[sld-forum] ABA Schools

Thank you for the offlist emails, but until we are willing to band together 
publicly, the children will continue to suffer, we need to help the parents 
and schools to understand the damage they are doing, difficult when the NAS 
have such a huge ABA proponent at the helm (VB) - they are defensive as are 
the government due to funding so many ABA places, and ALL Special Ed 
Solicitors are PRO ABA, including IPSEA  who claim impartiality but have Pro 
ABA lawyers advising and to my knowledge they refused to help one parent get 
her child OUT of an ABA school -  I could say more of what is a scandal but 
may get sued (!)

A Conservative Govt will change nothing either, David Cameron has already 
stated he will encourage and support such  parent-led schools and 
home-education such as this. What can we do?

here is a response from Parmjit Dhanda :

Dear Elizabeth Robillard

Thank you for your email of 20 March, addressed to Parmjit Dhanda, about ABA 
schools.  I should first explain that owing to the volume of correspondence 
Parmjit receives, it is impossible for him to reply personally in each case. 
  The Minister in the normal course of business, delegates to his staff and 
Government Departments the responsibility of dealing with many of them.  I 
have, therefore, been asked to reply on his behalf.

I appreciate your concerns, however, in choosing an independent school for 
their child, parents need to accept that any disputes must be pursued 
directly with the school in the light of any legal advice they receive.
The Department has no powers to investigate complaints on behalf of 
individuals.  However, all independent schools must have a written 
complaints procedure.  Schools must ensure that all parents and prospective 
parents are aware of the existence of the complaints procedure and must 
supply a copy on request.

Additionally, all independent schools are subject to a regular 6 year cycle 
of inspections either by Ofsted or by the Independent Schools Inspectorate 
(ISI) in the case of schools belonging to an association in membership of 
the Independent Schools Council (ISC).  Regulations introduced on 1 
September 2003 set out the standards which all independent schools must meet 
and which they are inspected against.  Since September 2003 parents will 
have access to published inspection reports.

We do not wish to interfere with the freedom of independent schools to 
develop a distinctive curriculum and manage the day to day operation of 
their schools.  However, the standards which all independent schools must 
meet ensure that pupils are able to learn in a safe and secure environment 
and have suitable learning opportunities, which match their age, aptitude 
and needs. These are basic safeguards which protect and safeguard pupils’ 
interests.

The standards for independent schools are set out in The Education 
(Independent Schools Standards (England) Regulations 2003, under the 
conditions of registration.  Just over half of all independent schools, 
which account for some 80 per cent of the total independent school pupil 
population, are in membership of the ISC and are inspected by the ISC’s 
inspection arm, the ISI. The inspections are to the same framework used by 
Ofsted, to inspect against the independent school standards and are 
monitored by Ofsted.  ISI reports have always been published.  Ofsted 
continue to inspect the remaining schools.

I am sorry I am unable to be of further assistance but thank you again for 
writing and informing us of your concerns.

Yours sincerely

Adrian Thompson
Public Communications Unit

Your correspondence has been allocated the reference number 2007/0020126. To 
correspond by email with the Department for Education and Skills please 
contact info at dfes.gsi.gov.uk.

If you have any further queries why not browse our Popular Questions 
website. This site has been built to allow you to quickly find the answer to 
your question http://www.dfes.gov.uk/popularquestions

Regards,

Elizabeth Robillard

_________________________________________________________________
MSN Hotmail is evolving - check out the new Windows Live Hotmail 
http://get.live.com/betas/mail_betas