appealing to send tribunal about part 4 not being complied with

[bjkmummy]

hi, b was in a manistream school with asd unit - he spent most of his time in mainstream but had fulltime support - wasnt really working and school accepted that he should go into the unit but we mived counties and he got a place at an asd school (special) his statemnt was amended by the new county and special school named in part 4

 

then we had to move back into the old county - it doesnt have any special school so i argued that he could stay at the asd school but new lea said no as they said could meet his need by placing him back in the old mainstream school but he would have a place in the autism class. the new lea very quickly issued us witha transfer notice of the statement and named the school and specifically autism class as placement

 

however the school refuse to place him in the autism class - hes in the blinking mainstream and with part time support! cos part 4 says autism class the main part of the statement doesnt specify any TA hours! b having an awful time - hes year 5 - but theyve placed him in year 3!!!! has TA on 3 days a week which changes every week. b been trying to make himself physically sick to avoid school and we are only 5 weeks in

 

i feel like ive been an absolute fool - spoke to ipsea last week who told me to served notice on the lea that they have 5 days to comply with his statement ie move him into the autism class - got a letter in saturday from lea saying tehy will respond to my concerns next week

 

have a feeling the lea wont force the school to place him in the autism class even though they have named it in part 4 - so looks like i have to go to tribunal but im confused - ipsea are shocked cos theyve neve heard of part 4 that is named on a statement not being complied with. re time limits to going to tribunal - is there any in my case? the transfer notice was served on me about a month ago. ive done a bit of research - school in breach of LEA guidelines which state no child should be kept back over a year even with sen. school and head think im just a pain - problem is that the autism class has a lot of non verbal children in the class - b is verbal but he struggles hugely with anxiety and has learning problems as well - he was so happy in his special school - it would only have been a year for him to stay there but lea wont cos of the 45 min transport rule but cos of us having no special school any child going to a special school would have to travel more than 45 mins so it makes no sense - i cry most days because its just a horrible horrible mess, i blame my husband for making us come back here - he lost his job that why we had to come back so we are arguing all the time - the stress on all 3 children just awful cos of how things are at home - have 2 on the spectrum and the same school has also screwed over my second son as well

[Sally44]

I'm not sure of your situation whether you are seeking Judicial Review (to force the LA to place him where the Statement says). Or whether you are seeking a tribunal due to the amended Statement?

 

What have IPSEA advised you do?

 

It seems your options are:-

 

Judicial Review or Appeal (whichever is advised) for your son to be placed in the autism unit where you feel he will cope better - but you say many of the children are non-verbal.

 

Or seek a special school that does have more able children on the spectrum whether that is out of county or in an independent placement. But this would need an appeal because Judical Review is ONLY to get the Statement as it stands complied with.

 

If he is becoming ill due to the anxiety you need to see your GP every single time he is ill either physically or too anxious to go into school. You need to ask the GP to refer you to Clinical Psychology and CAHMS (whichever service has experience of working with children on the spectrum). You need those NHS professionals to be recording his deterioration due to his inappropriate school placement.

 

If your child is in year 5, it might be more cost effective to consider Judicial Review now to get him into the autism class at his current placement. And then start looking for a secondary school, and maybe end up at tribunal to seek the right placement for secondary. He needs to be in a placement that can meet his ASD needs, but which also has a suitable peer group, and you will need reports that state he needs SALT and probably OT input as well.

 

Typically LAs have just mainstream or MLD special schools, and many children fall between the two.

 

But do take his anxiety seriously. Listen to what he is telling you, and make school aware in writing and via meetings that he is not coping and is at risk of school refusal.

 

Judical Review would mean using a solicitor. They usually have an upfront charge to lodge the Judicial Review Appeal, which is about £380. After that the solicitor is working for the child and does not charge any more. But with Judicial Review you would be seeking the "autism class" placement.

[Kathryn]

Poor you - this is a real can of worms, isn't it. It sounds as though the statement is not being followed in several respects, and that is unlawful. The LEA have the power to override the school - if the school is named in the statement they have to comply. Any issues or objections should have been sorted out between the school and LEA long before this.

 

All the tribunal has the power to do is order amendments to the statement: you can't go to tribunal about failure to comply with what's in the statement.

 

As Sally says Judicial Review is one option, you can also complain the the Ombudsman about LEA maladministration. Judicial Review would probably be the most effective and quickest option - as long as you can get legal aid.

 

K x

[bjkmummy]

just an update - we are going for judical review - letter served on the lea last week and they have until next weds to respond. they have instructed their own solicitor and are trying to bide for more time. plan is that the lea will return b to his old special school as the new lea hae adopted the old statement and that means the special school placement - they have acted unlawfully on several points so we will see whether they fight it or just agree with what we are asking to happen - time will tell! i have nothing to lose as legal aid is in b name so i can take it all the way to court if i need to

[Kathryn]

Oh, well done and good luck! I hope this is the beginning of the end of all your battles and that you won't have to proceed too far before they back down. It's a crazy situation.

 

K x

[Sally44]

Exactly. You have nothing to lose and the Statement is not being complied with.

Let us know what happens.

Well done. Nice to see the other side running around for a change isn't it.