11 Plus Exams Forum

Hi,

My DS has statement/EHC plan due to physical needs. I would like to know how i can apply to grammar school position in different county? I heard i dont need to fill CAF form, i have to contact local LA to give my preference? Anyone here in forum previously gone through this process with EHC plan? Please let me know how i can proceed? I have contacted local LA but they are giving different answers. The one in senior position is now off till 26th. I am trying to findout with LA but meanwhile if anyone in this forum has experience please let me know?

TIA

The school has to be named on the Statement/EHCP. As a parent, you have the right to name any school, anywhere, but the LA will only agree if the school meets the child's needs, is effective use of public money and won't be detrimental to the education of the other children. When applying for schools, you don't go through the usual CAF application route but liaise with the LA directly. You should have a named officer who was responsible for converting your statement to EHCP (I'm assuming you have an EHCP rather than statement, though the process is the same for secondary transfer). You should also have a minimum of 3 meetings a year once your EHCP is in place (it was only the 1 with the statement) although it is likely that only 1 will be equivalent to the annual review. If your DS in year 6, you should have a transition review as the EHCP will have to be amended with the name of the new school and this has to be finalised by mid Feb.

What county are you in? Different counties are working to different timescales but what I have detailed above I am sure is universal. Have you visited the school you propose to name? Will it meet your son's needs? How supportive was the SENCo(s)? Please feel free to ask further questions or pm me.

Sorry, must dash, off to an annual review!

Thank you Oblique for the detailed information. I will pm you i have some more questions to ask.

Have you checked the schools you are considering for how they offer places? They are not schools that I am familiar with.

Many schools offer a place in order of a ranked score from a particular test, or in the following order:
1. children in care
2. children with statement/EHCP
3. religion (if a faith school)
4. sibling link
5. distance from home address.
If the schools you are interested in follow the latter order, then in theory, your son will be offered a place above most other children. However, since they are grammar schools, it is likely that he will still have had to reach the cut off score for qualification in order to be offered a place.

Only one school will be named on the EHCP. You must speak to your LA officer who will then liaise with the school in which you are interested. If the school can't offer your son a place, then it can't be named on the EHCP and you can then ask for a different school. But you need to do your research first. Have you visited the schools and spoken to the SENCo's? You need to do this before speaking to your LA officer. Some schools will be more wheelchair accessible and be more open and inclusive than others. Has your son visited and got a feel for the schools? This will give the school an opportunity to assess whether they can realistically support your son's needs. An EHCP provides a lot of information and will help a school to decide whether they can offer a child a place but often, what is written on paper differs so much from the reality of the individual.

Happy to help if you have more questions!