Home education and seeking a statement - any experience?

[magicmutt]

My DS is currently being educated at home by the LEA, as he is off school with anxiety. DH and I feel the online education he is receiving is just ticking curriculum boxes and DS1 is bored and stressed by it, so we are thinking of deregistering him and going it alone. Also, we know the LEA aims to get DS1 back to school, but DS1 never wants to go back to school and we agree with him (he cannot cope with school at all - anxiety, OCD and strong Aspie traits). He is on a merry-go-round, where all the professionals advise us that he doesn't need a statement, he obliges and goes to school, he can't cope (putting it mildly - essentially, he had a breakdown), the LEA aim to get him into a PRU and back to school, still without a statement, where he will go through the same thing again . We won't do that to him.

Originally, I discounted getting a statement as I thought there would be no point if DS wasn't going back to school. However, having read about this over on the Special Needs board, I now realise that there are other advantages to having a statement, eg. help at university, possible financial benefits.

I just wondered if any of you have statements for your home-educated DC and how these statements work when you are home educating?

Also, will the fact that we have de-registered count against us when seeking a statement?

Hi

It depends how old he is as to how useful a statement could be for the future.

It's uphill work trying to get a statement while you are home educating though LAs are obliged to consider your request.

Having said that though, the LA has from what you say been totally useless at getting a statement done while he IS in the system.

Off the top of my head, the best strategy might be to separate coming off the school roll from the statement issue and to look again at getting a statement once you are actually home educating.

I personally am not aware of any financial benefits deriving from a statement while a child is home educated, since Disability Living Allowance is not dependent on a statement nor is getting SEN support from the Council via Alternative Provision Funding dependent on having a statement.

I have loads on my home education website about SEN
edyourself.org/search/?q=SEN

Hmm... I'm in a very similar position so both want to mark my place for any advice and also put my situation here.

My DS is 4. He has HFA and high IQ. Nursery is hard work. School is likely to be a nightmare. We are about 1/2 way through the statementing process.

I am very seriously considering HE. I can't see what help a statement would have for HE. If you are outside of the LEA, then the statement doesn't carry any weight (AFAIK doesn't carry any financial benefits)

Anyway, that's as far as we've got. I'm guessing your DS is a bit older than mine?

Sounds like the dreadful virtual classroom my daughter it given by the lea in Somerset. It was so incredibly easy that she was getting so frustrated with it.
I successfully got statements for two of our children whilst home educating, you put in the request yourself.
It got my daughter a place at a special school. She stuck it there for 1.5 yers.We removed her a few months ago as she was so unhappy.
We use interhigh now.

Ah and there is no financial help from having a statement.

My ds had similar problems at school. I took him out because I knew getting a statement would be a huge struggle even though he had obvious problems and a diagnoses.
I am convinced his diagnoses (of aspergers) helped our sucessful DLA application - coupled with a letter from his peadiatrician (sp?)
So DLA is money that helps enormously with various costs involved in HE.

Assuming your child is home educated I cant think of a reason for a statement - unless planning a return to school, with a statement to help with that.

Thank you all for your answers.

Fiona - thanks for your post and the link to your very informative website. My son is 12, so still has his secondary-school years to get through. Is it possible that the LA will discriminate against us getting a statement if we deregister? (On the other hand, can our deregistration be used as evidence that no suitable education was being provided for my son?). I'm worried by this statement on your website: "... in the worst local authorities, the parent will regularly be summoned to give evidence and may live under the continual threat of a School Attendance Order. In other cases social services are routinely brought in where the child has a statement of SEN and the family is obliged to deal with social care professionals who have no experience of home education." We are in East Sussex - am hoping they are not one of the 'worst'.

worry - do you know this book? It is very useful if you are thinking of home educating a child with autism. However, I know several children on the spectrum with statements who have coped very well during primary school because they have had their needs recognised and usually have been given a teaching assistant to support them one to one. Secondary school is much more demanding. I know it may not feel like it, but it's good that you have a diagnosis already and, hopefully, are on the path to getting a statement. My DS did not get any diagnosis until he was 11, so he struggled all through his primary-school years. I think, if he had had his needs met earlier (and, believe me, it wasn't through lack of trying) we wouldn't be in the situation we are today, but we were frequently regarded as overprotective, overly worried parents and reminded that there were many other children in much greater need than him. "Why do you want to medicalise your son?" one professional asked me, when I was asking for help for DS because his OCD was so bad that he couldn't move out of one room. (Bitter, me?!).

mumof4 - yep, it's a virtual classroom. The teachers do their best, I'm sure, but it's a very imperfect method of teaching. The lessons are either too easy or much too hard for DS. He gets bored and starts messing around, so I have to be on at him constantly to keep him focused. I have looked at interhigh and hoped it might be the answer to everything, but, having seen how stressed this online teaching makes DS, I feel now that it might not be any good for him. He really needs one-to-one teaching. It's encouraging for me to hear that you successfully won statements for two of your DC whilst home educating. I'm sorry the special school didn't work out. What do you think of interhigh?

Threadwatcher - posters on the SN's board suggested that there might be more help during higher education if a child had a statement and that is why I'm wondering if I should push for one. Initially, I decided it was another source of stress that I could do without and I get enough stress already coping with DS1's needs, but I don't want to disadvantage him in the future if a statement would help him.

I have been thinking of trying to get DLA. The money would certainly help with home ed.

Am still undecided about what to do .

Wory - Just read this from you on another thread: "4 years down this road, it just makes me give a little wry smile when people try and put their fantastic children down to their fantastic parenting, and if only everyone did it their way the world would be a much better place... No, Love, sorry to break this to you, you got lucky. You got regular kids." I couldn't agree more.

Worry, I mean.

I'm going to rewrite that bit of my website immediately as when I wrote it I was thinking of a handful of LAs which have recently improved their procedures and paperwork with regard to SEN children (at gunpoint admittedly)

We used to hear horror stories from various places I do get the impression that - for various reasons - it's not as bad now.

I don't have info about East Sussex with ref to SEN, although they've just told me that they ARE going to use Alternative Provision Funding next year (which can be used for FE courses, package exam support or SEN support)
edyourself.org/articles/fundingfoijune2012.php#responses

And Brighton and East Sussex do have a lot of home ed families with many social events I'm told.

My standard answer to this type of dilemma is that there's a downside to everything, so you'll never be able to decide by making a list of pros and cons, in the end you just jump, and by not deciding whether to stay or go, you are actually deciding to stay where you are (as with any relationship)

That's reassuring to hear, Fiona. I'm sorry, but what is Alternative Provision Funding? And do you mind explaining to me how I can go about getting it (or link to the relevant page on your website)?

Yes, Brighton and E Sussex have a lot going on with home education families. I am on their Yahoo threads and it comforts me to see how much is available. As my 'AS traits'/OCD son hates all socialising, he wouldn't go to any of these events, but I like just knowing that they're there!

And yes, pros and cons don't always clarify things, you are right. In fact, I think it's all just making me more confused at the moment.

edyourself.org/articles/funding.php

from which I pasted the following (tho obvs the hyperlinks will work for you to click on the actual web page but not here)

"Funding is claimed back from Government by local authorities for money spent on behalf of individual children throughout the academic year ie starting in September 2012. Where a local authority is already paying for SEN support or FE courses by mid January 2013 (ie for the academic year 2012-13), an entry can be made on the annual Alternative Provision Census. Please see the DfE Guidance and DfE Home Education Funding FAQ for more details.

The Government refers to education at home by parents as "elective home education", abbreviated to EHE. In principle there is no funding for elective home education. Individual families do not receive any of the money which is otherwise paid to schools for each registered pupil. Parents bear full financial responsibility when their children are outside the state school system. Local authorities receive no funding for home education services. However, since 2009 the Government has pointed out that funding IS available for elective home education in certain circumstances namely FE Courses and SEN Support.

SEN Funding

In March 2011 the Government Green Paper on Special Educational Needs mentioned local authority support for home educated children. See also home education consultation response to the SEN Green Paper June 2011 and clarification from DfE (August 2011) on the circumstances in which SEN funding can be claimed for children who are home educated and answers from DfE (November 2011) about funding for SEN support when children are home educated.

Click here for more information on changes to the SEN system announced by Minister Sarah Teather in May 2012, including the single education, health and care plan and Personal Budgets."

Magic - the obvious thing to do (as I see it) is apply for a statement months before your ds starts college. (because statements take about 6 months to process?)
If you ds is going to college and at that age needs support (he may not) then there is a reason to apply and a reason for him to be given one.

If you have a statement now and you home educate there is more monitoring you are required to 'endure' because your child has a statement. If he doesnt you have a much greater autonomy (which is preferable?)

DLA is what you need I think :)

I have no idea how the governments current twiddling affects things though - Fiona seems very knowledgable about that!

Statements cease here at 16 years.i could not get them to continue my sons. They told me that colleges have their own support system. Guessing that could be another lie I was fed.

Our three all had SEN, we got them out of school as soon as we found out that HE is a legal viable option.
The youngest was in the middle of the statementing process. I'm so glad we got her out before it was complete. One less hassle from the LA to put up with.
Can't think of a single thing the LA could have given us, with or without the statement, that I haven't been able to get bigger better and quicker from the HE community nationally or locally.
For us it would have been a big hassle for no personal gain. None.

Each of our children has been completely autonomously home educated. Each has gone to FE college and the college has insisted on doing their own SEN assessment. For the child who was to have had a statement and the other two as well. They told us it wouldn't have been any different if they had been in school.
Ditto for the universities they attend now.

I have a statement for my 13 year old son he has aspergers we home educate .....reason the outcome of statement was no good so had to HE...i dont see any benefit of it now ....they will review yearly .....and read online if no longer needed it can be stopped....april was when we started HE ....had a tutor before that .......