Can the EP be biased towards the schools choice?

[Lesley25]

Ok, in summary the EP will be sitting down with us in a weeks time to go through her findings "with the school" also.
I admit that last bit threw me when the senco said that - the MS my dc is at are keen for a ss placement purely based on funding- we feel.

We did the due diligence but the ss in our area are not 1:1 and thats what we feel our child needs- and currently gets at MS with a full statement.

So, in short, can the EP be biased in their findings or worse, they cant force ss on us can they? I don't think that can happen but i just wanted all your advice.

If its an LEA EP, then they probably will be basing it on funding

Yes, a LA EP can be totally and utterly biased towards the LA. The LA EP involved in my DS's case stated that dyslexia as a condition doesn't exist, it's actually a speech & language problem (she said) . The reason for stating this? The LA were trying to place him in a mainstream school with a speech & language unit attached, and I was trying to place him in a dyslexia specialist school.

At Tribunal the LA EP tried to removed a medical dx from my ds. The Judge wasn't impressed.

So unfortunately, yes, LA EP's can and do toe the party line. Don't forget who's paying them.

right then. Its not the LA's Ep though- the waiting list was too long and the school didn't want to hang about so my understanding was that they were recruiting him for my dc's assessment on a private basis.
But now i'm already suspicious.
However, we are actually vying to keep my child in MS so from an LA perspective - thats got to be a more cost effective solution.

my solicitor did ask if we had one and maybe we should commission our own report- do you think the school will allow us to do that??

Oh yes.
EP sprouted same stuff as school. Despite a diagnosis of AS, my son was' fine and needed nothing'. She said.
It was a farce.

It's not up to the school if you can commission your own private report - it's up to you. I'd go ahead and do it, because then you'll have your peace of mind.

As the school's one is a private report (who is paying for it?), it should be unbiased. Did this EP meet with the school before the report? If so, were you present? The LA's EP secretly meet with the LA's named school just weeks before my DS's Tribunal and basically stitched things up between themselves with what they were going to say at Tribunal. I wasn't told about nor asked to the meeting.

Isn't there strong case-law that it's a parent's right to place a child in ms?

yes TOWIELA i thought it was strong case law.
.
But i was just a bit frazzled thinking "if the ep says ss because of the SPLT and OT"- can the school then say "cannot educate this child due to impacting on other children's education etc point.

School is paying for it - meaning its (apparantly) coming out of their pocket...I might just ask the senco if its the LA one or not. Like everyone said, if it is the LA one - they will be more inclined to go with what the LA are saying, which coincidentally is our choice also (MS for now).

I'm still appealing our statement because they've (LA) have missed off SPLT and OT support ( i pay for this privately to come into school and teach TA) by saying that "it might be too much for the school to bear". wtf.

I would absolutely recommend you commission your own private report.

Some independent EPs can be very pro-LA and are selected by schools and LAs because of this.

What about the possibility that the EP may share the schools opinion without being biassed because it's the school's opinion, but based on his or her professional judgement? Because the EP doesn't share your views doesn't automatically make them in the pocket of the school or the LA.

Lots of times when I work with children I agree with parents, and lots of times I agree with schools, and a big part of the job is bringing two parties with separate opinions together. I don't always automatically agree with school, and thankfully they don't expect me to.

ilikemysleep - The Ep has to form their own opinion, i just asked the question whether they would be biased or not.
We will value their qualified input, and if they agree with the school - it gives us more to think about.

However, the ultimate decision falls to us. An EP and a school - with all their qualifications will still not be prized above what we believe is best for our child.

The actual Legislation relating to MS Education for children with SEN (the SEN CoP is 'just' Statutory Guidance) is:

"316 Duty to educate children with special educational needs in mainstream schools

(1)This section applies to a child with special educational needs who should be educated in a school.

(2)If no statement is maintained under section 324 for the child, he must be educated in a mainstream school.

(3)If a statement is maintained under section 324 for the child, he must be educated in a mainstream school unless that is incompatible with—

(a)the wishes of his parent, or

(b)the provision of efficient education for other children.

(4)In this section and section 316A “mainstream school” means any school other than—

(a)a special school, or

(b)an independent school which is not—

(i)a city technology college,

(ii)a city college for the technology of the arts, or

(iii)[F2an Academy].]" Section 316 of the Education Act 1996

This IPSEA guidance illuminates 'incompatible with.....', using case law.

Are you saying that both the LA and yourself agree, but the school disagree? Is this only going to tribunal because you want additional therapies added in? If you didn't, what were the LA planning to do to resolve it?

Lesley - the answer to your question is, well yes they might be biassed, apparently, or they might disagree with you with complete integrity, or they might agree with you.

But in my experience the vast majority of the time LAs will try to meet parental preference (assuming that is something they readily provide, not when the parent is asking for something outwith LA provision, as you know that gets more complex).

EPs are employed to give a professional opinion. That is all it is. It isn't an order for schooling that has to be followed by the LA, unless and until those recommendations are adopted as part of a child's statement. So no, an EP can't force a child into SS. They can however express the opinion that it may be the best way to meet a particular child's needs., and in fact if that is their opinion they are obliged to say so even if everyone else in the world disagrees.

If a parent has clear evidence of bias (ie without reasonable defence of that position) they should complain to the HPC which regulates the profession.

'The Ep has to form their own opinion, i just asked the question whether they would be biased or not.'

surely though if the opinion is biassed it is not their own, but influenced?

I honestly think it's a myth that a school would try and force a child out on financial grounds.

Why is 1:1 support seen as so beneficial, btw? I'm not criticising - before DD1 went to special school I thought she needed 1:1 support. She doesn't have 1:1 and most children at her school don't. Yet they get a very good education and learn a degree of flexibility that is crucial for life as an adult.

Actually sadly a recent review found that dedicated 1:1 is usually not massively beneficial, the way it is currently organised. This isn't inevitable but is what was found in the majority of cases. Overall, there was a direct correlation between the amount of 1:1 a child had and the likelihood that they would make poor progress, even when degree of SEN was controlled for and factored in (Ie 2 kids with identical SEN, the one with less support would make better academic progress, on average across the study.). This because most TAs don't get to share planning with the teacher, don't have time to feedback properly, and the teacher spends much less time with the student who has individual support. TAs are too focussed in general on 'getting the worksheet done'. There are moves afoot to change the way TAs are supported, but as things stand, high levels of 1:1 do not inevitably mean any child's needs are being better met.

This a bit off topic to original post though. We don't know why or how the OP has come to their conclusion that more 1:1 is needed to support their child.