Statement of SEN. Getting confused with it all.

[JollyPirate]

To cut a long story short my DS who will be 7 in December has Sensory Processing Delay and is currently waiting to see the local Community Medical officer.
The school DS is in have been utterly brilliant and have provided lots of one to one support. DS has a one to one supporter every morning and is also having some input to help him interpret social situations (which he finds difficult) and also some work to help him cope with the stimuli which distress him.

Throughout this I have had regular meetings with the SENCO teacher and for most of last year she was saying that DS would need a Statement. However, because of the evidence needed the school did not put in for this straight away as they wanted to put forward a strong case. I was happy about this as there was already lots of support in place for DS.

In April this year the meeting with the SENCO brought the news that DS had improved massively and that the school felt he would no longer need a Statement and they could manage his needs from their budget. I was over the moon about this and started to feel that maybe he would progress with maturity. Unfortunately in June they told me he had slipped back again. DS's class teacher sad that she felt this was due to the rest of his peer group moving on socially while he had not . I asked again about the Statement and the SENCO teacher said that she didn't feel DS would get a Statement based upon his current progress.

However, at the end of Year 1 he was still not at National Curriculum level and is being assessed on P-Scales which I understand are a way of assessing children not at NC level.

Over the holiday I have done some reading and writing with DS and tbh he cannot read properly. He gets simple letter sounds and no more. He can blend the simple letter sounds but doesn't get for example, that the letters a+y together make the ayyy sound. Often with these words he will sound them out and then give me a word starting with the final letter so "away" is sounded out as "yawa" or "waya".

Writing is illegible still as he is left handed and has some signs of developmental dyspraxia (even though he doesn't fit the criteria having crawled at 5.5 months old).

So I have decided to apply for a Statement myself for him and have been onto the ICSIE website to download sample letters asking for a Statutory Assessment.

DS goes up to the junior school next September and they have a separate headteacher. I am being told that on School Action Plus DS will not get any one to one time from Year 3 and I am panicking about my DS who is already struggling getting turned off from education completely.

On P Scales he is between 6 to 8 for literacy and numbers and I am told this is good and that he will be at NC level this year. For this reason I have been told he is unlikely to succeed in getting a Statement. However, should he be at Level 2 in Year 2? Any teachers able to advise?

His new class teacher has said he is lovely but has asked me "why on eart he is not yet Statemented". She is an experienced teacher of over 30 years, very good at her job and a mother of 4 children. She feels he needs a Statement and I cannot think she would be saying this if he didn't.

What does anyone else think? Advice?

Have written the letter and am planning to send it off today.

[sugarcandymountain]

Hi,

I'd definitely send the letter. Send it registered and make a note of the six-week deadline by which the LA need to reply.

Do you have any reports or letters you can send with it? The whole process is based on evidence, so you need as much written information as possible. You need to show that the school have made some interventions and sought external help (this should have happened with SA+) but that these haven't been effective. Things like IEPs and school reports, test results would be useful as evidence. If you don't have them to hand, you have the right to ask your school for his school record. You might also find it useful to get hold of the medical records as well.

You should be able to send them later if you don't have them to hand right now. It's best to send off the letter now to get the ball rolling as there is a timetable the LA needs to stick to, once they receive the letter.

The LA cannot refuse to assess him just because he has reached a certain NC level - they're also required to take social and communication needs into account, and it sounds like your son has particular difficulties there.

If the class teacher is being supportive, perhaps you could ask her to write a letter of support?

[aprilflowers]

2b is the national average for pupils at the end of year two.
Between p scale 6 and 8 is a significant delay for a pupil in year 3.
Apply for the statement - get every piece of evidence you can.
Photocopy some of his school work and date it.

Send everything sugar candy states.
Make an appointment with the head - try and get him on board and ask for letters of support.
The leas are trying to cut back on statements but s/he may be happy to support you applying for one.
Detail the interventions your dd needs to achieve her potential.
Good luck