Children with a statement

[Blandmum]

Saw these stats today in the Times Ed and thought that they were interesting enough to post.

The percentages of children with a statement of SEN

58.7- in mainstream state schools
37.9- In special schools or pupil referal units
3.5 in mainstream private schools.

our parent partnership is or was(when i had dealings with them) based in the same office as the Lea Educational welfare office!!!!
but sounds like yours may be a little better PeachyClair...
at the end of the day the answer is money wherever we are and the lack of it to support the most vulnerable children and i do agree that those who shout loudest- if you can't beat them then join them....

TeeCee,
that was what happened with a friend of ours too

the other thing bugging me is the fact that we will be expected to name our secondary school chioce for dd in year 5 (everyone else will do it in year 6).we have two choices and i am so worried that i will choose one and then all her friends will choose the other one [aaagghh] and i will be removing dd from all her friends..bless and next year she will only be a year 3 but we will have to think about looking around so that next year we can go again but have a list of any questions...

Ah secondary- whole new panic- apparently an As kid at the local one tried to kill himself after the treatment he got. Now, this was second hand when I heard it, but my CM likes to have a long swear at the treatment her AS son recieves all the time.

Sam goes to Juniors in September, like to think will be better as new Head (couldn't get worse... could it?) however its still amnaged by the same Church committee.

Now, if your child is NT the local school is worth fighting tooth and nail for- people often move to be in catchment. Everyone who isn't top 10% of the population (and the catchment is only the expensive part of this place, we are here by accident) seems to cease to exist tho.

Since joining Mn i have become increasingly gratefull of the help i had in getting Ds's statement.
we first started to apply when he was in a private nursary and he had his statement in place when he turned 4 and went to a state school.

I do wonder whether the fact that his nursary was private and they actually payed for much of his assesments the LEA took the reports more seriously?

My DS is now funded for 24.5 hours of 1:1 LSA support...that doesn't mean he gets it though. i have learned at cost that just having the statement isn't the end of the battle, getting the school to stop rubbing their hands together at the thought of a few extra thousand into the budget is.

I know for a fact that they skim on Ds's support time so that they can give extra help for some of the kids that need the support but have yet to get a statement.
Its a decent cause of course but it doesn't help DS when he has ameltdown and gets excluded for a week when it could have been avoided if he was being properly supervised.

DS2 gets help from the private 1 to 1 of a deaf child at the school yet the school wouldn't refer him for speech therapy (doesn't really need it now as glue ear is improving). So not on, really felt for the family but didn't feel I could deny DS2 his need either.

I know that one of the boys that gets helped really should have a statement. he barely speaks and im not sure how much english he actually understands as i have only ever heard hsi parents speak their own language (they are asian but i havent a clue as to which language)

He clealry needs his own support. I don't begrudge this child sharing DS's support assistant in general as in many ways it means that he plays with my son quite a lot and therefore helps DS with his social skills. but when something goes wrong it is my son that is punished for what is esentially poor managment and under funding.

I would be interested to know the difference between the % of kids with a statement in infants/junior/senior ms and infants/junior/senior special/Prus as was get massive intake in the first term of yr 7s (parents realise they can't cope with ms secondary) .We also get a big intake at yr3/4.

martianbishop - very interesting what you are saying about the needs of children at SA+
my DS1 has been at SA+ since reception, now in year 4 and his intervention seems to be based on the level of staff that is available each year and nothing to do with his actual needs.
You have very little say when your child is at SA+, at least when you have a statement you can be more demanding and insist that the provision listed on the statement is implemented.
At SA+ you can make very few demands and are made to feel that you should be grateful for any extra help given.

Sorry, wet to bed isgrass.

I fully agree with you about the limitations of SA+.

From the teachers side of the fence the child often has very similar needs to those with a full statement, but you have no extra resources to help to fulfull those needs. Frustrating for us, I hate to think what it must be like for the child and the family

I have worked with children who are a danger to themselves and others and are still only on SA+......a terrible situation for everyone concerned.

SEN provision is often just diabolical

I have limited experience of the statementing system but as a TA in a secondary school supporting a yr 7 boy with Aspergers, he is (at the moment) coping really well with high school & his behaviour is much better than it was at Primary school. Although of course we move from room to room & swap teachers - he seems to really like the routine of a structured timetable. I know all cases are different but wanted to add a positive aspect of ASD in secondary school

Thanks Whizzz, I can't see Sam needing more than support in MS (unless the behaviour seteriorates and passes fully into school, in which case I'm not sure where they'll palce him, although when I was nursing there was a unit there (lived in a Psychiatric Unit campus) that took very violent kids with all sorts of needs). Certainly his educational needs ats they stand COULD be met with a statement in MS, though very possibly not his current SM setting.

I would heartily agree with all the comments on here particularly with regards to the unfortunate children languishing on School action plus.

This school have previously applied for statements and unsurprisingly all requests for same have been turned down.

I would urge all parents not to get school to apply for such a document (btw school have no right of appeal if refused) but for parents to write themselves instead. It may not be a bad idea as well getting your MP's involvement.

IPSEA are very good and found them to be very helpful.

Upon asking the SENCO how many children are in this school with a statement she readily came out with an answer - one (i.e DS). I am appalled on so many levels; I know for a fact that there are at least 3 or 4 others (that's just in his year) who could really do with the support such a (legally binding) document provides. SA plus is not legally binding and has no real teeth.

When I was talking to our Senco about Amelia, she "knowingly" told me that I would not find any other children with DS, who has 25-30 hours support on a statement. So the next day I presented about 7 emails from different parents over Kent discussing their childs level of suuport.
In Medway, they work differently it semms. The schools are given a set budget regardless of how many children are statemented......this is obviously why the school are not keen to support my request.
How on earth they can say they are meeting her needs when they haven't got a clue about Down Syndrome and don't even sign...well it's just beyond belief...but it suits their budget and their terrible staffing levels.
I don't blame the school, it's just a crap system.