Eve French
Solicitor Graduate, Education and Children's Rights
English
Most children in the UK will be in school and receiving education. When a parent is faced with a child who is out of school, and they are not making progress in ensuring that they receive suitable education, the situation is both worrying and draining.
Children are out of school for many reasons. They can have been excluded, have recently arrived in the area, or have been “off-rolled”. Other reasons include bullying in school and mental health issues. Sometimes they will have Special Educational Needs (SEN) and there are difficulties in finding a school placement, or alternatively they will have a placement but nothing works in terms of getting them to it.
Working out the right course of action in these circumstances is not straightforward, as there will often be many routes which could be followed. Routes include taking legal action against the Local Authority, taking legal action against the school for not admitting a child or previous schools for unlawfully excluding them from school.
For initial advice get in touch with our Education Law Solicitors.
It’s unfortunately relatively common place for schools to “unlawfully exclude” pupils. The way in which they do this varies. Sometimes it’s as simple as telling a child that they are not able to return to the school. Our Education Law Solicitors and Lawyers have significant experience of dealing with these situations, including being able to use Judicial Review or the threat of Judicial Review to resolve the matter quickly. We are also able to provide clear legal advice on the appropriate way to deal with the circumstances, as in these cases there is often a risk of a (lawful) permanent exclusion if matters are pushed.
Our Education Law Solicitors can look at the situation, advise you on the options with your input, and help take the matter forwards if required.
Often the way to move matters forward is to threaten Judicial Review against either the school or Local Authority in an attempt to force them to provide a solution, and then, if a response is not favourable, take a legal challenge forward on behalf of the child using Legal Aid. Simpson Millar are well placed to do this being one of only two law firms with a Legal Aid contract in Education Law.
One of the things that we often find with children who are out of school is that their parents want to get them into other schools, but are having difficulty in so doing.
Often, this is because the children may have some problems in the first place (which is why they are out of school), and other schools therefore wish, if at all possible, to avoid taking them.
Our Lawyers can use their experience, including with Judicial Review, to engage with schools and move matters forward, including by forcing them to either take the child or alternatively give an appeal right.
We also have experience of working with Local Authorities to ensure that pressure is put on schools to take pupils, or alternatively advising you on the use of Local Authorities fair access protocols to obtain a school place.
Sometimes, there is no suitable education for a child, or, particularly for children with Special Educational Needs, it’s not reasonably practicable for them to attend the school named in their Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
We can give legal advice on all options at this stage, including seeking changes to the EHCP, and also seeking provision from the Local Authority under section 19 of the Education Act 1996. We have a Legal Aid contract in Education Law, and can use this to bring Judicial Review proceedings in the child’s name if initial efforts by us to resolve the matter do not work, providing the merits of the case warrant it.
Having a child out of school is extremely difficult, stressful and time consuming for parents. We can assist with finding a way through, and can set out all your options depending on the circumstances of the case and what you want to achieve.
For advice and help join our Education Matters Facebook community group here
Simpson Millar5 stars
10/10
Simpson Millar has helped and won 2 tribunals for my sons and I couldn’t be more grateful! They was there to explain everything from beginning til the end, they took all the pressure off of Myself an...
Lianne Squires
Simpson MillarA huge thank you
A huge thank you to Alice Gough, Jessica Wake and Ffion Davies. Alice originally helped get the tribunal route moving to help get a placement at a special education setting for my son. She was fantast...
OliviaT
Simpson MillarSEN education
Clara J has been instrumental in gaining my daughter an education that fits her needs. Our Local Authority did not provide alternative provision or ensure my daughters EHCP was enforced and Clara has...
Sarah Wright
Simpson MillarI'm so grateful to Simpson Millar for…
I'm so grateful to Simpson Millar for their incredible hard work. I would have been lost without the help of Heather and Clara - both went above and beyond to secure correct provision for my son, and...
Lisa Richardson
Simpson MillarExcellent service
Iv used Simpson Miller a few times now for education law. Their knowledge is impeccable, they keep you updated every step of the way, give you advice when you really need it the most. I had Shea a tr...
MRS STACEY WAGSTAFF
Simpson MillarTHE EDUCATION RESCUERS!!! I was fighting for the education of my…
I was fighting for the education of my son who has multiple additional needs. My son desperately needed an Education Health Care Plan. I was faced with an unbelievably complex battle with a local auth...
Kerry Brennan
Simpson MillarLydia Neill
Lydia Neill- Thank you for going above & beyond the call of duty in helping us get our son with additional needs into a school close to our home. You have showed incredible patience, tenacity, commi...
Marium Rahman
We helped a mother gain a placement for her child in her preferred school during a Judicial Alternative Dispute Resolution (JADR) Hearing, in a disagreement over travel costs.
The use of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) can divide opinions but Simpson Millar’s specialist solicitors within our Education Law team have been instructed in many cases where there has been evidence of its success. Just one example of this is when we acted for the parents of a six year old girl who we will refer to as J throughout this article for the purposes of maintaining client confidentiality and privacy.
Our Education Law Solicitors recently helped a family secure a residential place in an independent school for their year 7 child with severe developmental verbal dyspraxia.
An EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) identifies your child’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) and should entitle them to the right provision they need to support them.
The reality of the end of Year 12 for all students normally includes a set of internal exams. This helps the school or college to have a better understand of how well pupils have coped with the transition from GCSE to A Level work, and helps inform the process of providing predicted grades to universities.
If your child has Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), they may need an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). But we understand that EHCPs can be confusing.
Fill in the form below to get in touch with one of our dedicated team members, or call our team today on: 0808 239 9764
