Applying for school place after moving borough

CheckDigit

Hello,
I am the father of a 6 year old boy. We moved house last September to a new London Borough and decided to enrol our son to a private school. The private school are of the view that our son has special educational needs and they are not able to cater for his needs. As such, we need to apply to a state school. Our concern is that there might not be any spaces available at the nearest schools and we don't have a car. If we are given a place at a school that is far away will we be compelled to send him there?

rach_k

You won't be compelled to send him there but you are legally required to make sure that your child is educated.  You can do that at home if you choose, while staying on a school waiting list, or you can accept the place and use public transport (and go on waiting lists for closer schools).  Schools can't magic up extra places so you would need to wait for a place to become available.

If you have a look at the borough's website, you may find an in-year vacancy checker, which should give you some idea of which schools have places.  You might be expected to use public transport to take him to school - it's not that uncommon.  There is a legal requirement for councils to provide transport to children if they are attending the nearest suitable school and it's more than a 2 mile walk (under 8s) or 3 mile walk (8 years and over) but that may be unlikely depending on your borough.  For most kids, free public transport is considered to meet that obligation.  

Another option might be to look at paying for transport (with money saved on fees?).  When councils provide transport for SEN kids, they have companies that are basically a taxi service with an attendant, if needed by the child.  You could find out who your council uses and come to a private arrangement with the company.  Often, they are normal private hire companies who also do school runs so they're fine for you to deal with directly.  

silvercar

There are many private schools of all varieties, particularly near London. Just because the one he currently attends deems themselves unsuitable, it doesn’t mean all private schools would be unsuitable. In fact, it doesn’t say much for this school that it isn’t prepared to work with you in finding a suitable alternative school.

silvercar

if yours if your son does have special needs, a statement of such needs should help identify an appropriate school to address those needs. The chances of being placed there are much higher with a statement. His current school should assist in arranging for a statement to be made. Otherwise you are in a chicken and egg situation, with needing a school to get a statement done, that names an appropriate school.

Spendless

It sounds like the child needs a EHCP (Educational Health Care Plan). Do NOT let the private school fob you off on this. They have identified your child has additional needs, therefore they need to support you in this. The plan if awarded (be aware many fail at first application and need to be appealed) would name the school best suited. Contact these as a starting point  to help you understand the process. https://www.kids.org.uk/sendiass

CheckDigit

Spendless said:

It sounds like the child needs a EHCP (Educational Health Care Plan). Do NOT let the private school fob you off on this. They have identified your child has additional needs, therefore they need to support you in this. The plan if awarded (be aware many fail at first application and need to be appealed) would name the school best suited. Contact these as a starting point  to help you understand the process. https://www.kids.org.uk/sendiass

We contacted the National Autistic Society and they stated that, "Unfortunately private schools are not required by law to provide the support that state schools are obliged to provide, and they are not covered by much of the relevant education legislation." The school have also stated that they do not have funding to request an EHCP. We are going to apply directly to the council regarding an EHCP but this takes 16 weeks so in all likelihood will not get resolved by September. 

pinkshoes

CheckDigit said:

We contacted the National Autistic Society and they stated that, "Unfortunately private schools are not required by law to provide the support that state schools are obliged to provide, and they are not covered by much of the relevant education legislation." The school have also stated that they do not have funding to request an EHCP. We are going to apply directly to the council regarding an EHCP but this takes 16 weeks so in all likelihood will not get resolved by September. 

They don't have the funding to request an EHCP?!?! At the very least they can provide written evidence that will support the EHCP. Council's don't just hand them out based on a few comments that a child has additional needs. They will need full documentation from the school giving clear evidence that a child requires 1 to 1 support.

I'm a teacher at a main stream secondary school, and I often have to provide evidence to help support a child being provided with an EHCP. 

https://www.sen-help.org.uk/how-to-appeal/evidence/

Have they said in what way they cannot cater for his needs? Surely this hasn't just suddenly come to light? Are they saying that they will not let you enrol him in September for another year? If the school are struggling for money, it is unusual for them to turn down a fee paying student... so are they saying your son is too much hard work?!?!

SEN provisions in mainstream schools can vary massively, so might be wise to start looking around. You then have schools that cater specifically for children with additional needs that cannot perhaps manage in a mainstream school, even with an EHCP. Is it a school like this they are referring to?

Spendless

CheckDigit said:

Spendless said:

It sounds like the child needs a EHCP (Educational Health Care Plan). Do NOT let the private school fob you off on this. They have identified your child has additional needs, therefore they need to support you in this. The plan if awarded (be aware many fail at first application and need to be appealed) would name the school best suited. Contact these as a starting point  to help you understand the process. https://www.kids.org.uk/sendiass

We contacted the National Autistic Society and they stated that, "Unfortunately private schools are not required by law to provide the support that state schools are obliged to provide, and they are not covered by much of the relevant education legislation." The school have also stated that they do not have funding to request an EHCP. We are going to apply directly to the council regarding an EHCP but this takes 16 weeks so in all likelihood will not get resolved by September. 

That's 2 separate issues. Private schools are often worse than state when it comes to children with SEN. That doesn't mean they can say 'we don't have the funding to request one'. As pinkshoes says they need to provide information. They are the ones that have identified your child needs additional support. Yes, you can do a parental application yourself. Please check out what the school should be doing to help you.  

maman

Other posters are quite correct in that whichever way your son obtains a EHCP (replaced the old Statement of SEN) then evidence will be needed both from his current school and anywhere else that holds records. I'm surprised that your son is 6 and it's only just been flagged up that he's on the autistic spectrum. Did he go to a nursery? Previous school? Was it noted there? If he is high functioning and has coped well until now then an application for an EHCP might not be successful. They sometimes take several applications and a mounting weight (almost literally!) of evidence to demonstrate that he can't be catered for without funding for  additional support. 

It's by no means standard that independent schools don't accommodate SEND children or make applications for EHCP. Many parents choose independent schools especially for the smaller classes and extra support that can be offered even without an EHCP. Your Local Authority will find you a school or if you'd prefer independent then shop around for one that is welcoming to SEND pupils which the current one obviously isn't. 

onylon

This may be out of date but I remember my family had problems with the local authority when my brother left his prep school. The local authority said that there were no secondary school places available and that there was no requirement on them to provide one unless the family had just moved into the area. We were told that my brother was bottom of the priority list because he had previously been at a private school and my parents were left with no choice but to shell out for a private secondary school too. 

If you can avoid mentioning the private school it may help as I think in our case there was a huge amount of inverse snobbery.