Sen unit

[ChickenWingChickenWings]

In order to get a Sen unit in a mainstream school named on a ehcp does the ehcp need to say specialist? Just want to know before I waste my time with mediation? As it says mainstream

For the majority of units located within mainstream schools, the mainstream school is named in section I and the provision provided by the unit included in F. That is because the majority of units are not separate registered establishments.

Personally, I wouldn’t bother with mediation. I would get the certificate and submit an appeal to SENDIST.

Although just to point out, it doesn’t matter what the current EHCP says, parents are free to appeal the placement and type of placement.

Thanks I don’t want to go to tribunal as that’s a 14 month wait here

You may still end up appealing. Only having waited longer because you have waited to partake in mediation. There’s no guarantee mediation will work, especially for a BFI appeal. LAs use it as a delaying tactic. If the LA would agree to mediation, they can concede an appeal.

If mediation doesn’t work I won’t appeal.

What you need to secure the unit is provision well specified in section F, that no mainstream-only school can realistically supply.

Please don't let the timescale put you off. Many get resolved before the hearing. We lodged an appeal in May and our child was given a special school place that July, nearly a year before their hearing date. Then the following term we got private assessments done and used the working doc process to improve section F. All was agreed and resolved - and DS settled into his new resourced provision - well before we reached the hearing date.

The appeal process is designed to be fairly user friendly for parents. It sounds a lot scarier than it is in practice, and you can pull out at any time.

Im not doing an appeal because the unit only goes up to 16 and my son is 13 and its a 14 month wait for tribunal so wouldnt be much point unfortunately moving his school for the sake of one year.

I wouldnt be in a position to afford anything privately. Thats why I wanted to check if it needs to say specialist for a unit as if it does there is not much point in me appealing it. His ehcp does mention things that would be hard to put into place in a mainstream I think but the setting is mainstream.

You don’t need to be able to afford anything privately. If you need independent assessments but can’t afford them and you aren’t eligible for legal aid, which can fund assessments if necessary, there are charities who can help. Or you could ask SENDIST to direct the LA to seek further advice and information.

Even if you decide not to do a BFI appeal for a move to the unit, it is still worth appealing B&F to improve them.

That was an aside really - we just needed to add in SaLT because LA wouldn't assess for it. We secured the specialist place just through lodging the appeal, months before the hearing date. If he is only in Y9 now (and you're in England - I don't know about other nations) you absolutely do have time to get him into specialist for Y10.

But specialist places are sought after and it helps a lot to know exactly what steps you need to take to secure them. It's not about having the word "specialist", it is making the case that mainstream can't meet his needs and following due process, pressing the right buttons to secure the provision to meet his needs. Knowing his rights is critical or they will just fob you off.

Is It a new EHCP? If not where are you in the Annual Review cycle?

It’s a new one, I wouldn’t move him for one year it wouldn’t be worth it imo.