Child not in education failed manage move.

[LeapingSpice]

I thought i would come on here as a last resort. my daughter has been in school A for all of year 7 and the start of year 8, but she was having a hard time at school after witnessing a traumatic event, bullying, and was travelling far to get to school, and most days she would just refuse school because she hated it.
We applied for a transfer to school b, but because they were full it turned into a manage move. My daughter was at school b from March 5th to June 20th, and she made new friends, got onto the dance team, improved her grades, had 100% attendance, and the school was closer to home.
Unfortunately on June 20th the school phoned me and said she had failed her manage move, because of lateness. My child has a problem with punctuality that i am working on with her, but she struggles with her mental health a lot especially when at school.
She had been late to avoid going to form where some girls had been giving her trouble and she had to sit next to them, but she had been to her pastoral multiple times about this asking to move forms and nothing happened.
I have appealed the failed manage move, contacted local governors, emailed and called both schools multiple times and had no help getting her back into a school, and right now she is not registered at any school. She has taken accountability for where she has went wrong and is willing to put in 100% effort to change that, but she desperately wants to be back in school b. Any advice would be appreciated

I'm afraid this is wrong. The document to which you have linked is a guide for parents. Maintained schools and academies do not have to adhere to it at all. Schools have to adhere to the law, the Admissions Code and the Admission Appeals Code. They also have to adhere to statutory guidance aimed at schools unless the school judges on admissible grounds that there is good reason to depart from it, but even then they must stick as close to the guidance as possible.

The guidance for schools is at Suspension and permanent exclusion guidance. This is non-statutory guidance, so adherence to it is not compulsory. This does not say anything about the permissibility of trial periods for managed moves. The relevant legislation is also silent on the subject.

The legal position is that, notwithstanding the comments you highlight in the guide for parents, trial periods for managed moves are permissible and, in my experience, are common.

The problem is that OP says her child has been on the roll of the second school and has been offrolled. Without a permanent exclusion, that is unlawful.

The child hasn't been off rolled from School B, she was never on roll. The managed move failed, child should have returned to School A, but OP deregistered her from School A. There isn't any need for a permanent exclusion as the child has never been on roll at School B so there is no law being broken. Child attended School B on a managed move she has never been 'on roll' and was only removed from roll at School A at parents request.
OP can still apply for an In Year Admission place at School B. If they gave space then they are required to admit the child. If they have sufficient evidence to refuse under Section 3.10 of the admissions code, it will be discussed at a fair access panel, the most likely outcome being that child returns to school A. The Fair Access panel cannot force School B to admit but there must be an outcome of a school place being offered and a right of appeal given if its not the OP first preference. If it doesn't go to Fair Access (school is full etc) then child would be placed on waiting list of preferences and still offered 'a place' at 'a school' and parent given the right of appeal for their preferences. Governors etc cannot admit to School B without that application and result.

The child hasn't been off rolled from School B, she was never on roll

Where do you get that from? OP says she was removed from the roll, and if the school followed the DfE guidance then it would certainly have put her on the roll. I suspect people are confused because what exactly happened is confusing anyway, since OP says the arrangement has been described to her as both an offsite direction and a managed move. Either way, it doesn't sound like the required protective procedures were followed.

I suspect that OP is using removed from roll to describe the cancellation of the managed move, subsequently OP then deregistered her child from School A which is where she was on roll all the time during the managed move. Schools often use 'directed off site' when they're seeking to describe a move to another school primarily for behaviour reasons (so a child who is at risk of permanent exclusion due to a high number of suspensions for example) Even with directed off site placements, students are dual registered for a period of time also, which then means they can be returned to the original school if the placement breaks down.
In OP's case I'd be seeking the paperwork for the move (School B still won't change the outcome but it will provide clarity rather than what OP seems to have been told by staff)

If you no longer wish to EHE, you can inform the LA and request a school place. It isn’t guaranteed to be the preferred school. If your preferred school has a place they must offer it unless they can prove the exception in the Admissions Code other posters have mentioned. If they don’t have a space, you would be able to appeal.

Can you look at other schools? And get support for DD’s mental health and your own mental health? What SEN support has DD received around her mental health?

You should have paperwork.

It sounds like she didn’t get on at either school. I mean this gently - maybe the schools aren’t the problem here?

There are no protective procedures, which is often why parents won't agree to a managed move as its not agreeing a place at the new school. They can and do fail with regularity, the only premise is that the child has to be able to return to the sending school when the move fails. OP deregistered from the sending school therefore the child is now electively home educated until such a time as OP makes an in year admission application. School B haven't 'off rolled' the child, they've simply sent her back to the original school, which is perfectly legitimate and happens on a regular basis.
Managed move paperwork will list the targets the child is expected to meet, parent and child will have been to an initial meeting at the new school where this agreement is signed. There will have been a mid point review attended by both schools and the percentage recorded against how the child is getting on with the targets. Often, if a child is struggling with a particular target, the new school will extend the time and offer support into how the targets can be brought back on track. The receiving school doesn't suddenly announce that child is no longer welcome, it's a process.
OP, in order to understand what has gone wrong, contact the sending school if you want that confirmation. If you aren't intending to electively home educated, then you need to make an In Year Admission application as soon as possible so that your child has a school place somewhere.

i have support for my mental health but none for my daughter. she has received no SEN support around her mental health. she was starting to get on at school b in her last week there ; the bullying stopped and my daughter’s behaviour improved but it was too late. there was a mid point review, and at this review i was told she was getting on well, and settling in. it was shortly after that the lateness started, and her time was extended but no support was offered to bring the targets back on track.

What support could they have given? With all kindness, staff cannot be responsible for getting your child to school on time - they can't physically walk your child to school. You must have been aware that the lateness was a problem because they (School B) extended the placement, rather than take her on roll, and this would have been communicated to you, and to School A.

Concerns must have been raised at the review otherwise it wouldn’t have been extended.

Seek support for DD’s mental health.

If you stop EHE and DD re-enters the school system, speak to them about support with emotional regulation and mentoring.

The school could deal also with bullying straight away.

Support for mental health would come through a referral from the GP to CAMHS. The waiting lists are long. Some local authorities (not all) have a department within their SEND and Inclusion teams where a school can refer a student for counselling but that is usually for 'mild' mental health issues and is a referral by the school. School B wouldn't have been able to put any mental health support in as she wasn't on their roll (schools have to 'buy in' to any service) and the funding they receive for each student would be allocated to that.
Pretty much the only support they can give for persistent lateness is for a student to report to a particular member of the pastoral team (in case the student is trying to avoid tutor period etc) If the lateness then persists then there's very little they can do as persistent lateness ends up having to be recorded as absent.
It sounds like electively home educating would be very difficult for you OP, the local authority do have an 'EHE team' which includes advisory teachers, but her education is still your responsibility not theirs. I'd put in the In Year admission application now and see how it goes so that you at least have a plan for September.

Never ever take a child off the school register because the onus is on them to educate your child and they don’t care once you take them off … my their problem anymore.
do you have evidence of counselling etc that your child has had about any of the bullying? Get support from the pastoral person, do you have any emails from her, or any emails from you to the school about the bullying? I always put everything in writing so it’s in black and white and ask for meetings to sort any bigger issues out (my son is the same year and has had issues with bullies as he’s ND, I don’t let them get away with it without a big fuss and expectation that something is done to help). Good luck but I’d be challenging it with school B and I’d also contact the council and explain

Schools, including a school in a managed moved, can and should support pupils with SEMH difficulties within school at a SEN Support level. Not all support involves buying in outside support or referral to other agencies (although in most areas schools can also refer to CAMHS).

i don’t have any evidence of it as her pastoral told her it ‘wasn’t a big enough issue’ and told her to ignore it, but my daughter has some screenshots of threatening texts she was receiving, and it was mostly discussed over phone calls. my daughter was having panic attacks and the only teacher who helped her with this was the pastoral of the year above. i have just been in touch with school a and the paperwork won’t be official to deregister her until September, i have contacted the LA and am waiting for a response.

Then she should be able to return to school A particularly if they still have spaces.

i don’t want her returning to school a for a number of reasons.

@LeapingSpiceonce again (and kindly) you need to think of a plan B. Leave her on roll at school A which gives you room to manoeuvre.

You need to take her to the GP. It’s not just down to the school.

with regard to school B you say ‘ she was turning things round in the last week there’ but she Must have had her review and a period of time lapsed (enough for the school to cancel the move). She had been warned and only started to come round in the last week. You can see why they might be reticent to let her carry on.

Did you not follow up the bullying yourself? In future, you should, in writing.

What support though? It’s your responsibility to get your child to school on time - school has no control over this. What did you do to get her there - you knew she was leaving on time and with L360 knew she wasn’t getting there………

I’m afraid this is not correct. Read para 48 of the DfE Exclusions Guidance. A managed move is a permanent move. A temporary move is an Off Site Direction. OP stated her daughter had been placed on roll at school b then removed from roll, without permanent exclusion they would not have grounds for removal from roll. Whilst you say schools do not have to adhere to a guidance published by the gov for parents, I would absolutely be encouraging a parent to challenge a school who has failed to follow government guidance.

@Portofunoi think it’s quite clear OP is not sure either way and I would bet they aren’t on role permanently or otherwise at school B.

You are the one who is not correct, as is clear from your attempt to shift your ground.

The actual wording is, " A managed move is used to initiate a process which leads to the transfer of a pupil to another mainstream school permanently". A managed move starts the process of a permanent transfer. It is not a permanent transfer in and of itself. There is nothing in the wording of this section of the guidance that prohibits a trial period. And up to this point you have insisted that trial periods are not lawful. They clearly are.

Challenging a school that has failed to follow non-statutory guidance will get you precisely nowhere. If a school is persistently ignoring guidance, Ofsted may consider if it indicates wider issues, but they won't mark a school down simply for ignoring guidance if there are no other issues. And there is no-one parents can go to who will enforce non-statutory guidance. The ESFA, the LA and the courts will not be interested.

Sorry to hear your DD has had a rough time.

MH difficulties, bullying, and school anxiety/avoidance sound like there is quite a lot in the mix for her.

is it possible she is undiagnosed autistic or ADHD?

if anyone has suggested that in the past, I would suggest you ask the GP about it. Assessment waiting lists are very long, and in those years things can deteriorate (sorry, not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic).

You could contact the LA and explain that your DD was leaving home on time but being being late to tutor time to avoid being near the girls bullying her.

explain that she asked several times to move form as a solution and that she wants to attend school B and needs support to do so.

ask the LA to broker the situation with school b and get a plan in place for support for her to return to a different form.

I would suggest you don’t tell the LA you have offered/suggested to EHE her, as that removes any onus on the LA to help get her back to school B, instead, explain your reasons for believing that she will not be able to attend school A again successfully.

talk about these things using the language of “barriers to attendance” and the need for “reasonable adjustments “ and support for her MH difficulties. This is what they are anyway, but it helps to talk to the LA in their own language.

Ring the LA and speak to the education inclusion team if there is one in your area