Complaints and Appeals

Disability Discrimination Act

Part IV of this Act was implemented in 2002 and it covers schools and other education providers. It means that a school must be seen to promote the rights of a disabled child equally to those of an able-bodied child. If it fails to do this, discrimination has occurred.

Government guidance states that children who cannot go to school must receive a minimum of 5 hours teaching a week at home as long as they can cope with it, and must not go for more than 15 days without any educational input.

If you feel that your child may be experiencing discrimination at school due to their disability you should contact the Disability Rights Commission who will look into the complaint. If their response is not satisfactory, parents should make a complaint to a Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST, see below) within six months of the alleged discrimination occurring.

Complaints and Appeals

If you are worried about your child's education try to resolve the issue first with the school and/or with the SENCO. If you are still not satisfied, ask about the formal complaints procedure.

Every Local Education Authority (LEA) has a 'disagreement resolution service' which may sometimes be called a Mediation Service. This is available to resolve conflicts between parents and schools. An independent facilitator will mediate with the two parties in what is designed to be a non-threatening environment and they will work with both sides to try and reach an agreement. Parents may have a supportive person accompany them if they wish.

SENDIST

If you have made a complaint to your LEA regarding your child's education and you feel that their response has not been adequate, you may approach SENDIST who are an independent body who hear parents' appeals against decisions made by their LEA. If you want to use SENDIST, you must contact them within two months of receiving the LEA's decision. These are the cicumstances under which you may appeal to SENDIST:

  • the LEA refuses to make a Statutory Assessment of your child
  • the LEA refuses to issue a Statement after assessing your child
  • the LEA has made a Statement but you do not agree with the description of your child's Special Needs nor the special educational help the LEA has suggested be put in place to meet those needs
  • you do not agree with the school chosen for you child
  • the LEA has failed to name a school in Part 4 of the Statement
You can also appeal if the LEA
  • refuses to change the school named in your child's Statement, if that Statement is at least one year old (although you can only ask for an LEA maintained school)
  • refuses to assess your child's SEN if the LEA has not made an assessment for at least 6 months
  • decides to cancel your child's Statement
  • decides not to change your child's Statement following a reassessment

SENDIST will decide wthin 10 days of receiving your complaint, whether to pursue it or not. If they do decide to investigate the complaint, they will write to you and the LEA and you both have 30 days to prepare your case, known as the Case Statement Period. The parents will be ble to see the LEA's response and the LEA will be able to see the parent's response before the hearing/tribunal.

The Tribunal will consist of a lawyer and two other members who are involved with special needs. You are entitled to take a representative if you wish. The Tribunal will advise the parents and the LEA of their decision within 10 days of the hearing.