OMG - quick - is this as great a sI think it might be - SEN update

[ThomCat]

They just rang me to say the panel have decided to give lottie 10 hours of one on one support within her pre-school setting. If I agree to this then it'll be effective immediatley.

Lottie is 3 years old.
She goes to nursery:
Mon - 9.30 - 3.30
Tues - 9.30 - 12.30
Wed - 9.30 - 3.30

The woman I spoke to said the maximum I would get for her would be 12 hours at preschool stage anyway and that we don't want to saturate her, she needs time away from her one to one dedicated support person anyway.

I'm over the moon, I think!

This is on top of Portage and SALT and OT and physio all going in to the school and working with her teachers.

Is this really happening, is this really as good as I think it is?

I don't know what I was expecting, but 10 hours a week seems great to me. Is it?????

[pixiefish]

No idea of the hours she should get but this seems good doesn't it TC.

She does need time away from her one to one so that she can be independednt in her school setting and doesn't get overly reliant on the 1-2-1.

[KarenThirl]

Brilliant news TC. Hope Lottie benefits from it.

[coppertop]

If 12 is the maximum then I would say that 10 is really good! This gives her support where she needs it but also allows her to keep some of her independence. If she's anything like my ds1 then she wouldn't want someone with her for every single minute. Ds1's poor LSA has to spend a lot of her time standing away at a distance because he insists on doing a lot of things by himself. Can't imagine where he gets his stubborness from.

Great news, TC!

[ThomCat]

I just need to know at what level I should celebrate.
Is it a magnum of champagne or a botle of wine at about the £8 mark????!!!!!!!
Do I spend the rest of the day with a grin from ear to ear and a feeling like I'm going to pop, or do i just smile a bit and think about trying to get her more help???????

I think I'm going to go with the ear to ear grin and the magnum. Am I right to?

[ThomCat]

But is 12 the maximum at preschool leverl? You can't trust what everyohe at the LEA tells you can you.
I need to be able to speak to IPSEA and Portage and see what they say.

[coppertop]

I wonder if the 12 hours figure is based on children attending for 2.5hrs a day for 5 days a week? It might be worth checking out whether Lottie would be entitled to more if she is doing longer hours.

[ThomCat]

Yeah, I think it is CT, I think you're right there. Will check on that, well done.

To be honest though, that's still say 4 hours on Mondays and Wednesdays and 2 hours on her half day.

She's only there for 15 hours a week anyway. Do I WANT more than 10 for her? She needs time without the one on one as well.

Do you know what, even if she is entitled to more, 10 hours seems pretty bloody spot on to me.

I think I'm okay to say that we've had a massive result and i think it might be okay for me to go with the feeling that this is wonderful and I should be grateful and very happy that we've got 10 hours for her.

And to think they told me not to appeal, she didn't need to be statemented and was too young!

[sparklymieow]

Didn't they say no to begin with? Did you fight it? Well done!!

[ThomCat]

Yes they refused to even assess her. Said she was too young and was 'developing age appropriate skills'!!!!!

[sparklymieow]

I must go and see the SENco about getting DD1 assesed. I am still waiting for the new IEPs to be done. DS and DD1 were supposed to be reviewed at the end of Jan!!!

[dinosaur]

Thomcat

[sinclair]

Pop that champagne TC you deserve it!! Sounds like you are getting level 2 - 2 hours a day out of a maximum of 2.5 (state pre-school provision is 2.5 hours a day as I think someone has posted). I do know of one child with DS getting fullitme support but only after a huge legal battle and it is rare. DD gets what Lots has, translates to 20 hours at reception, means there 1-1 support for literacy and numeracy hour, and a lot of the class work, then she is one her own at play time and for story time at the end of the day and it has worked out well. So well done you, take the afternoon off why dontcha!

[ThomCat]

Charlotte's IEP wasn't done when I get her assessed though Sparkymieow.

[sparklymieow]

I know you can ask to to assessed at any time, but its taking the school so long to do the IEPs, imagine what it would be like to get her assesed!!

[ThomCat]

sinclair - that's what I was waiting for - your post, okay, so now I'll pop the corks. I just needed someone to confirm that this is as good as I think it is and you sem to have done that.

Thank you girls.

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ThomCat]

SM - is this getting them assessed for their statements though? Once the panel say that your child should be assessed people submitting the assesment reports have to submit their reports by a certain date. sorry, not sure if I'm on the right track with you or not. It seems so different for everyone.

[chatee]

10 hours is excellent for pre-school...well done TC for fighting but don't want to put a dampner on your celebrations but from my experience of dd moving from pre-school to school they tried to reduce her hours...mad isn't it!
at pre-schol dd received 9 hours out of the 14 hours she was there.
for school (LEA offered)7 hours out of the 32.5 hours so i commenced battle with the help of the school head teacher and we finally settled on 15 hours provided by the LEA and the school pay for another 5 hours.....ridiculous isn't it
we commence battle again in April when it's statement review time
Well done to you and enjoy your drink...

[MandM]

Thomcat - definitely champagne time (chocolate dipped strawberries aswell perhaps?!) Dd gets 'full-time' one to one preschool support which equates to 12.5 hours. This covers the state-provision of 5 x 2.5 hour nursery school sessions for 3 and 4 year olds. She actually spends 4 hours a day at the nursery (we pay privately for the other 1.5 hours) and her one-to-one doesn't apply during this time.
I would have to say that in Marley's case anyway 2.5 out of the 4 is enough time to be having intensive one-to-one, at least for the rest of the time she can play and be free to do what 3 years old do (well I'm assuming that's where the daily paint and felt tip pen stains come from anyway!) Hope Lottie enjoys herself as much as Marley has been doing - I just wish she could have another year there instead of going to school in September!
I'll crack open a bottle tonight in celebration too (I'd been looking for a good excuse!!!)

[ThomCat]

Thank MandM

Chatee, oh don't worry mate, i know we'll be going through another fight when she goes to school, but the school she's going to is a leader in the area for a their SN within a mainstream school.

So, wwwwwoooohhhhhhhhhoooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

[Caroline5]

Brilliant news TC! Well done for fighting!! My dd2 has no official 1:1 at all (no statement yet either), although I know one of the LSAs is allocated to her and a couple of other little boys and she splits herself between them. So I think you've done brilliantly!

[lou33]

OH TC!!! Fantastic news

10 hours is great btw, Lottie wont want or need someone with her the whole time, there are times when she will be involved and interacting and not needing help, so it sounds like a good amount she is getting. Well done !

[NomDePlume]

This sounds fab TC . I confess to knowing nothing about SN provision, but it certainly sounds like Lottie is getting all the support available to her. Congratulations, hon x

[Cosmo74]

Just wanted to check - can you get assessed before going throught all IEP stages? my DS is just getting ready to start stage 3 - his head doesn't want to rush things??? she told me that they will only call in the Ed Psych. once the 3rd stage is finished which will take 2 months which will then be end of the school year? - he has been on stage 2 since october and is only being moved cause I enquired what was happening with him. I would love to get some sort of assessment done before he starts Primary 2 in September.

[Jimjams]

ds1 used to get 15 hours over 4 mornings (bit of a battle and they have rewritten the "rules" now). However the LEA are telling little porkies as there is no maximum. Children doing home ABA programmes for example may be funded for 35 hours (which is why LEA's are not keen on them even though they work). If it's enough for her and you then celebrate - sounds like it is- no point taking on a battle if none is needed.