Assistant removed

[Jennybeans401]

Dd in primary has autism and dyslexia. For the last two years she's had a teaching assistant working with her and another child with SEN. The new classroom has just a teacher and the assistant has been moved to a different class. Dd now very much struggling, teary and frustrated every day. The school say they cannot afford to support her, is this fair? She has EHCP and we paid for the autism assessment which states she needs help.

Is the TA provision specified and quantified in section F of the EHCP?

If so, it must be provided. Funding isn’t your concern, if the school require more funding they should approach the LA. If it isn’t provided email the LA’s Director of Children’s Services threatening Judicial Review as it is the LA who are ultimately responsible for ensuring provision in the EHCP is provided.

But, if it isn’t specified and quantified and is woolly and vague with wording such as “access to” “would benefit from” “or equivalent” “regular”… it cannot be enforced and isn’t worth the paper it is written on. In this case you should try to tighten the wording up.

Exactly as Thatsnotmycar says. What you need to do is sit down with a copy of DD's EHCP and get a highlighter pen. Go through Section F - this is the section that is legally enforceable.
A good EHCP will say who is going to deliver the support ('a dedicated LSA/TA trained in best practise dyslexia teaching methods' for example), what support is needed and how often (eg '20 minutes hand writing practise twice a week to be delivered by etc..').
Anything that says 'DD would benefit from...' is meaningless. I would benefit from a million pounds!

Schools and local authorities are absolutely on their knees financially. It could be that another DC has started at the school with a more watertight EHCP/a higher level of need.

If your DD's Section F does contain quantifiable things that aren't being done then you're in a stronger position.
The first thing to do is to meet with the school's Senco. It's always best to work with the school if possible. Try and find out why her support has changed this year. The school should really have told you her support was being removed.

If they are unable to provide your DD with the support listed in Section F then they need to tell the local authority that. If Section F is too woolly then you will need to push for that to be tightened up.
You don't say how old your DD is but if she's Yr4/5 then you will need to be thinking about the support she's going to need in Secondary.

When is her annual review? You can ask for an emergency one but the local authority don't have to agree.

I would also start keeping a record of how and when she's struggling to build up evidence.

There's some good info here:

www.ipsea.org.uk/what-an-ehc-plan-contains

www.ipsea.org.uk/changing-an-ehc-plan