Hot topics: Education work at 11KBW in April and May 2013

June 4th, 2013 by Rachel Kamm

Continuing Paul’s series of ‘hot topics’ posts, this is a bumper edition covering a busy April and May.

11KBW has continued to advise parents, schools, local authorities and central government on a wide range of issues, covering everything from nurseries to universities:

  • The statutory scheme governing nurseries;
  • Vires, governance and process issues concerned with a primary school building project;
  • Transport to/from after school clubs;
  • Exemptions from the school teachers’ pay and conditions;
  • Freedom of information requests about the site of a new school;
  • Acting as legal advisor to the governing body at an exclusion review hearing;
  • A fees dispute and a claim against a private school for negligent teaching;
  • Freedom of information requests about the balanced presentation of political views to pupils;
  • Prospects of an appeal against a FTT(SEND) decision on a statement;
  • School and sixth form transport policies;
  • Post-19 education and social care options for an 18 year old pupil with a SEN statement (which is a hot topic that has come up twice in this period);
  • University admissions decisions and a complaint of disability discrimination; and
  • The vires of the funding and mechanics of a university project for new and refurbished student accommodation.

In addition to providing advice, 11KBW has been involved throughout the litigation process, including pre-action correspondence, contested hearings and mediation:

  • Pre-action correspondence about a maintained school’s proposed conversion to an academy;
  • A hearing of an application for an injunction to restrain publication of an Ofsted report;
  • A contract claim by a former university student, in an appeal and cross-appeal relating to the striking out of the claim as abuse of process on Clark grounds;
  • On-going judicial review proceedings about whether a university applied its marking scheme correctly;
  • Upper Tribunal and judicial review proceedings where the FTT named a school in Part 4 and the school is refusing to admit the pupil;
  • Representing a student at a mediation where the university had allegedly failed to provide adequate PhD supervision; and
  • Various FTT (SEND) hearings, including disability discrimination claims.

June is already shaping up to be another busy month, but (more importantly) there’s also sunshine!

Rachel Kamm

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