SEN school dilemna

[IrisEmily]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has any advice for me, or experience they could share, about schools. Apologies, this is a long post, but there is a lot of context and background.

My daughter (age 14, Year 9 currently in a large local state comprehensive) has been diagnosed with SEN, specifically ASD and ADHD, inattentive subtype, as well as social anxiety and OCD. She is bright, but unmotivated, and has really struggled at school with the large class sizes, the noise and disruptive behaviour, and her attendance dropped to zero at the beginning of Year 9 after a period of time off for autistic burnout. The school has been lovely and has really worked very flexibly with us to reintegrate her and she is currently attending 1-2 days per week. She is still afraid to go to some lessons and spends most of her time in the Pastoral Support area. The school has just applied for an EHCNA to be carried out, so we are right at the beginning of the process with that. We have tried homeschooling through an online provider but she could not focus at all without constant supervision and we had to abandon it.

For the past year, she has been on the waiting list for a place at an independent school, which is a lovely setting and very small classes with a strong SEN provision, but there were no places. Now a place has suddenly become available and we applied for her to start in Year 10. She spent two trial days at the school and did not enjoy the first day but enjoyed the second day much more. She was unable to say why she didn't enjoy the first day and why the second day was better. I know she spent both lunchtimes on her own as she was too shy to speak to the other children but it is the type of place where the children all go and do their own thing anyway. When I ask her how she feels about the school, she says it's "ok", so isn't exactly over the moon about it, but has made only positive comments about the lessons and the teachers when asked more specifically, She is quite a 'closed' person, so it's difficult to gauge exactly how she feels sometimes and does not like me asking her questions. She is very socially awkward and finds it hard to make friends, but this tends to improve when she gets used to the people and place.

The new school has said that they would like to offer her a place but for the last term of Year 9 on a provisional, trial basis with one month's notice either way, should it not work out. I asked if she could attend on a part-time basis, 3 days per week, so that she could stay on roll at her current school and still attend there part-time. This is so she still has a school place in September should it not work out at the new school and the current school has a long waiting list in all years so we would never be able to get her back in if we withdrew her now. I have been told by the new school it is illegal to have a child on roll at two schools like this and now have some vague memory of having heard this before. Is this true as I have been unable to find out anything specifically to say this is the case? I am really struggling with making the right decision on this one, want to be sure of my facts and what options/considerations there might be. I am very anxious that we may potentially leave her with no school options at a very important point in her school career and also where does this leave us with the EHCNA? This coupled with the fact that they want a decision by the end of tomorrow is really putting the pressure on!

Sorry for the long post! Thanks in advance.

Yes, when a dc leaves a private or state school they are "deregistered" and then registered with the new school so the local authority is aware of where the dc is placed. This process is for safeguarding as well as many other processes. If you remove a dc from a school and home school them this is also noted. I would keep her where she is because the new school is offering a 1 month trial either way, it's too risky.

I think it would be difficult and confusing to try to attend 2 schools, and if she were only to try attending one it would likely be too hard to go back to the other come Sept.

Could the private school perhaps offer an extended trial, maybe a couple of weeks or so? You might have more luck with them agreeing this once term has started.

Our experience is a private school can stop taking your money whenever it likes. Unlike state schools they don't seem to have an obligation to keep a child if they find them too hard work. So the jeopardy of them giving notice on her - maybe on a termly basis rather than monthly - would IME continue throughout her time at the school.

Re the EHCNA, potentially you could use an EHCP to force her a place at her state school even if you deregister. Even a full state school cannot just say they are full, they have to convince the LA (who will likely be keen to place her in a familiar MS state school, and not shy of riding roughshod over schools) that the detriment to other students of her attending outweighs the detriment to her of not attending it. If they take this route you would have a good case but it could take a long time to resolve, and I would be reluctant to have my vulnerable child at a school that resists taking her. OTOH they might welcome her back with open arms and gladly use the EHCP as a queue jumping mechanism for her. It might be worth asking the SENCo, but they are not going to be able to give you a cast iron signed document to guarantee they'd take her back. It would be quite a leap of faith to deregister even if they say they'd take her back.

It's different with a MS private school, you really need them onside to get it named on her EHCP.

With the budget for private school, have you considered online school with a PA to help in the room? It would give the option for a much lighter timetable.

We are in a different, but also quite desperate place, and I do feel for you.

Unfortunately school one is not working and probably won't it the future. If it's the teacher then potentially it could get better next year (if she can identify it is the teacher) but work load only increases and it gets harder.

I'd go with this private school - great they are only offering one month notice - you can test the water. Some private schools say that they are excellent at sen but they are not so do bear that in mind (even if the isi report says excellent in all areas 🤣) I would check out the report and see how many children are listed with sen / EHCP

I'd gamble it though if she can't attend school one for what ever reason it's not meeting her need so probably no future with it. I'd try school 2 and bin the state school - LA would always love you to go back to a mainstream state as cheap option.

Good luck

She should stay on role at her current school and take the trial placement at the SEN school. What a fantastic opportunity.

Roughly whereabouts in the country are you?

Also, if they do accept you without an EHCP and she needs an 1 to 1 - that is the cost to you! Unless you get the independent school named on the EHCP (which is probably a tribunal 1.5 yrs away)

Thank you so much everyone for your answers. I am so nervous about making the wrong decision and leaving her without any option at all. A provisional term with a month's notice either way, plus having to deregister, seems such a risk for us, even though I know what you are saying about the current school not working @seaisamazing . At least, though, she can continue to attend part-time there if the new school doesn't work out while we look for other options and she has made some progress with attending lessons over the past year. I have written and asked the new school if she could do a paid extended trial and a decision could be made from there about a full offer of a place in Year 10 so we can remain on roll at the current school if it doesn't work out. I am really hoping they say yes....

@teacheroffsick We are in Oxfordshire.

Does anyone know what the status of the EHCNA is if we move schools? We are still at the stage of the L.A. deciding whether or not to do one. Would the previous school just be able to wash their hands of it if further information were required from them? Would we have to resubmit, asking for the new school to be named as we feel it is more able to meet her needs? Apologies if these are silly or naive questions; I find it all quite bewildering with lots of mixed messages and unexpected pitfalls! Thank you.

Has the school requested one? And you know that for a fact 100%? Seen the paperwork? Talk is one thing - documentation is another. Never trust anyone and always have everything in writing / emails.

Personally in your in this situation I'd do a parent application- Ipsea has a model letter. Be in control. You could send it off tonight. The whole process is absolutely draining never rely on a school. Go fight for your child 👍

You have to think what you want as the end goal - whether it's worth the mental energy and the stress. It takes a lot out of parents.

Only you know what your child is thinking.

Also try and work out what the triggers were in the last school so it's not repeated! Why did she struggle? If you can work those things out maybe it will be easier to eliminate them. Any independents are LONG school hours more demands / more languages - is she ok with that

Good luck!

As she has only done trials on Y10 and she is being offered a place in Y9 I would suggest you ask for more taster days. In particular, I suggest you ask for a whole week (5 consecutive days) at the start of next term. This will give her time to settle in and you time to assess if this is likely to be a successful move before you deregister her from her current school.

My understanding is an EHCNA is basically separate from the school. Selecting the school comes right at the end after the draft has been shared and commented on. The process and reports should be agnostic to which school the child is attending. The current school will need to fill in a form because they know the child, but their input should not depend on her continuing to go there.

If the request has definitely gone in then you should get the same access to info and chance to input to the process as you would had you kicked it off yourself. In my county it's all on a (slightly rubbish) online platform thing, but I don't know if that is universal. If you don't have that set up make sure the request has gone in, stay on it, and be prepared to kick it off yourself if it turns out it hasn't quite gone in yet. LA has 6 weeks to decide whether to assess after the initial request goes in.

I think that when a child has a "managed move", they stay on the books at the school they are coming from in case it doesn't work out.
Obviously managed moves are usually between state schools, but I wonder whether, if the current school are willing, the move could be treated as a managed move so that they can keep her place open.

Thanks for all of your advice and information. I really appreciate it. The EHCNA has definitely been submitted; I have a formal acknowledgement from the L.A., an assigned person at the L.A. and have set up an account for their online system. So, we are just waiting for the 6 week period to end to see the result now. Thank you @Piony for the information about moving schools and the EHCNA; that's reassuring. @seaisamazing We think the new school should address the triggers as her issues stem from sensory overload (noise, busy, large environments, disruptive/poor behaviour which is not managed). This is a very small, calm school, 10 in a year, where the focus is on an individual approach and it is set in a large, countryside setting where the children are encouraged to be outside. I am really hoping this works out but 11.30 am and still haven't heard a response to my email last night where I requested an extended trial...They wanted it all confirmed by the end of today so feeling the pressure!