On the fence about Home Ed

[DecisionsDecisions26]

Hi, I have changed my username, incase anyone has recognised us from details previously and I want to keep my next steps close to home, not sure who to trust in this SEN world :-)
I could do with some views of others experiences,
Child is nearly 6, ASD diagnosed at 4.5, told to look at PDA for guidance as it they couldn't diagnose in county. Undiagnosed ADHD, SPD. HIghly non-compliant personality, strong demand avoidance. Child always in trouble at school, suspensions etc, aggressive alot. Struggles to learn at school doesnt want to but is clever enough to.
Have a EP report done at home, OT report, sensory diet to follow. Currently rewording the EHCP to strengthen it. School cant meet needs. LA say they should meet needs. Tribunal set for a long long way off. School is doing alot, alot more than most would and 1 to 1, I don't think they could do much more, they might be missing something, but thats not a magic cure.
Even if we win a tribunal, it doesn't mean there is a special school that can meet needs and there is also the case of waiting lists and child not getting in for a year or two. I am aware of the impact on childs mental health for the next few year, being at school, getting into trouble, guilt, shame etc.

As I can't work now, we have discussed him being home educated from end of April time, keep advocating until tribunal and they have a space somewhere suitable for him. I would rather he wasn't waiting in majnstream while his mental health is damaged and hopefully in 2 years he will get in somewhere. By end of April, we will have more updated evidence and any extra views from the LA have been given, just incase anything changes and then we could make our final decision. Tbh I don't know how well home ed will work for us, he wouldnt be getting as dysregulated so our routine should be easier, but then I can;t just be in the house all day, every day stuck, if he refuses to go anywhere. Or may just get aggressive all the time, although that should lessen hopefully. School holidays are sometimes hell, although two weeks isnt enough recover is it, hard to judge.

The problem is with this Wellbeing bill coming in, early Spring, I worry if I wait until April, I might never get him out, then be told to take him in every day, year 1, year 2 and not have a choice, I feel my hand is being pushed, quicker than I wanted.
I have a teacher meeting Friday to discuss current situation (his teacher did comment, something like, it cant go on like this, something has to change....for him and them). I have someone coming to see us next week to do an assessment and help regulate his nervous system and the family (that may never work if hes at school 5 days a week) I will take both their points into this equation. The special school we want is going to see him at his mainstream school to do a report for evidence in the tribunal, which may happen before my cut off point, or not. We have arranged a private Ed Psych to go to his school end of April. We were then going to take this all on board and if the LA did nothing rom that evidence, then take him out early May. But we now no longer have that time.
We need to make a decision in the next 2 weeks I think. Hes not going to get in a special school anytime soon, im sure, no matter what the evidence, so I just feel I need to take him out, before this bill come in to force, but still on the fence.

Thanks so much if you managed to read this far, but I feel sick with this decision, family can't help as they would just say, you have to trust the process, LA etc. I do not, the stories I have read, and sometimes everyone agreeing that a child needs a special school but the LA still enforcing mainstream. I think I know my decision but feel so upset at such a change in my sons life and removing him from all his friends (even though he would get new ones)

If the Ed Psych can't do a assessment at school then how do we produce that as evidence....and does the evidence really, honestly, matter if the LA are just ignoring it anyway and forcing kids into mainstream, waiting for these special ASD units which may come at some point.
If he was home ed, and if the special school say he wouldnt fit in there either, sen betweener, then i guess i would fight for a forest school a few times a week to give me a break.
I know what my gut tells me for his safeguarding and learning, but what if i make a big mistake, its such a big scary decision, i talked to him this morning and he only feels really happy at playtimes in school (he will other times too but not as much). Then how do i get more evidence, would i even have a chance of getting him in a special school later down the line. This bill has pushed me to make a move before i am quite ready.

If DS is having multiple suspensions and is at risk of permanent exclusion, you could try requesting an expedited hearing.

Even if we win a tribunal, it doesn't mean there is a special school that can meet needs and there is also the case of waiting lists and child not getting in for a year or two.

This isn’t how appeals work. If you are appealing BFI and SENDIST Orders a school be named, the school must admit. There is no sitting on a waiting list and not getting a place for a year. If there isn’t a school that can meet needs, have you considered EOTAS/EOTIS? You can pursue that in your appeal if it is inappropriate for provision to be made in a school.

Personally, I would not EHE while you wait for your Tribunal hearing. If you do that, the LA has even less reason to concede. They will take a chance that you will just continue to EHE. If you EHE, it is easier for professionals to sweep DS’s needs under the carpet. Whereas, at the moment, you are someone’s ‘problem’. As crude as it is. However, that doesn’t mean you have to force DS to attend school if he can’t. You don’t have to. The LA would still be responsible for any provision detailed, specified and quantified in F and for ensuring DS still received a suitable full-time education. If he was unable to attend school full time, you could request an expedited hearing on this basis, too. But if you EHE, the LA will say you relieve them of this duty.

EPs can assess at home or away from home but outside of school. Yes, EP evidence is helpful even if the LA ignores it, SENDIST will consider all evidence.

If he was home ed…then i guess i would fight for a forest school a few times a week to give me a break.

Be aware if you EHE the LA does not have duty to provide provision. It is very rare to get a personal budget when EHE.

if the special school say he wouldnt fit in there either

Is the SS wholly independent? If not, you can still pursue a placement there. You don’t need them to agree. They can be named even if they object.

Why do you need to make a decision in the next 2 weeks? The right to homeschool is not affected by the Wellbeing bill, so you can always choose that when you feel no other option works. You'll have to inform the LA that you are home schooling, but that is it. I would wait to see how things are going with the LA/EHCP. What do you think he really needs in an ideal world? Instead of SS you could push straight away for EOTAS, e.g. a combination of tutors, online school, home ed, clubs and forest school if you think that's what he needs. But if he is truly happy socially at breaktime in his current school, I'm not sure home ed would be best for him, except he makes new friends easily and you can get him to social activities outside of the home regularly. Maybe there is something more his current school could do that the EP can suggest, or possibly a reduced timetable or even some flexi schooling could help, then at least you get some time for yourself and your son gets to spend time with his friends.

He isn't having multiple suspensions yet, but soon will be.

The tribunal isn't taking place for over another year yet, so that's a year of being disruptive, not as good as others, not good enough, and knowing you have hit your friends, had them crying and hurt them numerous times a day. He isn't oblivious to this and it is affecting his mental health. He can;t tolerate school as it is too loud all the time.
He wouldn't be suitable for EOTAS yet, forest school learning and play yes, but not sitting, learning, he cant sit still.
So possible expedited hearing if hes at home unable to attend school for the safety of himself and others, too loud, constant reds, possible numerous suspensions? that is all in his EHCP but the LA werent bothered about that. Is an expedited hearing, saying needs arent being met, its not working, we need to bring the tribunal forward? (except its not a tribunal)
The school i selected is not independent, it is a community specialist school apparently. It is one of the better ones, i think if they say they cant meet needs then I dont think other will.

There is a child in ds school who has been refused from 3 special schools, one for being aggressive a year ago, one for having good speech and being intelligent and one has a waiting list of 18 months, no tribunal there, but it just seems I would run into the same issues. Seems like a brick wall everywhere.

Expedited hearings are for reasons such as those not in school full-time, those at risk of permanent exclusions, those in phase transfer years. It isn’t about whether needs are met or not - if it was everyone appealing to SENDIST would think that applied otherwise they wouldn’t be appealing.

except its not a tribunal

What’s not a Tribunal? If you have appealed to SENDIST, it is a Tribunal. That is what the T stands for.

It doesn’t matter what the LA think, SENDIST will make their own decisions looking at all the evidence.

He wouldn't be suitable for EOTAS yet, forest school learning and play yes, but not sitting, learning, he cant sit still.

You are misunderstanding what EOTAS/EOTIS is. It is bespoke based on individual needs. Packages are different. Nothing you have written means EOTAS/EOTIS isn’t suitable. It can include forest school learning and play. It does not have to include sitting or traditional learning.

The tribunal isn't taking place for over another year yet, so that's a year of being disruptive, not as good as others, not good enough, and knowing you have hit your friends, had them crying and hurt them numerous times a day. He isn't oblivious to this and it is affecting his mental health. He can;t tolerate school as it is too loud all the time.

No, it doesn’t have to be a year of that. As I explained in my pp, not deregistering and EHEing does not mean DS has to continue to attend school if that isn’t accessible. The the above does not have to happen.

The school i selected is not independent, it is a community specialist school apparently. It is one of the better ones, i think if they say they cant meet needs then I dont think other will.

As the school is not independent, you don’t need them to agree to being named. The tribunal can, and must unless one of the lawful exceptions applies, name them even if the school objects.

The parents of the other child need to appeal to SENDIST. Tribunal is the answer to forcing the LA’s hand. Admissions to SS with EHCPs don’t work like the normal admission process to mainstream schools. For non-wholly independent schools, waiting lists don’t exist in the same way.

The right to homeschool is not affected by the Wellbeing bill

There are elements of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill covering withdrawal from school. You cannot say if they will or they won’t apply in OP’s situation.

One of the amendments proposed to the Children’s Well-being and Schools Bill is about consent for withdrawal when the LA is “(c) conducting or has ever initiated proceedings under section 31 of the Children Act 1989 (care and supervision),
(d) providing services to the child or their family under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (provision of services for children in need, their families, and others),
or has ever conducted enquiries or has ever taken action under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 (local authority’s duty to investigate).”

The explanatory statement states “This amendment seeks to ensure local authorities must consent to the withdrawal of a child from school if there are currently, or have ever been, enquiries, proceedings or action initiated in relation to the child under section 31 or 47 of the Children Act 1989 or the child is currently classified as a child in need under section 17 of that Act.”

Now the amendment tabled is about those being provided with services which is somewhat at odds with the explanation which would include CiN, including disabled DC as per s17’s definition of a CiN, even if services weren’t being provided.

Although even if passed, it won’t come into force in the next few months.

The new Wellbeing Bill from what i understand states that you have to seek LA approval for homeschooling any child. It doesntt mean they will let you or it could take 6 months for a decision, whilst your child is in crisis and you can't keep them off in the meantime. Just worried to get into a situation, be stuck when I could have prevented it. The LA are insistent that a mainstream suits my child and nothing more is needed. That part is to be made law in early spring, so concerns me.
What would suit him in an ideal world, teaching himself when he is ready, asking lots of questions to learn when he wants to, learning through play. I don't even know if a special school placement would be suitable for him, I eagerly await their report once they have been to his school. Also, whether they would take him, if he doesn;t want to do something, he isn't doing it. As the EP said recently, he is stuck on steel rails, nothing or no one will move him from that direction unless he wants to aswell, it has to be fun.
Hes taught himself timestables and other things, so seems quite capable of doing it himself, when ready. (obviously not just letting him do it himself)

So, see what the special school says about him and possibly change tribunal wants (I isnt it) to forest school, clubs and some hometime. But definitely not the home ed first. I dont want him to go to a special school, it not work and have to change him places again, im very much weighing up all the damage this could be doing to his mental health. Tutor and online school would fail, he just wouldnt give it a chance :-)
He is very social, so i think i was imagining home ed be, bit of work, walk and general knowledge conversations, then some home ed groups.

Thanks both, my head is a bit clearer. They really need Yes/No flowcharts for this stuff, easy instructions!

Do you have a link? Unless there has been an amendment tabled in the last couple of days, the current version doesn’t include consent to EHE for all children. Only in certain situations.

By “I isn’t it”, do you mean the appeal you have registered doesn’t include section I? Is it just B&F?

Sorry there was a cross post in there, about the wellbeing bill, i wasnt correcting you :-)

I meant the expedited hearing wouldn't be the original tribunal booked, but wouldn't be suitable for him anyway as he is in school full time and not at risk of permanent exclusion.
SENDIST will make their own decision in a year, but thats a long time away, so I only have what the LA think at the moment, its their decision until then. Even when school and all the experts say school cant meet needs, it currently comes down to what the LA think, as there the deciders at the moment.
Yeah, some bits of EOTAS will work but not others, the play bits but not the traditional learning.

So if i decided to keep him home in that year until the tribunal, dont deregister from school, just say (write a letter, fill in a form etc) saying I am keeping him home whilst still registered at school until the tribunal, would everyone just be okay at that? No fines, no threats? Would the Wellbeing Bill coming in not make it law that I had to take him in regardless.
But if a school say they can not meet his needs, is there any point forcing it.
What if he doesnt learn anything there or is constantly aggressive there to, I donlt want him to basically, fail from his eyes, over and over again, so maybe straight to EOTAS. His current school originally said special school for him but I did mention recently, I didnt know if that would even work for him and they did say it might not (he is just against being prompted to do stuff)

I did check yesterday and think theyve changed the bill to all children now, i could easily be wrong, but wouldnt be surprised if they keep tweaking it.

This is so difficult, you have one plan and things change and you have to reroute over and over again.

I saw it on some SEND post on Facebook and that Michael Charles SEN solicitors facebook page, im sure he did a post on it. A search in google brings it up to say all children to, but I could easily be wrong. My heads spinning at the moment...and im very new to all this law stuff, my sons only been diagnosed 15 months, so I know jack really!!

Sorry, appealed B, F and I in tribunal, I just meant, I isnt it, as I couldnt remember the letter for the naming education part.

Thats another thing, my son had alot of problems in nursery too. I was concerned but they just played it down. Then when he went to school, 3 weeks in, they said we have major issues, nursery paperwork is nothing like he is.
So if he couldn't cope in a relaxed nursery at 3 and 4, with just play and mark making, then thats another reason why im starting to think a special school wont even suit him, possibly any contained area

The one thing with Home Ed mind is I think you can forget about all this stuff, the laws and just get up in the morning and get on with your day :-) The amount of hours filling in forms Yack :-/

Have you got a link to the amendment for all children? I can’t find that on the government’s website and I like to read the amendments. I’m not on Facebook but from what I can see from Michael Charles’ page he hasn’t posted all children. The last post he posted about the CWSB was on the 17th. That post covered consent for withdrawal for those who have had s47 investigations. But it doesn’t say consent for all DC. I don’t know if you can see more posts if you have an account.

EOTAS packages are bespoke. They do not have to include traditional learning at all. So it wouldn’t matter that traditional learning wouldn’t work for DS.

If DC is unable to attend school, it wouldn’t be you just deciding to keep him home. He would be unable to attend.

If DS is absent due to ill health, including stemming from unmet SEN, the absences must be authorised. The Regulations (School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024) make it clear where a pupil is absent because they are unable to attend due to sickness the absence must be regarded as authorised. DfE’s statutory attendance guidance also states absence due to illness must be coded as I and unless the authenticity of the illness is genuinely and reasonably questioned must be authorised. Authorised absences will not lead to fines or prosecution. There may be threats but they are scare tactics, don’t let them panic you. You can push back and challenge such threats. The Children’s Well-being and Schools Bill isn’t proposing to stop authorised absences.

Then if DS isn’t in school full-time, you can request an expedited hearing.

Sometimes parents do pursue a school despite the school/LA objecting. Just because a school says it can’t meet needs doesn’t always mean they can’t. There is more nuance to it than that.

You will be right, it will be misinformation I have read, I just checked Michael Charles and couldn't see a newer post. No sections here, so that relieves that bit, just not sure if I still trust the LA.

Thats the thing, he is able to attend, he loves it and goes running in every morning, but then refuses to do everything and then rages when it doesnt go his way. or someone makes too much noise, or does something he doesnt like, or changes a game, or wins a game or wins a race. Then the fists come out or things are thrown.
He does refuse some days, says he hates school and doesnt want to go, but we can normally talk him round, play a game etc to change his mind, make it fun. I would never force him and if we are late, we're late.
I have had him off as mental health days (authorised) a few times when he has been increasing in aggression at school, just to give him a bit of a reset, presume there is a limit on that time I would get away with.

I will not panic about taking him out now then, give it a few months, see what happens, see what the special school says, have the ep assessment, and maybe look at changing to EOTAS. (I will discuss EOTAS and special school with him and see what he thinks, as I do value his opinion too) And if his mood declines, pull him out on mental health grounds for a bit. Then take it from there! Thank you.

Authorised absences for illness, including caused by unmet needs, don’t have a time limit on them. You don’t need to worry about that.

By all means discuss EOTAS with DS, but DS probably won’t understand it properly. The possibilities are endless and many adults don’t understand that area of SEN law well. And from DS’s perspective, EOTAS/EOTIS can look exactly like EHE.

Hi OP, there's an expression "don't borrow trouble" which I think is relevant here. I know it's completely overwhelming when you start on all this, but I think if you can either get the right kind of support at school or find an alternative school then things will seem easier.

My personal opinion is that the new duties being placed on councils by the Wellbeing Bill are going to prove completely impossible for them to fulfill. They simply don't have the staff or competence. They can't and don't do what they're required to at the moment!

A well organised parent who knows what they want will get there with a bit of luck.

Focus on getting through the tribunal as well as possible, keep gathering evidence and saving money if you can. Do ask that the tribunal be expedited. I think it's form SEN7.

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