School transition for SN child

[Frustratedandfedup]

Struggling to find any answers online so have come here for advice. I know I should've posted this on the SN boards, but there's more traffic here and I need a solution now because I feel utterly hopeless at the moment.

My child has moderate ASD and is due to start at a mainstream school in September (not disabled enough for a special school apparently) and they have told me that they want me to only bring him in one hour a day for the whole first term, because it'll take them that long to get support for him! He's currently does full days in the nursery next door to the school, he will have no problems settling but because of his lack of danger awareness they need someone to supervise him and they don't have the staff.

I'm a single parent, I work shifts, have no family nearby and the school is out of catchment so don't have any friends who can help out. I can't just take six weeks of work! There are no other suitable schools nearby (plus his sibling is at this one) the LEA won't send him to a special school and I don't really want to have to shove him in a new unfamiliar nursery and keep paying £120 a week in nursery fees when I don't have to (also there will be no space for him at his current nursery in September)

Please help me! Is there anyone I can contact about this, what are my rights? I was fully expecting a week or so of phasing in to school, but six weeks! Can I hire some sort of support worker whilst they are sorting their funding out? Feeling utterly miserable about the whole situation.

I just find it all so confusing... I've got professionals telling me they don't do statements anymore. I've got other professionals telling me they've started it. Everyone is telling me different things. The consultant told me that I don't 'have' to have him potty trained, that many NT children go to school in nappies these days, and he has a disability and they must accept that.

I'm going to contact social services on Monday and see what they can do to help. He already gets one day a month respite, I wonder if they could stop that and pay for the support instead.

There is no need for you to pay and social care won'/aren't able to as outside their remit, the school can access the necessary funding and if you inform them your child will be attending full time in line with his peers then they will access the funding.It means more hoops to jump for the school that's all. Let them know now so that they can get it in place for September.

They don't do statements any more. Some children still have one that has not yet been converted to an EHCP. Some of the people you deal with won't know this. Read the code of practice for SEND. No new statements have been issued since Sept 2014. If it is agreed that your child needs sufficient extra help, he will get an EHCP instead now.

They have to take him in September.
They have to take him FT.

They are trying it on. And DO NOT pay for 1:1. It's not your responsibility.

I'd email and ask a) how they are getting timescales of exactly a term to finalise support, b) why they aren't using the Sen budget to fund it until the EHCP is finalised, c) why if they know it takes a term for top up funding they haven't done it this trperm for September and d) that your DS will be starting in September and you'd like the plan for his support emailed to you by X date.

It's shit. They rely on parents not knowing the policies or law. That's how they get around it. You'll understand it better than a lawyer very soon - trust me

1. Email school to confirm what they've told you, and ask if they have any other ideas.

2. In that email, you can point out the difficulties of finding & paying for childcare while your child misses out on school, and offer to "fund the 1-1 myself if there no alternative"

3. The point of the above two suggestions is to make this nonsense you're being told visible. Either they will backtrack- or be stupid enough to be seen breaking all the rules and bullying a parent.

4. Do not actually pay for the 1-1. Or if you somehow do, get someone very independent, who will write up a full report as fuel for getting your child the right provision for 2017/18.

5. The new name for statements is EHCP, and their cut and paste format layout has altered dramatically. This is the only real change to the system. You can still apply for EHCP yourself, and you can still appeal if it's useless.

Once you've done the 'dippy parent in denial' email above and got their idiocy on record, wait a few days for response, then send youare version

Social services will most likely be very unimpressed at a picking up school's bill. (Ask for this as well as respite, not instead of- and hopefully they'll send a snarky email to education)

If this is Wales, then they do still do Statements; it's a different SEN Code of Practice; and it's a 26 week period for assessment.

Sorry, I should have said it's a 26 week statementing process in Wales.

OP, will your child be 5 in September? If not, he won't have reached school leaving age. However, if it is the norm in your area for all 4 year olds to start school full time in the Autumn term, then preventing your child from doing so would be discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.

Toilet training isn't a valid reason for refusing to have a child in school. They have to make reasonable adjustments, which would include providing someone to change nappies. The same applies to putting things in his mouth and hand flapping - it's perfectly easy to sort out with proper supervision.

If they won't budge on this, contact the council. Also contact the Welsh Equality and Human Rights Commission - www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/commission-wales.

Did you apply for the statement, or did the nursery? I'm assuming from what you say that it was probably the nursery. You need to contact the nursery tomorrow and ask for a copy of the letter or other document when they applied. You should have heard from the council within 6 weeks of the date of that letter telling you whether they were going to assess your son. If they agreed to assess, they had 10 weeks to do the assessment, after which they should have told you whether they were going to do a statement. They then had 2 weeks to produce a draft statement for consultation with you, and had to finalise it within 8 weeks after that.

If they've missed any of those deadlines you should tell them that you need to hear from them within the next few days otherwise you will apply for judicial review. If that still doesn't work, contact SOS SEN who I understand will do an official pre-action letter for you. Then if you actually did have to go to court, you could do it in your son's name and would get legal aid.

frustratedandfed

i am in wales too. 2 of my children are statemented. Apply yourself, it is your legal right, do not wait for the school to do this. Look online with the LEA how to do this - it is easy to do.

do not offer to pay for the 1-1, it is the LEA's responsibility to do this.

follow up your email to SNAP on monday with a phonecall, they are your best advocates and WILL HELP YOU. they are the best service in wales for this situation.

my son went to school in nappies. they cannot refuse your son.

Please do not panic, they cannot refuse your son in september, they can ask what they want, but you can simply say it is your son's legal right to be educated and as such he will go full time after a few days the same as all the other children (most schools do up to a week of half-days to settle the children)

tell school monday you are asking SNAP to advocate for you, and your expectation is that ds will go fulltime from september - that way they know your plan and they can advertise the post if necessary.

hth

The school is legally required to take your child from September- either full or part time, depending on your wishes and his birthday. They are also legally required to put in the support needed to ensure he is safe and receiving an appropriate education. If additional adult time is needed the school can claim for this funding- although it may be backdated.

A statement/ ehcp won't guarantee money for the school, just tell them what they must (legally) provide.

Have you met the senco face to face to discuss the reasonable adjustments they are making and the support your DS will need? Ask for a list and a timeline to be drawn up.

I'm a senco- currently arranging for a changing bed and shower to be installed so that an incontinent child with ASD can join us in September. This is the legal right of the child and the wishes of his mother.

Hi OP, Sorry you are having to deal with this, you have been given somw brilliant advice, pls do come over to the SEN children board for more if the same and general support.

Statements are continuing in Wales at the moment but they are still not supposed to go over 26 weeks!

Good luck

Some great advice here!

He wont be 5, no. They start early in this area. It's the SENCO who's been telling me all of this. They say that they can't organise help until he's officially started at the school

I'm going to book him into a nursery close to me for September three days a week, to be on the safe side for work, and chuck my friend a few quid to take him there in a taxi if it comes to it. I will usually have to be leaving at 6am to get to work. I had organised childcare/someone to do the school run in the town the school is in, so this has totally messed up everything I had in place... I'm going to take onboard the advice here though to make sure I don't have to use the private nursery. I'm only on £8 an hour, I'd really rather not have to pay £100 a week for childcare if it's not needed.

Sorry I'm marking and coming back! Similar situation

Also - when my other child started at the school (before compulsory age) and I requested for him to have one day a week off due to my hours on a certain day where grandparents usually babysat, they said no, he is expected to attend full time even before five.

SNAPCymru were great at helping me progress my DS1's additional needs. Eventually we ended up with a statement (now in England with an EHCP) They are great on email too. It can help to get it all down in writing and then nothing gets missedwhen you chat in person.

In Wales you still have school action, school action plus (sadely funding has all changed in England and these have changed).

There is no reason that I can understand your DC can't start school with an IEP (individual education plan) in place and be on school action plus with appropriate supervisory support. I think this extra support is still funded by county as an extra payment to the school.

We formed a relationship with the inclusion officer at county to try and have everyone on board.

We also applied for a statement ourselves with GP, CAMH's and Paediatrician support.

We linked to the community paed via GP and health visitor referal. I think we were under health visitor until 5.

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.cafamily.org.uk/media/380068/senwales.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwiwj5mVmsbNAhVB1BoKHWZQBbwQFggeMAA&usg=AFQjCNG770qywz09f7AXYs0OHaMIe54QDA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">This link may be relevant

There is legislation which states that parents must not be financially disadvantaged by lack of support for their disabled child. Shamefully I can't remember what it is but hopefully someone will know.
I know hollow laughter will be ringing round the readers of this thread, but we successfully fought for a care package on the grounds that failure to provide it would cause one of us to stop work, and have to sell our house, move away from our established area etc. I don't think it's very useful on a wide basis but if you're lucky enough to have been able to work so far, it puts you in a stronger position to argue against incurring financial hardship.

I think the Care Act 2014 helpfully puts much more emphasis on the fact that carers are entitled to have a life and therefore there shouldn't be an assumption that the burden falls solely on them. That might be what Threesounds has in mind. However, I don't think it applies to Wales, though they might have equivalent legislation.

That doesn't sound right to me at all. My dd started school last year and although she didn't have an ASD diagnosis, (she does now) we were almost certain that she was on the spectrum. I was a nervous wreck about her starting school, she has speech and language delay, not toilet trained, no awareness of danger etc. But she's ended up having a fantastic first year. The pre school/school did lots of introduction sessions beforehand and included all the children form the pre school. The school applied for higher needs funding and it was successful, have had support from a special needs school who have visited and suggested ways of supporting her and now she is receiving full time 1:1 support. Your ds deserves the same support.

The care act 2014 doesn't apply to Carers of children under the age of 18. Legislation for under 18's is covered in the children and families act but not sure if this applies in Wales.

I think you need to take advice from IPSEA and consider if they can help you get a placement in a SN school if you feel that would be a more appropriate setting. I am concerned that even full time and with support that this school will not adequately meet your child's needs. Fighting to for full time in this school might not be the right fight if that makes sense?

OP I really feel your pain. Everyone tells you how you can fight which is great but so very unfair that you have to. Are you sure you have picked the best school? My LO has started local outstanding school and we have realised it is simply 'disablist', everything is good on paper but the attitude is all about moving him on to special asap. This led me to visit other schools and the difference is astonishing. Find a welcoming school if you can. Flowers, cake, good memories, anything to destress xxxxxx

Thanks for all of your kind words.

I don't think it's the right place, no. But I'm pretty stuck now on finding him anywhere this late in the school year, especially as he's not compulsory school age yet. I've emailed the council, IPSEA, NAS, health visitor, a disability charity and I'm just about to phone social services. I'll also ask the people who run the autism course for parents that I go to.

I've just phoned social services, who seemed to think it was odd and are going to liase the the LEA and get back to me. Fingers crossed.

My boy is in year 1 now and sounds very similar. We started the statementing process a year before he started in reception and worked quite closely with both the SENCO and specialist teachers. On starting reception he had a full time LSA (well 2 part time) and his support is written up at 25 hours a week with the school providing another 5 hours out of their budget. He started school in pull ups and only moved in to pants last term (2nd term yr1), although he's still not 100% reliable. He flaps, spins, mouths, eats non-food items and has absolutely no sense of danger, but is still fully supported in mainstream. In fact I reckon the school are pretty much the "poster boys" for how integration should work, but it is a small, church school in a village.