School Fees - how worried are you now

[Lifeiseveryday]

So when the VAT came in, I wasn’t too worried about school fees….maybe I had my head in the sand!
However, for next year, a number of schools near us have hiked both the fees recently, alongside the VAT.
I’m feeling much more nervous now about where the fees are going to end up and the impact this will have on children. School is affordable for us but I am not sure if it is ‘value for money’ anymore.
I know there have been lots of threads on VAT but I am more worried now, than when the policy came out. So as a temperature check, how is everyone else feeling? I have 8 more years of fees…

Some children maybe, most send children no.

The law is the same for all DC seeking EHCPs. If an EHCP is required, it is possible to secure one without the need to force DC to attend an unsuitable setting.

Sorry, but lived reality is very different. ‘Possible’ is not the same as ‘common practice’. Again, happy you found support for your child, but I would have hoped being in the send community you had enough awareness to realise that is a rarity unless you can pay for it or provide for it yourself.

I do this day in, day out. Yes, many have to appeal, but you can get EHCPs for DC without forcing them to attend an inappropriate setting. That is reality.

Yes you can, but it is very very rare that you go straight to an EHCP without setting foot in school. Mostly children with profound disabilities.

for the majority of send children your choice is to try and work with the system or opt out (private or home ed). Working within the system is torturous, and - if you really ‘do this day in, day out’ you would know that. Not even going to bother citing the stats because just google uk send crisis and you can take your pick . Going through the process does take years for many due to waitlists and LA stalling tactics, during which time you either send your child to an inappropriate school where they suffer or keep them home with inadequate provision - for YEARS that you can never get back for your child or your career. Or are you one of those that minimises years of struggle, and potentially trauma, because they ‘got there in the end’?

just because you made it work for your child, please don’t whitewash the experience of the majority of us.

I do do this day in, day out. And not just for my DC. I have supported thousands of parents to secure provision for their DC. I didn’t say it was easy, or that LAs rolled over, just that you can successfully appeal without forcing DC to attend somewhere inappropriate. Many have to appeal, but you can successfully appeal to secure EHCPs for DC without forcing them to attend an unsuitable setting.

Yes, LAs stall and act unlawfully. Parents don’t have to accept that without challenging the LA. They can take enforcement action, including JR if necessary. Waiting lists for things like EPs are irrelevant. Despite what LAs say, that is not a lawful excuse.

Getting an EHCP without attending school really isn’t very very rare or only for DC with profound disabilities. This academic year I have secured EHCPs for a few DC who EHE who had never attended a setting and a handful of DC below compulsory school age who had never attended school.

And remaining in the system does not have to equal forcing DC to attend school if it is inappropriate. It isn’t rare for DC who remain on a school’s roll but who are unable to attend to get EHCPs. I have done this for lots of DC this academic year. For CSA pupils, parents can force the LA to provide s19 provision whilst going through the EHCP process - where LAs refuse/ignore or provide something that isn’t suitable &/or full-time parents can, again, take enforcement action including JR. No, not easy, but possible without forcing DC to attend an inappropriate setting, which was my whole point.

That should say a setting rather than school for those below CSA.

right, and how long do all of these appeals take? And even if they get through the process with a positive outcome that acknowledges need for a different sort of provision, good luck finding a spot at an appropriate school - again it could be years. During which time your choice is either school or home - neither of which would be adequate in our situation, and which in itself is another form of neglect. Another way of framing our choice to opt out and go private is an unwillingness to allow my child to be neglected when I had the means to provide something more appropriate.

i understand now that this is your business so you want to focus on what is possible and positive outcomes, but the reality is that the majority of send children are poorly served, a significant number of them experience trauma related to schooling, and any help they receive is usually years too late to have made the desired impact.

And that is, of course, your choice. I didn’t say otherwise. Neither did I say it wasn’t a valid choice or that DC (and parents!) don’t have trauma. As per my first post on the subject, I was pointing out, "Parents don’t have to force their child to attend school if that isn’t appropriate. It is possible to successfully appeal without doing that.”

For DC who are not in school, you can request an expedited hearing that can knock several months off the wait for a hearing. If you have to appeal all 3 stages, yes, it can take a couple of years.

However, in the meantime, the choice does not have to be school or home. Section 19 provision does not have to be at home if that isn't suitable &/or isn't what you want (LAs can't force parents to have provision in the home).

On its own, being full is not enough of a reason to refuse to name a non-wholly independent placement. And where it is inappropriate for provision to be made in a school, there is EOTAS/EOTIS (with or without the C on the end). Although LAs may force parents to appeal.

I am not sure what you mean by saying ‘my business’. I don’t have ‘a business’. I am, however, passionate about all DC getting the provision they need, so I will always comment on myths like you have to force DC to attend an inappropriate setting. DC whose parents know the system, can advocate for them and enforce their rights get better support. It shouldn’t be like that and fails the most vulnerable. Sadly, it isn’t going to change in the foreseeable future.

It isn’t a ‘myth’ that children get stuck in inappropriate settings for lengthy periods of time - you yourself acknowledge that it takes time (sometimes years) and multiple appeals to get an appropriate placement.

It is a myth that it “would require forcing them into an environment that is distressing and inappropriate for months / years”. Parents don’t have to force their child to attend school if that isn’t appropriate. It is possible to successfully appeal without doing that. I never said it wasn’t quick.

But if staying home and going to school are distressing in different ways? What are my options then?

As I have already posted, section 19 provision does not have to be at home.

Or for those parents who do want to make their own arrangements, they can do this as well as pursuing a Tribunal. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.

And that happens from day 1 with no time spent in an inappropriate setting?

Provision should be provided as should as it becomes clear 15 days will be missed. The days don’t need to have already been missed or consecutive and provision should start by the 6th day of absence at the latest. As I have already posted, where LAs delay/ignore or provide something that isn’t full-time &/or is in suitable parents can force LAs to provide the provision. And parents don’t have to force DC’s to attend school during that time if it isn’t appropriate.

Equally most parents who decide a school is inappropriate and they are going to go private don’t decide that and the next day start at an independent school.

*as soon as.

Right, so we are back to months / years in an inappropriate setting by the time we navigate all the (often ignored) statutory deadlines, appeals, etc.

It doesn’t take years to enforce section 19 provision. The vast majority of which get no further than the threat of JR or a pre-action letter. Few get to JR proceedings themselves. Even fewer get to a hearing. And, if it does, you can request interim provision is Ordered. You don’t/can’t appeal to SENDIST for section 19 provision. They are different systems. And, as I said, parents don’t need to force DC to attend school in the meantime if it is inappropriate.

And also like I said, it doesn’t have to be either or. Parents who choose to make their own arrangements can also pursue an EHCP.

Step away from the acronyms. I have a child that finds mainstream state school traumatic, but equally is not able to be educated at home - how long can I reasonably expect to wait before appropriate provision is provided? How long will they spend in an unsuitable environment before all of this happens, assuming it is all successful?

Fwiw I know multiple children with no access to adequate provision for years, despite diligent, clued in parents. It really isn’t as simple as follow these steps and all will be well.

the more common pattern is for LA to deny a need until it becomes irrefutable and the give half as much as is appropriate (but had it been delivered earlier might have been sufficient).

The acronyms I used are everyday terms in the SEN system. If you know the SEN system and SEN law I assumed you would know them. Again, parents do not have to send their child to an unsuitable school for even 1 day. I don’t know how else to explain that. Also again, provision should be made as soon as it becomes clear 15 days will be missed and provision should start by the 6th day of absence at the latest, and where that doesn’t happen enforcement action can be taken. Impossible to put a precise timescale on enforcement action. Most don’t get any further than a pre-action letter though and it doesn’t take years.

Anyone with CSA DC who hasn’t had provision ‘for years’ should pursue JR proceedings.

You are hiding behind the legal framework of how things should work and ignoring the reality. It is quite telling that you think all of this is a common language with a clear formula to follow. Again, I know many parents who start to finish spend years advocating for adequate provision, and still don’t get what they really need when they need it.

bringing it back to the topic of the thread, parents who have the means and are unwilling so see their children neglected, traumatised end up stretching for private provision- including school, assessments, therapy, etc. my advice to any parent with a suspected send child would be to go private if you can, as the system is an unreliable mess and your children only has so many years of childhood it is a shame to squander any of them struggling in a system that isn’t fit for purpose.

JR and SENDIST are everyday terms in the SEN world. Anyone who understands the SEN system and SEN law would know what they mean. Anyone who has even read SOSSEN’s website would know.

I am not hiding behind anything. I have said LAs act unlawfully. I have said it is not easy. I never said it was quick. Parents don’t have to sit back and accept unlawful behaviour. They can take enforcement action.

I didn’t say parents can’t go private, whether they also pursue an EHCP or not.

But denying children spend lengthy periods stuck without adequate support is duplicitous