am i being unreasonable to be angry with school

[Sillyallie]

hi my son is 10 years old he has been diagnosed with Adhd,learning difficulties and dyspraxia he needed an ehcp and we decided to apply back in 2017 it was refused.fast forward to september of last year I asked school to reapply and school agreed and promised that they would apply as he was in year 4 and would definitely need an ehcp for middle school,throughout the year i was calling school and asking how far they had got with it.school senco told me in july all reports are ready and that she had applied and I would hear something over the holidays.As soon as school opened last wednesday i called the school office and told them I had not yet heard anything in regard to ehcp receptionist told me they would pass on the message,and someone would call,noone did so i saw senco on friday last week and i told her ive still not heard anything,she said she would look into it as she had applied.Tueday of this week i had a meeting with new school senco and she called LA to find out and they said they had not received an application.feeling frustrated i spoke to the headteacher at primary school who said senco would definetly call me,wednesday passes no call... yesterday i call reception again to ask for a meeting with both headteacher and senco as im not sure whats going on receptionist tell me she would call me back.no call back again so this morning i went in to school as i hadnt had a call back and reception says theyve both been in meetings and senco would call me...but still nothing.as I leave school,senco says she sent it through but must have got lost,shes reapplied though now.Im annoyed it took her a week to get back to me and that at the school gates not even a meeting.It feels like im being fobbed off.
Has anyone had any similar experiences? what should i do?

As school seem less than helpful take matters into your own hands rather than relying on the.

You can make your own EHC needs assessment application (the step to see if your child needs an EHCP). I would do this even if tge school say they have now done it just in case tget haven't.

There is lots of information online to help you do this. IPSEA and SOSSEN and two great charities in this area. EHCP experiences England is a great facebook group. Or else any questions you can post on the SEND board here.

Once the Local Authority has the application, they will write to the school asking for information anyway.

LAs often turn down applications as a standard reaction. If this happens appeal. All the information to fo this should ve in the LA'S refusal letter and again there is lots of information online. It is worth noting only parents can appeal - schools cannot appeal.

thankyou for advice,can i apply even though school now say they have?I think ive been a little naive in thinking they had my sons best interests in mindx

If the school have applied then the LA should write to you to tell you and inform you of the next steps. I assume they haven't, so it might be worth giving the LA a call to check. Worst case scenario is the LA receives both the schools and your application and will only deal with one.

Just a little something to add - try to keep the school onside for now. Once the assessment process begins, the information they provide will be invaluable. Also, I wouldn't put it past the LA to be playing games with the school and rejecting their application request for spurious reasons and the school then having to resubmit after they have jumped through the LA hoops - so try to keep an open mind, even if the school seem to be less than helpful (although obviously school should keep you informed of what is goingn on).

I'll give LA a call and take it from there.Also my daughter is at this primary school,I had a letter in her bookbag Wednesday saying shes being put on the sen register,ive not been told why they decided this or if she was struggling.
is this how schools usually tell parents.Why are they being like this?

Being on the SEN register is different to applying for an EHC needs assessment. Being on the SEN register is recognition from the school that your child needs extra support above those children without SEN but many children on a school's SEN register should be able to be supported by the school without the need for an EHCP.

Yes I understand that, it was just I assumed that they would arrange a meeting with me or atleast call me to have a chat about it,rather than an out of the blue letter.

Sadly many of us have found out the hard way to never trust schools or SENCO’s when it comes to EHCP’s

In your position I would request an electronic copy of the EHCP application by next Friday and state that if this is not forthcoming coming you will apply yourself and request a meeting with the governor that covers special needs

Regarding your second child being added to the register I would follow up with a request to meet the class teacher so they can outline what needs they have identified so that if necessary a referral for assessment by Paediatrician can be sent

Good luck

I did speak to her teacher,but shes only had her for just over a week so she wasnt sure why dd was on there and said she would get senco to call me about it,but senco seems to be avoiding me and hasnt called.Ive left multiple messages at reception too.

At this stage, I would deal only with the head teacher and the teacher of your child. The SENCO has been about as useful as a chocolate fire guard!

If you're phoning, keep a note of when you're phoning the school, what times of the day etc (in case the person you want to speak with is genuinely in a class at the time or unavailable), who you asked to speak with and then you'll have a list that you can present to the head teacher and board of management if/when you want to complain. "I phoned the school on 24 separate occasions between X and Y date having been told each time by the school secretary Ms. XYZ that I could expect a return call at the end of the day/week about this matter and I never did, which is why I made the 24 individual calls."

As the others have suggested, you can progress with this yourself if you feel you're up to it.

Sorry there are people out there who don't give a shit about children who clearly need a bit of extra help getting through school. Is there any way that you could arrange a meeting with the head teacher, just to give them a final opportunity to sort this out for you?

Thankyou everyone for your replies and pointing me in the right direction,I really appreciate it.I will persevere with asking to speak to the head,keeping a record of all correspondance and also look into applying for ehcp assessment on my own.Much love Alliex

Welcome to the world of SENs and schools

This is just the start of the battle