Not happy with school place given

[BabyTurtIe]

My daughter has asd and is currently in a mainstream primary, going forward in her annual review I told them I wanted dd to go to a SEN school as she’s still very much behind mentally and socially and has a full time 1:1 all day, at the annual review they disagreed with me and said mainstream was fine, I went against this and applied for two sen schools and one mainstream (the schools were outside of the borough and my borough specified if applying for schools outside the borough I need to put down one in the borough) well of course she was given the mainstream school in the borough. I won’t be sending her there as it’s not suitable or appropriate and I’m not happy to send her to mainstream. What can I do about this as I’m feeling forced to home educate, she won’t be going to the mainstream at all.

From your post I presume DD has an EHCP?

You can appeal to SENDIST. Don’t bother with mediation, you are only required to consider mediation, not actively partake in it so just get the certificate and submit to SENDIST. LAs often use mediation as a delaying tactic, if they are going to appeal they will do so regardless of whether you actively partake or just get the certificate.

You should appeal B&F as well as I as they will be written to support the placement the LA have named in I.

Are the SS wholly independent? If not, the LA must name your 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.

Think about getting independent assessments.

Have you looked at IPSEA and SOSSEN. If you post on the SN boards you might get some helpful replies.

BTW you didn’t have to name a school in your LA and you didn’t have to list 3 schools either.

Whilst the previous poster is correct that you didn't have to name a school in your LA, I would imagine the LA recommended this so that you had a chance of avoiding being allocated a place at a school you really hated. Putting that school on your application didn't make any difference to your likelihood of getting a place at one of the SEN schools. However, SEN schools generally fall outside the normal admissions process, so it was unlikely you would get the place you wanted this way. I think the previous poster is right about your next steps.

prh47bridge I don’t think the OP filled the normal common admissions form in. Some LAs ask parents of DC with EHCPs to list preferences on a separate form where they can state special schools. Even with mainstream schools with an EHCP applications are outwith the normal process as the EHCPs should be finalised by 15th Feb.

If your DD has an EHCP and the LA did not agree to specialist at transition review then you would not have been considered for specialist places I’m afraid. Presumably you now have a final EHCP with mainstream named - you should have received this by Feb 15th? So you can now appeal. There is a process to follow as mentioned above. Skip mediation and get the certificate and then complete the SEND35 form and send it off with the required documentation. You will likely not get a tribunal date until June/July unfortunately.
Meantime gather evidence - you will be required to demonstrate to the tribunal that your child’s needs cannot be met in mainstream. You may need additional private reports as it seems based on your current evidence the LA believe mainstream can meet need. Speak to the SENCO at your allocated school and see if they are prepared to state in writing that they can’t meet need. See if current primary will also provide supporting evidence for the need for specialist secondary.

@Imitatingdory

prh47bridge I don’t think the OP filled the normal common admissions form in. Some LAs ask parents of DC with EHCPs to list preferences on a separate form where they can state special schools. Even with mainstream schools with an EHCP applications are outwith the normal process as the EHCPs should be finalised by 15th Feb.

You may be right. It isn't clear from her post. It read to me like she may have been pushed through the normal admissions process. But yes, if she has an EHCP she is in a strong position.

Yes she has a EHCP, I wasn’t aware there was two forms, I was given the forms by the senco and asked to fill them in, the forms allowed me to apply for any schools so I put two sen schools outside of our borough as there are two in our borough but they are for children with SLD which dd doesn’t have, on the forms it said if applying for schools outside the borough I need to put at least one inside the borough. The reason for the school and professionals not supporting a special school was because dd is “not behind enough academically” whilst she is behind they said it is not enough to require a special school, despite dd having full 1:1 all day and she is socially and mentally much younger than her age and is behind in that way. I don’t want dd in a mainstream school I know she won’t cope with it.

Not behind enough is a poor excuse for refusing SS. DC don’t need to be academically struggling to attend one.

Don’t worry about the forms, you didn’t need to fill 2 in. LAs who like parents whose DC have EHCPs to complete a form often have their common admission form for the normal admissions process and a separate form for parents whose DC have EHCPs.

What is the date of your final EHCP, this is important as I you can then work out if you still have an appeal window.
As well as looking at LA special schools you can also look at independent schools and they can be funded with an EHCP.
I recommend getting in touch with SOS!SEN or IPSEA to get good legal advice so you can get your DD the school place she needs.

If you have a EHCPlan was there no discussion about which school would be best for daughter, which would then lead to a school being named on the EHCPlan? As others have said this should have been completed by mid February.
The fact that you named two special schools as your preference schools on the application form for secondary places may have been missed by the LA as they were both outside the borough.
However much more important is to start the process of appeal for a special school place because this will take some time.

Mmm. Sounds like it might be one of "those" EHCPs with no specific placement named in it.... Tribunal is the way to go.

Sounds like it might be one of "those" EHCPs with no specific placement named in it

I don’t think so, it sounds like the mainstream school is named in I.

Fair dos yes, probably has mainstream school named. Either way, tribunal is the way to go.