Any ideas on the legalities of this?

[Desperatelyseekingsupport]

Ds was put on part-time timetable (for statemented hours only) almost 8 months ago as part of a PSP which I know should be for 16 weeks maximum. Then he was excluded for a couple of days and we were advised to have him attend a 'course' at a local PRU for 5 weeks to avoid the risk of permanent exclusion . Had AR meeting recently where school have requested full time hours from county as we have been pushing for ds to go back full time. We are currently awaiting a dx which will probably be ASD/PDA. He has had some behaviour problems and were told that several parents have complained about him . At the AR the DHT said that he could only go back there full time if they got the extra hours from the county. We asked what would happen if he didn't get these and were told that we would have to go through the normal channels (presumably tribunal?). Caseworker attended the meeting but said it wasn't her decision etc... Dh has been unable to work because of the reduced school hours so we obviously need ds back as soon as possible. Also worried about his education as very little work has been supplied by school and no monitoring done. Where do we stand legally on this? We are worried that if we insist on him going back full time they will permanently exclude him and then he will get no education at all.

This is an illegal exclusion. If the school can't cope without extra hours, it is their job to ensure that he gets them. They will have to undertake formal exclusion procedures to exclude him properly and this gives you rights. They are depriving you, and your child, of these rights by excluding by the back door.

This school is failing your son and it is disgraceful that this has been happening for 8 months. There is no incentive for the school or the LA to do anything while you are picking up the pieces.

Speak to ACE They have a dedicated exclusion helpline. If your son has disabilities under the Equality Act (and you do not need a formal diagnosis for this) then they could be breaking the law in that regard too.

Speak to ACE and start pushing for this to end - involve the school's governors - but this has to stop.

How old is your son?

Thanks AE - he is 12 and we have another year at the school before he has to go to high school. We moved into the county last September but he couldn't start school until a TA was in place in November. He has had 4 weeks of full time schooling in the last school year.

AE is right - what school and the LA is doing is illegal. He's entitled to a full-time education and the LA are responsible for ensuring he is able to access one - by funding his Statement for full-time support.

The Case Work is actually legally responsible - but they'll lie to you and tell you it's a Panel that makes the decision - it's not.

Have a look at www.ipsea.org to see how to complain. You need to start grasping this. Make a formal complaint in writing copied to your Local Councillor to ensure there's record of your complaint. The basis of your complaint should be that the LA are acting illegally by failing to provide your child with a suitable full-time education.

Get very angry.

Hi desperately so sorry that you haven't had the LEA sort this out for your DS. :(

You know I am not much use on advising as stuck in the middle of it myself but wanted to just offer support x

That is simply disgraceful and you need someone on your side right now. I would definitely speak to one of the charities - there is also SOS-SEN who will give you details of solicitors who will give free initial telephone advice.

You need someone to write a very stern, legal letter to school and the LA on this. He needs an immediate increase in his statemented hours. I cannot understand what school have been playing at. This is a child's education and this neglect is simply disgraceful.

I am waiting to get the minutes from the AR as those comments about the hours will have to be on them. We even asked what would happen if dh had a job and there was no-one to have ds in the afternoons and were told it would be our parental responsibility to manage it . I am also awaiting the annual school report as I have a feeling that the absences may not have been recorded properly. I dug out his interim report in January and that showed him as having 100% attendance when he was already on the reduced hours by then.

Agree get advice. If you are eligible for legal aid then get a Solicitor to do appeal.
Try and get the decision asap as that will give you a right of appeal. They cannot issue a statement which requires you to part time educate your child against your will. There is case law which says the LA cannot put the responsibility on parents to provide for a child's SEN.
There is a report on the Local Government Ombudsman website 'out of school out of mind' about your rights - LGO have recommended compensation in the past where LAs have not put FT education in place over a significant period.
But LGO cannot tell the LA what provision to put in place - you will have to go to SEN Tribunal for that so tell them to make a decision whether they are amending the statement or not after AR so you can appeal.
You can also make a formal complaint to the Chief Exec of the LA in the meantime about the delay in providing FT education / issuing an amended statement.
AE is right it is the caseworker who makes the decision so you are being lied to.
LGO and Tribunal can only tell the LA to do something, not the school. But the LA must have known about the situation at least from when went to PRU, so they should have intervened even if the school was being useless.
If I were you I would start looking at other schools including independent ones for HFA / PDA
There was also a legal case last year under Human Rights Act about a child being denied a right to education it wasn't successful on the facts but the message was that LAs cannot leave children without education (should be on NAS site as they intervened)

Got this email awhile back - looks interesting and might be helpful.

School Exclusion Help

I am forwarding this from Steve Broach, who is a barrister at Doughty Street chambers (which handles many disability and other human rights cases) and previously worked for the NAS, TreeHouse and Every Disabled Child Matters.
BPP is the law school he attended, and it seems they are offering a very
valuable free service for victims of school exclusions.

Dear all - I am asking for your help to spread the word in relation to the
BPP School Exclusions Project, which I chair.

The Project offers free advice and representation to parents whose childrenhave been excluded from school, whether permanently or for a fixed term.
Student reps from BPP receive detailed training and have access to guidance from myself and colleagues at Doughty Street. They support families from the earliest stages in any appeal to the school governors through hearings at Independent Appeal Panels. In the past three years the student reps have achieved some fantastic results, including winning cases for children with very complex needs.

At present our referrals seem to have slowed down - yet there is no suggestion the number of children being excluded from school is decreasing.
As such it would be fantastic if you could help us spread the word that the
Project exists and that we have capacity to help many more excluded children and their families.

Any family who may want representation simply needs to email the project
address - [email protected] - and a referral form will be sent straight out.

Agnes re. your comment - But the LA must have known about the situation at least from when went to PRU, so they should have intervened even if the school was being useless.
The LA have known since December that he was on a reduced time table. I complained to the case worker 3 months ago about him not being able to access a full time education. She replied' In your email, you suggest that ** is not receiving education that he is entitled to, I do not really understand this remark. He is accessing school (on a part-time basis) so that he is able to access education and share social experiences with his peers in a positive and successful way'.

If you look at the LGO report it says that last year the govt decided the default position for education out of school should be full-time. This has got a bit confused as a circular the LGO relied on was withdrawn by Michael Gove recently who felt it was restricting free schools and academies in setting the timetable - so while the guidance is full-time school - the govt has now said it will not give advice about what they mean by full-time! Still as your SEN officer seems clueless about the law I would waive the LGO report at them (they probably will not know its out of date) and ask why they have decided that part-time school meets need.

It annoys me as when parents (like me) want their child partly educated out of school (on a home programme) we get hit with the argument that the child will not be able to access the full national curriculum and we are restricting DS rights by not wanting him to attend FT school!

I would make a complaint and refer to the LGO report. You could ask LGO to intervene straight away as in effect you have a response from the case worker 3 months ago even though that is not an official complaint response, the LGO will not expect you to jump through numerous hoops when a child is out of FT school - they may take the complaint now.

LGO should be able to hurry up a decision - but if you disagree with the decision then you will have to go to SEND to challenge it.