Moving house, changing school for SEN child - appeal help needed please.

[EdieBlizzard]

8 year old ds had an ASD diagnosis and a 32- hour statement. We are moving to a new area and I have been looking at schools. Local schools are all over-subscribed and I have been actively dissuaded from making an application by Headteachers at two schools who have told me that due to Local Authority policies relating to funding, they would struggle to meet all of my child's needs.

Can anyone tell me anything about what schools have to provide by way of support and how prescriptive I may need to be in ds's next annual review. DS has done really well at his current school and I don't want a move to signal the end of his progress :(

The statement is a legal document. The LEA has to provide for your son's needs as specified in his statement (this is usually provided at school level but the responsibility is the LEA's).
If you are satisfied that your son's needs are being met with the statement as written, you need to be really clear about that at the next review and ensure that the new LEA don't attempt to reduce his hours or alter the statement in any way.
Hope you have now found a suitable new school and had it named as the appropriate school on his statement. (did the heads who actively disuaded you know that he had hours specified in his statement? funding should follow the child where a statement is concerned)