and to talk through their concerns.  Where the LEA hold more than one meeting with the parents to consider representations on the proposed statement, the eight week time limit within which the final statement must be issued will not apply.  The LEA should, however, make every effort to arrange meetings quickly and issue the final statement promptly.

4:50. The LEA should consider very carefully a preference stated by parents for a denominational mainstream maintained school and representations made by parents for a denominational non-maintained special school or independent school.  Denominational considerations cannot override the three criteria which the LEA must apply in deciding the school which should be named in the statement - appropriateness to the child's needs, compatibility with the efficient education of other children and compatibility with the efficient use of resources.  But denominational considerations may influence the appropriateness of a school for meeting the child's needs and the child's ability to thrive in and benefit from a particular school.  The LEA should take such considerations into account when two or more schools, one of which has a denominational affiliation favoured by the parents, could meet the three governing criteria.

4:51. It is important that the spiritual development of all children, including those with special educational needs, is addressed as part of their education.  To help meet this requirement, every pupil attending either a mainstream or special school must receive religious education and attend religious worship, unless this would be against the wishes of the parents.

4:52. If it is agreed that a residential school should be named in the statement, the LEA and parent should also agree the arrangements for the child's contact with his or her family and for any special help, such as transport, which may be needed to maintain home/school contact.  The question of residential placements is covered more fully in the Circular: 'The Education of Pupils with Emotional and Behavioural Difficulties'.

4:53. The LEA and the child's parents may conclude that the child should be placed in an independent school which is not approved by the Secretary of State under section 189.  In such cases, the LEA must seek the Secretary of State's consent to such a placement and should do so before naming the school in the final copy of the statement.  The Secretary of State aims to make a decision within two weeks of the date on which such a request for his consent was sent.  Should the Secretary of State take more than two weeks, the LEA are not bound by the eight week time limit governing the issue of the final statement.  Nor will the time limit apply if the Secretary of State declines to give his consent to a proposed placement and a request is made for the Secretary of State's consent to a placement at another independent school which is not approved under section 189.

4:54. Where the LEA decide that the final statement will not name the parents' first choice of school, the LEA should explain that decision in writing to the parents.  Visits by parents to the school proposed by the LEA with an opportunity to discuss their child's special needs with the head teacher, SEN coordinator or any specialist teaching staff may be helpful.  Parents' concerns and disappointments should be taken seriously, and every effort should be made to provide any additional information and advice or to arrange any further visits which will help them reach an informed decision about their child's future.