SENDIST Appeal - Visit to school proposed by LA - Can I ask for any LA official to leave? Can I ask for the visit to be for at least 2 hours?

[ChrisInNeed]

Quick recap:
Hearing date is 16th June.

I am seeking a specialist S&L school.

Until 22nd May (the day before the evidence deadline) the LA insisted that existing MS is adequate. Suddenly on 23rd May, a few minutes after the deadline, the LA nominated a MS school with an ASD unit!

With great difficulty I have managed to arrange a visit to the ASD unit on 10th June. (After numerous & desperate emails and followup phone calls last week, the HT finally replied late on Friday - only after a threat of claiming wasted/ extra costs following any hearing postponement or adjournment due to her non co-operation)

1.Given the circumstances, I am concerned that the LA will send its own official during the visit to restrict me / make things difficult for me.

If any LA official is present, can I ask them to leave?

1. I had sent the HT a list of specific and relevant questions (e.g. details of the provisions DS would expect to receive at the ASD unit) and she has refused to respond to these.

It is important I have the opportunity to obtain answers to these during my visit so that I can respond in my parental response/ Statement of case. (SENDIST has allowed me until 12th Jun to do so).

Can I ask for the visit to be at least 2 hours to be able to get answers to my questions?

My 3 indie experts are visiting the school on the 12th Jun (They have very busy diaries and cant do so earlier). I need to visit earlier as I will not have much time to prepare my Parental comments/statement of case if I defer my visit until the 12th.

Thanks.

Just want to add that the MS ASD school's HT is a witness at the hearing.

I am keen to get answers to my questions before to help prepare my statement of case and also as valuable hearing time could be wasted in obtaining answers to these the HT and any resultant adjournment would mean significant extra costs to me.

In the limited visit time I realise there is opportunity to get answers to only a limited number of questions.

I would welcome tips on any approaches / strategies I could use to get answers to my questions before the hearing.

I doubt that the LA will send anyone for your visit, they're more likely to want someone to be there when the experts visit. The problem about asking them to leave is that really it's up to the school to say who can and cannot be on their premises. I suppose you could say you don't want them there while you discuss things that are confidential to your child, but I'm not sure how much of that you would be doing anyway.

I also doubt that you can insist on a two hour visit, particularly if your experts are also visiting - that's an awful lot of time that you will be taking up between you bearing in mind how busy headteachers always are. Do you really have two hours' worth of questions? Are you sure you want to put them all in advance, bearing in mind you would effectively be giving the head a nice rehearsal for your approach at the hearing? Also you'll probably get a lot of answers just from the exercise of looking round the school and the unit.

I'd suggest that you contact the school again and suggest that it will take up less of their time if they have the answers to your questions ready on arrival. If you don't get answers, then say so in your case statement and point out that it's very difficult for you to have faith in a school that won't give you basic information.

My LA sent somebody last week, after we arranged visit at school ( had to get order from Tribunal as the Head didn't want to allow our EP to visit).

I was so shocked she was there that I didn't say anything :(
. My advocate later said I could have done, it was underhand tactics. She heard lots of our arguments cause the Head kept asking about ds...

So, if the LA officer is there, ask politely for them to leave.

The head or deputy is likely to attend tribunal as a witness. You need to visit as a parent not an advocate. Your experts can ask the questions. You need to do this so that you can focus on being a parent at hearing. Are you being represented? You can never be seen not to have the best interests of the child at heart. It's a weird sort of grovelling advocacy that is required and so it is easier two handed - good cop/bad cop style. Advocates can say things parents can't.

In my experience (of 4 Tribunals), LA officers are too busy to attend school visits with parents. However, be aware that nothing you say to any maintained school about your child will definitely remain confidential. The school can and will repeat anything you say to the LA - because schools are usually considerably in awe of LAs. These people have a mortgage to pay at the end of the day, and will do what they are told, if their career in that County is on the line.

However, as one of my friends always says about these situations:

"You catch more flies with honey than vinegar!"

Be Mrs Reasonable, the nice (but firm) parent on a visit, acting in your child's best interests. You may well get more out of the staff, if you catch them off guard!

The problem is, babiki, that you can ask the LA bod to leave as much as you want, but they don't have to go. Only the Head can make them leave the premises.

Thanks Icimoi, that actually makes me feel better, I have been so angry with myself.

Thanks to all for your helpful responses.

Much appreciated.

You can ask the Tribunal for an order to compel the LA to allow your experts to attend of a specific time and who to meet. I have had experts held in the HT office for 45 mins then be told their time is up.
They need to spell out what they want - classroom observation of the class he would be in. Details of the needs and attainment levels within the classes etc. How many children are on the waiting list. has she every had an empty seat in the unit?