Can a SEN state she needs to go to a special school

[Cheesypoof]

Hello,
I'm very new to all this and need some advice. My daughter has been diagnosed with ASD and we have just got the first draft of her statement. It states she will have 25 hrs in a mainstream school. She cannot cope in a mainstream school and I want to amend the statement to say that.
The paediatrician stated in his report that she would find it impossible to go to a mainstream school.
I spoke to my case manager today who said that we can't say she needs to go to a special school in the statement. Is that true? It sounds insane.
I spoke to ipsea before who told me I must get everything in black and white in the statement before I agree to it. So I am being very cautious. I want to get it right. Ipsea's phone line isn't working today. So I thought I'd ask Mumsnet.
I removed DD from school last year because she can't cope. So I'm doing this alone.
To make matters worse I haven't managed to get an appointment to see the special school I have in mind and I need to get my amendments back next week.

Your case manager is talking nonsense and sounds like they're on the LA side, not yours. If you have a report stating that she has needs that can't be met in mainstream, plus evidence that she didn't cope in mainstream, then you can appeal part 4 of the statement. If parts 2 and 3 don't adequately reflect her needs, then you need to appeal those, too.

If you re-post in SN chat or SN children, then it's much busier over there with a lot of people who have had to do this.

Of course the statement can say that she needs to be in a special school. It would also be helpful if part 3 defined that a bit more - e.g. to say that she small classes, specialist teachers, therapists on site etc.

However, to be honest I wouldn't necessarily spend a lot of time arguing about the statement. The council doesn't need your agreement to finalise it - and if they really don't want to name a special school then the reality is that there is probably little you can do to persuade them out of that. You may be better of saving your energy for a tribunal appeal once they've finaised it.

I strongly suggest you phone someone like SOS SEN for more advice.

No, they're right. But I don't think they're saying what you think they're saying.

The LA is not allowed to presume that you want a Special School placement for your child. In fact, they must presume that you want a Mainstream placement.

However, you as the parent can request a special school placement when you are asked to name the school. In that situation, they can amend the proposed statement to reflect the nature of the special school environment (e.g. replace the '25 hours 1:1 at a mainstream school' with statements about the small class size, specialised staff, etc.).

Some LAs do this by sending a 'MS' statement and then changing it once you request SS. Others (mine) do it by writing the statement to imply a SS, then confirming that they had SS in place if you ask. In which case, if you say 'but I want MS' they withdraw it and re-write it for MS.

It's actually very hard to write a statement that will do for both settings, because the needs in one are so different to the needs in another. E.g. my DD's SS is a secure site, so there is less supervision needed at all times, because even if she does bolt, she can't get out. At a MS, she'd need a constant shadow because she could easily escape.