Admission Criteria - Vulnerable Children - PLEASE HELP

[AJcat]

My DD is currently in yr 5 and we will be applying for a secondary school later this year. She was diagnosed with Aspergers last September and although she doesn't have a statement she does recieve extra help at school. Would this be classed as a medical condition that would fall under the vulnerable children catergory? I have asked the question but can not get a proper answer. I am assuming that I will have to submit copies of her diagnosis letter etc. Please can someone who maybe has been a similar position shed some light !!!!!!

ooh hard one but surely ASD is both no?

You would think so. But having asked people and even ringing the School Admission department at the council no one will give me an answer. The problem we have is that if the school is over subscribed then we may loose out due to distance lived from the school. DD will then have to go another school the other side of town, either by public transport or by me but that will be in totally the opposite direction for my place of work. All of her friends live near the school we have in mind and it is so important to her that she is with familier people. There is no way she can go on the bus on her own and the move to secondary school is going to be huge for her.

I think that in theory it would qualify but you need a lot of evidence - consultant's letter explaining exactly why that is the only school that meets your DD's needs, not just your explanation as a parent. You might also have your first choice rejected initially and only get a real chance to have your case heard at an appeal.

Repost this on the Secondary Education or Education boards - there are a few posters on there who know all about admissions for non-statemented children and who have sat on the appeals panels.

We applied under it and got refused. However i appealed and won my place in the end.

I understand we failed because we only gave them 2 of the 3 things they need.

1. proof your child has special needs.

2. proof your chosen school can provide your child with the correct support and do something other schools can't.

3. The big one Proof other schools can NOT meet the needs of your child. (this is the hard one and one i missed)

I think the big thing is that this critirea isnt designed to give SEN children any school they want, you really have to proove other schools can meet the needs of your child.

Also note most doctor's and consultants WONT get involved, they arn't allowed to name schools unless there is a "specialist unit attached to it" so for ASD the school would HAVE to have an ASD provision.

But they can write letters confiming SEN etc.

Hum. They tend to use the word "vulnerable" to mean children who are in care/fostered, caring for sick parents or whatever. Rather than SN. You might get more sense out of them based on medical need (ie if you have a doctor's letter to back up your preference for this specific school) and the terms of the DDA/Equality act; I guess ASD would count as a disability and prioritising her application for the school she is able to access I think would be mandated under the Equality act where you have to give a person with a disability preferential treatment if that's what it takes to get an equal outcome.

Have a google for the School Admissions code on the DfE website. I think it says that the LEA has to make its admissions criteria absolutely plain and public and to support you through the admissions process if you're having any problems with it. So I'd read the rules, and then bung your request for guidance to the LEA in writing stressing that you are asking for their response in line with the govt's School Admissions code. Ime, mentioning laws and government codes of practice in writing will unnerve the low-level clerk dealing with you enough that they push it up the food chain to someone who can actually answer the question.

Thank you for all your advice everyone. leiela I have taken note of point 3 in your post and r3dh3d i will look on the DofE website.

If you need any help yell. I really grilled the guy at the appeal about why my request for admission under that critirea failed so i have a good idea of what they are looking for.

In the end the appeal panel determind that i SHOULD have got it, but the LEA pretty much did everything possible to stop me filing for it correctly so i won under maladmistration (or whatever its called :P ) Basically they refused my submission, because i didn't prove all 3 elements. But I proved that i have "asked repeatedly" what EXACTLY i needed to supply and they refused to tell me...