Secondary Schools and Home Schooling and ASD

poet123

stuliet wrote: »

The thing is, it is not you as a parent that would be able to actually name the school, it is the SEN panel at your LEA. Yes, you can express a preference, but the panel will decide based on the professional opinions of those involved in the Statement (ie teachers from previous schools, psychology assessments and other professional recommendations). They will then decide what they think is the best provision suited to the child's needs (which may or may not be your preference.)

If the school feel they are unable to meet the needs of any SEN child (or do not want to accept that child), the placement will often be unsuccessful anyway - the school really need to be on board with wanting the child to succeed, so I would never advise trying to push a school to accept a child they feel they cannot (or do not want) to manage.

With regards to the OP, most statement panels will always choose a mainstream school where at all practical (this is by far the cheapest option for them to deliver - even with a full time 1:1). Someone involved with the statementing process must have recommended this type of provision as being most suitable for your child - do you have all the professionals reports that support the statement?
Also, have you been in contact with Partnership for Parents? - they are a brilliant organisation who support parents with school and statementing issues regarding children with SEN.

That is not quite correct:
Choosing a school

The statement initially has a blank section for you to say what school you want your child to go to (either mainstream or special), or how you want them to be educated out of school.
You have 15 days to say what school (including private schools) you want your child to go to.
Your local council must agree to send your child to the school you want as long as:

• the school you choose is suitable for your child’s age, ability, skills and needs
• your child meets any academic selection criteria the school has (although most state schools do not select pupils by academic ability)
• your child’s presence will not have a negative impact on the education of other children already at the school
• putting your child in the school will be an efficient use of the local authority’s resources

stuliet_2

poet123 wrote: »

That is not quite correct:
Choosing a school

The statement initially has a blank section for you to say what school you want your child to go to (either mainstream or special), or how you want them to be educated out of school.
You have 15 days to say what school (including private schools) you want your child to go to.
Your local council must agree to send your child to the school you want as long as:

• the school you choose is suitable for your child’s age, ability, skills and needs
• your child meets any academic selection criteria the school has (although most state schools do not select pupils by academic ability)
• your child’s presence will not have a negative impact on the education of other children already at the school
• putting your child in the school will be an efficient use of the local authority’s resources

Fair point - however, the choice the parent makes will often become secondary to the bullet points you have mentioned: eg. your child's presence having a negative impact on others and efficient use of LA resources.

I know it should be parental choice, but having worked with SEN statements as a Headteacher, I know that parents wishes are often overruled due to professional recommendations that may indicate some of the criteria in the bullet points you have mentioned.

Sad, but often true (maybe just in my authority, though - who knows?)

poet123

My experience as a governor has been the opposite. We had a child who named our school despite living in the catchment area of a school which was already physically school equipped to meet his needs. We were not as equipped, and only half a mile from the school that was. We knew it would cost us £90,000 to meet his needs physically and then we had to factor in the additional staffing cost. Our LEA solicitor refused to back us when we wanted to argue the case, she said that was a reasonable figure to spend and that we would not win in court on such a figure. I argued our case but had to admit defeat as we could not proceed without LEA backing.

My point was that most reasonable people would think that it was ridiculous to divert that amount from our budget when another school close by could already accommodate the child. She disagreed and carried the day. She stated no LEA would be prepared to go to court on that assumption as they would lose. I have heard of many such cases since.