Placing child in independent school before LEA agree to name the school?

[KOKOagainandagain]

DS was due to start ms secondary last Tuesday but was unable to attend. School are being supportive. I arranged to collect work/reading to do at home and negotiated to get DS to accompany me the next day. Unfortunately whilst I was away talking to SENCO the Head popped out (DS wouldn't come in) to try and gently pursuade him in. WTF - must have thought I was imaging things or exaggerating. DS said he ignored him until he went away and is now convinced that he needs to stay well away. Took DS to the GPs and he has been 'signed off' for a month. LEA say they will arrange home tuition.

DS is starting a 3 day evaulation at Frewen - few wobbles but at least he is willing to try - even though it means having to board.

Despite LEA EP and NHS involvement since 2008 they failed to provide any diagnosis which has had numerous negative consequences but has now resulted in DS being out of a school environment. Private assessement has recently diagnosed ASD to add to the SpLD found by private EP last year.

Deadline for receiving a proposed statement/NIL is tomorrow. I want to get him back into a school ASAP. What are the chances of placing him there (if he is offered a place and it suits him) before part 4 is agreed and being able to claim for reimbursement of fees paid prior to LEA agreeing to fund? I feel strongly that if he had had early intervention he would have been able to cope in the ms and so would not have to board.

As far as I know, there is no obligation whatsoever to reimburse fees paid by parents prior to a setting being named in part 4. However, I am new to all this.

So put him in if you can afford it for a good while and believe it will be proveable that the independent school can meet his needs where the one he is refusing (and any other one they might propose) cannot.

I'd also seek legal advice re the possibility of bringing an action against the LA for Ed negligence. Your situation sounds very similar to mine - I did and won.

we put dd1 into a private SN school before it was named in part 4 - in fact, we withdrew her from the name school (again, before it was named!) to put her in our choice of school. this was partly in order to be able tp 'prove' that the school was the only suitable option for dd1.

it worked, and we got the school we wanted named, but no reimbursement of fees. we were advised this was not possible.

Many thanks.

wet - sounds like it could be worth a free half-hour phone call - I have considered it but have concerns they would cover their arses with 'hard to diagnose', the cost, and an assumption that action is best brought when DC are older (although I may have dreamt that last bit).

You won't get fees back by the tribunal process. You might via other legal routes later if you could prove the tribunal always unnecessary and malpractice on the part of the LA.

Thanks star - complicated as there are 2 LEAs - one for the school (and 2 EP assessments in 2009 and 2011 which failed to find any 'cause' of failure to progress or anxiety) and another that refused SA twice causing unnecessary delay and may cause further delay by forcing Tribunal even though he is out of school (we live on the border).

Are parents entitled to legal aid if they bring an educational negligence case on behalf of their child (or would I just like that to be the case)?