Should I Fight for Special School Placement?

[JoesMum1015]

My son is 3.5 years old. He has 18 months left until starting school. After a very difficult time with his current nursery, I’m now questioning what to do next.

His nursery essentially said that he isn’t safe and isn’t welcome there anymore (despite the delay in his help being caused by them). If this mainstream nursery couldn’t handle my son, how can any other nursery?
He’s non verbal, severely delayed and recently has been very aggressive to staff and peers.

I can now try to find him a regular nursery (and I’m struggling!), and then follow on with Mainstream Primary school. Or I could fight to get him a place at the local specialist school.

In honesty, I don’t know if my son is severe enough, I constantly change my view on my son’s capabilities. But if he’s still not talking, still in nappies and still lashing out in 18 months time, then surely they can’t allow him to go to mainstream?
How do you decide which is best for your children? I accept that my son may not be hugely successful academically, but I just want to find him a place that he is happy and that he fits, not like his current nursery.

[Rachel_Mummery]

Hello JoesMum1015,

I am sorry to hear that your son’s nursery has not provided the help and support he needs. Some mainstream nurseries are much better than others regarding children with special needs. I hope you can find one which calls in the specialist teaching service to advise them on how to meet your son’s needs and whether to apply for an Education Health Care Plan. You can apply for one on your own as a parent if not, anyway. An EHCP will mean you can apply for specialist educational provision and during the assessment you should learn more as to whether the specialist school is the most appropriate place for him. It is best to start the process soon as it takes months. Without an EHCP, your son will have to attend a mainstream school or be home schooled.

My son was still in nappies at mainstream nursery at that age and they needed to employ a 1:1 for him in order to keep the other children safe. His speech and language was delayed and he was diagnosed with autism. There is less funding available now so it is harder for nurseries and schools to employ 1:1 teaching assistants. Without that support he wouldn’t have stayed in mainstream for as long as he did. He is now in specialist educational provision and much happier as he is with other children like him and staff who understand and are trained to look after him.

I would recommend specialist educational provision although it was hard for me to accept that he had to leave mainstream at the time. He has an amazing brain but I know he is in the right place now.

I hope you find a much more supportive nursery to help you through the EHCP process. If not, go ahead and apply yourself like I did. Let us know how you get on.

With best wishes,

Rachel

[james.robinson]

Hi @JoesMum1015,

Sorry to hear what you’ve been through. First of all, I think it’s important that you know your rights when it comes to when your son goes to nursery/school. A few important pointers:

• A setting cannot turn away a child just because they have special educational needs (SEN). They are expected to be able to meet most needs. They also get extra funding if your son has SEN to help them to do this and can also receive additional funding from the local authority to help increase this.
• As @Rachel_Mummery says, you have a right to request an Education, Health and Care plan and the support that is listed in that plan MUST be provided. These plans are given when someone’s needs exceed what a mainstream setting would reasonably be expected to provide and help to increase the chances of settings being able to include pupils with higher level needs. You can request that your son goes to a particular setting on the plan and that must happen unless the setting is able to show it wouldn’t be appropriate for this to happen. Your son can only go to a specialist setting if they have an EHC plan. More information about EHC plans can be found on our website: https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/children-and-young-people/education-support/education-health-and-care-plan.
• You have a right to information about your options. Your local council will have an Information Advice and Support service (IASS) with advice and support for you, as well as a ‘Local Offer’ that sets out the education, health and social care support available to children and young people in the area with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities). For more information about the information and support available to parents of children with SEND, please visit our website: https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/children-and-young-people/education-support/support-parents-and-carers-children.

To find out more information on your rights, please visit our child’s rights page on our website: https://www.mencap.org.uk/advice-and-support/children-and-young-people/education-support/your-childs-rights-education.

A few tips for you to consider:

• Your son’s behaviour could be due to his needs not being met properly by the setting. A lot of this kind of behaviour is caused by underlying issues that the child might be struggling to communicate. It is for the setting to help meet those needs, but you can also get support yourself through support programmes like Triple P (https://www.triplep-parenting.uk.net/uk-en/triple-p/). We produced a report in 2017 that sets out some alternative ways of communicating with children to help overcome some of these barriers.
• All settings are different and just because one mainstream setting cannot meet your son’s needs, does not mean that none can. I would hope that most mainstream settings would be able to meet your son’s needs, so don’t automatically rule that option out. There’s no hard and fast way of knowing which setting will be best for your circumstances. Ultimately, you should choose which setting you and your son feel most comfortable with based on the facilities, the staff, the location, etc., and they should work with you to see how they can meet your son’s needs
• Going to a specialist nursery doesn’t preclude your son from going to mainstream school and vice versa, so you should opt for the best provision for your son at the time and then look at how he can transition into whichever primary school option you choose
• You can find out about the options for nurseries in your area through your local Family Information Service and information about nurseries and schools can be located on your council’s local offer.
• If you think his current nursery is discriminating against your son on the basis of his disability, you should take this up with them and/or the council. Ultimately, if you want to pursue it further, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal which hears disability discrimination cases.

Please also feel free to contact Mencap’s helpline on 0808 8081111.

I hope that helps at least a little and please do come back to me if you have any questions about anything I’ve said.

James

[JoesMum1015]

Thanks for your reply James.

The nursery have been spoken to by my son’s Psychologist, and they have back-pedalled slightly, although they are still threatening to withdraw his place imminently. I feel my son’s behaviour has been made worse by the current setting, and had they acted on the advice they were given, we would not have reached this point. They view my son as an inconvenience.

I have struggled to find a mainstream nursery that have a space, or is still interested after I tell them my son has SEN.

I’ve now found him a place at a nursery that I feel would be much better suited to his needs, and they weren’t phased by my son’s SEN status. But I’m overwhelmed with worry about putting him in this situation again. I work full time, which I already feel guilt for.

The fear of him ending up in another place that might not cope with him, and leave us feeling that he is demonised and not welcome, is eating away at me.

[JoesMum1015]

Thank you Rachel.

We see the Psychologist again in a few weeks, I’ll ask him about the EHCP, and apply myself if I have no joy.

My son is currently on a MyPlan+ with MAP Funding. Do we have to reach a particular point in the process before being eligible for EHCP?

[Rachel_Mummery]

Good to hear from you again and well done on finding a place in another nursery. Hopefully this will be a much better experience and they will provide the support you need in the process of getting the best school place for your son.

In answer to your question, you can apply for an EHCP today. Here is a quote from the Independent Parental Special Education Advice (IPSEA) website https://www.ipsea.org.uk/asking-for-an-ehc-needs-assessment

'When should I request an education, health and care (“EHC”) needs assessment?

If a child or young person has a learning difficulty or a disability which is holding them back at school or college, and the parents of the child or the young person (or the young person themselves) believe that the school or college is not able to provide the help and support which is needed, then a request should be made to the Local Authority (“LA”) for an EHC needs assessment.

You can do this at any time.’

With best wishes,

Rachel