EHCP

[scrabble1]

In October the school put ds(10)/on a My Plan. Something of a precursor to an EHCP but has no legal status. This happened after I wrote to headteacher about his lack of progress. It was completed with an ed psych, senco and myself. I now am lost and feel I should apply for an ehcp but unsure? school say he doesn't meet criteria as a 2 on the grid out of 5 (except a 3 for social) They say his needs are met by school but he contunues to fall behind (3 years) He goes to secondary this September. He doesn't need a special school but I feel he needs this setting up. What should I do? And why do parent forum ans IPSEA say the EHCP would be right?

[scrabble1]

When I visited the secondary the senco said it would be a good thing but we don't find out which school until March

[tartanterror]

Lots of people will advise that you apply for the EHCP but as you're about to change school I'm not sure it would be a good use of your time/resources. If he had been in y3/4 it might have been more appropriate as then there would have been time to do it and use it to choose a secondary. Presumably you have made your choices and have to wait for national offers day? So I agree with zzzzz that you probably now need to focus of his transition arrangements. Google "secondary transition" and quite a few guides come up which might give you ideas about what to ask your Primary SENCO to start thinking about. Once you know which school he's going to you can speak to them and arrange for handover meetings/extra visits etc to suit. What's your DS' SEN?

[scrabble1]

Confident he will get in the school as a LAC. He has adhd and his diagnosis letter states with complex traits (asd) he has mild learning difficulties. He is impulsive and struggles with social interaction and temper. Only yesterday he was shouting names at another boy and was verbal to me when I intervened.

[scrabble1]

Means looked after or adopted

[Melawati]

In your position, since you can be sure of the secondary (and have presumably chosen one that you think best suits your DS), I would ask to meet with their SENCO as soon as possible.
Take along the primary school's plan, because it outlines his needs, and ask how the secondary is going to meet them - what they already have in place to support pupils with similar needs to your DS, and whether he would need an EHCP to access the support.
Then you could apply for the EHCP yourself and should have it ready by the time he starts.
Some secondaries seem to support DC with SN very well without EHCPs, but with the cuts that are coming to schools' budgets, that might change, and an EHCP would protect your DS access to support.

[Melawati]

On timing, zzzzz is correct. We applied last February and DD had the plan by September. If we'd been a few weeks earlier submitting, we would have been finished before the summer holiday.

[Megatherium]

I wouldn't agree with tartan. If you wait till he moves to secondary school, you probably will have to wait until at least the spring term in order to gather evidence from that school about how he is getting on, and even then the LA will probably use the school move as an excuse to delay.

The grid your SENCO is talking about is presumably a local thing, and has no weight in law. To get an assessment, all you have to prove is that he has or is likely to have SEN and that his needs may need to be provided for via an EHCP. Failure to make progress is a big sign in favour of doing an assessment and indeed an EHCP itself.

You can apply for an EHCP yourself, there's information on the IPSEA website about how to do it.

[scrabble1]

Thanks everyone. I am gearing up to tell our senco on Monday morning that I am putting in a parent request. Hope school supports me in the process?!

[knittingwithnettles]

You can also say, that although school is supporting him now at primary, at secondary the demands on him will be far greater and he will need considerably more support.

Ask SENCO what support they offer for LAC, are they aware of some of the issues that might come up? Like family trees ( a common topic in Year 7) Do they have a zero tolerance of bad behaviour - how will they respond to him misbehaving, will it escalate if they shame or punish him? Is there any pupil premium for him and how is going to be used?

The school will need extra money to put in specialist teaching for literacy, for nurture, for social communication skills, for 1:1 support sometimes, extra pastoral care. Not all of this will be found in the existing budget. The school will be stretched without extra from the LA. With a Plan he will already get a certain amount, without school having to prove anything, but they will need more, most certainly if your sons needs are going to be properly met. At least this is what SENCO in a school confessed to me..they are making cuts all the time in the SEN budget,whatever the PLAN says and it is not legally enforceable as you say. However, an EHCP without extra money attached to it is pretty useless too, (which is the way the LA wriggle out of their responsiblities)

I was told my child would not get an EHCP on the same grounds as yours, not far enough behind. It did not stand up to the EHCP process and despite being refused initially, he was eventually assessed and given one. And my son was only about I year behind, and achieved a 4 in his Year 6 Sats. He has ASD and dyslexia/dyspraxia. His behaviour was good. Still has an EHCP for social communication and dyslexia/dyspraxia.

[knittingwithnettles]

I would also add as an aside that I home educated my son very happily from end of Year 7 to mid Year 9. It has been a great revelation. He is now back at school, but always have at the back of your mind that formal school is not the only way to learn and thrive. I think there is a wonderful adoption blog called Family of Five where she went through a lot dealing with school then decided to home educate from secondary after years of children struggling.

[Ineedmorepatience]

I agree with those recommending requesting and Ehc needs assessment.

Dd3 went to secondary without a statement/EHCP because we were stuck in appeals and she didnt cope. We removed her after 7 months and she is now home ed.

She does now have a statement which is being converted to an EHCP so we are looking at possible provision for her for year 10 +.

Good luck

[scrabble1]

Thankyou everyone