Secondary school admissions with a disability and very bright

[sparklygothkat]

We are looking at schools for Ds1 and have been told about 2 schools which are about 4 miles from us, that are suitable for his disability and will push him to the max. to learn. The problem is that there is a school 3 miles from us that can meet his disability needs, but is not the best in the area. I have phone the schools dept. at children, school and families, and they said that we would be able to apply under rule 2. but would they still say that we must take the nearest school?

anyone?

the admissions rules at one school are

Students who have a Statement of Special Educational Needs which names Marlborough school are automatically admitted to the school.
1.Students who are in public care.

2.Students for whom it can be demonstrated that they have a particular medical or social need to go to the school, (evidence should be provided by a professional dealing with the child?s case).

3.Students who have a sibling on the roll of the school at the time of application.

4.Students who attend the following primary schools:
Mount Pleasant Lane , Bricket Wood (maximum 20 places)
Fairfield School , Radlett (maximum 15 places)
(Numbers in 5 are inclusive of students who gain admission under Rules 1, 2, 3 & 4).

5.Students whose permanent address is closest to the school.

the other school rules are the same apart from the primary school rule

I would have thought that if the "professional" says that the school is the right one and names it, that overrules the rest.

he doesn't have a statement though.

so we should be able to get him into the school even though its not our nearest school? I get confused easily

sorry sgk,
did i read that correctly- that your ds does not have a statement? really??

imo- (and like you haven't got enough on your plate with baby Callum) then now is the time to get him a statement to ensure that his needs will be continued to be met at secondary level(including getting him into the school you want)

sorry if that's not what you want to hear but imagine if there are other children with statements who get in, as they get priority over your ds.....

he doesn't have a statement because he doesn't have any learning problems.

my dd has a statement and she does not have any learning difficulties. Hers is just for physical help getting from class room to class room etc.She has cp too.She has had a statement from reception.She is now in year 9,we were able to name the school we wanted her to go to.It is not the nearest and she gets transport.

We were lucky in that she did a year at a special school pre recption as she could not walk and they did the statement, at first she was offrered minimal hours but the head pushed for more hours as the school then had a lot of stairs everywhere.She would probably have had it cut befors now but had the multi-level surgery nearly two years ago.

unfortunely where we live ypu have to have2 areas of difficulties to get a statement

oh beep, how is dd now after her surgery? i remember all her pictures.

oh beep ds1 is having that done in the spring... [nervous]

She is doing really well, its been really tough for all of us.There were lots of times when I wondered if we had done the right thing.She managed to ditch the sticks in the summer which was fantastic. Her balanace is still not fantastic but she had problems with it before.

She stands much taller and her feet and knees face forward,its funny how quickly you forget what they used to look like.

Who told you they need 2 areas of difficulty? I think you have been fobbed off

All LEAs have to assess for a statement, they will wriggle out of it f they can

My daughter is only physically disabled and has a statment, it gives her 1-1 support and access to physio/ot in school

As for the secondary school, he will just be counted as a 'normal' applicant without statment, so you will go through the same process as everyone else. You can try to get in on medical/social and should get letters from professionals to support you

If you get offered a place at the other school, you have a right to appeal. A panel of lay people will hear your case and the LEAs case and make a decision. Again, letters from gp, social worker (if you have one) paed, OT, physio (all or one) will help your case. You really need to be able to say why School A is the only school to meets his needs, so research all the schools and decide what to focus on. (you can't just prefer it iyswim) So focus on things like support units, size of school, facilities, access etc or anything your prefered school has that the others don't

I would fight to get him a statement though, as secondary is much much harder than primary and you may find he has more needs (ie tiredess, physio input/sessions,keeping up with writing, technology to make note taking quicker can be written into statement) A statement would help with strategies to help him meet his full potential in any setting and the LEA must pay as it is a legal document

It's really worth fighting for the school you want