Hi there
I have just found out unofficially that my son who is 4 and a half and has autism, has only been allocated a part-time placement for September, even though it is his 'school year'. We battled for 9 months to get his statement complete, and the LEA finally agreed to send him to the special needs school where we live- but because so many children need places this year, they are now over subscribed.This means around 5 children, one of whom is my son, cannot start full time until the term after his 5th birthday, and officially they haven't even informed us!! I feel sooooo angry!! if he was a normal child attending a mainstream school, he would be allocated a full time place. And when he does start full time, where are the school meant to get that magical extra half day from each afternoon?? no children are leaving, so I just think its down to the LEA refusing to give extra funding. I love my son dearly, and have done everything possible to try and help him, and its not that I just want him to be away all day,I will miss him terribly- but I feel that he needs specialist teaching that I cannot provide. The targets for his learning as set out in his statement, cannot possibly be met through 2.5 hours each day- we live in wales, and I believe the criteria for school admissions is slightly different, but if anyone has any info. or advice on this it would be very appreciated :-) x

Hi there,
What a terrible thing to happen. I have received a placement for Sep for my DD and, if they were now to tell me it was just part time, I would be devastated.
The first thing that stood out for me is that, if they are offering 2.5 hours a day, he is not even receiving his weekly 15 hours of free nursery education that all children receive after their third Birthday. Is this the same in Wales? I think that might be an arguing point.
Also, does he have a statement? Have a chat with a representative that can help with statements (ours is Children Croydon Parents in Partnership) and ask for advise on full time education and whether it is set out in his statement.
Hope this helps
Xxxx

I'm sort of going through the same sort of thing. My youngest little boy has some learning problems so will need 1-2-1 but the nursery can't offer us a place until they can get the exra funding for him. Again i thought all 3 years olds get could 15 hours a week

We got funding for 10 hours 11 nursery support through "scamp" funding this came through a portage worker, I don't know if this is still available, but maybe worth asking about as it will help through this time. I also took my son into the school nursery and stayed 1 morning a week to try to help him get a place in my local primary school, when it was time to go to nursery we did get the funding for 11

He now has funding 11 and is nearering the end of his first year at school, for many family related reasons I "needed" him at the local primary school my daughter attends. I can only say that he has developed so well this past year & school have been fantastic, constantly looking for ways to enable his learning ( wheelcahair user, very low muscle tone, CP, poor speech development).

Sorry to hear this frustrating news:

Just to refer to the current law as it stands:
By law, all children of compulsory school age (5 to 16) must receive a suitable full-time education. As a parent, you have a legal responsibility to make sure this happens - either by registering your child at a school or by making other arrangements to give them a suitable, full-time education. Once your child is registered at a school, you are legally responsible for making sure they attend regularly.

Although the fact the school are not giving the place on the basis of the support needed (COST TO ME AND YOU) it makes me wonder if there is possibly a case under the disability discrimination act.

Within the DDA its could be classed at Direct discrimination
Direct discrimination

An education provider must not treat a disabled student less favourably simply because of their disability. For instance, they can’t refuse admission to disabled applicants because they are disabled.

In my view this is exactly what they are doing and if you feel strongly about this i urge you to take independent legal advice.
An organisation i strongly suggest is IPSEA
http://www.ipsea.org.uk/

Ipsea offer free independent advice and i strongly urge you contact them today and talk through the options in regards to the DDA.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW HOW YOU GET ON