What school to put down on EHCP? (Year 5 entry)

[WhichSchooltoDecide]

Year 5 entry due to 3 tier system in my town, in September 2024. DC has an EHCP so any of the schools can be forced to take them:

All ofsted reports are good. Current school thinks any would be fine.

School A – 0.8m from home – staff were extremely rude to me when I looked round, extremely strict on uniform (as in Blazers, shirts and long trousers from Year 5 and no summer uniform), layout of the school would suit DCs conditions though, DC could walk to it alone as the work is very safe. This is DCs preferred choice due to wanting to be away from current classmates. No-one from their school let alone their class will go here.

School B – 0.9m from home, Catchment school - Has completely ignored any emails or phonecalls I or the council have made to them so I have no idea whether the layout would suit as I’ve not seen it. According to the website Years 5 and 6 can either wear a blazer and shirt or a jumper and shirt and tie so a bit more relaxed than school A. DC could walk half way once I’d got them passed the big dual carriage way. This is councils preferred choice. I want to rule it out as they've ignored all attempts at contact but council say it's still on the table as a choice and I can veto it according to the council (apparently because we're looking at MS not Special there's more choice)

School C – 11 miles from home, next town over and a Primary not a Middle School – I think this is the best option for DC, but DC is not keen, it’s a typical primary school with outdoor space and very self contained so I think that’d be better than different classes in different places of the Middle Schools. Council have said if I go for this one I’d have to get DC there myself, and being so far away might limit friendships a bit.

School D – 12 miles from home, next town over but different town to school C and is a Middle School again – Nice enough, layout would work but far away in terms of physically getting DC there. Again I'd be responsible for getting DC there.

I think I’ve ruled out School D, but have included it just in case and to show I’ve seen a lot of schools, I’ve seen 10 schools and spoken to around 15 to rule them out.

Any thoughts on which school would suit?

It only has to suit until Year 6 as we have a school in mind for Secondary (not a special school, but a resource base MS secondary). Apart from school C I'm not particularly impressed with any of the options available and think it'll be a case of picking the best of the worst if that makes sense.

Have you spoken to the Senco at school 1?

Depending on his needs they may adapt uniform if that's a concern?

@yoshiblue Yes the Senco showed us round and was very rude to both me and DC.

I think a rude senco would worry me more than a non-communicative senco. Keep trying to get an appt at school b.

That’s not good!

@yoshiblue Thankfully DC didn't seem to notice and I held my tongue before complaining afterwards but she seemed very impatient with DC and none of the other children seemed to even acknowledge her let alone speak to her, it gave me a poor impression of the school which is ashame as the layout itself worked and some of the other teachers seemed lovely.

If you want the resource base, I think it would be best to plan backwards from that.

If you take a middle school place and it works fine, will your LA be reluctant to place in RB for Y7? RB might well be full by Y9.

You might be safer going to the primary so DC must have a new placement for Y7.

On the other hand, if you take the primary place but then the LA won't give you an RB place, will you have a suitable Secondary to go to for Y7 or would you have to take a middle school place for Y7&8- meaning more moves than necessary?

Those are the issues I'd be working on.

Are you guaranteed to get a place in the resource base? They tend to be over subscribed and you may have a fight to get in depending on circumstances.

I would be worried about A’s SENCO. Are there any other options? If you went for a primary school what are the options for secondary other than the ARB?

Even with school C&D you can still argue for transport. If you do this SENTAS can help, their article here explains more.

School 1 sounds best for your child. Difficult for us to know whether the senco was actually rude to you, or just had a manner you didn’t like. How much contact would you be expecting to have with the senco? Is it worth passing up on potentially the right school just because you weren’t keen on someone when they showed you round?
Senco might even leave in the next term/ year.

Secondary options are:

Obviously A and B, for Years 7 and 8, either School E or F for Year 9 -11, School E I'm not keen on but has a good reputation locally and outstanding Oftsed. I don't know much about School F but it is a traditional high school but has a Y9 intake due to several towns locally have 3 tier system they also mix up their classes at Y9 according to the website due to the intake.

Resource Base at School G - Resource base is oversubscribed as is school G. G is a nice school though, and would be my preferred option over E or F anyway. It's about 15 miles away which isn't too far.

Then there's School H or I which C feeds into. Both of which are fine in terms of DC going there. I'd be happy for either G, H or I but if DC got put in E or F I'd probably be ok with it to.

Don't force a school to take your child if they don't want them there. I've seen it too many times where it has been a disaster. Definitely skip the rude school. Try again with the unresponsive school - they may be disorganised rather than unwelcoming, which while not perfect is probably tolerable. Could you try popping in? You might get a bit of a feel for the place just by speaking to the receptionist, and if there isn't someone available to talk to you on the spot hopefully it might put you higher up someone's call sheet? You could also ask about the school on any local FB groups.

Your amount of choice amazes me. Where in the country are you? We have one mainstream secondary in our town, all other secondaries and special schools 20+ miles (40+ minutes) away (and no chance of getting spaces)

Surely you realise than many, many areas of the country have more than one secondary school within a 20 mile radius?

With an EHCP unless the school is wholly independent the LA must name parental preference unless they can prove:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs (“SEN”) of the child or young person; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.

Yes of course I realise. I was just commenting!

When you asked where in the country OP was I read it as you thought it was uncommon. Apologies if you didn’t mean it that way and I misread your post.

@WhichSchooltoDecide

If you have decided on a secondary school- are any of the schools you listed feeder schools for the secondary school? That's what I would be looking at- then your DC will have friends going to the same school to ease transitions as it will be the 2nd one in 2 years.

School A as it sounds as though it is a fresh start and most allows independence.

If you have a school nearby which can meet need, LA will argue cost of transport to a further away school, which has risen significantly (costed recently for us a 15 miles journey there and back taxi, was £18,000), so unless there is a bus, they will want you to transport. If you go for a primary, they may then transfer you to a middle school for the last 2 years, before high school. The good thing about middle school is allowing development within a setting aimed at younger children, to year 8, rather than a secondary from year 7. You need to ask LA about resource base and admissions- they will probably hesitate if in mainstream, as it is a step up in support given, that the middle school are able to provide. Are they all within your LA? LA due to lots of factors are prioritising their own students for their provision (might not be allowed, but can also understand if giving a place to out of area, results in a transport cost of £20,000, that is the education of another local child). I am guessing Herts borders, given mixture/number of schools available

No, more a comment on how crap it is round here!

@PMAmostofthetime School H or I which C (the primary) feeds into.

School B is the school most of DCs current classmates will go to if not all, current school is 3 form entry so some from their class or the other classes may go to C or D but then transfer to either private for Year 7 or go to A or B from Year 7 until move to high school at Y9.

It's such a hard choice. Until seeing School A I thought that was where we'd name, but now due to the experience I'm not so keen. I would expect even if pupils didn't know a teachers name they'd smile or say hi or hold open the door and there was just none of that when I visited A, it was almost like the Senco didn't exist. I also felt like an inconvience to the Senco, she'd huff every time I asked a question and either be very short with it or direct us to the website, which is strange to me. For comparison the current school I asked questions when looking round the HT was lovely, even if the information was available on the website she answered every question with a smile and even let DC get involved in some activities the classes we saw where doing.

Apologies again for misreading your post.

LA due to lots of factors are prioritising their own students for their provision

If it is a maintained school the LA the school is in must be consulted but legally it is the child’s LA who makes the decision. The child’s LA can, and must unless one of the exceptions applies, name the school if it is the parental preference even if the other LA or school objects (wholly independent schools excepted). Although LAs may force parents to appeal.

I'm thinking C.

Purely because if they are in primary then they will have to move at end of year 6. If he starts middle they may be difficult saying it can meet need and naming the new placement could prove a headache.

Is there any prospect of moving closer to school G and exploring other options for yr 5 & 6 near to there?

@Unexpecteddrivinginstructor Sadly not, ExH would never give me permission to go and I don't have the money to fight him through the courts so I could, even if I "win" and get a move the CAO alone cost nearly £15k and i'm still paying for it now, I just don;t have that kind of money again.