La 'evidence' for tribunal?

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Can I ask for some views/ advice, please? We've just been to London for ds's educational tribunal; he has autism, has been without school/ any education for 2.5 YEARS now, apart from a couple of after school sessions a week at a school that everyone agreed was unsuitable, but was all that could be found for him.

At the point where we told the la we were going to tribunal, having found a great non maintained school, they suddenly announced that they had found s school place for him after all, in a school that had been previously discounted by them as being unsuitable and over subscribed.

So we had the tribunal this week, really full on, stressful, loads of work. We had to apply under freedom of info act to get the papers that actually said that the la , and their proposed school, had previously said it wasn't appropriate.

Now, on the deadline day for submitting evidence, the la made us aware that while ds was doing his sessions at the school, they'd had an OT, a salt and staff from their proposed school to assess him without our knowledge. We had no time therefore to get our own reports done. They'd also taken him to see the new school in the minibus, again without our knowledge (although they couldn't get him to go through the door) so that they could say he'd visited. They also lied about stuff, but hey ho, can't prove it.

Their reports were inaccurate, and based on seeing ds for 15 mins in an unrepresentative setting.

I don't think there's anything we can do re the actual tribunal (which went ok, won't know for a couple of weeks) but I'm really pissed off about this. Have I hot grounds for complaint to the la or the school, or even the OT, etc, for not seeking our consent or informing us?

An added complication is that the school he's doing the after school sessions at will need to be very involved in any translation to the new school. I'd thought we had a good relationship with them but I don't feel that I trust them now, especially as at the tribunal it was suggested that whichever school is named will eb on atrial basis. I'm scaredcthat if our preferred (££) school is named , the la will be leaning on the current school to sabotage the transition so it fails.

Aagh. My poor poor ds. He just need s to be given a bloody chance. We are so exhausted from all this.
I'd really appreciate any thought if you've got any experience of this. Thanks.

Sorry, so many typos!

Oh poor you. Don't worry that if you win the school will be leaned on to ensure failure. They might do a crap transition but once he's in, he's in and the LA will stop fighting until secondary transfer.

Were you represented at tribunal?

You need to raise complaints with all agencies as well as the school for their actions and you need put in requests for your child's file plus any other information. You need to also request from the LA any instruction letters to the agencies telling them to go in.

Whatever comes up these requests (in writing) flag up their behaviour and coukd well help you with an appeal of the decision if it is unsuitable.

Thanks, starlight. He's 13, so if we do win the school will take him to 19, which would be amazing.
I will apply for the files. Although there seems to have been a lot that's gone on in the last few months for which there was apparently nothing in writing or email at all
Yes, we were represented, a solicitor who was recommended on mn.
We're very tired. You know, when we started this, I genuinely thought that we just needed to let people know what the situation was, let them follow their protocols, and everyone would just have his best interests at heart ( hollow laugh). Thanks again.

Have these people ever spoken to you or seen your son before? If so, did they get you to sign consent?

Were they assessing or simply 'observing'? I think, if it is the latter, it is poor practice indeed not to let you know but if they have had no contact with your son, and just watched him, they may not have needed your consent to simply be in school and look at him.

HOWEVER, if they were observing him with the intention to present a formal assessment of his needs and abilities, then they should have had your consent to assess him and to use that assessment.

This relates to clinical professionals really as LA staff are so unaccountable. NHS professionals in particular are stepping way beyond the bounds of their professional/ethical road if they secretly assess children and share information about them. The duties of confidentiality attach to the information they acquire and they need your consent to share this. Even if you consent to sharing in the healthcare context, I think there is a very good argument that you would need to specifically consent to them sharing in the educational/legal context.

professional/ethical duties (not sure where road came from!)

Sorry you are going through all this by the way!

They took him out if school on a mini bus without your knowledge?

Yes. Although they have done that before, and told us afterwards; to mcdonalds, he's agoraphobic and it was as an 'expanding his tolerance' thing, and we didn't object, which I guess makes it harder.

But they didn't mention it at all in his home/ school book when he went to the school, or when the visits to him were done, so it's pretty clearly deliberately hiding it from us. I think it's because I thought we got on well with his teacher, who has seemed supportive, that I'm feeling really let down.

Oh! Just saw your posts, appropriatelyemployed, sorry!

Well, their reports were presented as evidence by the lea that ds's (well documented) severe anxieties and phobias and sensory difficulties weren't that bad after all, so that's an assessment, I'm assuming?

No, he'd never seen them before.

Thank you