What happens if your appeal date is imminent and the leagl team reperesenting the Local Authority withdraws.

Today was the final date to submit evidence on our choice of school for our child. I was also awaiting evidence from the legal team acting on behalf of the LA. They informed me they have not been instructed and ceased to act on their behalf.

If a school states that placing your child in their school renders the efficient education or use of resources. Is a judge still likely to overturn this if witness statements and evidence from the schools support their view point. What evidence can I bring to challenge this?

I will need to submit further evidence before the hearing.

I have received the consult response from SEND schools from the local authority Solicitor. When I respond back with my evidence /comments do I include all parties involved in the case and report back on which school I want named?

My child's case is at the tribunal as the local authority wants to place my child at a school 1 hour away outside of the local area. All other schools in our local area have reported being oversubscribed, not able to meet his needs. Additionally some state that my child would impact negatively on the needs of other existing students due to lack of resources and capacity.

If a court instructs you to submit evidence by a certain time on a specific day. Is it best to wait and submit to all parties earlier or to wait and submit nearer to the submission time?

My child has been offered tuition in the interim due to delays in witness statements being submitted form my preferred school. The judge has asked that safeguarding arrangements are in place if tuition is offered in the home, otherwise it should be at a tuition centre for 25 hours. Would this mean 2 staff attending my home to supervise the teaching sessions?.

The LA didn't consult my preferred schools within the consultation period. Now I have to wait until the schools reopen. Additionally an assessment is also pending for September. I now won't get a hearing until October.

When it mentions parties, I assume this includes me as the appellant in a case? And I've been asked to complete the exchange of evidence in regards to the school I'd like my child to attend, with details of the cohort, timetable and support he will get. I'm advised it should be in a witness statement. I'm confused about how to proceed. Should my information be documented in the RFC form?

These instructions are set out before a court hearing date.

Characteristics of a setting

We have an LA who are trying to exclude anything that they deem describes a "setting" from section F provisions, claiming it can only go in Section I. We know this is not true and this is not what section I contains.

We also know that it's common to say e.g. needs a low-sensory environment or e.g. needs toileting facilities of a certain type.

But I can't find reference to this in the case law in the Noddy Guide and the LA just keep repeating it.

Kinds of things they want to exclude: sensory environment relating to classrooms and lunch facilities, type of exams and qualifications a school offers, multi-disciplinary teams (e.g. OT and SALT) holistically delivering to child's needs, and working on skill integration (ie theraputic special school ). All of these defined as needs in Section B.

There's lots of really clear reference to case law showing that health care or social care provision which educates or trains a child can be special educational provision in the Noddy guide (thank you!)

It seems to be a catch-22: we are trying to make provision absolutely specific and quantifiable, but LA are trying to exclude anything that "relates to a setting", so some specific items they will claim can't be in Section F. Is there any precedent here?

Can class sizes be specified in Section F (provision)

Can a maximum class size and adult : child ratio be specified in an EHCP Section F?

We have a clear professional (EdPsych) recommendation on this and I would assume it's a clear YES because it's specific and quantifiable.

The LA claim they can't put this in an EHCP because if the school were forced to accept another pupil (as can happen) it would mean they weren't meeting EHCP and my child would have to leave. I think this is untrue and designed to scare/threaten because the school they want to name has increasing class sizes. Is there any case law or reference in legislation?

EOTAS on health grounds - CVI & epilepsy

My child has an EHCP in place. He understands alot but has huge barriers in communication so cannot tell me how he is feeling.

His vision fluctuates from being not great to being completely blind depending on how cluttered the environment is and how much visual or auditory clutter there is(clutter includes humans of course). He is in an SEN provision, class of 10 and each school evening he gets home and has a huge meltdown due to the stress on his vision and each school night he is having an average of 5 epileptic seizures as a result of this same stress.

We are in between a 2 day tribunal and a further 1 day adjournment hearing. I obviously dont want to get in trouble with LA but i cant watch my child health being continually impacted upon as a result of complying with sending him to school. If i take my child out of school for a month or so prior to the next hearing for these health reasons what, if any bearing will it, or is it likely to have on EOTAS and being able to implement provision at home in a distraction free environment?

Thank you in advance

Timing of annual reviews (s44 CFA2014). Is it correct that an annual review should be 12 months after the date an amended EHCP was issued (following a tribunal appeal)?

s44 CFA2014 requires an EHCp to be reviewed within 12 months of being issued and then within 12 months of the date the EHCp was last reviewed.

The last review of my 9 yo daughters EHCp was/was completed on the 1st July 2022. We appealed to the FTT who ordered amendments to the EHCp, and the amended document was issued on 30th April 2023. The LA now claims that the next s44 review must be completed by 30th April 2024 and not 1st July 2023 as s44 requires.