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?

In my experience the LA just goes ahead and names schools that have explicitly said they can't meet need.

This is part of the reason why you need B&F to also be accurate. Otherwise you increase the risk of the LA naming a school who can’t in reality meet needs.

Currently B&F seem to contain enough information that no school wants her at the same time, so it is really tricky!

In the latest chapter of the saga I got an email today naming a school that is not near me and not one I had named on the transfer form. I called the council and they denied knowledge of this, despite it coming from them. I have forwarded it to them.

They are now saying they won't name a school as she hasn't had an EHCP review. Surely this is not allowed?

They won't name the school until it is named in section I on her updated EHCP which should be by the 15th February. The LA should give you at least 15 days to respond to any proposed amendments and request a particular school is named in section I.

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/phase-transfer-reviews

The LA must issue the finalised EHCP for phase transfer by the 15th Feb. In order to do that, the review meeting should have been held last term. The LA must go through the correct formal process.

Once the LA has issued a finalised EHCP, you can appeal.

Just because no school wants DD doesn’t mean the LA won’t name one of those non-wholly independent schools anyway. That is partly why it is important B&F are accurate. B&F which don’t give the whole picture and a vague and woolly F increase the risk of an unsuitable school being named/your preferred placement not being named. That is why when appealing I it is recommended to also appeal B&F.

Bizarrely they are saying they won't finalise anything by the 15th of February as she hasn't had an EHCP review, and this is my fault that this hasn't been done.

I have contacted the school to request it, but I didn't know this needed to happen. Surely the LA or the school about bring it up?

They can't just ignore the statutory deadline can they?! I at least need something, so I can lodge a tribunal appeal request.

School should have arranged the annual review. Has she had one at all since she’s been in her current school?
Did the LA send you forms to complete for transfer to secondary schools where you have preferences?

It isn’t your fault, but unfortunately all too often the system relies on parents knowing the law and advocating for their DC. It shouldn’t be that way. Disappointingly, it isn’t going to change in the foreseeable future. Going forward, it would help you to read IPSEA and SOSSEN’s websites so you know what should happen and when. That isn’t me blaming you. It is me suggesting something that will help you in the future.

Legally, LAs must adhere to the 15th Feb deadline. However, LAs regularly try to ignore the law. There will be cases up and down the country where LAs fail to finalise by 15th Feb/31st March phase transfer deadlines. Not that the regularity makes it acceptable. From the LA’s perspective, it is a successful strategy because it kicks the can down the road even if you take action to force them to finalise.

Was today’s email a finalised amended EHCP with appeal rights? Or just an email? If the former, you could lodge an appeal.

Our LA did ignore the statutory deadline for DS’s sixth form place. They blamed missing the deadline on the two placements we were requesting (both part-time) for not providing costings quickly enough. It transpired that they hadn’t asked either setting for any costings at any point.

In contrast, several years earlier they did meet the deadline for DS’s secondary transfer - but named a completely random and wholly unsuitable mainstream school without even consulting with them. We believed they only named that school because it was slightly out of area so it hadn’t already had the chance to refuse to take him! This school did then refuse twice in writing to take him, but the LA ploughed on. We started to go down the tribunal route for the independent special school we wanted. Part of our evidence was being able to prove it would actually cost the LA less to pay for the independent special school than it would to provide enough support for him at the mainstream school. Another key piece of evidence was comparing the accessibility of learning he’d receive in both settings. What was so outrageous it was almost funny, was that the LA ‘conveniently omitted’ to submit their own ed psych’s report to the Tribunal because it so clearly sided with our choice of education. I popped it into our bundle instead!

It was a horrible time but the LA pulled out a month before Tribunal. We reached the evidence deadline and at that point they finally conceded, presumably because they didn’t have any evidence. DS had a blissful 7 years at the independent special school.

Good luck OP.

Thank you so much to all you wonderful knowledgeable people.

I have felt rather overwhelmed by the whole process, as well as life (I have more than one child with SEN, and working full time etc). I will follow the suggestions here to be better informed for the future.

The email was not a formal EHCP, so I don't think I can appeal on the basis of it.

My daughter hasn't had an EHCP review since starting at her current school. I did complete the form for secondary school preference.

Sorry to hear of your difficult experiences catkin , I wonder if we have the same LA!

If I don't hear anything by the 15th of February, can I still lodge a tribunal appeal, as I should have heard?

In my county we're advised to do them Summer 2 term of Y5. I'm glad we did as I still think it'll be tight for the February deadline.

OP has your county moved over to the IDOX hub or similar? All our EHCPs are electronic now so it's easy to see if a review is due, schools have been consulted etc.

I know the duty lies with the LA ultimately but I'd also be questioning what the primary school SENCO is playing at. Phase transfer reviews are constantly on my mind! I steer the whole process for parents. What have they said about a secondary placement? Surely there have been conversations about needing to consult with KS3 settings?

Your LA is ultimately responsible for the phase transfer review process. Your LA must start the review process within 12 months of your child or young person moving to a new education phase, no earlier and no later. It is not your responsibility to do this.

This is the timeline of what should be happening

https://www.ipsea.org.uk/phase-transfer-reviews

This happened with us, we only got the draft EHCP giving us a chance to review and suggest amendments on the 10th February, so not with at least 15 days of the final deadline of the 15th.

We sent a letter of complaint based on the IPSEA template. Send it via email so you have evidence that it sent to the Director of Children's Services, the LA Monitoring Officer, your local councillor, the SEND officer/main SEND email for EHCP's (Google them or follow the link from IPSEA on the link below).

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

In that letter we re-iterated our preferred placement with reasoning and amendments based on DS's needs which we listed and split into the four broad areas of need: Communication and Interaction, Social, Emotional and Mental Health, Cognitive and Learning, Physical and Sensory. If you have evidence to support this list it and attach it to the letter of complaint (you can reference sections of reports by page number in the areas of need).

They then sent the final EHCP with the LA named school (not our preference) on the 5th March and we appealed sections B, F and I at Tribunal. I used Sunshine Support to help with the application to appeal at Tribunal, but you can do it yourself.

I would also contact

https://sossen.org.uk/

They can possibly help with a pre action protocol letter if your complaint doesn't result in the LA issuing the final EHCP.

https://sossen.org.uk/whats-judicial-review/

You need the right of appeal to submit an appeal, so you need a finalised EHCP.

@Clumpled it isn’t uncommon for LAs to try to use the Y5 AR as the phase transfer review, but legally, they shouldn’t. If you think the timescales are tight even having held the ARs in the summer term, your LA is not adhering to the review timescales either. Sadly, just two of the ways LAs regularly act unlawfully.

I haven't had a single formal meeting with the senco since my child started at the school. I have seen them at the school gate occasionally. I have sent emails trying to urgently chase this!

I am not sure what is going on. I don't think we have a fancy online system, but then I am not sure if I would know.

There have been no conversation re phase transfer at all.

I know they're acting unlawfully with timescales. I'd rather it was done late than not at all though and most parent I work with don't have the confidence and/or energy to pursue a legal route even if we were to support them.

Why is a Y5 phase review an issue except for the fact it's not necessary if they stuck to statutory timeframes? It would be unusual for much to change between July and September and from a workload POV I'd much rather do them in July.

@Clumpled well it means the LA is likely to breach the statutory timescale for finalising the EHCP following the AR because it is unlikely the LA is going to finalise the secondary placement so early across the board. Delaying finalising frustrates parents’ right of appeal.

If the Y5 AR is used, parents have less time to learn the law (e.g. knowing they don’t have to complete the LA’s admission form, knowing they don’t have to state a MS, knowing they don’t need to state multiple placements), less time to make decisions on secondary schooling (especially important if parental preference is a wholly independent school who make decisions on who to offer places to later in Y6. Also important because some schools won’t speak to parents before the autumn term of Y6.) and less time to ensure B&F are right for phase transfer (including ensuring there is updated evidence where necessary. You might think not much changes in a few months, but it can be the difference between having watertight evidence and not). It means if parents change their mind in September (or October or the beginning of November) they then need to ensure the LA then actually follows the law in order to give them the opportunity to comment on the draft and state a preferred placement.

It means an AR must be held in the summer term of Y6. Unless of course the LA acts unlawfully again, as many do.

It also means the LA may turn around in Feb of Y6 and say oh we can’t finalise the secondary placement we need to hold a review first. Yes, parents could then take action, but it is a delaying tactic and game playing.

It also means the LA risks parents taking a case to the LGO or going down the pre-action letter/JR route.

If you give the LA an inch, they will take a mile. If they see parents don’t challenge their unlawful behaviour, LAs will continue to act unlawfully. (They sometimes still act unlawfully even if parents challenge unlawful behaviour, but LAs are more likely to act unlawfully when unchallenged.)