SEN Panel next week

[Mumtoprem]

Our daughter's "case" is going back to the SEN Panel next week to decide whether they will issue a statement. DD has Specific Language Impairment and is on the 1st percentile for expressive language and on the 5th percentile for receptive language. She is due to start Primary School in September 2012.

We have been allocated our second choice school through the usual admissions route and asked for our first choice school on the parental submission to panel.

However having done more research and spoken to SALT (our normal SALT has been off sick for about 4 months and just come back to work) we are wondering whether to ask for the school we have already been allocated.

Do we need to let Panel know about this now before they meet or do we just wait and see if they agree to statement?

Thanks
Michelle

I would see whether they agree to the statement. Once you've got a statement, then you fight for the hours she needs.
IME (with my LA), children with Statements of SEN and looked after children (fostering) get preference over siblings and those living in the catchment area.

If its a mainstream school then the statement will have to be formally sent to the school once issued and the school then say if they can accept the child. So the Panel will not allocate the place, there will be time to sort out the particular school afterwards. You could let them know but it won't make any difference to the statement as all mainstream schools on paper offer the same support

If you have decided you definitely do want the school you have been allocated, then you don't need to do anything. Until you have a statement , you are basically in the normal admission process system, so if you are happy with the one you have, no need to do anything now.

I would wait to see if they issue a statement - if they say they will, you can tell them about the school change then. As agnes says, the choice of which mainstream school you want won't affect their decision about whether or not to issue a statement.