many families cannot afford to fund them themselves.

We deregistered our youngest rather than fight for EHCP, deal with daily meetings re. Behaviour in school, his self esteem crumbling because other kids & parents were talking about him.

Taking him out of that environment he was a different child overnight. Gone from 'working towards' in some areas to being well ahead and is now loving ks3 maths & science aged 10.

It's full on but so was trying to make mainstream work.

Also, home ed kids don't have to do GCSE's all at once or do all of the subjects that school kids have to do.

Before you go for an expensive online school though it might be worth looking at what is available in your area, your child's interests / strengths and building your own program with some 1-2-1 tutors where needed.

Edited for typo

This is what is happening in my area. Children who have been agreed to need a specialist place do not have one. There are not enough places.

Despite what LAs think, the law is the same in all LAs. If a Tribunal Orders a school be named in I, the school must admit and can be forced to, including via JR if necessary.

If by ‘it has been agreed to need a specialist place’, you mean the LA has ‘agreed’ but not named a special/specialist school, then those parents can appeal to SENDIST.

If a school isn’t wholly independent, on its own, a school being ‘full’, which is not defined in law, is not enough lawfully not name parental preferred placement. The LA has to prove the school is so full admitting DC is incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others or use of resources. The bar for this is higher than LAs and many schools admit. It has to be something tangible and specific and is more than an “adverse effect”, “impact on” or “prejudicial to”. There is case law covering this.