DfEE Green Paper (22/10/1997) - Changes to the arrangements for independent school

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5 Planning SEN provision

Changes to the arrangements for independent schools

14. The number of applications for consent to place individual children with a statement at non-approved independent schools has risen sharply: the Secretary of State currently receives over 700 applications a year. It is questionable whether it is appropriate for decisions to be taken centrally on this scale about the suitability of a particular school for a particular child. The arrangement also blurs LEAs' accountability for their decisions about placement. Yet it is essential that the children at these schools, many of them very vulnerable, should be well-served and that these expensive placements should offer value for money. We want to safeguard and improve standards in education and care.

15. We therefore propose to retain approval for independent schools, but to end the current consent arrangements. Approval would be a clear mark of good standing. Schools would be encouraged to work towards it. LEAs would not need consent to place a child with a statement at an independent school outside the approved list, but would have an unambiguous responsibility to satisfy themselves that placement at such a school was appropriate and in the child's interest.

16. LEAs would be required to obtain available written reports on the school from OFSTED (or OHMCI for placements in Wales), social services departments for residential schools and any association of independent schools to which the school belonged. We should also expect them to visit the school in advance of placement to satisfy themselves that it could provide for the child's special needs including, where necessary, therapeutic or medical input; and to review the placement regularly. Placements would be monitored by HMI.

QUESTION: What changes are needed to the existing arrangements for the placement of children with SEN in independent schools?

31/08/2000