• Replies 1 reply
  • Subscribers 65 subscribers
  • Views 1098 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

NAS Accreditation

joolz

 

A bit contentious to post this on a NAS forum but here goes!

I am worried about this. At annual review my LA said as it now had its special school accredited by the NAS (in autism awareness as I understand it) it was now effectively an autism centre of excellence and this entitled them to axe my son's out of area placement. (My son would not be going to this school anyway as he is too HF but the LA are trying to pass it off as a general endorsement of the TEACCH approach which my son did not respond to - he has ABA)

I must say I was very sceptical of this scheme when I heard about it - not least because I had already had comments after dx about how once I had been on the Earlybird Scheme I could learn all the strategies needed to help my son cheaply and he would not need any specialist intervention at all (thankfully the tribunal decided otherwise)

I knew my LAs would manipulate this scheme to their advantage.

Now the NAS has accredited the LA SLD special school I would imagine it will be near impossible for parents to now argue for a place at the NAS school or any other indep setting.

Is there any guidance on what the scheme involves eg does it assess the quality of teaching/ outcomes or any restriction on how LAs are able to use the accreditation?

The autism provision here is actually appalling - bottom of the league table stuff so it is annoying me that the LA is walking around saying how the NAS has endorsed its work.

I understand the NAS wants to work with LAs but I feel in the case of this scheme that the NAS has been naive in what the implications are - we all know of tribunals that have been persuaded earlybird is a scheme which can provide sufficient training for a TA to teach a child with autism.

What do others think?

  •  

    Hi Joolz, 

    Wanted to take a bit of time to get a response together before replying as, like you mention, there’s always going to be some contentiousness around these issues. 

    Having spoken to members of the Autism Accreditation team and the Education Rights Service we wanted to just clarify a few points about what the scheme represents. We also want to make it clear we’re still here to provide support for you to find the right and most appropriate education for your son.

    The first thing to say is that accreditation of a school does not mean that school is right for every child on the spectrum or provides the appropriate help that is necessary. 

    Of course it may be that following accreditation a school will now have a greater understanding of autism and will ensure support in a central element of their approach from policies down to the classroom experience. However, as I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, being appropriate for some children doesn’t mean being appropriate for all. 

    Accreditation aims to improve the experience for people on the spectrum in all environments, rather than being about picking a particular place and claiming accreditation has made it a centre of excellence (which is not a term we use as part of accreditation). 

    You can read more about the details of accreditation on the following page – 

    http://www.autism.org.uk/our-services/autism-accreditation/achieving-accreditation.aspx

    And if you’d like to get in touch with the accreditation service then they are available on 0117 974 8420 or accreditation@nas.org.uk 

    They often get enquiries about their service and a more than willing to speak to you and answer any questions you might have. 

    The Education Rights Service have also gone into a little more detail about your options so let me outline what they had to say, sorry it repeats a little of what I’ve said above –

    When deciding which school a child should attend, the needs of the individual child along with a thorough assessment of the suitability of the types of provision available needs to be carried out. Each child with autism is different and how they respond to different forms of intervention will also vary. What works for one child may not necessarily work for another and, whilst a school may be recognised as providing an excellent education for children with autism, it does not always follow that the school will be able to meet the needs of every child with autism.

    The key for parents in cases like this is to gather the evidence to show what does and does not work with their child. As the law stands, a child is only entitled to an 'adequate' education and there will often be disagreement between parents and their LA as to what the word 'adequate' actually means. However, if it can be shown that the support that would be provided in a particular school would hinder or damage the child's progress then there is a good case to be argued.

    The Education Rights Service advises many families in this sort of situation each year, including supporting families with appeals to the Tribunal where needed. Please contact the service on 0808 800 4102 and leave a message on the automated answering service. A volunteer adviser will call back usually within a couple of days to discuss your situation

    I hope you find this helpful and I’d really recommend speaking to both the Autism Accreditation service and the Education Rights Service, I’m sure they will be more than willing to help. 

    And let us know how things go, I'm sure we'd all like to see the situation resolved so your son gets the support he needs.