to think EHCNA's can't be refused on grounds that child is not 1-2 years behind peer group

[ehcpnightmares]

Has anyone had an EHCNA refused on grounds that child 'seems be be making progress with support of school'?

Ours was. Appeal is in progress but just had a chance to talk to EHCNA co-ordinator about the original refusal. They confirmed it was academic progress being referred to and when I said that I didn't understand because attainment is getting progressively worse, they asked about whether the school have said DS is a year or two behind year group.

As far as I understood progress should be relative to child's ability, not measured according to general year group expectations.

DS is now in year 8. No SEND identified before secondary school. Plenty of diagnoses now, and expecting more to follow, plenty of SEMH issues now too. He started year 7 in top sets but has since dropped down several sets and is almost in bottom sets now, except for subject in which he has extra support of tutor 1:1 at home. That does not put him behind year group as a whole, but it surely shows that he cannot thrive and progress academically with current level of support.

That should be enough to justify EHCNA right, or AIBU?

The criteria for assessment is merely that DC may have additional needs that may benefit from support.

You are right, it's not a criteria, but local authorities often set their own (illegal) criteria. It's all about rationing resources for them.

Speak to sendiass, and request a mediation meeting.

We have some experience of this. Can I PM you?

Utter utter utter bollocks.

There is absolutely no requirement of any sort.

My DC has an EHCP and is working at A*s at A Levels.

Appeal. As someone upthread said the only requirement is that the DC has additional needs that may benefit from support, they could be emotional needs or sensory needs etc which don't impact intelligence.

Nope. Try to get this in writing from them or at least make notes of the conversation.

Evidence of them acting illegally is exactly what you need for the appeal. Every time they give you a reason that is not legit, it's handing you ammunition.

My son is Exceeding in a lot of areas academically but we had an EHCP granted last year. There are 4 different areas of need in Section F, only one of which is Cognition and Learning, and even there we have quite a lot of support needed despite his doing fine/well and remaining in some top sets.

Has he had CAT scores done? They might be useful for evidence of what he might be capable of with his needs met.

@itsawildwildworld pls feel free to dm

thanks for confirming everyone :)

The only lawful threshold for an EHCNA is a) has or may have SEN, and b) may need SEN provision to be made via an EHCP. Focus on that. Anything else such as 2+ years behind, school not spent £6k, 2 assess/plan/do/review cycles… is unlawful.

There is far more to an EHCNA than academic progress, or even progress at all. However, even if it was true dropping several sets in less than 2 years does signify it is likely DS isn’t making the expected rate of progress.

@Piony can i just check what you mean by CATS?
i'm just about to spend 1k on a private EP report and want to be sure I'm getting all the right tests done.

Sounds like you're well ahead of this then.

Many schools give incoming Y7s some computer based tests called CAT-4. I have always assumed they are very similar to IQ tests but I don't know how true that is. There are 4 different measures, something like verbal, non-verbal, spatial ... ? The pattern of their scores can give an indication of their strengths and where they might struggle, and the overall average can be taken as a very rough measure of overall intelligence.

You know when people say SATS don't matter, secondary schools ignore them and run their own tests? Often this means CAT-4s (other tests are available). Like IQ tests, in theory you can't revise for them and they are more reliable when the child has not been prepped. For the kids it's just a couple of exercises done in their first ICT lesson or similar.

It might be worth asking his school if they have CAT scores for him, or any other standardised tests they have done. It would be a useful input for the Ed Psych to see, and might avoid you having to pay for her or him to administer tests he's already had. Also ask if they have screened him for dyslexia perhaps - again some schools do this for all incoming students, and parents only get to hear if it comes back positive. But even if it's negative there could be useful data for the Ed Psych in there.

Dd has never been behind academically, always top of the class, top stream etc. LA's refuse to see how determined you are to pursue them and to buy them a little time. In our LA simply submitting the appeal generally gets them to agree to assess.