More of a rant but - no schools for DD 🥹

[Dontlookatme2]

DD is 12 and he’s breaking me.
I will try not to drip feed.
she has complex medical needs ( severely impacting early years and primary school ) she is academically able but does have some gaps but missed 75 percent of primary education. She is now scoring around close to securing or just at securing, so incredible considering. When choosing secondary schools we ended up struggling to find a school that would take her.
she is also autistic and has mild CP.
we don’t live in a remote area and we have many choices.
mainstream schools all said no.
la maintained schools all said no including the one for children with illness and disabilities, as she didn’t match their cohort academically, so they felt that she would be purposely left behind and not reach her full potential.
all private mainstreams said no.
we thought we found the perfect place for her where it was an “ inbetween “ school and mainly SpLd. Admissions and visiting suggested they did not take those with behavioural needs and it was very much like a mainstream curriculum with adaptions / small classes and additional therapy. It’s private and local.
a year in and she is struggling. She doesn’t fit in the cohort. The behavior impacts every lesson. She has been threatened by a student who’s behavior is impacting everyone. Discriminated against by a teacher and she doesn’t “ fit “ in.
she doesn’t get much help from her teachers because she has landed in the middle of the cohort and is quiet, well behaved and doesn’t ever kick off.
because the school is small it’s almost impacting her more because there is only a small portion of girls and so she can’t find her “ people “
im aware there would children with behavior needs in mainstream but that also there is a bigger cohort so maybe easier for her to find peers that are like minded for her.
there is no real discipline management in the school and it’s chaos for most of her lessons and she just wants to learn.
she doesn’t want an EOTAS package as she wants to go to a school. Every other school in the area and surrounding areas we have tried have said no they can not meet her needs.

is there really no schools for some children 😭😭

I agree with others @Dontlookatme2 it’s confusing.

The things you have mentioned are that your DD has mild CP, is ND, and is well behaved and is doing well academically, despite missing the majority of her primary education.

Is she able to be in school all or most of the time now? I appreciate you mention complex medical needs and obviously you do not need to say what those are, but are they still an issue? Is this why schools are unable to accommodate her?

I was a secondary school teacher and had students in my form and whom I taught who had CP and who were ND. So I can only assume the complex issues you mention are the reason schools are unable to meet her needs. As I say, you don't have to reveal what they are, but is that the case? What sort of school would work in your view?

There is no gaps
she is medically complex. But no medical intervention is needed at school but an emergency pack carried with her incase.
she is autistic but high functioning with mild speech delay and mild CP.
she is mildly behind academically due to missing a lot of school in primary ( at the time she was in hospital a high percentage of the time )
she is passive, stickler for the rules, well behaved and no behavior issues. requires a laptop to type.

there really is nothing else to add.
every school in the local la maintained schools in boroughs said no
both mainstream and Sen.

So I really do not understand why she could not be accommodated in mainstream secondary tbh.

No medical intervention needed in school, so what is there to manage. ND and mild CP would not be an issue in any school I have worked in or had experience of. Nor would a YP being slightly behind in academic terms.

Did the mainstream schools say why they were not able to accommodate her needs OP?

WHY have they said no? What needs can't they meet?

What is the emergency pack in case of? Could that be a reason why?

What is missing is explicit reasoning why these schools have thrown their hands up and said we can’t educate your child

Your guess is good as mine. She has complex medical needs. Which did leave her isolated a lot.
the la maintained Sen schools are not saying they can’t have her because she is too complex they are saying the opposite.
the mainstream schools say she is too complex and can’t meet needs.

medically she is vulnerable but no medications or anything in school hours. But need an emergency pack.

She has a tube ( not used in school ) emergency pack is if in case its breaks or falls out but hasn’t done so in many years.

i think the overall Ed psychology report felt Sen would be better for smaller classrooms because her lack socialising in primary years along side the autism. She is very quiet and although loved having friends she is very passive and can find it hard.

And medical needs
yes
but I stated all that before.

What explicit medical need does she require?

I also don't understand. Complex medical needs is very vague. I am guessing test there must ve a list of interventions in the ehcp that they can't provide. Is there a requirement for 1. 1 support?

Your child missed 75% of primary school at a school that did accept her…. Will this not just happen again?

In school ?

a emergency pack in case tube breaks
rest / breaks if needed
collection of feeling unwell
CP - laptop for all work
adaptions in PE
but can move around school fine

autism - passive, struggles socially to fit in, stickler for the rules.

In primary school yes more so because ad a young age they don’t understand tubes and she was socially very behind at the time and they also wanted her to be able to have an adult who could bring her work when at home.

she started secondary school with out a 1-1.
has caught up academically well and they had different technology they could use for missing school.

medically she is sick but as I said no interventions medically like accessing tubes are required. She can go toilet her self etc
ahe travels to and from school her self.

I'm a children's physio. From my experience, children like your daughter seem to be the hardest to find a suitable school for. SEN schools will say she is too able. Mainstream will say she is too complex.

An ARP attached to a mainstream is often the best option, but these places are like gold dust. Are there any of these local to you? You cannot apply directly to them, SEN have to request a place

As she has got older her hospital admissions have come down by a lot. Not necessary less severe but less often.

Hi there is 2 local enough - one said she didn’t fit the cohort
one said they were full and it would be detrimental to her and others by adding more students.

How can you not know?

Everything you've listed is just standard stuff none of which is reasons to say no?
The local authority have to place her

"one said she didn’t fit the cohort"

What does that even mean?

It's so bizarre as my son is complex too and no one has even suggested special school for secondary.

He needs 2:1 support, also has an emergency pack but for a central line and also needs support with toileting and moving around school.

She should be absolutely fine in mainstream and I would push for it as she does have a right to access mainstream education.

They arent allowed to say they are full if they are state maintained. They just do that to put people off applying. If they are the best school for her rhen you can go to tribunal and make them give her a space. Especially if she has an unusual profile and cant find a space elsewhere.

If your preferred placement was the maintained SS and the La did not name it, did you appeal? You didn’t need the school to agree or an offer of a place. You only need an offer of a place from wholly independent schools. The only lawful reasons to refuse your placement would have been:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs
-Attendance would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others
-Attendance would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.
Unless the LA can prove one of the above, and the bar to do this is far higher than LAs and many schools admit, schools that are not wholly independent can and must be named even if they object when consulted. However, LAs often refuse and force parents to appeal.

Is that school still your preferred placement? If not, you mention what the others schools say, but what do you think about the other non-wholly independent schools?

If you go down the EOTAS/EOTIS route, make sure it is a proper package. LAs regularly try to fob parents off with an inadequate package. It isn’t the easy or cheap option for LAs.