EHCP secondary admission

[Aislyn]

Any insight into this process?

I am petrified what I will be given.

My dd is highly vulnerable, due to autism and ADHD. She has full-time 1:1 support, which a FOI request has revealed that the council wants to withdraw it at the end of the school year, just as she is making a huge transition into secondary school.

I filled out the EHCP admission form, which only allowed me to name 3 schools. We would be happy with any of these 3, but I really worry we will be given another random option, with no support.

I am seriously considering sending my daughter out of the country to live with relatives abroad if this happens, as the local secondary would be so disastrous for her. (For context, it is full of knives and gangs, and given my daughter's vulnerability I cannot subject her to that).

Do parents normally get one of their 3 choices? Are they contacted if the council is consulting other options?

What year is your kid in? If it is Year 6 then the consultations and early annual review should have happened by now as final plans have to be issued by mid February.

What type of school do you want?

I would only put the school you want alongside a letter as to why they can meet needs. The EHCP secondary transfer process isn't the same as the usual process so no need to put 3 as it could weaken your case.

Ask for the consultation responses too.

The IPSEA guide is useful for the timelines and process

www.ipsea.org.uk/moving-to-a-new-phase-of-education-with-an-ehc-plan

You should have only named one school as part of her phased transfer review as op has said.

My ds is in year 4 in a special needs school. We have been invited to a meeting already to talk about his secondary school. I know we will be asked once he's in year 5 which school we would like him to attend.
For my ds in nursery I was asked to name one school for his transition and from what i know the Echp will be amended by 15th Feb. I know the school have accepted him because they have already called me.

She is in year 6. No annual review has happened/phase transfer review. Trying to get anything out of my local authority is like trying to get blood out of a stone.

Their incompetence led to her previously being out of school, when I made it clear I did not want to home school.

There should have been a phase transfer review meeting last term. This is incredibly important. You need to contact the LA urgently.

The LA must finalise the phase transfer EHCP by 15th Feb. If the LA finalise the phase transfer EHCP without naming your preferred placement, you will be able to appeal.

Unless your preferred placement is wholly independent the LA must name your preference unless the LA can show:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs 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.
Slightly different for wholly independent schools.

You didn’t need to complete the LA’s admission form and you didn’t have to state three preferences.

The LA will consult schools as part of the phase transfer process. You should contact any schools you think have or may be consulted. Sometimes LA consults don’t give a full and accurate picture. You can request the responses, but the LA may force you to go down the SAR route.

I know we will be asked once he's in year 5 which school we would like him to attend.

Just so you are aware, the phase transfer review should not happen in Y5. The phase transfer review meeting should happen in the autumn term of Y6. You don’t have to state your preferred placement prior to receiving the amendment notice following the phase transfer review meeting.

I would contact the LA urgently about the missed annual review. Escalate it as far as you can and be ready for them missing the deadline and what you need to do

I called the schools they were consulting myself and had a chat with the Sencos which I believe helped as I could explain to them why in our case mainstream was inappropriate.

Whilst the phase transfer review is legally supposed to happen in autumn of year 6, we had ours in Year 5 same as a PP as DC is in specialist primary and we were ready to name the linked specialist high school. It meant consultations were done in September and all sorted by November. Our LA seems to do this for kids in specialist primary.

I have just contacted the LA phase transfer team regarding the annual review. I have no idea who my key worker is as the council has a rapid turnover of rather incompetent staff.

Should I contact the current school too? It is primary only so she cannot stay there.

I filled out the LA transfer form for EHCP children. It was different to the one for kids without EHCPs. It asked parents to name 3 schools, including the nearest one, however I refused to name the nearest one.

I am asking for ARP/independent special school.

Thank you for all the advise on this thread, it has been so helpful as always.

It's worth getting the primary Senco to help you chase definitely.

If it's an independent you will need a place offer yourself unless it's a section 41 school (there aren't many of these). You can't force a place at an independent.

Unfortunately some LAs do actually unlawfully. Mine tries to trick parents by saying they MUST name a mainstream, which isn't true and can weaken their case later.

Ok so the current school should have discussed secondary transfer as part of the year 5 annual review. Contact the SEN team at your local authority and inform them if an annual review wasn’t held as it is a statutory legal requirement for pupils with EHCPs. The EHCP needs to be brought up to date after that review and the LA will consult with schools to see if they can meet need. All this information should have been provided to you by the SEN team anyway. You should visit the schools and speak to Sencos if possible to get an idea of the suitability of each. Ideally before making your choices but from what I can gather you’ve already completed the form - no matter, tell the SEN team at the LA if you have changed your mind about any, but bear in mind they may only fund transport to the nearest school to meet need. There’s lots for you to discuss and all this should have been done at the Year 5 review.

To add, I’ve just spotted that you may want an independent setting. They cannot be forced to take a child and the LA will always prefer a non-independent setting, as costs are astronomically higher at the independent settings. And, they are not always better.

Yes, speak to the current school as well as the LA.

You didn’t need to complete the LA’s form. Even if parents do, you can change your mind when you respond to the draft EHCP following the phase transfer review that should have happened in the autumn term of Y6.

Is your preference that is independent, wholly independent or a section 41 independent? That is important to know.

The independent setting has accepted my child, I just need the LA to accept them (as costs are high, but not as high as her current mainstream provision with 1:1 and additional support, ironically)

ARP named would also be fine: I am not being demanding.

The independent we requested is I believe fully independent.

There aren't a lot of options for academically able children with high support needs. The state special schools cannot cater for this (they have expressly said so and rejected consultations)

I also have an academically able child with high support needs so is in an independent specialist, although had to go almost to tribunal for primary school before the LA agreed.
You are likely to need to at least lodge an appeal for it in sections B, F and I, and prove they are the only school that can meet needs with strong evidence.
I don't want to go into too much detail publicly but you are welcome to message me if my experience would help you.

It's good that you've got the consultation responses saying that they can't meet needs as that's also good evidence for your case.

Be aware most ARPs are not separate registered institutions which means for most ARPs the mainstream school is named in section I and the provision provided by the ARP included in F.

I am asking for ARP/independent special school.

Does your daughter’s current EHCP show she needs this? If a local mainstream or somewhere that is cheaper is classed as meeting need, you will need to fight for the place. There is lots of support for you online if this is the route you need to go down. It’s also probably worth speaking to the school you don’t want her to go to and explaining to them how they can’t meet her needs.

How old is her EHCP? Seems odd not to have had this discussion before now (although the whole system is a shambles).

Firstly go on this thread for advice

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/5309128-ehcp-support-thread-no-5?page=37

Secondly email the SENCO requesting a copy of her phase transfer review document. They should have had this meeting with you back at the beginning of last term, but my son's SENCO sent the form without our agreement even after the meeting and half the stuff we wanted on there wasn't on there as we agreed which meant his phase transfer EHCP didn't reflect his needs at all.

Thirdly if you can afford it consider getting an independent Educational Psychology Report as evidence to support you done ASAP

Then be prepared to apply to go to Tribunal as soon as the phase transfer EHCP is sent to you if you do not agree. Local SENDIASS can help with this, but there is a wealth of information online about how to go about it.

If the transfer EHCP is delayed then send a template letter straight away. My LA did this as a deliberate tactic to delay progression to Tribunal.

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/letter-to-la-when-it-has-or-will-breach-the-deadline-for-reviewing-and-amending-the-ehc-plan-in-advance-of-a-phase-transfer-template-letter-12

I did this whole process last year, my son's Ed Psych report was done as late as May which was after I applied to Tribunal. Tribunal decided in our favour in August two weeks before the start of term. DS started his special school in September. It is possible to get the process through by September, but it is tight, you have to be on the case.

Also do not let the LA offer you your preferred placement without updating sections B and F of the EHCP as a way of avoiding giving your DD the provision she needs. My son has 25 hours a week 1:1 in special school written into his EHCP provision because we didn't roll over and the Tribunal accepted the Ed Psych assessment that this was required.

If they appear like they are rolling over on placement approach the preferred school directly about transition days. Our LA tried to use not having transition in the new school as a reason to pressure us into not pushing forward to amend sections B and F, stating that if they named placement now then we could do transition as normal. The school let my son do transition anyway even though the EHCP wasn't finalised as they knew we would end up there as LA had already told them (ahead of trying to convince us to agree) so they knew their numbers for September.

You’re allowed to choose first place school as long as they can meet her needs she’ll go to your first choice

Be careful with SENDIASS. Some are good but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies.

Should add to this that my LA were trying to use an LA Educational Psychology Report from four years prior as evidence and this was not looked upon favourably by the Tribunal, so even if you can't afford an independent Ed Psych Report if your evidence is not recent then get the primary SENCO to get one done ASAP. The Ed Psych will then observe her needing 1:1 currently in primary which is a much less demanding environment to navigate than secondary.

This is a complicated question to answer. She was in a funded independent school before, but it went bankrupt. She is now in mainstream with full time 1:1 (band F funding, which is equivalent to ARP I am told). The current package is more costly than the independent school. B&F haven't been updated in years and are full of meaningless fluff.

You are right that the whole situation is a shambles, and my area is particularly bad.

I have spent over £10k on an advocate, solicitor and reports to even get here. It is a deeply flawed system.

B and F need to be improved. B must include all SEN. F must include all SEP reasonably required and must be detailed, specified and quantified. Every need in B must have corresponding provision in F.

If B&afford are poor, you a) risk DD not getting the support she needs, and b) risk a placement being named in I who cannot actually meet needs IRL. The placement named in I is the logical conclusion of B&F. B + F = I.

When her school went bankrupt around 20 schools refused her, and not a single state school would take her, including special schools. So we are in the bizarre position of it being fluffy but also putting off schools. I have contacted mainstream local secondaries again to explain why they wouldn't be able to meet need. I didn't hear back first time. In my experience the LA just goes ahead and names schools that have explicitly said they can't meet need.