Appeal Process for High School

[FrustratedSEN]

Hi there
I've signed up to Mumsent for advice.
I was hoping someone might be able to help. My daughter has ADHD, Dyspraxia and Slow Verbal Processing. She doesn't have an EHCP.
She's been rejected from our first school of high school. Which has wonderful SEN provision.

She hasn't attended a feeder school and we live just outside the catchment area. She is 29th on the waiting list. We're going to appeal based on her needs.

Is anyone able to signpost any sites that might be able to help. I'm utterly lost as to where to start. If anyone could help I'd be extremely grateful.

Hopefully one of the appeal experts will see this, but in case they don’t I will tag them for you. @admission @panelchair @prh47bridge can any of you help the OP?

Have you thought about applying for an EHCNA?

@FrustratedSEN as Dory suggested, consider applying for an EHCNA.

Information here:

www.ipsea.org.uk/ehc-needs-assessments

Agree you should consider applying for an EHCNA.

Regarding an appeal, assuming that the school you wanted has better SEN provision than the school offered, you should be able to build a decent case. Concentrate on the things this school offers that are missing from the allocated school and will help your daughter. If you can get professional evidence to back you up, it will help.

If you want to draft something and then PM me, I will be happy to take a look. I will also be happy to answer any questions, either here or via PM.

Thank you all for your help. We're going to apply for EHCNA.

Thank you so much @prh47bridge. I'm going to start working on a draft statement.

You've already had some good advice here by far more knowledgeable people than me but I would really recommend you apply for a needs assessment urgently. If the LA stick to the legal timeframes and your DD is issued an EHCP, that will take you up to the end of July. So it will be just in time for secondary. As part of the process, your DD will be seen by several professionals (eg an educational psychologist) and these reports might be very helpful for your school appeal.

I would also caution that if the high school you're appealing for has good SEN provision then it's likely to have a high number of children with additional needs - and probably be under considerable pressure to support them properly. If you do manage to secure a place for your DD then without an EHCP, it may still be difficult for her to access the support she needs.

Have you spoken to her primary school's Senco to sound them out about applying for an EHCP? Try and make an appointment this week if you can. If they aren't supportive, you can still do it yourself. I did and we were successful.
Have you spoken to the Sencos of the school she has been allocated - and the school you're appealing for?

My Ds is Yr7 now and I know how stressful and worrying it is thinking of your Dc transferring to secondary school.

Okay, so applying for an EHCP to get your preferred choice of secondary isnt the best way to go about it. I would contact your local SENDIASS team with support with the appeal process against the admissions team. An ehcp takes 20 weeks from start to finish without any set backs or appeals. As someone has already said, you might be able to build a good case as to why your preferred school is more suitable.

Regards,

Newdad2022

OP be wary of SENDIASS, some are good but too many are the LAs mouthpiece repeating their unlawful policies. IPSEA and SOSSEN are better.

Considering applying for an EHCNA to ensure the necessary provision, including an appropriate placement, is provided to OP’s DD who has multiple SEN is exactly what she should be doing, as evidenced by 4 posters on this thread suggesting it. Applying for an EHCP doesn’t have to instead of an appeal.

An EHCP request should not be used as a tool to get a preferred choice of secondary school place in this respect. It would entirely depend on the extent of your childs needs and how these impact specifically on her education. Ultimately if are unhappy then appeal, however if you were to apply for an EHCP via a parent request, then avoid saying anything like " I want an ehcp because I was declined my first choice" it has to be based on a SEN need that is impacting on.education. if she has needs but is making progress under quality first teaching then it might not be necessary. EHCPS are generally required for children with a very high level of support needs including those who attend a specialist settings or those who just need support that is way above and beyond what a school can reasonably be expected to provide. Schools fund the first 6k worth of support via element 2 funding and then the EHCP is used as a top up. In fairness applying for an assessment is relatively quick. But be aware that it's not as easy as some may have you believe. If you have any questions please get in touch.

An EHCP request should not be used as a tool to get a preferred choice of secondary school place in this respect.

No one has said that. OP clearly thinks DD’s multiple SEN requires the specific provision available in this school and that the allocated school, and other schools, cannot meet those needs. Therefore, it would be a good idea to consider applying for an EHCNA, which luckily the OP posted she was going to do.

avoid saying anything like " I want an ehcp because I was declined my first choice"

No-one has posted this either.

Schools fund the first 6k worth of support via element 2 funding

No, you might find this thread an interesting and informative read. In law, the absolute duty lies with the LA.

This is genuinely not correct. Schools have 6k to spend on SEN support. Known as the notional SEN budget. If they are struggling to support a pupil and require extra, the EHCP is used as top up funding.

Not true, read the thread I linked to and the links in it. The absolute duty lies with the LA.

Ds got an EHCP and at the time his school had barely spent £6 on him, let alone £6k....

Besides, the notional SEN budget is rarely actually £6k.

No, that's a totally different issue. That's relating to a myth that 6k must be spent before applying. The funding issue remains correct.

No, it isn’t just about that, you clearly haven’t read @theqentity thread.

I'm sorry but your information is not accurate.

Yes, my posts are accurate. Read the thread and the links. Legally, the responsibility lies with the LA. Although many schools, LAs, professionals and parents don’t realise this and LAs often have to be pushed into being accountable.

The thread to which you link is simply wrong. The LA is responsible for SEN funding for pupils requiring expensive tailored provision. The school is expected to find the first £6,000 funding for each SEN child, including children with an EHCP - this is known as the notional SEN budget. There is a decent guide to how SEN funding actually works at educationadvocacy.co.uk/sen-funding/

prh47bridge but ultimately it is the LA responsible funding EHCPs.

Page 36/37 of the noddy guide also states the absolute duty lies with the LA and ultimately it is not the school’s responsibility to fund provision in section F.

I suspect this is parent who is jumping from articles and ipsea pages. The information and advice is absolutely all over the place. Shes now talking about the LAs responsibilty to provide what's in section F!! Surely a moderator needs to sort this.

Newdad now you are just getting personal. One could equally say you lack knowledge and don’t provide any source for your claims. For what it’s worth, and I owe you no explanation, I have been through the EHCP process with 2 DC and have successfully advised others too, including many on MN under this name and other NCs. You may not like it but it is true.

My post isn’t just about the responsibility to provide the provision in section F, but also about funding it, which you would see it you read the link to the Noddy guide I provided.

It specifically states:
Can Section F make it the school’s responsibility to fund [my bold] provision? No. See CFA2014 s42: Where an EHCP is maintained, the “local authority must secure the specified special educational provision for the child or young person” (i.e. LA and not the school)…

Oh and you say my posts are all over the place well perhaps you should also look at your own - “bare in mind”. I wasn’t childish enough to bring it up before now, but since you have got personal about my posts then I will.

prh47bridge has already told you, as have I that your link wasnt relevant.

Both the link to the thread I posted is relevant as is the Noddy link. You tell David Wolfe QC and Leon Glenister their link isn’t relevant, they have far more SEN experience and expertise than you.