Education
Placing Requests
If you wish your child to attend a local authority school outwith your catchment area, you may make a written request to the education authority. This is called a Placing Request. The Education Authority has a duty to grant the placing request unless one of twelve statutory grounds for refusal applies. Grounds for refusal vary but generally come under one of three areas:
- Expenditure (for example if by granting your Placing Request, this would result in the school having to recruit another teacher or spend significant sums of money extending or altering the school);
- Educational Reasons (for example if granting your Placing Request would be seriously detrimental to the continuity of the child’s education); or
- Pupil Numbers.
If your request is denied it is possible to appeal firstly to an Appeal Committee of the Education Authority and thereafter to the local Sheriff at the Sheriff Court. We can help you with this to ensure the best chance of success.
Non-Attendance
Education authorities are required to take measures to encourage regular attendance at schools. Parents are therefore required to send their children to school, or alternatively ensure that they are educated by other appropriate means (eg home schooling). Where your child is believed to be absent from school for any reason other than say illness then an Attendance Order may be served requiring you to send the child to school. If this order is not met then prosecution and conviction are possible. Whilst the child cannot be prosecuted in these cases, they may be referred to the Children’s Hearing System for truancy.
We can help if you are having problems with non-attendance at school.
Exclusion from School
There are two grounds under which a child may be excluded from school. The first is where an education authority believes a parent is refusing or failing to comply or refusing to allow their child to comply with school rules. The second is where the child’s behaviour would be seriously detrimental to order and discipline or to the educational wellbeing of other pupils. If your child has been excluded then you have a right to appeal this decision to the education authority appeal committee and, if unsuccessful, to a local Sheriff.
If your child has been excluded from school and you need advice about making an appeal then we can help.
Additional Support Needs
If your child has additional support needs, the education authority owes additional duties to your child. These duties may begin before the child reaches school age and may continue beyond school age. The education authority is required to create what is called a Co-ordinated Support Plan for your child.
If you are concerned regarding additional support needs of your child or if you are having difficulties obtaining support then we can deal with the education authority on your behalf to secure the additional support required.
