Tribunal

[FunshineCareBear]

Can anyone give me any advice on how to show mainstream is unsuitable? I'm panicking about tribunal

Ideally you need evidence that your child's needs can't be met in the mainstream and provision in section F that a mainstream school can't provide, e.g. small classes and specialist teachers. However, you won't get this unless you have evidence that it's necessary and showing why, which probably means getting independent reports if possible. You need to get them from experts with experience of tribunal work.

Write down as many examples as you can remember of specific incidents in which your child has struggled in school, and which elements of the mainstream environment contributed to them, and how they could have been avoided or better handled with different provision/support.

Make a list of your child's particular impairments and needs, and write against them how mainstream provision fails to address them, and what sort of support would be more appropriate; if nothing else, this will help to clarify your own thinking so you will have concrete evidence to hand during the meeting.

Make sure you big up any efforts the school have made (even if they've been insufficient really) as part of an it's the setting as a whole which is irredeemably unsuitable argument. In my experience (although it didn't go to tribunal) the LA constantly say 'have you tried X, Y, Z' so you need to say yes they have [and give specific examples].