Applying for ECHP

[Sunflowers23]

I had a meeting this morning with the Senco.

We at the stage where the educational psychologist and special therapy report have all been completed.

We in progress of apply to the council for ECHP. Its taken three years to get to this point! Finally moving forward.

But the senco was like well we will be lucky if we get £1000 funding.
To me this seems very low amount of funding.

Senco said Maybe you should look at putting your son in a special school.
Currently my DS is two years behind his peers due to his early year speech delayed.

Just wanted advice, as I'm worried when my ds moves KS2 ge will not get the 1.1 support he gets a everyday.
He will be left to fall behind.
Any advice please? I'm be most greatful.

In my LA, he wouldn’t be able to be considered for special school unless he had an EHCP.

If the school can prove that they are spending more than the notional funding we get for each child with SEN (which is generic rather than matched to the number of children) and he is not making progress, then getting an EHCP shouldn’t be too much of a problem. They need to prove that what they are doing has an impact.

Do you have SENDIAS or other advice service for parents? It should say on your Local Offer.

Thank you for your reply.

I will defintely take your advice and look into local officer and seniass.

Has the request for an EHCP actually gone in? Your SENCO seems a bit clueless about the process: you don't need EP and therapy reports, the whole point is that that is supposed to be done by the local authority. I'm also surprised that she thinks a child who is two years behind needs a special school. At this stage, all that needs to be proved is that your child may have SEN and that he may need support via an EHCP.

If the school hasn't sent the request in, do it yourself without further delay - www.ipsea.org.uk/ehc-needs-assessments

The bar for needing an assessment of needs is in fact very low. It is as follows: whether the child has or may have a SEN. And whether they nay need Special educational provision to meet that need.

If the answer is yes to those two questions then the LA must carry out a needs assessment.

You do not need expert reports or to have spent a certain amount of money to meet this requirement.

Let's just break it down a bit more, what is a SEN? By definition it is a learning difficulty which results in significant greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others the same age, or a disability which makes it difficult for them to use the facilities normally provided for others.

In your sons case, he has a speech delay which from what you've said has hindered his ability to learn as you would expect for a child of his age.

The second part is whether that SEN may need Special educational provision. What that means is : education or training that is additional, or different from, that made generally available for children of the same age.

These are the only two hoops you need to jump through for an LA to have to complete an assessment of needs. So focus on the proof for each. In the case of the the SEN, ask the school for his attainment data, have you had any speech and language therapy done in the past, what did they say ? If he has made progress is it as a result of intervention only.

Then look at SEN provision. Have the school done anything to try and help? Intervention sessions with TAs or changing the way they approach his teaching.

SENcos often don't know the law. They know what the LAs tell them. It's not always the case of course. But it's certainly fair to say your SENCO is misinformed, so you need to read up. IPSEA is a great start.

I recommend you have a good look round the IPSEA website. There's a whole section on needs assessments. Also, download chapter 9 of the SEN code of practice. (Google it, its on a government website) as this spells out the law in the form of a slightly easier to read guideline format.

And the idea the schools have to have spent their notional funding is often quoted by schools but totally incorrect. For a start, it is not a standard to meet in the law. And it's easy to see why, the whole point of a needs assessment is to determine what the needs are. Until you have done that you do not know if £6000 is sufficient or in fact more than that is needed. And even if it were £6000 or less (which is the supposed amount with notional funding for each SEN pupil without an EHCP) then the EHCP may still be required to ensure a child receives the support. It is a legal document and the LA has to provide the provision in it.

I've just seen your son is receiving 1:1. I presume the school are funding this without an EHCP as you don't have one. Perhaps it's from higher needs funding. But this in itself is Special educational provision, because its different from the provision you would normally normally expect to provide for a child of that age.

There is absolutley no reason you won't get a needs assessment.

Can I ask, you say your son has a speech delay. Do you know why? Has he been seen by a speech and language therapist? Do you have any other concerns with him? Speech delays often co-occur with other conditions which is why I ask.