Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi!
it’s my first time posting on here…
I am a mum of a 5 year old boy with autism. He started primary school in September. we had lots of communication with the school before he attended, as did his nursery to make the school aware of his needs and the importance of him needing 1:1 care throughout the day.
because of his needs, we started the EHCP application before starting school which the they were happy with.
this week we received our letter to say that my son would be receiving an EHCP and the school would be getting funding, as soon as the school got this through, their SENCO asked to have a meeting with us.
i was unable to attend (due to illness) but my partner went to the meeting where they basically said they are unable to meet his needs and don’t have the right resources at the school for his needs and the funding was not enough. They are going to try and get more funding (which is fair enough!) and do ‘as much as they can’ to meet the plan, but they also suggested we look at sending him to a different school!
I am so upset about this, they were fully aware of his needs before he attended and never gave us any indication they can’t care for him until this meeting. I would not have sent him to the school if I believed they couldn’t! The school they suggested is over half an hour away in the car and I can’t drive… None of the other local schools have a SEN school as part of the mainstream school either. He struggles to get settled in new places and I am so scared he will regress if we have to change his school after only a month of being there.
has anyone else experienced anything like this with school?
i just don’t understand why they’ve only just said they can’t care for him… I feel so devastated for him.. it makes me not want to send him back next week.
should we just go to a different school and not waste our time at this school?
any help/advice is greatly appreciated, as we don’t know who to talk to, we don’t know anyone else with kids that have autism…
thank you for taking the time to read this.
The EHCP names the school a child will attend. I am not clear from your post if the EHCP is at the consultation stage, when the school can ask for another school to be named instead. The local SEND team will be able to advise. If the EHCP is final, the school will need to call an emergency Review and make a case to the LEA for the EHCP to be changed. You should have access to the local SEN advice service, which is in theory independent from the local authority. Or AnnaMod suggests other sources of advice, including IPSEA. If possible, take an adviser or friend to every meeting, take notes and put everything in writing, e.g. after the meeting email the head or SENCO or whoever " Thank you for meeting me on ... my understanding is that the school will ... and I will ... Please confirm that this is correct." (or something similar.)
If the other school is the best option for your child, you will probably be entitled to transport, either based on distance from home or as part of the EHCP. It sounds like the current school does not really want your child, so you might have to fight for every bit of support. By all means use the complaints system, appeal to the LEA, even go legal ... it is your right. But ... you might want to think about whether the short-term disruption of changing schools might be worth it if your son ends up in a new school which can meet his needs without making a fuss about it, and where he is welcome.
As for saying that the present school will do ‘as much as they can ' to meet the plan, the EHCP is a legal document, they do not have a choice but to do exactly what it says, or potentially be taken to the SENDIST tribunal. The school might genuinely be strapped for cash, or have other issues with staffing and leadership, it is hard to say. But the senior staff are clearly not going to do the best for your child, which is sad.
I would urge you to get expert advice.