Another 'naming the school on the statement' question

[NanKid]

We've been told our DS (5 yrs old, AS) is highly likely to get a statement and it is due any day now.

He is in mainstream school with a full-time 1-2-1 LSA hired from an agency, funded by contingency funding that runs out at the end of summer term.

His behaviour has been extremely challenging since starting in reception. He has had full time 1-2-1 since February, but cobbled together by two learning mentors and a TA. He has only at the new LSA for two weeks and so far, so good. There definitely has been an improvement in his behaviour. The school are broadly supportive - decent SENCO (not perfect, but a generally positive attitude), lovely class teacher, Head has got specialist advisory teachers in from the borough to deliver staff training, they are definitely trying to accomodate DS. However, we have had our fair share of run-ins with the Head, largely over exclusion (he has been excluded 7 times this term) and a difference in opinion about what is best for him (she wants to reduce his timetable because he 'cant cope with the stress of school'...I think it's because the school are struggling and has nothing to do with my son's needs).

Anyway - today we went and looked at a mainstream school in the borough with a specialist ASD unit. Lots of things I liked about it, some I wasn't sure about, but overall, I thought it would suit DS so much better.The only problem is, they only take 2 children per year group and are full this year and probably the following year. there are two other schools in our borough with similar units - both full for next year, too.

So, question is - what do we do about naming a school on the statement? Should we have DS's current mainstream school named? is there a point in pushing to have a school named on the statement if there are no places? I don't really understand what we are supposed to do...

Name the school you want , numbers can be increased. Would mean employing extra staff but it can be done

agree with roundthebend4, ds school had 6 places in reception,special school for sld and complex needs. At the beginning of the reception year there was 10 children in the class.
Good luck.

Thanks both.

Yep, name the school you want. Things can be juggled to accomodate whatever they try and fob you off with.

Glad you asked that because I needed answer to that too. School dd is at nursery in is full when she should go up in January and we are now doing a statement but people have told me that you have a better chance of getting them in with the statement. Good luck with yours

Well if the statement names the school it HAS to find a place full or not. The tricky bit is getting the school you want named on the statement.

Thanks niminy.

I'm not sure how we would go about doing that? in my mind, I know the answer. mainstream school is strugglingt o cope, even with full time 1-2-1 support, and have been honest about that. yet nobody - not the SENCo, or the Ed Psych, or the Paed that diagnosed DS or, importantly, the specialist advisory teachers from the LEA - believe that special school is appropriate for him (neither do we). Which leaves these three MS schools with specialist provision. So...what do we need to do to make our case? It's all very tiresome!

Where are you in the statementing process? It's helpful I think to try and clarify what the best outcome for your dc from the whole process would be so that you know what you are aiming for.

It sounds from your OP that you are expecting your draft proposed statement soon, no? When it arrives I would ring up either IPSEA or SOSSEN as soon as you can and ask them to go through it with you. IPSEA were incredibly helpful when I rang them and I'm sure we wouldn't have got the outcome we got (f/t one to one) without their help. They can help you formulate your arguments to make a case for the school you want, and aid you with the next stage which is the Sendist tribunal if you have to get there.

hth

The draft statement is due any day now, yes. We have been told verbally by the SENCo at the school that he has spoken with the LEA Senior Ed Psych and the Head of Inclusion at the borough since the panel took place and we are very likely to 'get a statement with full time one-to-one support' (although my trust levels are low, so who knows whether this is right...). Obviously we haven't seen it yet, so no idea if it will be a 'good' or 'bad' statement.

Thanks for the advice, niminy. I have spoken to IPSEA and SOS:SEN before, but not since we started the statementing process. Will def give them a ring when the statement arrives. I guess what i don't understand is - does the LEA name a school or ask us to name a school? is it a 'choice'?

I am also confused about what would happen if one school was named on the statement, but down the line, we changed our mind about what sort of provision would be best for our DS. At the moment, I am hoping thaty full time one-to-one support in MS will be best for him. But if it doesn't work, the next option would be one of the three MS schools with specialist ASD units in our borough.

When I got the proposed statement it had a form to specify what school we wanted - we put down a mainstream school but not our nearest one. The LEA was fine with it but I had to sign a waiver that we as parents would transport him to the school and in the event we couldn't do that, DS1 would be transferred to our local school. The LEA then approached the school of our choice with the proposed statement to see if they could take him with the proposed level of support etc.

I am hazy on what things allow you to call an emergency review of the statement and placement, but may be worth seeing if you can get a 3 or 6 month review put in rather than annual, if you feel it is borderline whether mainstream is going to work out or not.

The school won't be named on the draft statement. When it arrives you have two weeks to comment and if you have a view about the school this is the time to do it. The LEA will obviously have a view but it may not be the same as yours.

You will also have a chance during this period to ask for a meeting with the LEA to discuss the proposed statement -- depending on how confident you are this can be a good thing to do (you still have two further weeks to comment after the meeting) and you can take a representative. As I said, IPSEA/SOS:SEN are great with advice about these things.

Once the statement is in place you should have a yearly review with SENCo/LEA representative (although the latter doesn't always turn up) and this is the time that any amendments to the statement can be negotiated between you and LEA.

Ah, good idea about trying to get more frequent reviews, SmellyBill. Hadn't thought of that. The thing is, even the school (who, it has to be said, are pretty good for a mainstream school with not much experience of a child with this level of need) are worried about coping with our son. They have made subtle but definite noises towards us moving our son to one of the MS schools with ASD units. They are supportive but scared, I think, as they have literally exhausted all the strategies they would normally use and taken advice from pretty much everyone in the borough- and still they are barely coping with DS.

You've raised another issue, actually - transport! We visited one of the schools with ASD units yesterday and she said 13 out of the 14 children in the unit 'travel to and from school via LEA funded transport'. I was very interested in that, as the school is a good 30 min drive away from us (and that's not in the rush hour), and DH and I both work.

So, presumably, the LEA must fund some transport for children with SEN.

So much to think about!

Thanks niminy.

The other problem I am having is getting our 'advocacy and monitoring officer' - ie. our 'case worker' at the borough - to even respond to my calls or emails. He totally ignores me. I think because he is scared of me (we have had to be quite hardcore with the borough, including seeking legal advice previously, to get to this point).

Worried about this when it comes to agreeing the statement.

Transport boils down to it being the nearest suitable placement. My LEA argues that our village school is suitable for DS1 but we feel it is not (purely due to the size of it). I could've taken them on but school of our choice is a doable journey for us. I just have my fingers crossed that DS2 gets in o.k when he starts in 2012!

As your DS is already at his mainstream school and you could argue that they are unable to meet his needs, then transport should follow, though there is usually some criteria e.g. over 2 miles away. Though I think that can be got around in some circumstances.

Another idea would be if your DS receives x amount of exclusions then an emergency placement review will be held - no idea if your LEA will accept that btw but worth a try?