Senco cancelled our EHCP review meeting during OFSTED inspection

[Cel77]

My son has had an EHCP (ASD/high anxiety, learning delay and sensory processing difficulties) since September last year.
We're supposed to meet once a term to review his SEND plan with his teacher, and once a year with the Senco as well.

The meeting had been agreed 3 weeks ago. I took half a day off for this. I work as a temp so that means losing half a day's pay.

I called the school the night before as I knew they had OFSTED and things can change. I wanted to make sure the meeting was going to go ahead. I was told that yes, it would.

Fast forward to the following day, and I got a phone call from the school saying they were very sorry but they had to cancel the appointment because the Senco had to meet with one of the OFSTED inspectors.

I was really annoyed as I did everything I could to ensure I wouldn't be put in that situation (calling at the end of the day before the meeting).

Shouldn't the Senco had kept our meeting, which is a very important one? Surely, the OFSTED inspectors would have agreed and encouraged parents' satisfaction and positive engagement?

I feel as if my son's needs are not seen as that important by that specific Senco anyway. She has been difficult to deal with in the last 4 years we've had to, and made us feel as if we were not on her list of priorities.

We don't complain easily and have been very accommodating. We feel she would happily "drop" us if she can. It looks like that's what just happened.

I requested the next appointment has got to be after my work hours so I don't lose any - badly needed - pay.

My question really is : shouldn't the Senco have kept our appointment instead of cancelling it for an OFSTED inspector? Especially as the inspection is there to check good practice is going on - for example, not cancelling appointments with parents at the last minute.

SENCo was not likely given any choice. The fact that you had it confirmed the night before showed she intended to keep the meeting, but Ofsted will have given a timetable and expected it to be honoured.

It's not fair but it's indicative of how awful Ofsted inspections are, not of the senco's commitment to you and your child.

If the EHCP wasn’t finalised until September last year it is unlikely this is an AR unless it is an early review. It sounds more like an internal school review.

Unfortunately, especially if this wasn’t a formal AR of the EHCP, I think the meeting would be cancelled by many schools. If possible and it may not have been it would have been courteous to do this before on the day, but your post suggests that may not have been possible.

I agree that the Ofsted inspector would have arranged the meeting and would not have taken into account, any prior plans the SENCo had. Because inspections are short notice, it probably wasn’t possible to let you know earlier, annoying though that is.

Yet another reason why Ofsted is so poor.

No the inspector would not have cared about your meeting. They set the agenda and the timetable. They said she had to meet them and that's that.