EHCP/ Statement help

[NameChanged15729]

Sorry to put this here, the SEN boards don’t seem to get as much traffic.

My dd statement/ehcp has just gone to panel and she has been awarded 12.5 hours of teacher assistant support a week. As she is in nursery she only does 12.5 hours a week so I’m taking it to mean she needs full time support there.

How will this work? Will the school have to hire another teaching assistant or will they try and make do with somebody already employed by the school?
Basically dd eats non food items and some of them give her severe nappy rash (sand, mud etc). I understand before the statement the school were doing there best to supervise her but there just wasn’t enough staff to go around. I’m praying that this will put an end to the eating non food items if somebody is constantly with her but from my reading online it seems this may not actually be the case.

Does anybody know what happens next? My son also has a statement but stupidly I’ve never looked too far into what it entails because he doesn’t have pica and I knew the important bits (e.g. SALT) were being met,

You need to get the first part of your statement or EHCP watertight and then the second part should reflect need. Eg if she has pica and ingests non edible objects and is at risk she should have 1:1 and constant supervision. Additionally, I would be looking at the function of the PICA and replacement behaviours that can be taught and then having those strategies detailed in the statement also (but that’s my line of work so I would say that). Depending on your Lea you may need an independent Ed psych or expert witness to recommend certain things unless it’s there in lack and white in your Lea reports/assessments. You can request for SLT/ OT / early intervention etc but quite often children get the minimum unless you can ‘prove’ that is what is adequate (usually in the form of some evidence from what is working for your child and what the research indicates). Good luck :) x

If DD is in the process of getting an EHCP you must be in England so DS shouldn’t have a statement he should have transitioned to an EHCP by now.

Will the school have to hire another teaching assistant or will they try and make do with somebody already employed by the school?

It could be either. It depends on the staff the nursery have and also what is detailed in the EHCP regarding training, experience, qualifications of who will provide the 1:1.

As long as section F is detailed, specified and quantified if DD doesn’t receive the 1:1 you will be able to enforce the provision.

The most important part is making sure section F is detailed, specified and quantified otherwise it isn’t enforceable. If it is vague and woolly with wording such as “access to”, “would benefit from”, or “or equivalent” DD may not receive the 1:1 and you wouldn’t be able to make the nursery provide it. A vague and woolly EHCP isn’t worth the paper it is written on.

Thank you both! I was only notified yesterday so haven’t yet received the proposed statement. I will be making sure the wording is as specified as possible.
This may sound bad but I’m not so concerned about support with the learning side of things. I just want to make sure she has less opportunity to eat non food items. Ironically they can’t get her to eat actual food there for love nor money .

If it is something you would be interested in, SOSSEN have a draft checking service at a reasonable cost.