Why would school not want to do EHCP

[treeglass]

I've posted this in sen as well but my ds is starting the process of seeing the autism team and possibly getting a diagnosis but that's 18 months away. Paediatrician told us to get a EHCP spoke to Senco about it they said he doesn't need one, they have children with autism who haven't got one, and they won't apply if they don't think he'll get it.
They pushed for this referral in the first place
Why are they now saying no? I've done a lot of googling seems like it costs their budget etc
Am I being truly fobbed off here or should I trust the Senco?

Helloisitmeyourelookingfor under the law, a child has SEN if they have a learning difficulty or a disability which calls for special educational provision so the children in your school obviously meet that criteria. As your son is taking A levels his statement predates the current code of practice

@Norestformrz

Never went through statements, he was awarded his EHCP in year 10

@Norestformrz SEN is a very broad term and you only have to prove that the child may have SEN to reach the legal threshold for assessment. SEN isn't always linked with learning ability (it can be, but not necessarily). Many, many children have SEN and EHCPs because of social and emotional reasons but are physically within normal limits and cognitively above average. Think of all the children on EBD school...and most of the children in my sons autism school. It's a bit rude to insinuate the previous poster's child must have a statement when these have been transitioned over and she quite clearly said it was an EHCP.

There is a lot of nonsense on this thread which just continues the myth that EHCPs are some mythical unobtainable thing. I was told over and over by school that ds would never get one (he did, very easily) and that he'd never get a place in a specialist school (he did, easily) because he's too bright (profoundly gifted)

In my experience, schools don't want EHCPs because they don't like the content by professionals (they seem to believe that because they saw my son every day, they knew better in all areas) and were legally obliged to carry out all its contents - which they didn't want to because they believed they knew better.

No EHCP = no legal requirement to support in the specified way....just in the way the school think is best. Some people will get lucky with a good school who will read the reports and formalise a plan based on them but many won't.

Why so late?

I'm quoting the code

@Norestformrz

Are you asking me why so late?

If so it's because he was well supported in mainstream until year 8 when puberty kicked in and the school became an academy meaning that the personalised approach to teaching children changed into a series of corporate strategies that involved pushing square pegs into round holes

It used to be the case that if school applied for EHCP , if refused, they couldn't appeal, whereas parents can appeal.

Only parents can appeal.

Thanks hello... so in primary his needs were being met without an EHCP

My daughter got an EHCP for a speech disorder which school said I would never get. Sadly, it’s a case of making a complete Pain of yourself. Parents who know their rights and complain everytime their child does not get what they are entitled to are the ones that get the EHCPs in my experience. Definitely not fair but seems to be the way with the Council and the NHS. I think I was the most hated person at the council offices by the end of it but it got my daughter the support she needed.

And yes, apply yourself!

Take it from a parent with a child with autism and an ehc plan in place since nursery aged 3.. not worth the paper it's written on! I've spent years literally drafting emails, chasing up paperwork and making sure it's adhered to by the school. Unless you want to move your child out of mainstream school into a special needs school where his needs could be better met don't bother going down this route.

I should say I got the EHC Plan in place myself.. at aged 3 my son was non-verbal, very anxious and I could t even leave him at pre-school for more than an hour!! I was getting zero help so did some digging myself.. took him out of pre-school (it wasn't working anyway) and told the specialist teaching service person I was refusing to bring him back until a ehc plan was in place and full one to one support and agreed funding was done and dusted. I even wrote to our LEA stating the same. Funny enough it was all sorted in 8 weeks.. out your big girl pants on and remember who's in charge of your child. It nearly broke me.. but now I have it in place I have the power to make sure it's being used effectively for my son.

I really am shocked at the lack of knowledge on this thread - I’m not shocked that it comes from teachers . As I mentioned on up the thread , my Mild asd son , not behind academically , got one very easily after these “teachers “ saying he wouldn’t. Don’t listen to them . Their funding , their paperwork and hours are not your problem . This is your child’s life and education . At the end of the day these teachers can just up and leave whenever . Apply and see what happens . Each LA seems to have different outcomes from what I can gather. There are lots of Facebook groups that can help .

I really am shocked at the lack of knowledge on this thread - I’m not shocked that it comes from teachers

I can't see a lack of knowledge - only teachers detailing their own experiences - which are factual, and actually happened.

@Feenie
*
The reality is that if your child is independent in terms of toileting (and I have seen non-independent children refused EHCPs), can get their own coat on and is around/a year behind age-related expectations, they won’t get an EHCP.*

Perfect example of total rubbish in this thread! This might be what the LEA try to make you believe but the law doesn't support it and parents need to be better informed.

My son has always been continent, dressing himself and nearly 4 years ahead academically and got one easily. His MS school had 5 others in his year who didn't fit this criteria. His autism school now has 70 children that don't fit this criteria. It's rubbish advice.

I second the PPs saying apply yourself.

I've had several schools refuse to do an EHCP throughout the years despite my DC struggling and all their health professionals being shocked they didn't have EHCPs.

One school refused because the SENCO didn't want to do the paperwork (at one point she drafted a shoddy version of a request without my input and apparently shared it with a colleague at the LEA who said the application wasn't strong enough - which was down to her lack of detail, not my DC's needs!).

Current school said they'd seen more luck with parents doing the referral (again I think they didn't want the paperwork burden) so I applied myself and both the requests I've sent have been accepted for assessment. It was a lot of work to gather all the evidence and draft the things, but ultimately worth it.

As someone said upthread, don't let anyone fob you off with nonsense about not meeting the criteria- go to the IPSEA website and use their template request, which states the criteria to remind the assessor.

Again, one teacher explaining what has actually happened in her class.

Ilovemyhairbeingstroked please tell that to the three sets of parents who've been refused their requests for an EHCP (fully supported by the staff) in my school.

Rainywinterday one of the children recently refused an a EHCP in my LA is not independent in their toileting, is non verbal and more than a year behind in their learning. It's not nonsense it's a fact. Totally wrong IMHO and extremely frustrating for staff who know he needs support. I've been arguing with the Ed Psych, who says he doesn't need support since we found he was joining us.

In my authority, it doesn't matter, in terms of paperwork, whether the school applies or the parent applies. If the school applies, there is a form for the SENCO to complete, if the parent applies the school still has to complete the same form, no difference.

@Norestformrz I think you've misinterpreted me - I said it was nonsense when people say unless you are x, y and z - you won't get one when you've had direct experience that that isn't the case or else the child you have would have got an EHCP if all you needed was to tick certain boxes of continence etc.

EHCPs are very case specific, people shouldn't say there are set 'rules' as which children can have them or not as it isn't that simple. You have to show the unmet need in school, rather than the diagnosis or ability.

Increasingly it seems to be down to me proving I've spent all my notional SEN budget to support one child and the LA gives me what we've spent minus £6K. A flawed system

Dd never had a echp. The school have to pay for the first £6000 of support so if it won't cost more than that they don't bother. She actually gets far more support at university than she did at school, they are amazing

This thread clearly demonstrates the massive differences in experience that some teachers and some parents have had when obtaining/trying to obtain an EHCP.

DS1 has had a Statement since he was 4yo, and it was converted to an EHCP a few years ago. (He's now 14.) We applied for the Statement ourselves six months before he started Reception and it was successful on our first attempt (much to our surprise). He therefore had full-time 1:1 support during primary school.

We faced huge difficulties though in spite of him having a Statement and a fabulous 1:1 LSA. His Reception teacher was an NQT (and I am absolutely not bashing NQTs - she was a super teacher in terms of actually teaching) but hadn't taught any pupils similar to my son during her training, and simply wasn't interested in his needs and continually criticised him. The senco seemed to think that I had paranoia and was lying with regards to the issues we were facing at home with colossal meltdowns, even though the LSA told me they were happening at school too. The school refused to accept that he had autism (the diagnosis hadn't been made at the time that his Statement went through) and again accused me of lying and actually asked me "what do you want with chasing all of these diagnoses? Why are you doing it?" ("All of these diagnoses" was the autism that the paed had referred to himself as a strong possibility.) They also insisted that he was fine fine fine in mainstream even though he was falling further and further behind and his anxiety and social ostracisation were increasing by the day. They then sat back and watched when the LA slashed his OT provision from 40 hours a year to 3 hours a year. We had to fight that all by ourselves because the school just didn't care.

Anyway we fought and fought for what he needed and in Year 6 he moved to an independent special school, funded by the LA. And yes he does have autism, at the much more 'severe' end of the scale.

This is a long winded way of saying that having the support and understanding of the school is so important, whether or not you are successful in obtaining an EHCP.