To be awake and feeling tearful over SEND EHCP disaster

[InBitsandInTears]

This week I got a message to say LA proposes to name a mainstream secondary school for DS and attached is an EHCP that was finalised in November that I've never seen.

I don't know why I didn't get the notice. I was told there were delays because of a backlog. It's impossible to get through on the phone.

With hindsight I am blaming myself for not doing more or doing differently.

The EHCP is a complete mess. Mainstream is impossible.

DS would far rather be at home, I feel like just giving up.

It was me who posted that rather than IdentityCris.

Right now, focus on getting the finalised phase transfer EHCP rather than the picking apart what happened last year. The finalised phase transfer EHCP is more pressing right now. You can revisit what happened last year once you have the finalised EHCP.

For an EP, you could try Nick Palmer, Vivienne Clifford, Patsy Kershaw, Siobhan Aubin, Ruth Birnbaum, Stephanie Warman, Craig Tribe, Catherine Pierce, John Pugh, Peter Parkhouse, Katie Hinds. I have tried to include people in a range of places, although many travel for EP assessments.

Amazing, thank you so much @ExistingonCoffee and everyone. I've been out all afternoon home now and can read the last posts properly ❤️

I'm just reading back through the thread and really wanted to reply to you. You sound like a really great teacher and I know this particular mainstream school has lots of good teachers and an outstanding Sendco. If she says maybe we can make it work I'd listen but she is saying no way.

Unfortunately DS finds even the size of his one class entry primary overwhelming. Being in a class of 30, even with a 1 to 1 TA is something he can only tolerate for short periods. He goes to school part time at the moment and a fair proportion of that is outside the classroom including avoiding lunch in the hall and avoiding break time in the playground.

I hope you won't mind if I PM you as there are a couple of personal details I'd prefer not to share on the thread.

It won’t be coincidence they sent you the EHCP just as your appeal right window has closed. My LA tried to do thei do me but I was phoning every day. Even then I only had it provided with days to get the appeal in. When I’ve moaned about to to other EHCP parents I’ve heard similar stories.

nit that it made much difference. After the lengthy process of tribunal we finally got a good EHCP. We have EOTAS, which I didn’t want but there were no suitable schools. The LA then just refused to provide almost all of the provisions. I e complained they upheld the complaint but said going forward they won’t be changing what they provide as they feel they broadly provide enough so that’s that.

So my son has 2 hours education a week. I can take it to the LGO and will win. I e won before. All they do is force them to pay compensation for emotional damage. I got £500 last time for a year of trauma. Possibly they compensate a few hundred for the missed education and tell the LA to provide an education. The LA will pay the compensation then change the provisions to similar but not fulfilling the EHCP (what they did last time I went through this). And then when you complain again (they take 6 months to go through the whole complaint process and you cannot go LGO until you have done this) the LGO will then order compensation and the cycle repeats.

you cannot go LGO about the content of the plan so they won’t help you with that. They may order financial compensation of around £500 if you can prove the LA never sent the draft plan to you. If the LA use one platform I now can’t remember the name of (starting with an E I think?) anyway one is known for not sending emails to parents but still recording the email was sent on the LA system. I’ve seen parents saying this was a problem that was why I was harassing the LA waiting for my plan and emails asking for updates.

anyway take it through complaints with the LA they may reissue the plan and then you can go to tribunal. If they don’t reissue go to the LGO for that measly compensation that won’t cover the damage to a SEND child future and loss of education or the impact on your ability to work having an unsuitable school you child cannot attend full time.

I fucking hate the way our children are treated. 4 years my son has had barely any education. Couple hours a week if we lucky. I’m in this constant cycle of complaint and appeal. Everyone says LAs cannot act like this it’s illegal. General public cannot believe SEN kids are being treated like this. But this is our life

@Burntt as you have found, the LGO isn’t a suitable realistic remedy for breach of the LA’s s42 duty. You would be better going down the pre-action letter and JR route. Same for failure to provide a full-time education under s19 of the Education Act 1996.

@Burntt thank you for describing your horrible merry go round experience.

DSs private Clinical Psychologist report from a couple of years ago set out really detailed recommendations for what DS needs eg this many lessons per week learning to type (because of motor difficulties with writing) sensory breaks, social stuff, lots of specific stuff. Doable in the right specialist setting. I cannot reproduce this myself at home so I cannot home educate.

I can and do support DS in all sorts of learning at home. If he was completely home based instead of partly school based and I was putting as much into it as I could he'd have a pretty good time and learn a lot.

I will, and am already, standing up to the LA over DSs right to an education. I'm horrified by the prospect of getting onto a draining merry go round which sucks my energy out for years while DS languishes alone and I fight city hall.

I feel this battle over secondary transfer is one I'm not going to win but I might eventually get something, EOTAS if not a school. Perhaps a school eventually.

I have fought some other big fights and won but this feels different somehow.

The best thing I can definitely make happen under my own steam is a plan to get DS to 14 or 16 when there could be a point of reentry. I think I could help him make progress with a few useful things. It would be very different from school though.

SOS SEN do pre-action letters. They do charge, but much less than solicitors do.

I am no longer 'in bits and in tears' but I am pretty tired.

I have come back to update and ask whether I can now appeal.

On 16th I had a message say LA proposes to name local mainstream 'you have 15 days to comment '.

On 27th a message saying 'we're going ahead and EHCP will be finalised on the 3rd.

On 2nd message saying 'we are finalising naming mainstream'.
Letter and EHCP attached BUT the 'letter' is a copy of the message from the 16th and the EHCP is the (defective) one from last November naming the current primary.

Nothing about mediation appeal etc.

WTAF? And WWYD?

Can I now appeal?

In order to appeal, you need the LA’s decision letter that gives you the right of appeal. It doesn’t sound like you have this. You should go back to the LA for the decision letter (and the secondary phase transfer EHCP). In the meantime, if you haven’t already, I would look for someone who has capacity to take your case for a pre-action letter.

@ExistingonCoffee I agree I don't think I have their decision letter. Unfortunately they are not responding to Egress messages, emails or phone calls so 'going back to them' has no effect.

I'm trying to get help with pre action letter. Also getting my papers and thoughts in order.

You should still go back to the LA (I would email the Director of Children’s Services) even if you don’t expect an answer. At this point, the intention isn’t necessarily to trigger action, although that would be helpful, it is about building a paper trial as evidence. You could also try emailing your LA’s Monitoring Officer if you haven’t already.

Thank you @ExistingonCoffee that is extremely helpful.

Try an email warning them if you don't get the up to date version plus accompanying letter by Monday you will have to start judicial review proceedings. It might just push them into action on its own.

Use the template letter on here. I used this successfully to get my DS's phase transfer EHCP sent to me when it was late so that I could appeal at Tribunal @InBitsandInTears. It tells you all the people to send it too on there, I found the emails for my LA by searching online and sent it by email so I had proof it was sent. Send the text in the body of the email, my LA tried to say they couldn't open the letter attachment I sent at first try.

www.ipsea.org.uk/letter-to-la-when-it-has-or-will-breach-the-deadline-for-reviewing-and-amending-the-ehc-plan-in-advance-of-a-phase-transfer-template-letter-12

Brilliant. I will follow these suggestions. 💐

Copy your MP into your email asking for the final EHCP. It might help.
I don't know where you are but Jemma Levy is an EP based in North London. She's fantastic and her reports absolutely stand up in Tribunal.

@DancingOctopus is Jemma Levy back working and taking on new clients?

I am not sure. We last saw her in June 2024. I sincerely hope that she is well and working.

@DancingOctopus I believe she was unwell towards the end of last year.

I am sorry to read this. I know she has health issues. She was recovering from some health procedure when she did our follow up.
I hope she's well on the road to recovery.

I have made a lot of progress although not in a straight line. I'm still on the lookout for an EP who covers the west country and booked in for legal advice next week.
I haven't received a finalised EHCP so can't appeal but have sent an ipsea template 'light version' letter to a named person who our current Senco suggested might act helpfully (I'm not counting on it). Assuming this fails I'll send the heavy version to the relevant Director of Children's Services as soon as I've had the legal advice.
I have heard more and more appalling stories from local families so I have no expectation of a meaningful 'win'. Parents are being told their child needs a specialist place but there isn't one available.

The LA would have to agree to an early review.

I don't have anything useful to add but I'm thinking of getting "I have made a lot of progress although not in a straight line" on a poster.

Hang in there, OP.

Parents are being told their child needs a specialist place but there isn't one available.

These parents should appeal once they have the right of appeal.

For non-wholly independent schools, on its own being full is not enough of a reason to refuse to name parental preference. The LA has to prove the school is so full admitting DC is incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others &/or the efficient use of resources. The bar for this is higher than LAs and many schools admit. It has to be something tangible and specific and is more than an “adverse effect”, “impact on” or “prejudicial to”.

And if it is inappropriate for provision to be made in a school, there is EOTAS/EOTIS.

@InBitsandInTears just send the heavy weight letter because they have already breached the deadline and have five days to respond to the letter. Even then you still have to have the finalised EHCP before you can appeal. There will be lots of people applying to appeal now at all stages including those for 16+ provision so you want to get onto the Tribunal waiting list ASAP. The sooner that all happens the sooner you get a date (it should be expedited because it is a phase transfer, so make that it clear on any application that it is a phase transfer appeal). As it is your Tribunal date may not fall in time for the start of Year 7, we managed to get a date for August by doing the appeal on the papers after the LA delayed the process and the original hearing date which is a tactic they use sometimes. It could be September before your case is heard at this rate. You need to push it now to get the ball rolling, don't be afraid to go in heavy, sadly you have to show them you are serious otherwise they walk all over you.