Applying for a EHCP when school is in another Borough

[LolaTola]

We are applying for secondary schools at the moment. My favourite is in another Borough but we'll get in as it's also very close to us. The problem is we are also applying for a EHCP (at the start of the long process). My fear is that my council will turn it down as they won't have a cost for ds education if he's in another Borough school (just a normal comp) so why take on that responsibility. Should I send him to the comp in our borough so he stays their problem as it were?

Hi

I think you need to visit both schools and choose the one you feel would meet your DC's needs best.

Talk to the Senco at each school and see how they support pupils with a SEN and / or EHCPs.

The EHCP process itself will provide you with an overview of your DC's needs which is turn should then lead to which type of school would be best (eg mainstream / specialist).

When my DS was in mainstream we did live in a different county to that of his school. Our home county LA provided the EHCP but it did throw up some issues such as the professionals the school had relationships with were different to those of my home LA and getting everyone to talk to each other did prove tricky at times.

In general LAs do prefer to place children in schools in their borough, not just because they have existing relationships with those schools.
But plenty do fund out of borough places too - eg independent special schools that might be the only suitable place to meet a DC's needs (however often LAs will still try and place in their own schools, even if they are unsuitable, to save costs)

I'm not being clear. We are in Borough A but want DC to go to a specialist school in Borough C once the EHCP goes through. In the meantime we have to apply for mainstream secondary schools.

Our preferred one is Borough B but our ultimate plan is to get DC moved to the specialist school in Borough C. We are at the start of the EHCP process so by the time it's gone through I think dc will be in the mainstream secondary in Borough B although we live in Borough A. Should I choose a secondary in Borough A rather than Borough B so it keeps the pressure on my council. I am just thinking they'll drag out the EHCP process so dc is in secondary in Borough B, we'll be fighting for transfer to the specialist school in Borough C and they will just think it's not their problem as their education is being paid by Borough b anyway. Whereas if dc is in one of their schools then they may feel more inclined to deal with it. Does that make sense? Probably not

You’re home LA remains responsible no matter where your DC ends up. Pick a school you think will suit your DC now as you don’t know how long the process might take. You also want a school who will support your ehcp application- not all schools do that terribly well.

A friend’s DC attended a school out of borough. That school put good support in place and helped apply for the EHCP even though it wasn’t their home borough and the plan was going to name provision that they couldn’t provide. In other words they wanted the best for that child even when that probably meant a move out of their setting. The family are trying for a specialist out of borough placement and are now having to resort to legal proceedings to get the funding in place. It all takes time and you’ll need your dc somewhere as nice as possible in the meantime. Good luck

It's relatively easy to stop an LA from dragging out the EHCP process. The time limits are statutory and you can make them comply by threatening judicial review. There's a useful factsheet on it here - sossen.org.uk/information_sheets.php