SEN schools, question

[pebbles93]

Hi, this is my first thread here, so apologies if this question has already been asked but I can't seem to find answers.

My daughter is 6 (year 1) , and has an EHCP in place, we've recently had it revised due to her current mainstream school being unable to meet and support her needs. The LA have now started consulting specialists settings - all of whom are saying no. Which we expected, as the lack of places vs SEN children is extreme right now.

However, as I know we'll likely have to appeal to get her the school we want, I was wondering if anyone in laymans terms could exactly this means.

• The setting should not be named in the final EHC Plan because the attendance of this child or young person there would be incompatible with the efficient education of others, or the efficient use of resources

Does this mean the school is full, or is there more required in this particular comment to make it?

I probably sound dumb right now haha. It's all just very confusing, and nobody can seem to give me a straight forward answer when I ask. and going into a potential appeal, I just want to have all the information laid in front of me so I know what it is I'm actually arguing against.

Thanks for any help x

Don’t know the specific answer to this, but we hired a SEN advocate and he was honestly amazing at translating everything for us, completely worth every single penny. We paid for an EHCP review and he attended the review and had many calls with us. I think it was around £400. The LA looked set on declining us a SEN spot but right at the last minute named our preferred setting. We did pay for our own ed psych assessment as theirs was awful and done virtually without meeting our son (that was £££). For the SEN advocate we used Chris from SEN Achieve.

There isn’t a simple answer.

Schools that are not wholly independent schools can be named even if they object. You don’t need an offer of a place.

When LAs say placing DC there is incompatible with the efficient education of others or the efficient use of resources, they sometimes say it because the school is ‘full’. But it can also mean other things.

On its own, being ‘full’ (which isn’t defined in law) does not make placing a child in the school incompatible with the efficient education of others or efficient use of resources. Although there is a point where a school is so full they can prove incompatibility. This bar is higher than LAs and many schools admit. Case law states it has to be something tangible and specific, not the vague nonsense LAs often try to use, and is more than an “adverse effect”, “impact on” or “prejudicial to”.

If you want to read some case law there is OO and BO v London Borough Bexley [2023] UKUT 223 (AAC), NA v London Borough of Barnet (SEN) [2010] UKUT 180 (AAC) and Hampshire County Council v R & SENDIST [2009] EWHC 626 (Admin) (2009) ELR 371.

When you say you have recently had the EHCP revised, do you mean you are in the review process now? So it hasn’t been revised yet because you don’t have a finalised amended EHCP but the LA are consulting as part of the review process. Or do you mean you already have a finalised amended EHCP? In which case, you should submit an appeal now even if the LA are continuing to consult schools.

You need to request further information for their response which they are legally required to provide you with

I’ve had the same response from the sen school I put as parental preference in my daughter’s draft. LA are set on mainstream but I will be appealing it. I’m sure if the sen school have given these reasons and not just “we are full” response means the LA can reject and not name that school on the ehcp. I’ve just named 3 other sen schools on the ehcp draft that I’d like them to consult. Have you looked around for other local sen schools?

It isn’t enough for the school to respond with one of the exceptions that can be lawful. The LA has to be able to prove the high threshold to make it lawful. Many schools will respond to say placement is incompatible even though the LA cannot prove the high bar.