Is mediation worthwhile or should I go straight to tribunal - Phase Transfer

[rjm197411]

My son is in year 6 moving to year 7 in September

On his EHCP the LA have named a school that we feel is wrong for him - does anyone have experience of Mediation and if it has proved successful or should I go straight to Tribunal

My relationship with the LA has broken down and I'm not hopeful of a successful outcome with them

I'm wondering if the tribunal look favourably on me at least trying mediation or if that is irrelevant in their decision-making process

Clearly, I'm also concerned about the delay mediation has on tribunal and hopefully getting this heard pre September

Any advice would be gratefully accepted

I wouldn’t bother with mediation, especially for a phase transfer appeal. Submitting ASAP is important. You should seriously consider appealing B&F as well as I because the placement named in section I is the logical conclusion of B&F, so get the mediation certificate and submit to SENDIST. You only have to consider mediation; you don’t have to actively partake. The fact you haven’t gone to mediation won’t influence the decision if your case goes to a hearing.

@StrivingForSleep is right, go straight to tribunal. I would interested to know how quickly you get a court date as I have been told to expect 12 months for a tribunal date - but this maybe different for a phase transfer.

@Lesley25 phase transfer appeals are prioritised. Most will be held before September. Unfortunately, there won’t be the capacity to hear them all before the start of the next academic year, which is why it is important to submit ASAP.

hi hun I'm just waiting for my draft copy for my son now and it's been a long road to go down,april last year we applied May we got told they would look into it,October told us yes they will look into it and need assessments off Ed pysc etc we got a phone call last month to say they agree to do one and would take 2 weeks for them to do the draft copy,still waiting so hard to contact them as no one answers the phones when you ring,there is a app called elitebright and there is loads of free workshops you can do online about ehc plan and what you can do next if you disagree with anything,they told me mediation is needed first and you need that certificate to make your next moves,might be different where you are but there is alot of help on that app iv signed up to loads of things on there,they told me tribunals will only happen if we are not happy with mediation outcome,I'm dreading getting my sons plan as I really want him to go to a special school,he is almost 5 and everyone has put he's ages in months between 12 and 24 months,he struggles at nursery even in nurture room where there is only 6 kids so another 5 kids and 2 teachers and that's too much for him,he has social and communication disorder,echolalia,non verbal,severe understanding of spoken language and on the autism pathway,the ed pysc said in her report she also thinks there's a wider learning difficulties aswell so not sure how we are going to get thay looked at it,I hate this road of not noing whats going on,all we want is the best for our children and it's all in the local authorities hands,never met any of the children they do these plans for yet there the ones who say what should happen next,I find it so surreal,there is another meeting in March about what to do if you disagree with a ehc plan so get signed upto it hun it really helps and you can ask as many questions as you want and they answer every single one,it's with the sendiass team so they know what there doing as its these you liase with if things don't go as planned,there so helpful,I know you posted a few weeks ago and hope your sorted now but if your la is anything like ours then you will probs still be waiting,could ring your la and ask them if they suggest mediation or straight to tribunals,in that meeting I had last week they said you have 15 days to do it all and they should take no longer than 2 weeks to respond,would be nice but I bet it takes longer,you do need to ask them tho and fast before your deadline date or they will just leave it as it is and refuse to listen to you after that,good luck hun and keep fighting,never give up and let them win if you don't like something fight it for your child x

sorry eventbrite it's called

@Itsyourwifeymacrid be careful with SENDIASS. Some are good but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies. They receive LA funding, so ultimately many will toe the party line. IPSEA and SOSSEN are more accurate sources of information.

they told me mediation is needed first and you need that certificate to make your next moves,might be different where you are

You don’t have to actively partake in mediation. You only have to consider it. You (a general you, not you particularly because you don’t have the right of appeal yet) can request the certificate and submit to SENDIST without actually taking part in mediation.

The LA is in breach of the statutory timescales. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can send to the Director of Children’s Services. If that doesn’t work, you need a pre-action letter. SOSSEN can help with this free of charge, but there is a waiting list, so you may want to look elsewhere. If a pre-action letter fails, judicial review proceedings will resolve the situation.

The ed psych report should cover learning difficulties.

could ring your la and ask them if they suggest mediation or straight to tribunals

Don’t do this! The LA will tell you what they want you to know and their unlawful version of the law.

The LA must give you at least 15 days to respond to the draft. Many LAs conveniently forget the ‘at least’.

Hi I worked as a SEND mediator for a quite a few years. My experience is that meditation can be very helpful in earlier phases (such as refusal to assess) and decisions very often overturned.
However it’s generally less helpful with decisions re placement and especially if your relationship has broken down with the LA/you’ve had lots of previous communications with them.

Also recommend IPSEA