Reasons for special school saying no.

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I know I’ve posted about my daughter before many times so please feel free to skip by this if you don’t want to hear it. I am currently going to tribunal for a special school for my daughter as this was declined, I named a school and they visited but the place was declined, I have just found out they said this was due to my daughters anxiety and the fact she has been out of school for 3 years and that doesn’t fit in with their school and she wouldn’t have a tutor group. This is the school I’ve named so what do I do now as they don’t feel it’s the right place for her and there are no other special schools around I feel would be suitable.

Is this a wholly independent school or not? Because the rules are different.

Yes unfortunately I’ve found out it’s an independent school and not a section 41. I have spoken to them today and they claimed I could still go to tribunal even though they haven’t offered a place which I think is not the case so I’m unsure why they said that.

If the school is wholly independent, they can’t be named against their will, even by SENDIST.

Since the school said they could be named even without an offer of a place, I would double check if they are in fact wholly independent - if you are unsure and would like me to check feel free to PM the name of the school and the LA it is in (the latter in case there is more than one school by that name). A wholly independent school should know they can’t be named if they don’t agree, so it suggests they may not be.

If they are wholly independent, I would go back to the school and ask to discuss their concerns. Have they made a decision based on inaccurate information or the EHCP before proposed amendments have been made? Is there further evidence you could provide?

Alongside that, relook at other potential schools. I know you said none of the others are suitable, but have you looked at all possibilities within travelling distance, normally 1hr15 is considered the maximum travel time, including those out of area.

If it is inappropriate for provision to be made in a school, there is EOTAS/EOTIS.

They did a home visit in January and she was crying the whole they were here, I did explain that this was extremely out of character which it was but unfortunately that has gone against us it seems. I have done a search of it and it says it’s not a section 41 school so I’m unsure why that was said.

January to now is a fair amount of time, you could ask them to reassess offering a place.

Is it definitely independent? Could it be a non-maintained special school? Sometimes these are confused with independents.

I’ve sent you a PM with the name of the school if that’s ok