My son was recently excluded from school and has been referred to a pupil referral unit to continue his education. I’ve heard nothing but negative things about pupil referral units and I don’t want him to go there. He has a special educational needs statement and I’m not sure that these needs are being considered. I really don’t want him to go. Do I have a say?
Answers
Yes, you do have a say in whether your son goes to a pupil referral unit. Your son has a Statement of Special Educational Needs and the LEA therefore has a legal duty to ensure that they provide him with the special educational provision suitable for his needs. Also, pupil referral units should not be seen as a long-term alternative to schooling. If the provision specified in the Statement is not available in the pupil referral unit then the LEA should not be sending your son there and you could ultimately take legal advice upon the possibility of court proceedings being taken in your son’s name. Your son may be entitled to a public funding certificate for such proceedings.
It is important to emphasise that the LEA can amend your son’s Statement to name a particular maintained school even if the school is saying that your son’s needs are too severe and the school does not have the resources. The LEA must consult with the maintained school but can ultimately decide to name the school in your son’s Statement even if this goes against the wishes of the school. Once a maintained school is named in your son’s Statement, the governing body of the school must admit your child. If the school are saying they do not have the necessary resources then the LEA should work with the school and think carefully about what extra resources can put into the school to support your son there. The LEA should take all reasonable steps to support a child in attending a mainstream school where this is what the parent wants.
If the LEA ultimately amends your son’s Statement to name the pupil referral unit in part IV of the Statement then this is something you can challenge in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
My son is statemented for special needs (multiple diagnosis of ADD, Aspergers, dyspraxia, Dyslexia and APD) and the school we sent him to had a unit for dealing with statemented children. However, this school proved to be the wrong environment for him completely. They just blamed my son for everything going wrong despite of his disabilities. We had a huge fight with education who were not on our side about this at all and just said it was our opinion. We took on the education system and even though it was very painful eventually we managed to get him changed to another school where there is more discipline and a clear discipline structure which so far has proved to have made a huge difference to our child. I would just point out as to whether the school he is at is the right one to handle him and have they put everything in place that they could to help him.
Also going to a pupil referral unit I thought does not mean that he cannot go back to their old school. As long as they haven't got a permanent exclusion when their behaviour has improved they can go back. Other parents I have spoken to they have found that this has worked well for their child.
If I can help at all then let me have some more details but taking on the education system is not an easy task and takes up an awful lot of time and energy but it is achievable.
Good luck from a parent who knows how bewildering the education system is.