School insisting on formal removal from roll

[weneednopants]

Sorry in advance this will be a long post. So after trying to make my sons current school meet his needs we have decided to change schools. He has an ehcp and I have been in contact with county council regarding our breakdown of relationship and our wish to move him. That have advised that him attending the current school while we search for a new one would be detrimental to his mh (he is very anxious about returning to school) therefore they suggested that school could support him with flex-learning until a new place is found. So I emailed the school to let them know our feelings,what county had suggested and got a reply of they are not willing to support him with flexible-learning and they want us to formally remove him from the roll. Can they do this? If we remove him from the roll before we have a placement all his current support will be terminated (sendss and behavioural support) they are effectively forcing us into home schooling until we find somewhere suitable. I realise that flexi learning is home ed but it's with the support of the professionals he needs. Not us flailing around in the wind with no guidance or support. Sorry this is so long winded and hard to follow I'm really struggling with all of this today x

Ask for an emergency annual review, it will be necessary anyway for a change of placement, and they would have to call one for being removed from role as well.

This is the best place to have it discussed with the school and you may be able to get your case worker to attend as well.

They can't force you to remove him fro the school roll. I'd strongly suggest that you get medical evidence to support the fact that he is unable to attend school at the moment, then write to the local authority and ask for home tuition under section 19 Education Act 1996, and also for the other SEN support he needs under s42 Children and Families Act 2014. Don't let them fob you off with any requirement that you home school or suggestions that it's OK for the school just to send work home, and tell them that the school is refusing to help so they must arrange it by law.

That section of 1996 act is repealed.

In this case, if you wanted to be legal about it, you want to appeal to the 2014 SEND Act and have home as the named provision. In this circumstance the authority would be committed to ensuring the needs were being met in home education.

In theory this can happen, but in practice it is very rare.

No, it isn't repealed. Only Part IV is.

And in fact recentish case law states that you can't name home education as the education placement in section I of an EHCP. That doesn't prevent the EHCP providing for home education, but it would have to be done by setting out the relevant arrangements in section F.