Appeal for oversubscribed grammar school for SEN
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Hi alex... Thanks for your time....We have a meeting with the education officer next week which I am hoping would answer many questions .....As I said earlier I have visited the distant school and I have asked them about their experience with similar cases I was told that they had a student came from a special school but left after two weeks he couldn't cope... I am really worried about that...I couldn't organise a visit to the near school every time I call them they come up with an excuse ... please if anyone knows the school well I need some information about them....
You could try asking Parent Partnership to try and set up a visit to the nearer school. It doesn't sound like the schools are falling over themselves to be encouraging! You could try asking the further school why they felt the other child did not cope - it may be that his special school background simply had not prepared him adequately for the mainstream environment. You could also ask them what measures they feel might have helped him cope better, if any, and check that the proposed Statement includes everything they would feel necessary to support your child.
Good luck for the meeting with the education officer.
Good luck for the meeting with the education officer.
As statutory services (ones that have to be provided by law) PPSs are all funded by their Local Authority. However they are all expected to be at 'arms length' of the LA and to provide impartial information, advice and support to parents. Some services are based outside of the LA with local charities/organisations, some are based in LA's but in their own buildings, while others may share offices with other LA services such as schools, children's centres, support services etc. Having the same address as your local authority does not mean that they will not be able to provide an impartial service, if you do have concerns the best thing to do is to phone your local service and ask how they make sure that their service is impartial. if you are not satisfied all PPSs will be able to put you in touch with volunteers and/or independent organisations that will be able to help you.
Etienne
Hello everyone ... I am just posting an update following our meeting with the LEA this afternoon...
We have asked questions about the the offered school : Why that school although it is the most distant school? why is taking that long to finalise the statement ??? What other schools that have been contacted in this case when failed to secure our preference school??? will our son automatically go on the top of the waiting list for the preference school???
Unfortionately we were really disappointed that there was no response lettre from the schools and we were told that the 3rd GS was not contacted at all , this is of course after we confronted them that the school does not know anything about the case ... As we understood the offered school was the only school contacted with no consederation for our son's SEN ... According to them also he would not get prioroty even on the waiting list for our preference school although we are 0.5 miles from the school , he is still out of school, he ha SEN... At last , we still have nothing but the offered school...
We have asked questions about the the offered school : Why that school although it is the most distant school? why is taking that long to finalise the statement ??? What other schools that have been contacted in this case when failed to secure our preference school??? will our son automatically go on the top of the waiting list for the preference school???
Unfortionately we were really disappointed that there was no response lettre from the schools and we were told that the 3rd GS was not contacted at all , this is of course after we confronted them that the school does not know anything about the case ... As we understood the offered school was the only school contacted with no consederation for our son's SEN ... According to them also he would not get prioroty even on the waiting list for our preference school although we are 0.5 miles from the school , he is still out of school, he ha SEN... At last , we still have nothing but the offered school...
Hi umaram,
I am sorry to hear that you feel no further forward after your meeting with the Education Officer. Did they explain to you why they want to name the further away school and not the nearer one(s)?
If the further away school is named on the final Statement and you still feel that the nearer one is the only one which would properly meet all of your child's needs then your only option would be to appeal to SENDIST. Your parent partnership service would help you do this or would put you in touch with another organisation who would.
Children with Statements are not generally put on waiting lists for mainstream schools - once a school is named on the Statement that is it unless you appeal to SENDIST.
If you feel that you had questions that were not adequately answered at your meeting with the Education Officer you could ask for another meeting and perhaps prepare a list of questions along with the help of Parent Partnership. If the LA SEN Department are not willing to budge there may be a mediation service you can use - again your PPS should be able to tell you.
If the unwanted school is named on the final Statement and you wish to appeal there is a strict time limit of two months from when the LA inform you of your right to appeal (which they usually do in the letter which accompanies the final Statement).
If you miss that opportunity to appeal then if the authority refuses to change the named school at subsequent reviews etc then you cannot appeal until the Statement is a year old.
Hope this helps - the whole area of SEN and Statements can be quite complex which is why Parent Partnership Services exist to help people through the maze!
I am sorry to hear that you feel no further forward after your meeting with the Education Officer. Did they explain to you why they want to name the further away school and not the nearer one(s)?
If the further away school is named on the final Statement and you still feel that the nearer one is the only one which would properly meet all of your child's needs then your only option would be to appeal to SENDIST. Your parent partnership service would help you do this or would put you in touch with another organisation who would.
Children with Statements are not generally put on waiting lists for mainstream schools - once a school is named on the Statement that is it unless you appeal to SENDIST.
If you feel that you had questions that were not adequately answered at your meeting with the Education Officer you could ask for another meeting and perhaps prepare a list of questions along with the help of Parent Partnership. If the LA SEN Department are not willing to budge there may be a mediation service you can use - again your PPS should be able to tell you.
If the unwanted school is named on the final Statement and you wish to appeal there is a strict time limit of two months from when the LA inform you of your right to appeal (which they usually do in the letter which accompanies the final Statement).
If you miss that opportunity to appeal then if the authority refuses to change the named school at subsequent reviews etc then you cannot appeal until the Statement is a year old.
Hope this helps - the whole area of SEN and Statements can be quite complex which is why Parent Partnership Services exist to help people through the maze!
Hi guys
I am back again and I need urgent advice,plse. I finally managed to lodge an appeal against part 2,3 and 4 on my Son's final statement as the statement was such a mess.Thanks to all of you for advice. But The issue now is while we are waiting for the appeal hearing ,I thought it will be good if I put my son for the 12+ for the near school . I sent an application form and Iwas adviced that his name is on the list for the test . but just yesterday I have received a letter from them telling me he can not sit the test because legally the change of school name should be done by the LEA . My understanding is that he should be allowed to sit the 12+ in the same way he sat the 11+ and if he is offered a place we need to contact the LEA. If he does not sit the test we would not know about any arising vaccancies and would not qualify for a place. My son's allocation was not on his based special needs . He was just place where there is a vacancy. Why he doesn't have the same rights as everybody else.
I am back again and I need urgent advice,plse. I finally managed to lodge an appeal against part 2,3 and 4 on my Son's final statement as the statement was such a mess.Thanks to all of you for advice. But The issue now is while we are waiting for the appeal hearing ,I thought it will be good if I put my son for the 12+ for the near school . I sent an application form and Iwas adviced that his name is on the list for the test . but just yesterday I have received a letter from them telling me he can not sit the test because legally the change of school name should be done by the LEA . My understanding is that he should be allowed to sit the 12+ in the same way he sat the 11+ and if he is offered a place we need to contact the LEA. If he does not sit the test we would not know about any arising vaccancies and would not qualify for a place. My son's allocation was not on his based special needs . He was just place where there is a vacancy. Why he doesn't have the same rights as everybody else.
Dear Umaram,
I am really sorry to hear that your son's situation remains unresolved.
The following is taken from an internal document in another LA:
• Simply saying that the school is ‘full’ in the particular year group (or indeed overall) is not a valid reason in law for pupils with statements. Compelling evidence is needed to demonstrate how the child’s admission would be prejudicial to the education of other pupils and/or the efficient use of resources. With the expectations for taking reasonable steps as set out in the SEN Code of Practice and the Disability Discrimination Act, it is highly unusual to find such evidence.
Did the LA name the further away Grammar school in the Statement? If so I think it is arguable that the LA has agreed that the TYPE of provision suitable is mainstream and Grammar and re-testing should not be necessary - that is a matter you should raise at Tribunal. If the ONLY reason the place was refused at your preferred school was that the school was full the LA would find that difficult to defend at Tribunal, however, there may have been other reasons so you will need to study what they have said carefully in order to argue for the school you want. It is quite costly for a LA to go to Tribunal so they must presumably feel they have grounds they can defend.
I am really sorry to hear that your son's situation remains unresolved.
I had not realised that there were disagreements over the whole content of the Statement, not just the school named. Getting the Statement "right" in Parts 2 and 3 is essential and in a sense all else should flow from there. Do you have advice and support in taking your case to Tribunal?I finally managed to lodge an appeal against part 2,3 and 4 on my Son's final statement as the statement was such a mess.
In lodging your appeal to the SEND Tribunal and challenging the naming of the school in Part 4 you are doing the same in essence as a parent appealing to an IAP. Under the Code of Practice your son's rights as regards a particular school place are in fact stronger than those of most children. It really does not matter whether a school has vacancies or not - you will not get a place even if there are vacancies if the LA does not name the school in Part 4 of the Statement and conversely, the lack of a vacancy does not entitle the school to automatically reject your son in the same way as they would refuse an application from a child applying for a place in the normal way if the school/year group were full.But The issue now is while we are waiting for the appeal hearing ,I thought it will be good if I put my son for the 12+ for the near school . I sent an application form and Iwas adviced that his name is on the list for the test . but just yesterday I have received a letter from them telling me he can not sit the test because legally the change of school name should be done by the LEA . My understanding is that he should be allowed to sit the 12+ in the same way he sat the 11+ and if he is offered a place we need to contact the LEA. If he does not sit the test we would not know about any arising vaccancies and would not qualify for a place. My son's allocation was not on his based special needs . He was just place where there is a vacancy. Why he doesn't have the same rights as everybody else.
The following is taken from an internal document in another LA:
• Simply saying that the school is ‘full’ in the particular year group (or indeed overall) is not a valid reason in law for pupils with statements. Compelling evidence is needed to demonstrate how the child’s admission would be prejudicial to the education of other pupils and/or the efficient use of resources. With the expectations for taking reasonable steps as set out in the SEN Code of Practice and the Disability Discrimination Act, it is highly unusual to find such evidence.
Did the LA name the further away Grammar school in the Statement? If so I think it is arguable that the LA has agreed that the TYPE of provision suitable is mainstream and Grammar and re-testing should not be necessary - that is a matter you should raise at Tribunal. If the ONLY reason the place was refused at your preferred school was that the school was full the LA would find that difficult to defend at Tribunal, however, there may have been other reasons so you will need to study what they have said carefully in order to argue for the school you want. It is quite costly for a LA to go to Tribunal so they must presumably feel they have grounds they can defend.
