Help please...... SEN appeal

[Alex]

It is correct that children with Statements of Special Educational Needs do not go through the normal appeals system. The school is named in the Statement and any appeal goes through the SEND Tribunal.
Firstly you will need to ascertain whether your Local Authority is willing to name the Grammar School on the Statement despite the fact that the qualifying score was missed and whether the school would be willing to be named or not.

Assuming the LA refuses to name the school and/or the school is not willing to be named then your only recourse is the Tribunal. The parts of education law which apply are different for maintained schools and academies. As the school you want is an academy you will be relying on Sec 9 of the Education Act 1996 which says that the LA

“ ….. shall have regard to the general principle that pupils are to be educated in accordance with the wishes of their parents, so far as that is compatible with the provision of efficient instruction and training and the avoidance of unreasonable public expenditure.”

Have a look at the IPSEA website which has a useful introduction to problems with the naming of the secondary school on a Statement:

http://www.ipsea.org.uk/AssetLibrary/do ... mments.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Don’t dismiss Parent Partnership. They may not have “teeth” in the sense that they do not make decisions but they can be invaluable sources of information and advice and must be impartial. IPSEA has a helpline and can sometimes provide more practical help for people going to Tribunal.

In terms of getting a case together have a read of the appeals Q&A as much of that will be relevant but your arguments will probably need to be wider ranging than simply academic ability and you should also look at the issue of what reasonable adjustments were made to the testing situation and whether these were adequate and specific to your child.

Feel free to PM if you would like some more specifics.

[Etienne]

I fully endorse Alex's advice.

I also recall there was a previous case where the judge did not accept a very narrow miss as sufficient to make the school unsuitable to the child’s ability, and ordered the LA to name the parents’ preferred grammar school!
http://www.elevenplusexams.co.uk/forum/ ... al#p268170" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Ellen-Jane]

I can also recommend IPSEA. They have a very good helpline, but it is notoriously difficult to get through on, but please keep trying, it is worth it. You have quite an unusual problem, unfortunately, as few Grammar school DC have statements, and few children with statements go to Grammar schools, so it's a rare problem for Grammar experts or SEN experts.

Did the school make reasonable adjustments for the test? Did you get extra time?

[Superflygirl]

Not "in the know" to comment on the legalities of this but just wanted to say think its disgusting that you are being told that you can't appeal. Echo neveragain* and Amber's comments regarding Sue at STRS - she is a lovely approachable helpful lady

GOOD LUCK

[ysezmo]

I can also recommend IPSEA. They have a very good helpline, but it is notoriously difficult to get through on, but please keep trying, it is worth it. You have quite an unusual problem, unfortunately, as few Grammar school DC have statements, and few children with statements go to Grammar schools, so it's a rare problem for Grammar experts or SEN experts.

Did the school make reasonable adjustments for the test? Did you get extra time?

Yes! STRS were fab and made reasonable adjustments and extra time given (as per usual with statements).

Thanks for all the other info. We are currently downloading reems of legislation!! Have spoken to local MP and am hoping he can shed some light!!
Thanks everyone

[neveragain*]

Don't count on it. The mp I mean.

[ysezmo]

Don't count on it. The mp I mean.

Hey... You never know, desperate times call for desperate measures!!

[neveragain*]

Tis true. Sorry, bit cynical.......
My thoughts are with you guys x

[Ellen-Jane]

Did the school make reasonable adjustments for the test? Did you get extra time?

Yes! STRS were fab and made reasonable adjustments and extra time given (as per usual with statements).

I was hoping they hadn't, actually, it would have given you a bit more ammunition.

[senmum]

Hi I have statemented dd and in Essex I did appeal as my dd missed by a few places -on appeal the independent tribunal decided that the CSSE in Essex had not followed the correct admissions procedure and so she was offered a place automatically. So I would say that you can appeal -I believe the other route discussed is for if your dc had passed the mark but the school refused to take her but not sure if this has been tested. Theres a lot more info on my threads but please pm me if you want to know more
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