PRU, DS wants to move on but not so easy.

[starfish71]

I haven't been posting on the board for long time, still lurking but have been struggling and now am Looking for some advice from you knowledgeable lot!
My eldest DS is just turned 15, Aspergers, dyspraxia and ADD, Statement of SEN and currently attends a small PRU due to not coping with mainstream comp, had a breakdown.

The unit have been good in that they have got him back into a school environment but DS wants to try going to another comp which has a good reputation and also an ASD support centre.

When DS first mentioned this to staff at the PRU they encouraged him to go and look around the potential school. All positive, however the school are unwilling for him to have a trail there, even visiting for just a whole day and are insisting that we would have to amend his statement to name the potential school and as he wouldn't have a place in the ASD centre they would not provide transport. School is around 8 miles away.

I have been in contact with head of Additional learning needs at LEA and he has not come up with any solutions only saying that if DS went to the new school, he will have to name it on his statement and if it didn't work out he wouldn't have his place at the PRU as it has a Long waiting list.

DS only wants to spend some time in the school to see if it is suitable and I can not understand why it is being made so difficult.

Please any advice will be great.

My only thought, to get everyone round the table is to call an emergency annual review?

ask to look at the unit then as his diagnosis qualified him for this. Or go to a potential year 7 open evening.

I have to say though if the school are so resistant to a look see, I'd be questioning how supportive they'd be once he got there iykim. Its a HUGE red flag for me.

I know me too but DS is set on at least trying it there. The staff in the school are very good, my friends son goes there, attends the unit, but the head is reluctant, probably because of DS's statement and support he may need. But to be honest his statement is not filled with loads of requirements.

The PRU are arranging an early review and head of additional learning needs from lea will attend. I am seriously depressed at present and am struggling to sort this for my son.

Hi Star

I was in roughly the same situation as you are now in. My DS was 15, was supposed to be attending a PRU (but couldn't) and I was looking at local secondary schools for him that had an ASD base.

I hit the same relutance feom the secondary school I tried as you now are.

There are multiple issues here:

At 15 the LEA will just be sitting on its hands for as long as possible until your DS reaches that magic age of 16 (or is it 17 now?) when the LA can say it no longer has a duty to provide education as your DS is past statutory education age.

A secondary school with an ASD base will be very reluctant to accep him at 15. The reasons we were given were that children had to start in the ASD unit at age 11 to get the benefit - at 15 he was too old to benefit. After several years in the ASD unit the children in there has established 'budddies' and introducing a new 15 year old would upset that dynamic. Blah Blah Blah. In our case the LA consulted with the secondary school with the ASD base but the school threw up objections and claimed (rightly) that DS needed a higher level of support than they could provide.

PRIs are designed as short term provision - temporary placements with the expectation that the child will return to the normal secondary at which he will remain dual-rolled while he atends the PRU.

I suppose you could dis-enrol him at his mainstream secondary school but you're unlikely to be able to do this as it's probably named in Part 4 of his Statement. The PRU probably (almost certainly) will not have post-16 provision so your DS is right to start looking for post-16 options now. ASD bases in secondary also stop at age 16 (in general), so if he stayed until the 6th form he would not have access to any scondary school ASD base.

Don't believe the LA when they tell you he couldn't get back to the PRU. That's bollocks - but you may have a fight to get him back there as they have no duty to educate him there and couldn't name it in Part 4 of the Statement if they wanted to. So the worst case is that any trial at a new scondary school fails and he then has to revert to his 'old' secondary school - which he's already proven cannot accommodate him.

But the big problem is that time (i.e, the duration of his statutory education) is running out. The LA should have planned for his post-16 education while he was in Year 9. As they haven't you can be prettys sure they are dragging their heels in an attempt to dodge providing a placement.

I'd tell the LA at the meeting that you are looking at Independant schools that he could attend to enable him to leave the PRU.

You'd probably find that a placement magically appeared at any LA-maintained school of your choice.

I seem to remember that there aren't actually any indepenat schools in your area that would be suitable? May be wrong there. But I would still use the threat.

I'd go further and actually start looking for independant placements that could support your DS - residential if necessary. You could just squeeze in a SENDIST appeal for one while he remains of statutory school age. The threat gives you the upper hand with the LA who will be expecting him to move from the PRU straight into FE college.

Oh wow wet thank you for responding, yes you are right there is nothing in county with us. Have been looking at priory ASD college which I know lea have reluctantly funded for at least one student at 16.

It is only now that DS feels ready to move on, but I fear you are right about secondary schools.

Oh god really going to have to step up now and do my best.

Hi Star

DS went to residential Priory ASD FE College. At that time his placment was funded by the L&SC but now they have disbanded I think funding for these sorts of placements are held by the LA.

If you could get him to consider a Priory College it would be fantastic for him. For a start, the college itself carries out its own assessment so there's none of this LA trying to understate the support that would be required nonsense. If you want him to start next September you'd need to apply now. We found that by the Feb of each year the places were all taken - but some do become available later on. In fact if you want him to go in Sep 15, I'd start applying now.

The Colleges have Open Days for parents or you can ring and ask for a look around. They can also assist you in making your application for funding - they have tons of experience at that.

Going to the Priory FE College got DS (who'd been out of mainstream education for over a year) back on track by providing him with 1:1 support continuously, throughout the day from the momment he woke up until late into the evening. Without that support he would not have been able to do his GCSEs, A levels and wouldn't have been able to go to Uni.

Thank you so much that is really encouraging. Oh have to do more research. Oh I may be back with lots more questions if you don't mnemonic :) x

Was meant to say as long as you don't mind

Fine

Thank you x be good to chat to someone who has been through it.

Hi wet, am going to ring to arrange a visit to priory college, your son sounds as if he made fantastic progress there.

Can the students do the courses in the main college if they are able or if they are very anxious (like my DS) do the courses with support in the ASD college, where I assume it is much quieter?

Just want an idea of how it works in practice.

Hi Star - have PM'd you

Just wanted to post a little update. We are still looking at a specialist college placement for DS1 but we had some wonderful and completely unexpected news when we had meeting with LA a couple of weeks ago.

DS was offered a place in the school we wanted, in the ASD provision and has already done a week there!

I have never been so dumb struck by a meeting with the additional needs manager, apparently two places had become free as pupils had left for various reasons and DS was prioritised for one. DS is so happy, it's obviously not all plain sailing but the head of the unit is fantastic, emails me with updates etc.

Tomorrow he is starting on the taxi, he is very anxious about it but really wants to try, so fingers crossed.

Am so happy that this has finally happened, feel hopeful. :)

Yay!! Fantastic news, I hope everything goes well for you and your Ds

Great news Starfish. Fingers (and eveything else that can be) crossed for him

A really good step forward.

Thank you all, DS just said to me, "today was a bit boring but it was a good boring, I didn't get worried about anything". That will do me!