Tribunal decisions

[OhYeaBaby]

I'm weighing up whether to appeal against refusal to assess - (ds Is going to secondary next year - his primary school have been "working on" asking for an SA for nearly 3 years, so I finally lost patience 6 weeks ago and wrote myself) - but he is going to reach level 4 by the end of the year, so no go on the statutory assessment...

What I have been trying to do is look at old decisions to see HOW bad behaviour / social needs have to be in order for them to say LEA needs to assess - given that his academic levels are "fine" .... but I can't find any recent decisions -the most recent I can find on the site below is 2006 www.sendist.gov.uk/Public/search_decisions.aspx

A child can have a statement for non academic reasons, my dad 14 does and is in a special school despite having above average academic levels. Have you looked at the code of practice? The link is here chuckwww.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DfES%200581%202001
It covers the different categories.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge will be a long soon with more info

www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/publicationDetail/Page1/DfES%200581%202001

Tribunal decisions no longer published hence why they are so old.

At my tribunal the LA EP stated that my sons academic levels were fine and he would not have got a statement due to his academic levels however he is statemented as he simply cannot cope, can't stay on task etc etc. he started at 20 hours, within months that had broken down so increased to 32.5 hours by which time he was out of school and tribunal just order an independent asd school placement for him but I agree, academically he is fine.

If you read the code of practice you do not get a statement based on academic levels alone. However the LA have bought in their own 'criterias' so most parents are left to believe that unless they are academically failing they cannot get a statement which is simply not true , you just need to present your arguments from another angle ie socially etc

Definitely appeal - if the school have been asking for 3 years then you know he must need a statement. But only you have the right of appeal. LEAs refuse to assess all the time - and they count on the fact that most people won't put up a fight. Don't let this sway you. If you have evidence of his needs you'll more than likely win.

thanks both - I am not sure I'm convinced his current problems are severe enough - or I can't demonstrate they are severe enough because he is getting very good support at the moment, his issues are being contained /accommodated - he is reliant on school staff working around his needs.
I fear things will go pear shaped within 6 months of going to secondary - and then I will have the evidence, but by then he could have become totally disenchanted and be very hard to coax back into engaging with education.

I would appeal - quite a lot then get assessed when the LA see that you are serious. You have nothing to lose at this stage and may end up regretting it later on.

thanks - no doubt I'll be back with more questions in due course :)