No place at the 2 local special schools

[nappyaddict]

Is it right that you cannot put your child's name down for a special school place without a statement? This is what we were told and his proposed statement came through today. Have rung up both local special schools and they are already full for September. Do they have admissions deadlines like mainstream schools and if so were we told false information about waiting for the statement to come through before trying to get DS a place?

Sadly it's correct you can not put your name down fir a special school without a statement and then can't request to after provisonal sent it would then need to go to panel for descion .know ds went to panel beging of May to get place for September

I think it depends on the special school. Some of them you can "unofficially" talk to the head before statementing and get their support for requesting that school. Some of them it doesn't matter because the way their staffing works adding one more kid isn't an issue as long as the funding comes with them. I guess others are just oversubscribed, and full of kids who were statemented earlier.

That's not very helpful, is it? [oops]

Sometimes it's not about the school being "full", it's about the statement not 100% covering the cost of making an additional place available and so the school is full till the LEA coughs up. I do know someone who had the same situation and just refused every inappropriate suggestion until a place miraculously turned up at the chosen school. I don't know how often that would work, though. Though I guess all schools have turnover and given the additional stresses on SN families possibly turnover in SN schools is even greater than mainstream.

What does the Case Officer say when you phone them? Is it possible to put the desired school down as named school and find a temporary solution till a place comes up?

I just don't understand how the other kids have got places already. We started the process of getting a statement in September when he started at mainstream nursery so couldn't really have got the statement any sooner. I would have thought the majority of children with MLD wouldn't start the statementing process until they start nursery like us.

nappyaddict, if you started the process in September, why has it taken until now for your statement to come through?

I have to say, though, that we were told (after all was done and dusted ) that if we had waited for the process to be started by our inclusion officer DD's place at Special School would be gone.

The trouble is that lots of Special schools take a wide range of SNs now, so children with severe lds, or profound lds will have a statement sooner, so may have a place.

I still don't understand why it took so long to get your statement? The whole process has a 26 week timeline, so final statement should have been March.

I don't know. Originally they said March, then April then finally the last week of May so it has sort of come through earlier than what we thought it would.

The 2 special schools are both MLD ones. They don't take children with SLDs.

No, no, no That is all wrong.

Unless they have very good reasons, they have to stick to the timeline. Which is 26 weeks from the day you request your statutory assessment.

Day 1: Request for assessment
Week 6: Decision to assess
Week 16:Decision to issue a statement
Week 18: Parents informed & Proposed statement issued
Week 26: Final statement issued

So you are on the official 'week 18' of the process. Which is as if you had put in the formal request for assessment on January 18th.

You are on week 36-38!!!! of the process in real-time (I don't know when in September it started).

I'd be wanting to know where those 10 weeks went, and complaining that it is those 10 weeks that lost you the special school place.

I put in our request for assessment on September 1st, and had the final statement naming the special school on January 20th, so week 20 of 26.

Something has gone very wrong here - fight it!!

Does the statement propose a special school?

Yes. Well it doesn't say anything but it has something about small groups etc and when I rang up they said this meant special school. His early years teacher requested the statement. We had a meeting with her the last week of September saying she was going to request a statement but we didn't fill any forms or sign anything at that date. Presumably the 26 weeks starts from when LEA receive your request? I don't know for definite when that was TBH.

Have you spoken direct to the school? Schools here are often told by parents 'sorry to hear you aren't taking new pupils' because the LEA would rather use inclusion.

We put dd2's name forward before her statement was completed, it went to panel today (wont hear back for a few days), we now have a draft statement with no named school. We left it late to apply so i'm not getting my hopes up on getting a place.

Yes have spoken direct to both schools.

Yes it's from when LEA recive request, also they can log a delay for reasons- eg a friend had hers delayed as SENCO went on mat leave and took all paperwork with her ours was when Ed Pysch resigned with no cover in place: they are supposed to notify you of that though.

NA you might ned to think about provision outside the immediayte county- how possibel this is depends on where you are obviously. Transport would be provided. you could also think about requesting a private facility if there is opne with LEA funding- have you spoken to the NAS about what's in your area?

Don't allow them to propose a school of any kind youa re nto ahppy with though- once you have a school, unsuitable as it maybe, it gets ahrder to change it (a mistake we made).

FWIW ds1 is looking for a Comp with AS provision and his application went to the LEA last week, for a place starting in 2011.

Our local MLD schools have been winding down over the past three or so years, to the point that they are operating at almost half the capacity. It's not that there aren't places - if the schools were running at capacity, there would be. It's that they are closing MLD schools in lots of areas, slowly but surely and there are empty classrooms.

Part 4 should be blank on the proposed statement and the LA should have asked you what your preferred school is.

This is what the Education Act 1996 says about your rights in requesting a school:

'Parents may express a preference for the maintained school ( but not a PRU or
hospital special school) they wish their child to attend, or make representations
for a placement in any other school. LEAs must comply with a parental preference unless the school is unsuitable to the child?s age, ability, aptitude or
special educational needs, or the placement would be incompatible with the efficient education of the other children with whom the child would be educated, or with the efficient use of resources. LEAs must consider parental representations and arrange any meeting(s) with LEA advisers or officers the parents seek, before issuing the final statement.'

If the school is full, the LA may say that a placement would be incompatible with the efficient education of the other children due to overcrowding. However, if you can argue that a mainstream school is inappropriate for your child's SEN, they would have to find a place for you at the maintained special school (or at another special school out of county/independent).

You can make a request for one of the special schools now and the LA will name a placement in the final statement. If you are not happy with the named placement, you can appeal to SEND tribunal, although it takes 4-5 months to get a hearing so it wouldn't be done in time for September. The Tribunal can direct a school to take a child whether there are places or not.

If you are clear about your rights and the LA realises that you will kick up a fuss if they don't name your preference, they may well find there is space for your child after all, without having to go to tribunal.

Ah.

I may be having one of my Bonkers Memory Moments, but I think I heard somewhere that the timetable is only legally binding if the parents make the application for the statement? Can anyone confirm?

Not according to the SEN Code of Practice, r3dh3d. The only exceptions are if a child is out of area for 4 weeks or more, or the school is closed for 4 weeks or more after the request is made (ie. summer hols), or they have a late reply from eg. health or social care about the child.

I may be having one of my Bonkers Memory Moments, but I think I heard somewhere that the timetable is only legally binding if the parents make the application for the statement? Can anyone confirm?

NOT TRUE

Sorry - Lou. I was responding to r3dh3d.

Glad you agree, WetAugust

Well, that's good. Bigger stick to hit them with. .

I'd got that impression from a SOS!SEN workshop I went to - but I think maybe I was confusing the statutory timetable with something else, possibly the thing whereby if an independent requests the assessment and the LEA refuse, there is no legal appeal?

Anyhoo - going shamefully off topic. [oops]. But yes, LEA issuing the statement too late would account for there being no places at the school. Maybe you got a useless case officer and your assessment got stuck in the system somewhere? In which case - I'd go over the case officer's head straight off and go to the department head.

It could also be that some of the children don't have statements because they have come from specialist nurseries? I think I remember them saying you don't need a statement if they are already in specialist nurseries cos their needs are already being met.

They have offered me a school but it is for SLD so not happy about DS going there. If they are full and they suddenly give DS a place will they put extra staff in the class? Not sure I want him to get a place if it means the classes are going to get bigger with no extra staff.

Will LEA fund a normal independent school or only one for special needs? If they will fund a normal independent school would he get a 1:1 support as well or not?

NA, ourb friend who ahs a child with AS (not overly challenging, less so than ds1 certainly) and epilepsy has just been offered a funded pale at the local MS private.

Course, friend's Dad used to be Head of OCuncil, which might explain given the battlkes we're having- OTOH we've yet to hear from panel so might get it, and certainly shows it is possible

Is your DS1 looking at a private school too?

I would love DS to go to the local steiner school. I think the delayed start to education and the focus on music and dance would really benefit him but I doubt the LEA would fund it.

Does anyone know if they get a LEA funded place in MS private school whether they can still get any 1:1 support funded?