Some advice on my child's ehcp case worker if poss?x

[LivelyWasp]

Hi, I'll keep it as short as possible, sorry.

Son is in year 8, has Cystic Fibrosis, ASD & ADHD.

Had continuous problems with his school. A new problem has arisen. It's becoming far to stressful sending him to school. Won't go into details about what's been going on as I've already said the relevant things.

Considering home schooling, as he's on ehcp I thought I'd email the case worker for some info on the home schooling. Didn't go into great detail about why, as there's no reason too. I just wanted to know if his ehcp funding could be used for home tutor. (No problem if it couldn't be used for that)

Anyway, we're sending emails back & forth & without telling me, she's forwarded my email about looking into home schooling to my sons senco teacher. But also kept me in the email. So now it's a three way group email.

I get this long email from sons senco teacher about how she's shocked I'm considering it. (God knows how she's shocked the amount of meetings I've had with the school over problems)

Senco teacher doesn't know about the new problem that's happened that's made me consider home schooling, as I went straight to the head teacher this time. So when she got forwarded my email she must've thought it was out the blue.

So sorry, I know it's confusing. I email senco teacher back explaining about the new issue & that I can't take much more. It also gets sent to my sons ehcp case worker as she's unknowingly us in group email.

Case worker then takes it upon herself to send me a really rude email about how that's not a good enough reason to consider home schooling. Just speaking down to me. I emailed back & said, I emailed you in confidence about advice. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't talk down to me. You've heard one reason why I've considered HS. Not the hundreds of other reasons.

I know to a lot of parents this is no biggie. But is ehcp case worker allowed to forward my emails for advice, like that?

Sorry, that was long. It's just made me feel angry. Constantly fighting for help for my son & tired of being spoken down too.

So unfortunately the process with EHCP isn't very kind, maybe chat it through so they can explain to you but places are often very limited so you are allocated a place that says they can meet your child's needs. Often this is a fairly long taxi ride away. You can appeal but it's a really tough process. She's probably burnt out as it's a hard sector to work in, but she should have been more compassionate to your request. I guess she's probably worried about your expectations and if she can meet them. Do you have helpful friends and family who can support you through? Sendias may be worth a chat too. Or local charities. Best wishes with the EHCP.

Oh God stop with all the emails. It's so difficult to judge another person's tone, especially when they are probably paranoid that it will get pulled out in future as evidence on something or other so are being weirdly formal. Meet them both in person to talk it through.

It would be normal to include people involved in your child's education in a discussion about your child's education. It would be weird to 'seek advice in confidence' from one professional excluding others, and if that's something you wanted to do you should have asked whether they would be willing to give a response.

@Ablondiebutagoody You do need a paper trail though, exactly so it can be pulled out as further evidence. We have always been advised to get everything in writing. The SEND case workers may not like it, but they wil be very used to it.

OP I'm not sure if SEND case workers have any duty of confidentiality re contacting the school. But I agree with @Hibernatingtilspring that its an unusual decision to contact them and not involve the school in the discussion - we've always found it a very distant relationship with the Local Authority tbh and have always spoken to the school SENCO first with any issues (even before the Headteacher most of the time).

I would put - confidential please do not forward on
In the subject of anything like that.

There are lots of rules and regulations about home schooling children with ehcps as they're considered so vulnerable and you may have your home schooling inspected. Just a warning to prep you.

Have you been to look at other schools? If it's not working out here, considering a private specialist school or another type of support eg an advocate within existing school?

@Hibernatingtilspring no I disagree, it's ok for op to privately consider other options before letting school know she's considering withdrawing.
If I wanted to look around other nurseries for my son I wouldn't tell the current nursery, as if you decide to stay on after all then you don't want to damage the reputation

Op please contact your local authorities send parents advice service, they all have one

Firstly home schooling is absolutely up to you. You can choose that for your child without giving a reason.

Secondly there are other alternatives. There will be alternative provisions that can be funded by the council. Look up their AP options and look at their page on EOTAS (education other than at school).

In my experience I have several children on my caseload who have had time out of school, home tutors, APs, the lot.

Absolutely wrong.

Do continue with emails as paper trail is important. It’s different in different areas but I would think the case worker works primarily with the school not your self? So yes it’s likely they would include school. Home schooling is as a rule looked down on by professionals/schools so I wouldn’t expect any unbiased advice from them. You would be better speaking to the advocacy team in your local council (ours is called sendias) and to home schooling groups on Facebook or similar.

Have you exhausted all other options ? Different school? Reduced time table? Alternative provision? It’s hard to say what needs to happen without knowing the issues.

@Unexpectedlysinglemum I'm not suggesting it's wrong to ask for advice. I'm saying it's wrong to contact one professional who is part of the team supporting your child and assume that it's in confidence. That's something you do with a friend.
It would have been better for the EHCP worker to ask the OP if she had discussed her thoughts with school. However if the OP didn't want school to know she should have made that clear, though it would still have put the case worker in a difficult position given that they work closely with the school and both are LA staff.

Incorrect if they have an ehcp

All the children I am referring to have EHCPs. Perhaps it depends on what the EHCP is for but it doesn't mean a child can't be HE or moved to an AP.

Be careful with SENDIASS. Some are good but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies.

Don’t stop the emails. It is vital for ensuring a paper trail as evidence.

You can decide to electively home educate if you want to. Parents whose DC are in mainstream schools with EHCPs can EHE just the same as if they didn’t have an EHCP. The different arises for some DC in special/specialist schools. Currently, if a compulsory school age pupil is in SS funded by the LA, you need permission to deregister. That isn’t quite the same as permission to EHE. Permission should not be withheld unnecessarily and should it be withheld the decision can be challenged.

If you EHE, the LA does not have a duty to provision any provision in the EHCP. Consequently, most of the time the LA won’t provide anything. On very rare occasions, LAs will provide a personal budget despite the child being electively home educated. However, it is usually a small amount of funding and very rare. Although the EHCP will continue to be maintained - the LA must not cease to maintain just because you EHE.

Rather than EHE, if attending school is inappropriate, you could pursue EOTAS/EOTIS. This way, the responsibility remains with the LA. In the meantime, if DS is unable to attend school full-time, you can request alternative provision. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

Have you requested an early review of the EHCP.

Rather than EHE, if attending school is inappropriate, you could pursue EOTAS/EOTIS. This way, the responsibility remains with the LA. In the meantime, if DS is unable to attend school full-time, you can request alternative provision

This. This is just what I said up thread. Push for an emergency review and request alternative provision. But first sem yourself with knowledge and look on the local offer to see what is out there.

Although I wouldn’t just rely on the local offer. LAs are selective about what they include, and despite what some LAs say, just because a provision isn’t included in the local offer doesn’t mean it cannot be funded as part of s19 provision &/or as part of an EOTAS/EOTIS package via the EHCP.

Yes. The local offer is a starting point though.