Advice needed: Secondary School Appeal on social/medical grounds. SEN no ECHO

[Putneyparent]

Good afternoon, I’m currently preparing an appeal for my DC for a faith-based secondary school that we applied for but unfortunately didn’t receive a place at.

We’re planning to appeal on the basis of exceptional social/medical need. DC has SEN but does not have an EHCP. I’m trying to understand what kind of evidence panels tend to find most persuasive in these cases.

If anyone been through a similar appeal I’d be grateful any advice or guidance specifically:

• What evidence did you provide to support exceptional social/medical need?
• Who should that evidence ideally come from (GP, consultant, school SENCO, educational psychologist, etc.)? How detailed does it need to be in terms of explaining why this particular school is necessary and would meet the need?

I’m also aware that friendship groups and wanting to stay with friends generally don’t carry much weight in appeals. However, would it make a difference if a medical or educational professional stated that DC could be disadvantaged socially or emotionally by being separated from their established peer group?

Any experiences or tips would be really appreciated.

In the meantime we have ensured DC is on the waiting list for other schools.
Thank you so much for your help.

Check that the school has this admissions criteria (that may sound stupid but not all schools do) Did you apply originally under this category?

Normally, you would need letters from professionals which name the school specifically as being the only one which can meet the needs of the young person. This would be difficult to ascertain with no ehcp and needs to be very specific as professionals tend to word letters like this as 'child would benefit from attending a smaller, nurturing school' without explicitly naming the school you are appealing for. They would also need to be explicit as to why the young persons needs (not it would be nice) to stay with their current year group. So, does this school offer nurture groups etc which the offered school doesn't ? Do they have something in their pastoral care offer which the offered school doesn't ?

The medical evidence also needs to show that young persons needs can ONLY be met by the appeal school (so for example appeal school is all on one level and young person has profound mobility issues etc)

Also remember that you're still appealing for the school you want not against the school you've been offered and make sure you've accepted the school currently offered unless you have other plans for September.

@Putneyparent medical professionals are unlikely to state that a specific school will meet a child's need better than an offered school unless they happen to know the schools very well. The most they are likely to say is either something generic like "needs a small, nurturing school" or "This is the child's need and Mum thinks school X is best for these reasons".

All schools support SEN. Some do it better than others. That doesn't mean that all children with SEN can go to that school if the school is full. You need to demonstrate that your child's need for this school is greater than the need of the school to keep the intake at PAN rather than going over PAN.

Ex teacher.

a lot depends on the type of Sen.

eg for a student in a wheelchair who cannot walk then you need to evidence this and explain how the buildings mean he will/will not be able to access the classrooms.

equally, stuff like peg feeding, and other medical stuff would ideally be evidenced from third party reports or similar (and again the higher status the HCP the better) and then you can explain why school A is meets need better (eg has standing frame and physio room, or has private room for org feeding or whatever).

if it is more in the nature of autism/adhd/learning difficulties then EP reports plus diagnoses plus again third party reports are good.

hard to give specific advice without knowing the Sen

Whether the school has a category for social/medical need is irrelevant at appeal. What matters is whether you can show that the disadvantage to your child from not being admitted outweighs any problems the school will face from having to cope with an additional pupil. That is difficult with arguments around SEN as in theory any school should be able to deal with the child's needs. You need evidence to show that this school has things that are missing from the allocated school that are essential for your child. Letters from professionals explaining what your child needs will help. Even better if they say that, in their professional opinion, your child needs to attend the appeal school.

Yes, if they are willing to say that your child will be disadvantaged if separated from their friends, that will help. It will also help if you can identify things at the appeal school that are not available at the allocated school that are relevant to your child in addition to the SEN arguments. Anything reasonable you can identify will help to add weight to your case.

Thank you to everyone who posted on my original thread.

Here is an update. We have been going through the EHCP process and ended up going to tribunal. The LA condeded 3 weeks before the tribunal hearing. We are now awaiting a draft EHCP.

Whilst we were in this process we have appealed the secondary school allocation as this school will not be able to meet our daughters need. We have submitted evidence as part secondary school appeal the educational psychology report, OT report, SALT report, letters from the EdPsy, GP, paediatrician stating the school where we would like our daughter to go. We have evidenced why this school meets need compared to the school we have been allocated. Our appeal is next week.

We are going to mention we have been given confirmation from the LA to issue an EHCP which is the top criterion on the admissions policy, will this have any bearing on their decision. The LA have delayed their decision to issue for 8 months...if we had this we would have met the admissions criteria.

Ive been told the EHCP now being issued statement after the school application deadline cannot be an argument anymore, just wanted others view.