An opinion on the school my ASD DS may be attending, please

poet123

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

I know you're the school governor and all, but my impression is that the parent may have to fight to the bitter end to get a particular school NAMED in the statement, especially if it's out of area / expensive. The LEA may want to fill places at a particular school, and if the parent disagrees that the school the LEA wants to use is suitable, then it's not as simple as saying "But I want my child to go to this other school." Nor even as simple as saying "You know fine well that the school you want to name can't possibly meet my child's needs."

Sue,your first sentence comes across a tad agressive if you dont mind me saying so

Parents do have to fight to get a statement but once granted,by law they then can choose the school to be named,(out of area is different,as I indicated in my post)so it is as simple as naming the school if it is in your area. This applies to mainstream provision but you do not have the same rights to choose a special school. This may be where your impression arises. This became enshrined in law when special schools were being closed down,and inclusion became the buzz word,a sop if you like to ease parental concerns that they would have no say or input.

I have recent experience where the LEA were prepared to pay 90,000 for a capital project for a statemented child rather than refuse to name our school and take the chance of losing an appeal,all this, when 1 mile away(in the childs designated parish..we are a VA faith school)the faciities existed already,but the parents did not want their child to attend that school.

When questioned carefully re the expenditure the LEA solicitor categorically refused to consider the fact that that amount of money would be considered an unreasonable amount to comply with the "reasonable adjustment" criteria of the DDA,and so be grounds to refuse to name a particular school. There are 3 criteria under which an LEA can refuse to name,and all are very hard to fulfil,and weighted in favour of the parent.

So certainly for my LEA I would agree that parents have a fight to get a statement and this aspect has also got worse over the years with very few children now starting school with a statement,but once granted thry have rights within their own LEA that other parents do not have.

Savvy_Sue

Sorry, I did not mean to sound aggressive. Just did not want blue_monkey to go away with the impression that she could just name School A or whatever and that's what would happen, even if her son is statemented. It can be a battle round here, not just to GET the statement, but also to get the statement to say what it needs to.

And, if I may say so, your LEA sounds unusual! I know ours will make parents fight for non-inclusion (even when it's clear inclusion is not working), and alter a statement when the annual review is due without really consulting parents, and send out the revised statement right at the end of the school year giving them a week to respond when there's no-one to talk to at school about it!

Although I know they spent a huge amount making the local primary wheelchair friendly not so long ago! What I was never sure about was whether the parents involved wanted that school, or the LEA wanted them to have it ... and wanted to take away their argument for it not being suitable!

poet123

I think we are actually agreeing here.

We were told as a school that child A had expressed a preference for our school and that the LEA was going to name our school( and despite our objections that the school was not suitable),they were prepared to do whatever was required...even up to .spending 90,000 to make it happen.

It is the opposite for special schools,and parents have to fight for non inclusion,which is what I think you are saying?

blue_monkey_2

It's OK, I kind of got how it works (I think, LOL)

I can't send them to different schools as school A and B have 20-30 minute travelling time between them - hence the travelling now. These are the only schools in this area that have spaces for them, the others are all full (I went round them all about a month back) - there is this one schhol D that I am told has spaces so I will be popping up during the tail end of this week and being honest about the whole situation.

I understand about the travel. I am prepared to pay if I have to but it means I have to get a car that is cheaper to run. DS has the care componant of DLA and I am wondering if you can get car with this - or whether this will make a difference to the mobility allowance, they are going to contact me next year when he turns 5. I have told DH that if DS does not win the appeal then we have to get a diesel car as it will cost less overall to run back and forth and that will help.

In regard to the transport, on the county council website it states that if a child has a statment then that child and siblings at the same school will get travel, however, I would not let them go in a taxi anyway, that is not why I would apply for one - if he needed the help then I would apply. We shall see how he goes.

I have to give school C a call tomorrow and tell them whether the kids are going to the transition day on Wednesday - if they do not go then I have to give up the places. DD also has a transition day on Thursday at school B. School C also implied that while they had places elsewhere they would not have confirmed places at this school. So this goesagainst what the Appeal Panel told me to do as the specifically told me to do it this way.

Ah well, something else to think about for tonight.

Savvy_Sue

I was wondering if there was any before or after school provision at School B which would make it possible to drop your DD off and then drive DS to School A? Or if one parent could do one drop-off while the other did the other? But I didn't spell that out before, and it may not be possible, even in the short term.

I am glad that there does seem to be an element of common sense in the policy of giving transport both to the child with a statement and any siblings at the same school. However I would still check and double check, because of it being your choice to keep your DD there rather than move her to a school which is nearer your new address which has spaces.

Next bright idea: I can't remember how old your DS is, but is he actually required to be in school yet? If not, would you consider keeping him home / home ed until there is a place for him in School B?

silvercar

Don't rule out the schools transport service. If they are enough children they will lay on a bus with CRB checked driver and escort. If your son is the only one (or perhaps another one) they will lay on a taxi service, again with CRB checked driver and escort. The taxi will provide a door to door service and they will aim to use the same driver/ escort every journey.

Sarahsaver

The current school should not have fobbed you off with a wait and see attitude to getting a statement. Once statemented a school can actually be named in the statement.
Whatever you do, in my experience stability and routine are v important for ASD kids (like my son;))
The comments made by that particualr SENCO, I would make a complaint!

Best of luck;)

blue_monkey_2

Hi everyone, an update: well I called school C today and explained why I had decided that the children should not go there, they did not seem all that bothered - thanks for letting us know, no concern about how I was spoken to.

My concerns I guess were that should my son require the extra help they would not give it and because I had already known that the extra help was not available when sending him. School A have already indicated he is getting another TA when going into reception, tbh, because of the help they have given him (and still give him) without my asking, it has been on their instigation, there seemed no 'need' to push for a statement. Just my opinion really, if he is having a bad day they accomodate him well - he is only in Nursery age, but the school have been fab in all of this.

I will explain to the appeal panel that I had been told by school C - the ONLY school I could find with places in the area - that his needs would not be accomodated. They might have done me favour. I do not have anywhere to leave the kids while I go from one school to the next at all so this is not an option either, they do not have breakfast/after school clubs and also I would have to pay which I could not afford either if paying petrol money.

Having through more about everything, I think shool C have done me a favour with the appeal panel and this might be good as they could have expected me to send son to school C and then I would have been suck without extra help.

I have decided to stay at school A if DS does not succeed the appeal rather than go to school D. My reasons for this: I have people to fall back on to help should I get stuck and can't get to collect them, or if they want to do after school clubs, friends can collect one child and then I can get them both at the same time. If I go to school D I will not have this and still have to rely on a car.

Thanks for your help and suggestions, it is so hard to get the right thing for our children, isn't it. I can see from everything that I have been really lucky.

SC, thanks for the advice, I will check this out after the summer IF I need it. In the village, so many people wanted to send their kids to a particular school that ws 9 miles away, the council organised a daily bus. There is a charge for it but it means the kids can get to school. These schools are where my kids will go, so eventually they will meet up again with the friends they have made from he school they are at right now and be in the same year with them!!

Kimitatsu

Hi Blue_monkey

Firstly if your son is on an IEP ther IS additional funding that his school already get, which is why if you look at some schools they have a high proportion of schools with special needs. My husband is also a governor and so I know that right from the beginning there is additional funding into the school, it just wont be allocated specifically to your son for 1 to 1 teaching assistant time. If you had him statemented then there would be but to be honest it is a long and difficult road and many educational psychologists are not prepared to statement children early.

Next thing if your daughter has a place at school then the sibling rule applies (which to be honest is like the golden egg - it wipes everything else out!) and your son will have to be offered a place at the same school. You would still have to appeal to the governing body to provide an exceptional place as they are bound to a planned admission number but this can be overuled by an independant panel.

I recently appealed my sons place for the secondary school of our choice and we were successful. The appeal clerk who was fantastic told me that the appeal body would be interested in how not being awarded a place at this school would affect your child, the travelling time they would have to endure (45 minutes is the permitted maximum for a child of secondary school age each way), how they would be affected socially and the effect it would have on the family unit. If you can get a copy of the "every child matters" document from your local education authority, and reference the points from that documnent into your appeal, then you may stand a better chance.

At the end of the day you know your child best and a happy child is a child that does well at school, regardless of the schools reputation.

poet123

Sorry, but the sibling rule is not applicable in all schools ,similarly the funding is dependent where a child falls on the code of practice and IEP may just mean there are concerns not that funding is in place.