Hi there
My son attends a support centre for ASD children attached to a mainstream school and is in year 6. After many years the LA has finally agreed to set up a similar provision for secondary schooling where he starts in September. I have had a letter offering this provision to him and it was named in his draft statement. These arrangements were left until the last legal date, 15th Feb and as a result the draft statements were rushed and inadequate.
I met with the LA to go through his statement to make amendments especially to part 3. At this meeting a member of the LA - not the statementing officer and not someone who I had requested to attend stated that if I insisted a low stimuli/time out room was put on his statement then she would withdraw the offer to the new unit and he would have to go to a mainstream school ESP provision. I had already received a letter from the LA in January telling me that this ESP provision was unsuitable for my son.
Suddenly a meeting that should have been about getting my sons statement right became a threat that he would lose his place - the reason given? that the room they had available had been made a sensory room and they had already spent the money on the equipment for it!
I wondered where I would stand legally should they withdraw the offer - as I did insist the low stimuli room go onto his statement as recommended from his annual review regardless of their threats and how they would stand legally about offering a school that they themselves had already deemed unsuitable - and they are right it is unsuitable. I also wondered what the legal position was on the fact that they wanted to change the statement to reflect what provision they had available as opposed to the needs of the child.
Sorry, bit of a rant (one of many over the years) but I getting the feeling that this could be heading for tribunal and wondered if anyone had experienced anything similar and had any advise to offer?