Okay - deadline today. Weird one re LEA naming school - anyone heard of this before?

[moosemama]

Well, as most of you know, today is the deadline for the LEA to name a secondary for ds1.

We knew better than to expect an amended statement in the post any time soon, so dh called and asked if they'd mind telling us over the phone. All good, they were very helpful.

BUT - they can't name a school. They said they sent the paperwork to the out of area indie we (and the inclusion team etc) want him to go to, but despite chasing several times they haven't had it back. Apparently they were told the HT has to sign it off and he appears to be out a lot.

They suggested we call and have a discussion with the admissions officer at the school ourselves, to see if that helps at all - so it seems to be legit.

In the meantime they said they've done a 'holding amendment' on the statement to simply say 'a ms secondary'. So, from that it would seem that they don't have any other options for where to send him and the indie is their last hope as well as ours.

Obviously, we can't/don't want to push them to name any school just to meet statutory deadlines etc, as that will definitely mean he won't go to the indie, but the fact that they haven't actually named a school means we have nothing to appeal and are left in limbo with the secondary naming appeals date rushing towards us.

I was prepared for a firm 'no' and a fight. I was prepared for a 'yes' and celebrations, but this, well I don't know what to think or feel. I am completely I hate being in limbo like this and was consoling myself that at least we should know either way by the end of today.

Dh is going to try and get hold of the admissions officer at the school (who is lovely and showed us around the place back in December) this afternoon and see if she can shed any light on the subject.

I'm concerned that they aren't liking certain aspects of the statement that were specifically designed to get his current school to do things properly, but would be like teaching them to suck eggs. The statement is very 'primary school' orientated and we knew that it would need some work at AR to make sure it fits a secondary framework.

I just wish I knew whether it's as simple as the HT not being in to sign off on the paperwork or if they don't want him and if so, why not, as from our half day visit and discussions with the AO, HT and other members of staff they seemed confident that ds is very similar to a good number of their pupils and as they put it 'ds1 sounds like he is one of ours - nothing there we can't do' - although they hadn't actually seen a copy of the statement then.

Any thoughts folks?

Argh! No help whatsoever. Except, if they haven't named a school, then your time to appeal must start from the time from which they do. You can't appeal, any MS secondary?

Hope you have luck getting on to the HT ASAP.

Thanks Ellen.

Right, just typed a post in response to yours about the possibility of an appeal, but then dh rang.

Well, now I'm really nervous. He rang first time and they asked him to call back at a specific time. Called at that time and was told the Admissions Officer is in a meeting with the Head all afternoon and is not to be disturbed.

So, there are a few possibilities here:

a) the LEA were telling the truth and the school has just got behind with the admission stuff - hence the meeting this afternoon

b) there's something fishy going on and the school's AO is avoiding us

c) I know the school asks for a confidential report from the primary school and therefore ds's current school could have put the boot in

Whatever is happening, we all break up for half-term today, so that's it, we won't hear anything else for at least a week.

I'm concerned, because in January dh tried to call the school to see if it was ok for us to take ds to their open day. I couldn't work out if it was a public open day or one just for pupils and parents. He phoned several times and was told the AO wasn't available. I'm now worried she didn't want to talk to us for some reason.

Logic tells me that if they don't want him they would just have sent the paperwork back as a rejection, so maybe it's all above board, they are a bit behind and are going through SEN applications this afternoon. Ds1's paperwork went in late as well, as a result of him being rejected out of hand by the local Academy, so that may possibly have had an impact on the deadline?

We can't appeal for an indie place unless the indie has agreed to be named and there simply is no second best choice available to us. So if we appeal against 'a mainstream secondary' we could end up with them just shoving him anywhere and he won't survive that.

I feel sick and poor dh is having a shitty birthday. He's already had to cancel his leave today and agree to work tomorrow as well, poor fella.

desperate bump

I am following this but have no advice but it seems just wrong that you are in absolute limbo over this. You need to know one way or another

Moose, try not to worry ATM. Tribunals can and will shorten the timeframe to appeal if you'll need to.

In the meantime I would request they DON'T put 'a ms secondary' as ths implies that any woukd meet the part 3 requirements.

Instead, put in writing to the LA what they have told you on the phone and state now clearly that you will be unable to agree a statement that puts 'a ms' as you do not believe his needs can be met by that.

Then leave the problem and ball in their court.

Thanks bjk.

I guess no-one can offer any advice because there's nothing we can do.

Poor ds is such a lovely boy, not at all difficult to handle at school, doesn't have particularly high needs, just needs extra pastoral for his anxiety, plus differentiation for a few bits and consideration for his poor Theory of Mind skills. Yet here he is without a school place. We have 18 state secondaries in our area, but not one that ds can attend.

Cross posted Star.

Having spoken to dh, we were wondering about refusing to accept the amendment that says 'a MS Secondary' purely to delay things, what with half term and everything, as of course we will be beholden to their bloody 15 day deadline, as of today.

The independent is also mainstream, so we can't say that his needs can't be met by mainstream.

It's complicated, because it's a mainstream independent that has a lot of pupils with dyslexia, dyspraxia and ASD on their roll and have got a really good rep for supporting them. They are a third of the size of the mainstream secondaries in are area, have small class sizes, but a big LS department and every member of staff is properly ASD trained. When we went to visit, every member of staff we met was able to discuss how they would differentiate for ds, from maths through to woodwork and music and they have a policy of blending strong pastoral care with academic support to make sure every child has the best shot at meeting their potential. It's a very unique place, but still categorized as a mainstream independent school.

No-one has a bad word to say about the place and there are several children from our area already attending - apparently they have half a dozen people carriers of children bused in from our area every day.

So get them to name a small m/s with small class sizes (presuming that is what the indie is?)

Did you know (I didn't until last year) that there is a shortened process for Tribunals for school tranfer cases? So it WILL be sorted by Sept, don't worry.

It may be that they're negotiating over package costs.

Sorry, I don't mean 'name' - I mean 'put'!

'They are a third of the size of the mainstream secondaries in are area, have small class sizes, but a big LS department and every member of staff is properly ASD trained.'

So part 4 needs to say something like:

'DS to be educated in a mainstream secondary school that has classes with a maximum number or x pupils.'

You can also mention he needs all staff to be at x level of ASD training in part 3.

You need to respond within 15 days, but that response can be that the LA have failed to get a response from your school choice by the last day of half term and you would like to book a meeting to discuss what happens next.

The 15 days is then reset from when that meeting takes place. A tribunal will make sure your case is heard in time (provided this doesn't drag on for months).

feel Good point. The school could be happy to take your ds, but knows about these deadlines and wants to make sure that they are properly funded before they accept.

Moose saw this thread title and hoped it wasn't you but it is .
I don't have any advice just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you.

Thank you for your replies.

I think you're right, we need to reject the amendment saying we want it to say MS school with x max number of pupils and x number of pupils per class.

Our LA has never yet agreed to a meeting, to discuss amendments to the statement - they just flatly refuse. The only time we've met our SO was when the inclusion manager called a meeting of all professionals involved in his care when things broke down between us and the school late last year.

Good point about the funding, although the fees are almost bang on the £10,000 amount that the new SN funding system plus Pupil Premium consists of. Transport would be on top of that, but of course that's nothing to do with the school.

I'm not so much worried about it not being sorted by September, more that ds1 is a wreck already not knowing where he's going and it's getting worse as each month passes. He needs to know and he needs a careful transition plan, including lots of visits to the school.

I have had a though. Another complicating matter is that the school has all prospective pupils take an entrance exam. The fee paying pupils did this in January, but when we were visiting them they said they do it differently for SEN pupils, they get them together in March (I think) and handle it all very carefully. The exam is not for selection, but so that they have a clear idea of pupil's levels and abilities before they start there. The do an hour of maths, another of english, reading and spelling age tests and a dictation exercise.

The odd thing is that it says on their website that:

"A ?taster? day is recommended after the assessment morning to help the child and school with the decision making."

I did ask them when we went in December whether or not they wanted him to visit, but they agreed it would be unsettling for him and we discussed not getting his hopes up by allowing him to fall in love with the place. I'm now worrying that we are outside the standard applications procedure and that's what's causing the problem, but then they said it was fine when we saw them the day before the end of term in December and they were aware of the dates then. Dh asked the LEA to send the paperwork requesting an 'in principle' agreement to name the first week back after the holidays and they confirmed they'd done this the week after that.

I just hate the lack of communication. I can't stand not knowing what's going on and if they'd just communicate with us we could probably sort it all out in one conversation.

Thanks NoHaudin.

Am just back from GPs, will pop to other thread now and report back.

Quick update.

Admissions Officer called and left a message on dh's mobile, he missed the call.

They want to see us and ds the week after next, so that sounds a bit more positive.

I'm so relieved. Think I've been in panic mode a bit today, between this, my MRI and EEG results and our very old, very poorly dog going to the vets this evening.

Thanks to everyone for talking some sense into me.

I need

Poor you. I think the fact that the lea called the school (which sounds amazing) is a good thing. The fees you mention would make it cost effective with a lea mainstream plus statement. I thinl the school probably want to be sure theycan meet your child's needs and this is normal in any indie school special or not. I think it all sounds really positive. If you were asking for a Priory or Cambian group lacement at £100,000 a throw then I think you could worry but it sounds like your lea are playing ball. Have a lovely half term.

Thank you Flapping. I am feeling a lot more positive about it now - amazing the difference just one phonecall can make.

Dh let me listen to the voicemail and it sounded like this is normal procedure for them - the HT likes to meet all prospective pupils and their parents as part of the process.

As I said, there are other pupils from our area in this particular independent, as there is simply no provision at all for HFA or Aspergers out of 18 schools in our area. The ASD inclusion team have stated that this is the school they want ds in and our Statementing Officer said they are the people with the most clout re school placement.

Hope it goes well Moose. Sorry no advice, but agree with rejecting the phrase of 'any ms secondary' as it is too all encompassing.