School Placement - Urgent attention pls!

[Stressedout]

Thank you for reading. I have a deadline to meet by tommorrow morning so would appreciate a response asap before Friday 2nd October.

 

I want to name a private school which is out of area !! (never go for the easy option me!)

 

Does this count as an 'Academy'? I understand that, according to The Education Act 1996 parents do not have a statutory right to express a preference for an Academy.

 

If I name the private school does the Authority have to write to the school and local authority as well??

 

Does anyone know abuot the Funding Agreement with the Secretary of State???

 

How can I convince my authority, that believes my son can be supported by local mainstream, that this is not the case and that this particular independant out of area school is better for him?

[julie1]

Is this school a special school?

I needed a letter from our chosen school detailing how they would be supporting my child ect.

We did need permission from sectuary of state for my dd last year but the rules changed a bit with the new Sendist system and my son started this sept without the need of sectuary of states permission.

You need to show that your local mainstream school is unable to meet your sons needs, this is educational and social and emotional. Are your sons grades moving in the right direction? You need to show that dispite your sons current school doing the very best they can,

he is still not making progress.

Good luck for tomorrow.

[Kazzen161]

If the school is independent, your LA have to write to the school only - it is independent of the LA it is in. Your LA have no power over the school, so they cannot force them to take a child.

 

Acadamies tend to be like a mainstream school (but bigger and newer!).

 

Placements at some independent schools have to be approved by the Secretary of State (eg: if they are new and have not yet proved they are providing a good education), but that bit usually comes after that school have offered a place.

 

The school should be able to tell you, or try their web-site.

 

I presume you have already visited the school? And that your child has a Statement? Has the placement been discussed at his annual review?

 

You would have to show that the mainstream school could not meet the needs of your child as per his Statement, and that your chosen school could - based on what you know about the schools and how well your child has done up to now. It is not about what school is better/best for him - it is entirely about what school can meet his needs. If the mainstream can meet his needs, and the independent just offers more, then it is hard to argue. The scene should have already been set for a request to an independent school at the annual reviews, etc.

 

 

[Kathryn]

Hi Stressedout,

 

Academies are slightly different to Independent schools in the way they are funded, but as far as SEN is concerned they function the same in law.

 

I think your choice, if it's a special school, is likely to be an independent school rather than an academy.

 

It used to be the case that permission from the Secretary of State (enabling consent) needed to be granted to an independent school before a statemented child could be placed there. This is no longer the case, as Julie has said, so don't worry about it.

 

It won't be easy to prove that the only suitable school for your son is an independent out of county one. The LA will resist it vigorously because of the additional expense You have to provide evidence of your son's failure to cope with mainstream despite all the extra effort that has been put in. You will need professional evidence of his difficulties and detailed professional recommendations of the amount of support he needs, and this needs to be clearly written into the statement. Difficult but not impossible - many people here have fought this battle and won - so if you're really convinced that this school is right for him, don't give up.

 

K x

Edited October 1, 2009 by Kathryn

[Stressedout]

Thanks everyone. I will press on. Ha! I feel another battle coming on !

 

No we are at proposed Statement stage, not finalised yet.

This is an independent school not a special school.

Ive not been able to visit the school yet, but have visited some special and MLD schools which are inappropriate curriculum wise.

I have a few reasons why I think this school would suit son better than mainstream...need more time to put in writing..as usual!

 

 

[Kathryn]

Is it an independent special school, or an independent mainstream school?

 

K x

[minerva]

Ive not been able to visit the school yet, but have visited some special and MLD schools which are inappropriate curriculum wise.

 

 

Hi Stressed, I just wanted to let you know that my son's school also seemed to have limited curriculum but when you actually get in and talk to them you realise that although they do keep most to a minimum there is availability of anything you can access at a regular school for those more advanced.

 

My son is studying everything he would be in a mainstream school at the level he should be despite missing more than 4 years of education and the first 3 years being messed up. If he was to knuckle down & start moving further ahead they would simply change what they teach him.

 

If he went to a mainstream school although he would be more than capable of keeping up with the work, he wouldnt do it....purely because the set up of the school would prevent him from sitting still much less anything else!

 

I'm not saying for one minute that you child needs to be in a special school, just thought that you may like to know about the curriculum side of things before making a decision.

[Stressedout]

Hi Stressed, I just wanted to let you know that my son's school also seemed to have limited curriculum but when you actually get in and talk to them you realise that although they do keep most to a minimum there is availability of anything you can access at a regular school for those more advanced.

 

My son is studying everything he would be in a mainstream school at the level he should be despite missing more than 4 years of education and the first 3 years being messed up. If he was to knuckle down & start moving further ahead they would simply change what they teach him.

 

If he went to a mainstream school although he would be more than capable of keeping up with the work, he wouldnt do it....purely because the set up of the school would prevent him from sitting still much less anything else!

 

I'm not saying for one minute that you child needs to be in a special school, just thought that you may like to know about the curriculum side of things before making a decision.

 

[Stressedout]

Thanks Minerva

 

I have given the special schools great consideration and visited a couple. Even had my son spend a few days visiting. But, I don't believe it's the right peer group for him either. Im going to focus on the Independent mainstream and will keep an open mind about special schools, particularly for the future. It seems to me there just aren't the right kind of schools available for my son. He's intelligent, with a spikey profile. Some SALT difficulties and plenty of social difficulties but none of it's severe. OK he's kicked a child in the back, thrown a chair, strangled a child, stabbed a child with a fork..but HEY, "that's boy's!" as IM TOLD SO FRIKN OFTEN.

[puffin]

One of the things to look into is whether the Independent school is willing to put into effect the support that your child needs

 

- does the school know anything about ASD? Have they experience?

 

- does he need an LSA/SALT etc - who will pay for this? The Local Authority cannot force an independent school to provide this.

 

- Some independent schools are very focussed on exam results - how is it at this school would this type of stress environment suit your child?

[minerva]

OK he's kicked a child in the back, thrown a chair, strangled a child, stabbed a child with a fork..but HEY, "that's boy's!" as IM TOLD SO FRIKN OFTEN.

 

 

LOL that could be my sons school reports from primary

[Kazzen161]

Independent schools do not have to take a child - have you asked them if they would take your child? Have you asked them if they have any spaces in his year?

 

It would be a waste trying to convince the LA that your child should go there if they won't/can't take your child. I think it is a bad idea to name a school without visiting it first - you cannot tell what a school is really like or if it would be right for your particular child until you visit.

[julie1]

Hi Stressed, I just wanted to let you know that my son's school also seemed to have limited curriculum but when you actually get in and talk to them you realise that although they do keep most to a minimum there is availability of anything you can access at a regular school for those more advanced.

 

My son is studying everything he would be in a mainstream school at the level he should be despite missing more than 4 years of education and the first 3 years being messed up. If he was to knuckle down & start moving further ahead they would simply change what they teach him.

 

If he went to a mainstream school although he would be more than capable of keeping up with the work, he wouldnt do it....purely because the set up of the school would prevent him from sitting still much less anything else!

 

I'm not saying for one minute that you child needs to be in a special school, just thought that you may like to know about the curriculum side of things before making a decision.

hi just wondering is your son at a mld school or a special independent school? only asking as my 3rd child is at the choosing a school part of the statement, and the LA want to name a mld school and i was concerned about the fact she is not as behind as the other children there.

[minerva]

My son attends a private school which specialises in Asperger Syndrome, not really sure what mld means sorry

[Kazzen161]

mld stands for moderate learning difficulties.

 

Julie, one way of judging is to ask what the children achieve when they leave school - any GCSE/NVQs? Where do they move on to? What levels do their children achieve at KS1/KS2/KS3?

 

When I looked at a mld school, my (Yr 5) son was already working at a higher level than their Yr 11 children.

[madme]

Can I recommend that you buy the gabbitas book of school for sen as it covers mainstream and special. I would also suggest that you look at some independent schools for specific learning difficulties as they often have children with Aspergers and adhd and can at the same time provide good access to GCSES etc. You do need to visit schols. We visited quite a lot before narrowing down the search. We did win and the LEA pay for the fees but it was a battle

[NobbyNobbs]

unless the independent school has an ASD specialist department that no mainstream school in your LEA has i dont think they're likely to allow it. why do you think that school is better than any other for him?

[mossgrove]

An LEA will only fund a place at an independent school if you can show that there is no provision within the LEA that will meet their needs. There is no statutory right to a place at an independent school, and if you are advancing the argument that your child would cope at a mainstream independent school but would not cope at a mainstream LEA school you need to be absolutely clear about your arguments for this as the LEA would not want to pay for something that they will argue they can provide at one of theor own schools, and they will not be guided on this by a simple expression of preference.

 

If you have not visited the proposed independent school and do not have any supporting reports from specialists saying that he requires that environment then you have your work cut out, as the LEA are likely to decline your request. If you can get the Educational Psychologist on board about a need for structure, small class sizes etc. then you may have more chance.

 

 

Simon

[Karen A]

Hi stressedout.

If the independent school is a mainstream school I think it would be worth investigating extremely carefully what experience they have of SEN and ASD in particular.I do understand your situation.Ben is 11 and has AS and is at mainstream secondary school.Ben is very accademically able.He is way ahead of most of his peers in many respects.However Ben still needs support regarding his Social Communication Difficulties.For example he recieves support from ASD outreach.We have done a lot of work with school so that staff are aware of Ben's needs.Even today the SENCO and deputy head have helped with an issue which could have easily resulted in Ben refusing to go to school in the morning if some support had not been provided.

Independent schools may not have any specialist outside support or input.Even if the LA were to agree to placement there may be little support if there are difficulties.

I cannot imagine Ben lasting more than a few weeks in an independent mainstream school before they would decided he was too much work and excluded him.

[Kathryn]

It depends on the child. Some children with ASD thrive in a small independent mainstream setting, especially if they are very academically able, but as mossgrove says, it's very difficult to convince the LA of the need to pay for this - it's tantamount to admitting their own schools are rubbish.

 

K x