urgent tribunal help needed - LA want to see my son for his views tomorrow

[bjkmummy]

the LA have to respond to the tribunal by wednesday over whether they are intending fighting our appeal or not. son only in school part time due to anxiety etc etc - he is 9 years old.

just had an email asking if i will give permission for the SEN officer to see Joe tomorrow at school to take his views about school. Im surprised they are doing this so soon - thought they would do it a bit further down in the prgress. think they intend to fight it as in an email last week they were talking about working documents etc.

the LA have been playing very dirty -s ent in the outreach person to help him but basically used it to get evidence for their case which we have thankfully rebutted so they are playing hard ball.

i obviously want to be there especially as Joe has been seen by a private SALT who has stated that Joe has huge issues with expressive language so asking him questions he may struggle to get out exactly what he means etc.

im just wondering what kind of questions they are likely to ask him, do i prepare him and also is it normal to get his views this early on - the tribunal date is not until february

[wasuup3000]

They ask stuff like what he likes about school, what he doesn't like, what could they do to make it better, what is his fav subject hobby ect.

[madprest]

Hi mummy,
My dd had this done and it was very simple and nothing to worry about really. I told my dd just to be honest and I attended. They asked her to rate things out of 10 for eg..what was the best part of the school day for her she replied by saying hometime. They did a scale and went through subjects and she rated it out of 10 eg..literacy a 0 and so on. It clearly showed she isn't happy at school. I would go with him because he wiil feel more at ease and they shouldn't object you baing there.

[bjkmummy]

my other concern is that it is the SEN officer herself doing it - the very person who has fought us tooth and nail to this point so she is hardly neutral or has our sons best interests at heart - feels like it is more evidence gathering for them rather than findng out what is best for J - did everyone else have the SEN officer do it or someone else. a friend has said it was someone independent to the LA who came so i just want to check whether the sen officer is the norm in these circumstances.

[whatthewhatthebleep]

what is the HT like?...maybe you could explain that DS would be in a better position to express himself if these questions and discussion was carried out by someone he knows well. Many children are prone to answering things with what they think someone wants to hear, or words and suggestions made can influence what the child says, etc...I think you are right to be nervous and skeptical about this. I would demand to be there to support your DS or at the very least that DS has someone there with him that can support him with this.
Most people, never mind children are likely to want to find the positive and not want to change what they are familiar with iykwim...DS may be nervous of changes and it can also influence what he says about needing help and things and may want to project a 'I'm fine' picture, my DS has done this lots and masks things really well too

[whatthewhatthebleep]

disgusting behaviour Pipinjo ....sadly it happens way too much scribe/witness is a very good idea...
I hope you can do something about this so it doesn't get sneeked past you Bjk

[StarlightMcKenzie]

Bjk,

Refuse. I'll post shortly about how and why.

[bjkmummy]

I spoke to ipsea earlier they agreed the sen officer is too close to be doing this. I emailed the lea and said that I did not think the sen officer was an appropriate person to be doing this and I would prefer someone independent to the LA to do it. Also asked that the questions needed to be backed up with visuals and I would like a list of the questions that were to be put to joe. They have now passed my email on to the sen officers boss. Ipsea also advised to forward my email to the send tribunal so it looks like I am not saying no per se just want to make sure that this is done correctly and is done in my sons best interests not to give the lea extra ammunition against us

[StarlightMcKenzie]

Right.

Write to the LEA and tell them that DS is anxious at school and you feel that being questioned by someone that doesn't know him will not be in his best interest. Thank them for taking an interest in his views.

Tell them you will be happy to supply his views, and do they have any specific questions they woukd like you to ask him. After all the are HIS views and therefore not dependent on the person who is asking him for them. It should for the best outcome be done at a time and in an environment where his most relaxed using a medium of his choice.

[StarlightMcKenzie]

If you HAVE to go ahead with THEM questioning it, tell them that given his communication difficulties some of his answers might need to be interpreted and so you'd like the raw material recorded. Agreement is dependent on this and your chaperoning.

[Iceflower]

I wonder if little bjk is feeling a bit poorly this evening? If he's unable to attend school tomorrow, he could always give his views in writing.

My dd refused to see the LAEP in the run up to tribunal and she was asked to handwrite her views. As she NEVER handwrites anything due to poor fine motor skills, it had to be typed

[badgerparade]

Blimey, this is interesting as I might be heading to tribunal. If my son was asked for his views he would tell them exactly what he thought and they'd wish they never asked

[StarlightMcKenzie]

To be fair, every annual review that I have attended Ds' views have been sought by sending a list of questions home.

[Bigpants1]

Hi. I'm in Scotland & we went through something similar with our ds when he was 11yrs old. Here, if a dc is 12yrs or older, then they are asked their views. Likewise if they go on a school trip they also sign the Consent Form along with their parents.
Our ds was 11, & in a transition meeting with lots of LA Staff, they wanted to ask his views on going to the mainstream Secondary which we were fighting against. Our ds had already said there was no way he was going for various reasons & that was good enough for us. As his parents, we said we were representing his views, end of. The LA didn't like it, but didn't force the issue. Just made out we were misrepresenting him as usual-no change there then!
Find out from a specialist in Education Law if your ds can be represented by you.
Our ds also had a lot of anxiety & would not have coped in a room full of people. It seems very wrong, if your ds is suffering with anxiety, to put him through this, & I would definitely refuse unless it was someone impartial. Are there any Advocacy services near you? If you have to do this, do as Starlight says, be there yourself, & get someone to Scribe. Also, ask to see a copy before it is sent to Tribunal. Good Luck.

[bjkmummy]

ice flower - i like your thinking :-) he only had an emergency review in may and he drew pictures of his views and the pictures were pretty shocking plus his class teacher took his views and wrote it down plus the ed psych also came to see him and again sought his views so theres plenty of evidence. im just fed up that they have chosen the very person who has put us through the most heartache to be seen as a suitable person to come into school to take his views. on a personal level i cannot bear to be in the same room as her as she has lied repeatedly throughout this process. the current head is now on maternity leave, his class teacher now barely knows him as he is only in school part time and he has only taught him since sept. there was an idependent charity supporting j through a CAF like process but they now refuse to get involved due ot the tribunal so i now question how independent they ever were. parent partnership have also refused to be involved due to teh tribunal - autsim outreach has already stabbed us in the back so i have no idea who they could send in to see him. he has made his views perfectly clear already hence why he was vomiting repeatedly every day at school!!!

[bjkmummy]

i have also given the school strict instructions that noone is to see Joe without my express permission! this is one of the benefits of the school being an academy - they are very happy to stand up to the LA

[StarlightMcKenzie]

It's probably deliberate, to stress you out.

Bitch.

[bjkmummy]

sadly starlight you are probably absolutely correct. it has now been left that they have sent my email to the SEN officers boss - so will await and see what comes tomorrow. the data protection 40 days is up tomorrow - already know that aint coming tomorrow plus the response to tribunal 5pm on 31st oct - halloween -seems mildly approproate somehow.