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The development of parental rights and the arrival of the SEND Tribunal’s capable of over riding LEA’s and schools have changed the educational landscape.
At the same time, LEA’s are increasingly reluctant to pay for specialist teaching/therapies and specialist placements.
Inclusion is an integration policy which works against specialist schools. LEA budgets are necessarily limited but all children have a legal right to have their Special Educational Needs adequately provided for. We are also aware of an undercurrent amounting to a political objection to independent schools which is often unspoken.
Parents do fund specialist placements, although this is rare, bar Dyslexia. Parents can in appropriate cases, make LEA’s fund appropriate provision for their children.
Parents do however have to consider the amount of public funding being sought over the duration of the specialist placement. They are seeking. In personal injury litigation no one would really expect to succeed in a claim for between £100,000 - £5 million over placements lifetime without good expert evidence and a specialist legal team. Parents need to be aware that documents from SENDIST suggest that it is easy for parents to prepare Appeals, parent friendly and not overly legalistic.
The published material is overly optimistic and the task is substantially underestimated.
Cases are complex and complicated cases depend on expert evidence and a substantial body of technical case law, statutory regulation and legislation. They are not suitable for the simple approach.
There are also short time frames, which make it very difficult to retrieve mistakes (such as lack of adequate pre-planning i.e. the preparation of Expert Reports)
SEN Legal Ltd Tel: 01284 723 952
Bury St Edmunds Email: Admin@senlegal.co.uk
IP33 1XU
SEN Legal are leading experts in education law. Specialising in Appeals to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) throughout
Today we handle a far wider range of Education Law cases including DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) claims, appeals to the High Court and Court of Appeal against SENDIST decisions, School Exclusion Hearings, and School Admission Appeals.
We also deal with:
- Breach of contract
- DDA claims involving Independent Schools, and higher education (i.e. problems at F E Colleges & Universities).
- Social Services Provision associated with learning disabilities such as Core Assessments and Care Plans.
Our clients are mainly parents, but we are also instructed by University students.
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