LEA given a choice of 2 schools but were not happy with either. What do i do nxt

[XxAlisonxX]

Iv spoken to the woman from the LEA today to find out what is happening over a secondary placement for dd for sept, She has said that there is 2 schools locally that can meet dd's needs, but

school 1, is a SN school- they said that she would be held back from progressing and she would be placed in a class of much older childen ( ie teenagers)

so going by this there is no way i would consider her going to that school.

school 2- is a MS high with a SLI unit ( 45 min travel twice a day) initally said they couldnt meet her needs, but now ( im waiting for the list) can.

we feel that due to the size of the school, class, curriculum, distance, social exclusion she would not be able to cope there.

I dont want her to be stuck without a school to go to in sept but i really dont know what to do now for the best, the woman said that i would have to wait untill her nxt review ( which is easter nxt yr) to see if there was anything that needed changing on her statement. I am also currently waiting for an ICAN assessment report to come with there findings.

Should i pick 1 an send her while we appeal, do i appeal now or wait HELPPPPPP!!!

go and see them both, you might be pleasantly surprised, don't just take their word for it that she wouldn't be happy at either of them.

SLI unit may at least mean she gets decent ongoing SALT provision!

we have been to both schools and that is what made our minds up over them not being right for her.

maybe so but the school did state that they had never taught anyone with such low scores as my daughter, so how will they get round that, plus if the kids in the SLI unit all score higher than her she is going to struggle to keep up

Appeal now, don't wait as once she is in one of the schools they will try and say 'well she seems to be doing ok so we will leave her where she is'. Has she got a statement? will she be getting TA at MS school?

sorry, I wasnt aware of the background, didn't mean to be patronising. Maybe call an emergency statement review once you get the Ican report?

yes she is all ready statemented, this is to try an sort out the final statement for her secondary provision.

If the place is for September I would definitely appeal asap. I also did a secondary appeal when DS was in Year 6 and our appeal was only heard at the end of July, which meant DS didn't know where he would be going to secondary until August.

You don't need to wait for the ICAN report to appeal, you can register the appeal first and send more evidence later. I think you may not get an appeal hearing before September anyway even if you filed the appeal now; although they do try to prioritise secondary appeals so they're heard before August it is pushing it quite late now.

If it comes to September and you're not happy with the school named on the statement - you can choose to either send her anyway or you could home ed. If you sent her you might be able to gather evidence while she is attending that it's not suitable for her, but possibly at the risk that attending an unsuitable placement might cause her distress/emotional harm.

Ideally you should get an EP report which can recommend the type of school she needs. Did she see an EP at the ICAN assessment?

Do you have another school which you would prefer her to go to? Or is there any additional support which you could demand be put into place at one of the suggested schools which might make it more suitable (e.g. 1:1, extra SALT)?

I would be very concerned about the peer group in school 1 - the school should be suitable for her age, aptitude and SEN, so she should not have to go into a class full of much older children!

thanks Krystalklear- yes she did see the EP at the ICAN assessment,

What will i do if on the ICAN report has additional dx on top of what she has also a dx off, will the LEA take that into account

Which school do you want? Is it indep?

What are the costs of school 1 and 2?
That might have a bearing on which way to jump e.g. if one placement is much nearer the cost of what you ultimately want.

yes the school we had in mind is an indep and i havent got a clue on the costs of the other 2 local schools,

school 1- is a SN school and is less than 3 mile away but it is impossible to get to without a car.- it is not on a bus route, and walking would take hours with the daughter, so a taxi would be the only way as i dont drive. The school had allready said that we would not get transport for her.

school 2 is a very big MS high with a small SLI unit, the school is about 12/13 mile away, which she would get transport for but it is a good 45min drive twice a day,

daughter is statemented with band b funding what ever that is.

You need to state in detail why neither of the LA's 2 propsed school could meet her needs.

Unfortunately you'd need more specific reasons for rejecting these schools than just transport difficulties.

Good reasons would be that the the school(s) have stated they cannot meet her needs or that what is being proposed is "not suitablf ro her age and/or ability".

You then have to state why the school you are proposing (the independent) can meet her needs, in ways the other cannot.