EHCP and the race to state

[Ohthatsjustalotofeffort]

For parents with children in independent schools….

Those children with SEN needs who do not have an EHCP as the independent school can meet their needs….. are you now applying for an EHCP in preparation to move to state school?

We have just started the process as our children will now be moving to state so will need an EHCP. As a state school teacher myself I know my child needs it and will be successful.

We are using a third party to apply for the EHCP who told me they have had I’m unprecedented demand in anticipation of the move to state schools and making sure they have the document they need.

I am aware our child who would qualify for an EHCP wouldn’t need to pay the VAT but we have 2 others without SEN and we can’t afford the fees with the increase so are on the waiting lists now to move.

It’s common in our school that they join forces with the other independent schools in their cluster and use their shared resources and knowledge due to the small size of the schools themselves. They do this for all EHCP as the SENDCO is a shared resource so unfortunately this doesn’t fit your rhetoric.

Very few EHCP state that private schools are the only way to meet the child’s needs and must be paid for so that is a poor argument. At best having an EHCP would mean the parents didn’t have to pay the VAT. However, you can’t just go a get a EHCP you have to meet certain criteria and it’s very difficult and requires a lot of evidence and at least two full cycles of intervention. You seem cantankerous in your position but have no substance or understanding of what you’re saying.

Unsure what your call to arms comment is about- you seem abit unhinged about this topic. I have no problem with the VAT being added; doesn’t mean I can afford to pay it though but if labour believe it will help the education system as a whole I think it’s worth exploring.

Would you have preferred me to write a post to fit your agenda- we could either go for A- VAT being added on is atrocious and against our little Hermiones human rights OR B- parents of independent school parents are smug and pretentious and think everyone else is below them. Which would you like to choose as these seem the common threads on MN. Neither of these obscene prejudice views are what I believe or represent and I think it’s a perceived view of the independent sector.

I have not read the entirety of this thread but my own view is as follows.

The people who like me tended to have an EHCP that had any value ( has funding attached to the kid) had children so severe that the private school they were at made an excuse to get shot of them end year 2. No private school keeps kids like that as it might dent their results. The only private school available to them is a specialist school and these usually are in the middle of nowhere.

An EHCP is not a panacea.

An EHCP is meaningless unless there are the funds to provide any 1:1 etc - this is called ‘high needs / low incident’ for a reason. To get this type of funding your reports are will refer to percentiles eg 4 or below even as low as 0.5% etc. Your reports might also refer to complex needs.

To get this level of support it won’t just be an EHCP report - there will be SALT, OT , audiology, sensory services etc. The cost of tribunal is huge.

The tribunal is pro local authority, the Ombudsman is pro local authority, the NHS reports are constrained by available resources.

Any services written into an EHCP can be reviewed and written out the year following - it’s an ongoing battle.

School can even say we can’t fit another LSA into the classroom etc

Anyhow even being a legally trained professional I have never experienced such a thing as an educational tribunal - it’s the Wild West of law.

So good luck if you think that you can take on the local authority and the system because I found it exhausting and distressing. It will eat into all your free time and cause distress. What’s more it’s reviewed yearly and whatever provision is in it can be removed.

My son finally managed to get some A Levels and a university place but it was one long fight.

I don’t know why some people are so confrontational OP. You DC now seems to need a SEN provision and you need to go through the process to see if that can be evidenced in which case it should be granted.

It doesn’t matter if your DC was educated privately or not, if they need an EHCP, that is was the tax is there for.

It also doesn’t matter if they were private before or not, now they are state, state education is for everyone and everyone needs to have their needs met.

I wish you the best of luck!

@Lostmymarblesalongtimeago you're right. However if EHCP provision is needed they must issue a plan. It still doesn't mean anyone has to prove they've done certain things first. It's about whether the setting can (or will) provide what's needed without further support

and at least two full cycles of intervention.

Two APDR cycles are not required. This is a myth LAs and some schools like to perpetuate.

The school does not need to try lots of things before an EHCP is issued. That is another myth many LAs and some schools would like parents to believe.

DC who can cope in an independent MS can still be eligible for an EHCP. DC do not have to have been in state MS before getting an EHCP. The parents may have to appeal but there’s nothing in law saying a child who can cope in an independent isn’t eligible despite what some LAs think.

Schools who are not wholly independent can be named even if they object, and the SEP in F must be provided. If the school claim they can’t fit another TA in the classroom, the LA would have to actually provide proof of incompatibility if the parent appealed. The bar for incompatibility is higher than many LAs and schools admit. It is more than an “adverse effect”, “impact on” or “prejudicial to”.

An EHCP is not meaningless if well written. It can be enforced. It may take an appeal to get it detailed, specified and quantified in the first place, but the majority of appeals to SENDIST are upheld and reports do not need to refer to percentiles or complex needs in order to secure 1:1.

Yes, EHCPs are reviewed at least annually, but the majority are not amended every year. If LAs remove SEP recently ordered by SENDIST without new evidence that it isn’t required, JR is sometimes possible. And obviously following ARs there is the right of appeal.

@Noras what are you talking about? Taking a case to tribunal doesn't cost anything. Any reports needed should be carried out during the needs assessment for free (true they might not be great).

How can the tribunals be "pro LA" when the LAs lose nearly all the cases? Quite the reverse!

I have done two tribunals. It cost £0 (it was a lot of time on paperwork).

I did pay for a private OT report but that was my choice and the LA did one too.

Please don't be put off by this kind of alarmism.

I would concur that it takes up to two years to get an EHCP issued (other posts). That's realistic. So to e.g. have one for year 7 you probably need to start the ball rolling in year 4. Which is a bit ridiculous but it's a ridiculous system.

Sometimes independent assessments are necessary for Tribunal. It is why legal aid funds them when needed for those who are eligible.

Many don’t need further evidence for refusal to assess appeals because the bar is so low. Some don’t for refusal to issue depending on what evidence is already available. Most need them for content and placement appeals.

Some panels are definitely pro LA despite the success rates. This is more noticeable in content and placement appeals. And LAs get away with a lot other areas of law wouldn’t tolerate.

It’s ok, the 6500 extra teachers are all hiding in the magic money tree.

Having just been through the EHCP process I've experienced the following:-

The 20 weeks statutory timescale is non existent. Our application passed every stage unchallenged and was "fast tracked". It still took over 40 weeks.

Unless you're prepared to battle and battle the EHCP will contain only a relatively small amount of support.

In reality the school, despite verbal promises and numerous meetings to explain the needs, will repeatedly and consistently fail to follow what is on the EHCP.

It's been a long drawn out process that has, in reality, achieved very little. That's why so many SEN children are out of education and classed as long term absent. The support just isn't there even with an EHCP.

I tell you what's definitely not hiding down the back of the sofa (or maybe they are...) - replacement head teachers!

It would be interesting if there was a figure for how many mums who are teachers, nurses, doctos etc have been forced out of work due to EBSA following unmet SEN needs.

I don’t think people outside of the Sen world realise quite how bad things are. I,posted up thread that I knew loads that had had to give up work and another poster dismissed the comment saying she didn’t know anyone. To be fair before I had an autistic child I just assumed that children that needed extra support in schools got it which in reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Now we’re seeing even non verbal children still in nappies with learning difficulties being placed in mainstream without an ehcp in the governments drive to reduce ehcps, it’s quite frankly dangerous and why so many children end up out of school and parents not able to work

Yes I had to give up work - my daughter is non verbal, doubly incontinent and has challenging behaviours.

Lincolnshire LA insisted there was no evidence that she couldn't cope with mainstream.

It really is shocking.

I work from home 4 hours a day doing an admin job. It's all the hours I can fit in around all the EBSA/SEN needs.

Before that I worked as a childminder for 10 years from DD being age 3 - 13 years. Again, it was the only way I could see that I could be there for DD and work.

As she's got older her needs have increased rather than reduced. Mainstream school has nearly destroyed her and us as a family.

Before children I worked in finance in the City. Although I'll be classed as still working the contrast of my work pre SEN child and now is massive.

Thanks

That is the reality

eg 1:1 needed in every lesson requiring recording but no LSA given to my son for French and Geograpy in Year 6

Direct OT x number of hours a term but OT don’t show up and then OT written out with the next review

Same applies for SALT

and it’s an expensive process getting SALT and OT plus Ed Psych to tribunal.