Advice on securing suitable Section 19 alternative provision for medical needs

[Randomeemoh]

Hi

i am looking for advice r regarding Secrion 19 alternative provision.

DD was recently granted S19 for medical reasons. School cannot meet her needs. I have recently applied for an EHCNA but that will take 20 weeks minimum.

however the medical panel report just says her school (mainstream independent) need to come up with an integration plan. That to me is not ‘alternative provision’.

she is currently unable to attend or do any sort of conventional school work at home as she cannot focus and suffers serious anxiety.

As a mainstream school, her school cannot support.

realistically she would need to start gradually eg short 121 tutor sessions specialised in supporting students like her - psycho education, mentoring, building her back gradually.

the council have not give a contact to speak to - it is under their Children Not in School service.

Any advice on how I can appeal/progress this would be much appreciated.

thank you

I’ve no understanding /experienec of S19 but have just been through tribunal process.
What type of provision are you needing a short term one with a view to integration back in to mainstream? Or a long term one? I’ve just gone through challenging provision but we have a EHCP so it was much more straightforward. . Your council website will name all schools so you can ring any you think might be suitable or look on their websites you can also look at out of area too if you are happy to drive or are eligible for transport. But a lot is special schools/ independents will require a EHCP. You can ring the sen team at your local council or your Sen advocacy team (ours is called sendias) for advice .

Thank you!
I think she needs someone with the right expertise to assess her and determine what route back into learning would suit her best. I foolishly thought that would be the starting point for alternative provision.

The SEN team won’t deal with us as it is classed as a medical reason not a SEN one.

At the moment she is in/recovering from burnout. Academically she is very bright and wants to return to school, but we don’t know if that’s possible.

Sorry your daughter is struggling.

There is some excellent advice here: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/alternative-education-for-children-who-cannot-attend-school

Your LA is failing in its duty to provide a suitable education. See template letter 22.

Would she be self motivated enough to be educated at home?

Just seen your update.

LA processes for deciding what to provide under s.19 are a mystery to me. I'm aware of two children at our school with, on paper, similar needs - one got 6 hours of weekly 121 with a tutor, the other just got work sent home from school.

I am not aware of this sort of thing "psycho education, mentoring, building her back gradually" being provided under s19. Some schools may provide this.

Is your daughter neurodivergent or potentially neurodivergent/awaiting assessment?

Would you consider home education at all?

It’s mental but we had to do the leg work and find suitable schools and request the LA consult with them. The Sen team and sendias wouldn’t t/couldn’t
recommend specific schools although they could advise on type.
The issue we had was my son is very academic but can’t cope on a typical secondary but a lot of Sen schools only offer functional skills or a couple GCSE’s.

I would do your own research then fight for what you want but expect a lot of schools to be full. Alternatively could you look at working with the mainstream and staying on roll but your child doing a few hours in a ap and then slowly integrating back into mainstream?

Just to reiterate that this (excellent) advice relates to EHCPs rather than s19.

It's worth pushing for better s19 provision (or, if you have the resources, to buy in your own provision - but do NOT deregister, as then the LA can wash its hands of you) while you wait for the EHCP, especially as it's completely normal for LA to ignore the legal deadlines for EHCPs.

Is she currently enrolled at an independent school? I’m not sure they have to offer anything? Are you trying to switch to mainstream state?
If you’re paying at indi they may ask you to self fund 1-1 support or recommend an ed psych or help develop an iep.

Thanks all for the replies. - it’s much appreciated.

to clarify:

she has autism (level -)
she is academically able
she wants to go back to school
she cannot focus on anything at the moment, primarily due to dissociation
she is on roll at an independent school but legally the LA is still responsible for providing a suitable alternative provision

due to burnout and inability to focus online school would not work

I had assumed. - but I think wrongly - that the LA would be able to advise what she needs. But I think, reading everyone’s kind posts, that we are going to need to figure that out!

I think that sounds right (well, as in correct. I think the situation of no support for children in this situation is completely wrong...)

Might also be worth posting in the SEN board here and joining the Autistic Girls' Network group on Facebook, which has a lot of parents of autistic girls experiencing burnout who can share experiences. You will probably get advice about focusing on rest and recovery for now, and gradually trying to work out what would make school a more sustainable environment for her when she is ready.

I'd also recommend Naomi Fisher's book on burnout - called something like Teenager's Guide to Burnout. (She is a psychologist who comes from a position of scepticism about schools, but I think there is a lot of value in the book regardless of whether school is the right path for a particular child.)

I meant also to say that, as you know, the LA must assess need as the first stage of the EHCP process (just not, in any sensible way, for s19). They may decline to do a EHCNA at first but keep pushing - advice is available from IPSEA and your local SENDIAS.

Email the Director of Children’s Services reminding them of their duty. You could also email the Monitoring Officer. If that doesn’t work, you can look at a pre-action letter. You may want to start looking for someone with capacity for this now in case you need to go down that route because demand is high and it can take perseverance to find someone who has capacity.

DD being in an independent school is irrelevant. It is the LA with the responsibility, not the school, anyway.

Section 19 provision has to be suitable, so in that sense, yes, the LA has to consider individual needs, but it won’t be an assessment like a good EHCNA.

Even if a reintegration plan was the right route to go, it wouldn’t be instead of alternative provision. It should be as well as.

What you list can be provided via s19 provision. Unfortunately, LAs will opt for the easy option unless pushed.

Personally, I would not electively home educate. It is not lawful, but LAs sometimes refuse to assess/issue because they know a proportion of those EHEing will continue to EHE rather than appeal.

LA processes for deciding what to provide under s.19 are a mystery to me. I'm aware of two children at our school with, on paper, similar needs - one got 6 hours of weekly 121 with a tutor, the other just got work sent home from school.

Unfortunately, it is often based on parents advocating for their DC. However, the LA isn’t fulfilling their responsibility in either of the cases you mention. Work sent home does not relieve the LA of their duty. 6hrs a week 1:1 with a tutor is not a suitable full-time education.