Help! Special School say can't meet needs but examples from historical EHCP

[RainbowLife]

At the very end of term I was told the Special School applied for in my son's EHCP review months ago (DS is currently part time in mainstream primary) said they can't meet his needs so are not offering a place.

The reasons/ examples given made no sense and this is why I need help. It might not be the right school and there might be no school that would be right but not for the reasons given which are factually incorrect. This has really thrown me and I'm not sure how to approach it.

A little bit of digging with the LA caseworker revealed 2 types of examples:

1 - several needs/behaviours listed on the EHCP when DS was 5 (he's now 11) which are clearly historical and 'deleted'. I believe current practice is now everything is left in the paperwork but crossed through when it no longer applies.

2 - two examples relevant to DS being in a mainstream class of 30 who are following the national curriculum.eg needing individualised approach to literacy/numeracy and small group or individual support in a quiet calm environment. His reading age was assessed at over 16 years by his then class teacher 18 months ago, this is in the paperwork. The Special School has classes of 8 and is a far quieter calmer environment than a mainstream classroom and is not in any case following the national curriculum.

The LA caseworker is leaving her job and there's no named person to contact going forward.

I would really appreciate any advice or perspective. EOTAS/EOTIS might be the only possible path to pursue as there don't seem to be any other school options. I don't know if I can really cope with DS being based at home full time.

Thank you. Just back from not holiday and getting over a marathon journey. Some more information arrived and I'll come back when I've digested it to ask what you think I should do next.
Fortunately 'a change is as good as a rest' kind of worked and I'm feeling less overwhelmed.

Update - slightly more informed:

Firstly thank you so much@Lesley25 @Needlenardlenoo and @perpetualplatespinning I have got my head around lots of the information in the thread and now I have more information fron school and LA I'm pretty sure that the process described by@perpetualplatespinning was not completed as it should have been.

(This confused me @perpetualplatespinning "A consultation isn’t sent to schools after the EHCP has been finalised." Is there a missing word or could you explain what you meant?)

Ds's SENCO told me she never received the amended EHCP after the review. I now have hard copies of the latest documents from school and LA (all out of date so possibly the last EHCP was finalised in 2023) and although some out of date information is crossed through other equally out of date information is still there in plain text.

So I think there wasn't anything for me to appeal about. The half finished paperwork might have been sent to the school I requested. I'm guessing they didn't read it very thoroughly because the detailed psychological report with it gives a different picture and it might have been obvious it didn't all add up.

I'm seeing the Senco tomorrow morning. She's been trying to get answers from the manager (no named caseworker now) without success.

Even if the EHCP wasn’t amended following the previous ARs, you should still have got appeal rights.

No missing word. Consultations aren’t sent to schools after the EHCP is finalised. Consultations need to be before the EHCP is finalised because when the EHCP is finalised the placement/type of placement needs to be named in section I of the EHCP.

Reports aren’t always sent with consultations. That is why if the EHCP needs improvement, you should contact the school providing accurate information.

Thank you@perpetualplatespinning you are an absolute gem.

There was the intention to amend but the amendment wasn't done, as I understand it.

I am definitely not getting the thing about the consultation, I'm sure this can't be what you're saying but it sounds like the LA have to send the out of date EHCP to the school for consultation? It can't be changed until after the consultation? Apologies for being slow on the uptake.

The caseworker was supposed to be putting bits of the report into the EHCP (I thought).

Should an amended up to date draft EHCP have been agreed with me and school and then sent to consultation (can this be with more than one school?) and then finalised with a school named?

I feel as if Im trying to navigate an Escher building...

Following the review meeting you should:

1. Receive a report within 2 weeks of the review meeting.
2. Within 4 weeks be informed if the LA is proposing to amend or not and if they are, sent the amendment notice. Section I of the EHCP must be blank. You then make representations and state your preferred placement.
3. Within a further 8 weeks receive the finalised EHCP. This is when the placement is named in section I (in most cases, there are some cases where a placement isn’t named in I - you don’t need to worry about that, though). They may or may not have agreed your proposed amendments.

LAs can and mostly do consult with more than one placement. The LA will send consultations out somewhere between 1 and 3. Yes, they don’t always wait for your preference. The LA sends the proposed amended version during consultations. Or sometimes not even the whole EHCP. Or, yes, sometimes the previous version. This is why you should ensure schools have accurate information.

The LA may not reply to your representations before finalising. They do not need your agreement to finalise. After issuing the original draft and giving you 15 days to make representations there is no further requirement for the LA to issue another draft if they aren't going to make any amendments or the amendments made are a result of your representations. They can finalise without consulting you again. Based on Reg 14 and SENCOP 9.125. They only need to issue a revised draft if they propose other amendments. No, the school does not have to be sent the amendment notice.

I hope that helps but please do say if not.

I hope you don't mind me asking a very specific question.

In Y1 DS had some quite challenging behaviour when overwhelmed eg disruptive (not intentionally) vocalising and eg snatching toys or pushing other kids/ adults. These behaviours are long gone but were not deleted. Is that my fault for not picking up they weren't crossed through? Is it the responsibility of the school to notice descriptions that are definitely no longer accurate? Senco? teacher? TA? The LA caseworker even, who saw the most recent psychologist report and might have questioned the difference between that and 5 years before?

Any of us might have noticed errors but whose responsibility is it at the end of the day?

There isn’t a straightforward answer to that. So the AR process is where amendments can be made. During that process, you/professionals can raise the required amendments as part of the advice and information circulated beforehand. You/professionals can raise the required amendments during the AR meeting. Following the review meeting, there will be a report circulated. That can include the amendments required. If it doesn’t accurately reflect what was discussed at the meeting/the advice and information, you can contact the author and LA. The LA then decide if they propose to amend and if they do, send the amendment notice to you. You can then comment on the proposed amendments. The LA then decide what amendments to finalise. Following the conclusion of the AR, you get the right of appeal where you can appeal if you disagree with the EHCP. Ultimately, the LA is responsible for the EHCP.

Just so you know, these may not be errors as such. LAs failing to amend even when necessary is common. That doesn’t mean it is an error. It is often intentional. For example, some LAs unlawfully tell parents they only amend at phase transfer time or when there is a significant change. Those LAs aren’t making a mistake. They are intentionally misleading parents and having an unlawful local policy.

Just to update after meeting with Senco. The plan is to do another very rapid review and possibly name another special school which I visited this time last year and thought fantastic school but not a good fit. The school has since had an Ofsted and new headteacher and our family breakdown means DS pastoral needs are greater so there's possibly a bit of convergence. I don't feel confident he'd get a place though.
Senco also suggested looking at a couple of ARBs a similar distance from home as the special school (30-40 mins). I visited our local school's ARB last year and the teacher said they wouldn't be able to meet DS's needs.
Complicating things is DS currently being offset into a younger year group but with a very spiky profile so eg school tested reading age over 16 at age 9 but not interested in reading what someone thinks he should read...

Think about what you think. Just because a non-wholly independent school says they can’t meet needs doesn’t mean you think that or that they can’t be your preference.

Is being educated outside of DS’s chronological year group in section F? If not, you should look to have that included otherwise if DS moves placement, that may not continue.

Thank you @perpetualplatespinning those are very helpful questions.

More information is gradually emerging. A right mess.

Last year's review was never finalised so no right of appeal but also possibly timed out of making changes to the draft.

Today I was told the school I wanted consulted was given the wrong or unreadable documents months after the current school requested they be consulted and then another set of documents (definitely inaccurate) were sent to them two months later. There was a 'technical error' apparently.

I genuinely don't know what would be best for my child.

It isn’t too late to enforce the right of appeal following the last AR.

Or, if you prefer, you can focus on the phase transfer review this term and ensuring the correct process is followed.

How would I enforce the right of appeal? The last AR was never finalised, can I make a formal request that it is? Would I need legal advice?

The normal complaints process timescales means it isn’t usually a suitable remedy for failure to complete the AR process correctly. The remedy is JR. Starting with emailing the Director of Children’s Services reminding them of the timescales, a pre-action letter if that doesn’t work, then JR proceedings.

However, you might prefer to focus on the phase transfer review this term and ensuring the correct procedure for that is followed.

I've now got more information about what happened when and the current, appalling, state of the paperwork. I've also made enough fuss to be on the radar for the moment with some hope of corrections and some kind of reasonable process.

I don't feel very confident about what is really best for DS.

Three settings seem imaginable, I can't predict if any would work out. They are all 30 to 40 minutes away which feels too far but there's no closer option (although there might be a special school opening in our town in the next year).

One is an ARB within a state school but in a small separate building. One is a special converter academy and the third is the original target school which is a fully independant special school.

I now know the independant special school was sent really rubbish information in the last few weeks of the summer term and came back with a refusal within two weeks. The massive delay had nothing to do with them and the information about my son was so inaccurate I don't think I should completely write off the possibility.

I don't think the independant school can be named but can I ask for them to be consulted again on the basis that the previous consultation was faulty?

Can/should I ask for the other two schools to be named in the review?

There is a closer ARB but it's not separate from the main school and unfortunately doesn't seem like a good fit at all. The pluses are half the journey time and knowing some other families on the mainstream side.

I'm finding it hard to imagine anything working but I think that's stress as much as reality.

So you have 4 proper options (the distant ARB, the near ARB, the academy SS and the wholly independent SS). If you have suitable other options, I would discount the not yet open SS. It wouldn’t be ready for the start of the academic year, it may not open on time, will it even take DS’s year to begin with (lots build up over time).

Some questions I would ask the 2 ARBs.

• How many students in the provision?
• Ratio (and type) of staff - some rely on support staff to deliver teaching sessions.
• What proportion of the week are DC expected to integrate into MS? Does this % change as DC move up the school?
• What lessons do DC typically have in the RP and what lessons do they attend MS lessons for? Is there any flexibility in this?
• Do pupils have the opportunity to mix with pupils from MS outside of lesson time e.g. extra-curricular or lunchtime if they wish?
• Do they have professionals on site or visiting? If visiting, how often do they visit and how many DC do they see?
• Do they have a sensory room/quiet room?
• How does the school reduce/prevent sensory overwhelm?
• How do you manage dysregulated behaviour?
• Do pupils in the RP start/finish at the same time as the pupils in mainstream?
• Do they have DC who have reasonable adjustments to the uniform policy?
• Where do the pupils move on to afterwards?
• If you are looking ready for secondary phase transfer, what qualifications do DC in the RP typically sit? Is there any flexibility in this?

My concern about the distant ARB is how much teaching by actual teachers are they getting? What about subject specialist teachers?

The ARBs sound very different. Asking some questions will enable you to rule out at least one IMO because the self contained set up and the integrated set up are at odds and suit different DC. You may be able to rule out both.

Some questions to ask the academy SS:

• How many pupils in a class?
• How do they organise classes?
• Ratio (and type) of staff in each class?
• Ask about the curriculum they offer - some follow a full curriculum, others don’t. And ask if there is any flexibility in that.
• What qualifications do DC typically sit? Is there any flexibility in this?
• Do they have professionals on site or visiting? If visiting, how often do they visit and how many DC do they see?
• Do they embedded interventions into the curriculum?
• Do they have a sensory room?
• How does the school reduce/prevent sensory overwhelm?
• How do you manage dysregulated behaviour?
• Where do the pupils move on to afterwards?

I would go back to the wholly independent SS and provide them with accurate information (you should also do this with any other placements the LA consult with. Or when you get to that point any you think the LA will consult if they are being evasive. Whatever type of placement they are). I would also ask the independent SS if your LA fund any pupils currently there? (An answer of no doesn’t mean it can be funded, but an answer of yes will prevent the LA leading you on with the ‘we don’t fund that school’ line.) And ask them if you have to appeal, how long would they hold the place for?

Following the review meeting, the LA should send the maned ent notice within 4 weeks. At this point you can make representations and state your preferred placement. If this is the independent school, you can say so. Although in order for them to be named in the finalised EHCP, you would need an offer of a place. By all means give more than one preferred placement if they are generally all your preferred placements. But don’t if they aren’t actually your preference because the LA will name the cheapest option.

Thank you so much.
The last 10 days have been very intense but I have come to a conclusion about what I think would be the best place and which other options could work.

The distant ARB comes out as first choice.

I'm trying to get my head around transport - realising this placement might be turned down.