Appealing tribunal decision

[Scottishdancer]

Does anyone know how system works.? Had tribunal in March and lost. SENCO lied at the tribunal said ds shows no sign of anxiety in school and promised a qualified teacher with autism specialism for him in September and as soon as tribunal result was in said teacher was made redundant!!! We have tried to appeal on a few counts including change of circumstances, but appeal was refused. Ds in now refusing to go to school and school have told EWO how anxious he is!!!! What do we do now?

It may be best to call an emergency review of the current statement rather than try and re-open the Tribunal ruling. School can do that at any time.

Are you in England?

We are in England yes. How does that work? The tribunal ruled that he stays where he is and gets one hour a week of specialist dyslexia support. They haven't even been able to arrange that!

1. Make sure everything is recorded in writing. You would be surprised how quickly well meaning EWO change their stories and you already know that school are capable of providing 'inaccurate' info.

1. I waited 6 months and applied for SA again.

1. Ask school how they plan to help with his school refusal and anxiety.

1. Go to your GP and get anxiety and school refusal recorded and see what they suggest.

That's all I can think of for now. Im sure someone with more knowledge than me will be along shortly.

Sorry didn't realise you already had a statement.

Sorry, have you got a statement? What was the Tribunal over? A specialist placement?

How long has he been out of school? Is the school authorising the absences for medical reasons?

When is your next AR due?

I think if you have a statement, move this forward by asking for an emergency review.

If you tried to appeal and leave to appeal was refused, was that by the Upper Tribunal? Did you have lawyers involved? What was their advice? An appeal has to be on the law.

A review can be requested within 28 days of the original decision if there is a change of circumstances. I would suspect you are out of time for this but if you can show that you have acted promptly and don't delay you could take this route. However, it would depend on the time which has elapsed as well as other issues.

There is more advice on appealing here

I would strongly suggest you get some legal advice on this

www.sossen.org.uk/reports/Challenging_tribunal_decision.pdf

You've probably seen this already. Are you still within deadline?

Emergency AR may be the way to go.

Make sure that DS's absence is authorised ie get thee to a GP.

x-posted with IE

We have been to Gp and he is being seen by CAMHS. We do have a statement tribunal was for specialist placement. He has been out of school since Easter. Plan was set up with school and EWO to try and get him back in for an hour a day in a portacabin on his own with lsa. He has done this twice but hated it as he doesn't see anyone, but doesn't want to go in classroom because it is too noisy. We haven't yet appealed to upper tribunal. How does that work?

UT appeal is on a point of law only and you would need legal advice for this as you are probably out of time (when did you get your judgment?)

Appeal on a point of law means that the law was applied incorrectly in some way rather than the facts on which the decision was based were wrong. Did you have legal advice before you applied for permission to appeal to the first -tier? Their refusal should have given information about appealing to the UT.

Yes we have got legal advice. We only got refusal to appeal decision yesterday, so we have still got time, but don't know if its's worth it. What else can we do? Decision was base on incorrect facts, and situation has now changed as he is refusing to go to school. If we call an emergency review what can they do?

Don't know about the higher appeals. But when ds was refusing school, being seen by CAMHS for anxiety (without a statement) CAMHS eventually signed ds off from school and he is receiving home tuition.

I think you need to go back to the lawyers who have been dealing with your case as they will know all the facts.

Was it an appeal or a request for a review? It can get very confusing and it should be clearer.

If you got a refusal to give permission to appeal from the first-tier, you can go to the UT and it should give you details with the refusal which should also set out the reasons for the refusal. But this must be on a point of law.

The SOS-SEN document says:

Application for review where circumstances have changed
There is an additional power to review available only in SEN cases, where circumstances relevant to the decision have changed since the original decision was made: e.g., the Tribunal has decided in favour of a particular school because it is told that there will be a hydrotherapy pool built by the time the child arrives, but plans for the pool are subsequently shelved.

The application must be made in writing within 28 days after the decision notice was sent. However, it will often be the case that the change in circumstances will only come to light after the 28-day period; in that event the applicants will have to apply for a time
extension but, if they can show that they did not delay and entered the application quickly after finding out the relevant facts, they will normally be granted the extension.

In relation to an emergency review, this gives the parties the chance to discuss changes in circumstances and amend the statement if necessary.

We have been referred to CAMHS but mine and my GP's view is that school refusal is a matter for the EP and the LA.

My son is not anxious unless he is forced to go to school. He can't cope with school as he has Asperger's. That is a normal reaction to the situation he is placed in and one which does not need to be pathologised into a clinical disorder. It means that school cannot meet his needs. Your EP should be involved and advising not the EWO.

Sitting outside a class for an hour at a time is the road to nowhere too. That is not inclusion although it is what the system will push for. They don't care if our kids are outside class, sitting in reception full-time, not mixing with anyone as this costs nothing.

Same here IE, CAMHS this end are of the same opinion as you and your GP too. They are very reluctant to get involved with school issues full stop.

I think that has to be right Claw don't you? Unless the child is suffering from generalised anxiety.

It reminds me of giving 60s housewives valium because they couldn't cope with the boredom or locking up women in the 20s and 30s who didn't act 'conventionally' (e.g. want children!!)

Not coping with a mainstream school seems a normal reaction for an Aspie not an abnormal one!

This is also quite helpful on anxiety and schools from IPSEA

Well I suppose they have helped with establishing what ds's anxieties are related to ie school environment. Especially when school are saying the opposite.

However once that is established, they have not offered any therapy etc as to them it is pretty black and white, he gets anxious when he attends school, it stops when he doesn't attend school.

They are suppose to help kids with dealing with their anxiety, but unless they are receiving the appropriate support in school, its pointless. More to the point the child wouldn't be anxious and need their help if they were receiving the appropriate help.

CAMHS have often said that they don't give education recommendations as they are not qualified to do so and I agree. An EP is better suited.

I would also add CAMHS are a family service, not an educational one ie to help parents/children cope with anxiety. Which in my experience is also used by other professionals to blame parents.