lisa Report post Posted January 17, 2005 Does anyone know what the LEA's duties are to children who go to a private fee paying (non specialist) school? At the moment Laura is on school action plus and gets SALT and ASD Outreach visits and social communication group. We're trying to get a statement for her but if that fails we're considering sending her to a local private school where she would be in a class of 8. Would the LEA still provide the SALT and ASD outreach visits at the private school? If Laura did get a statement and we chose to send her private anyway would that statement still be enforcable in her private school? My dilema is that I think she'd be much better off in the small class but I don't want her to miss out on the speech and language therapy or ASD outreach teachers input. Someone also told me that they think that if your child has a statement and you decide to take them private the LEA sometimes fund the school fees to the value of the 1:1 support in the statement. Is this just a rumour? Because of the smaller classes Laura probably wouldn't need much if any 1:1 support but I suspect the LEA would use this as an excuse to take away the hours rather than pay it to the private school. Can anyone offer any advice? Lisa p.s. Laura hasn't even got to the assessment stage and I'm suspious of the LEA taking away hours in statement she doesn't even have!! I think I'm becoming ever so slightly paranoid and obsessive. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nellie Report post Posted January 17, 2005 Hi Lisa, I will try to answer some of your points. LEA's have a legal duty to ensure the child receives the provision on the statement and that the statement is reviewed at least once a year, every six months for younger children. Parents have a right to home education (education otherwise) or give their child private education. Some LEA's will give support to children who are home educated or children educated privately but they don't have a legal duty to do this but they still have the legal duty to maintain the statement, which is a legal contract. Some private schools are excellent and I agree small classes are great but even private schools can get it wrong if they don't have the expertise. I think there's information on this subject on this link. http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...st=0entry3107 Hope this has helped Nellie xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Helen Report post Posted January 17, 2005 (edited) Lisa, The link below will take you to a thread that has been started by Elefan: Statemented child at private school - Is there anyone? http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=983 Edited January 17, 2005 by Helen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sylvm Report post Posted January 18, 2005 We have also considered private education for our daughter who is also on school action plus. If you get a statement you may be able to get the LEA to pay the fees. One of the reasons we decided to keep M at her state primary for the moment was because if you "opt out", we could have ended up paying for lots of one to one support and any other extras deemed necessary by the school, as well as the standard school fees. It seemed like a bottomless pit. The LEAs are laughing - when parents are not satisfied with the provisions of the state system for special needs (or any other) children, they save money when you start paying for them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
