EHCP support thread

[Phineyj]

My DD (10) is being assessed for EHCP. The council refused to assess (despite her already being diagnosed with ADHD, ASD, hypermobility and vision problems following eye surgery).

School have been supportive throughout and they are going above and beyond to keep her engaged in education.

She's about to go into year 6 though.

I took the LA to the tribunal and won.

They must produce the plan by 4th August. I think they probably will (they've stuck to deadlines so far...ish...). But I've got all the IPSEA complaint letter templates primed!

The hardest thing about the whole process is that no-one else in my life understands it or what it's like to spend all your free time essentially begging people to document the deficits your child has.

It is also a hard realisation that no-one cares much about your child's education except you.

I am also a teacher so I feel sad on behalf of the SEN DC I teach as I am told little about their needs (I spent a whole day doing DofE with one recently...I don't even know what her EHCP says...)

Join me if you are also grimly trekking through the EHCP jungle!!

@ThomasWasTortured what's your view on a service request? Would you do one or not for the LGO and slow service

I still don't have a draft or anything- I'm bored of waiting now 😂

Thank you x

@ThomasWasTortured thanks for posting that helpful EHCP plan document....I have a big meeting very soon to discuss proposals, so reading that was helpful for me...... was feeling a little out of my depth, (DD going to school at the moment so I don't want it to appear that it is all ok now, because it only takes one minor (or what the school/others might perceive as a 'minor' thing, to set us back to refusing to go in......there is much more school support now, (fidget toy/headphones, lunch play inside, time out card etc) but I need this in case it all falls apart and i'm back to square one......hopefully the professional reports submitted will hold sufficient weight....I'm not holding my breath I know it can go either way now, no matter how hopeful it seems.....
Good luck@TeaInTheGarden

@fedupallthisrubbish remind me when you first contacted the LGO? If it is less than a year. I would hang on in there for now. The LGO is overwhelmed with cases.

@CHAKRAlight keep going. You can do this.

Just received the below from the LA in response to the Send 7 form (which I sent to the email address they put on their refuse to issue letter). It's a minor thing but I hate that they never include names on any of their communications. I can understand why, but it's so rude!

Anyway, I sent the Send 7 form off about 10 days ago, after the 5 days with no response from the LA had passed. Do I now send their response on to SENDIST? I also don't understand what the point is of what they've said. The Funding Inclusion Plans aren't statutory, only last a year if I remember correctly, and I doubt apply out of borough (we're planning to send her out of borough to the school where I teach). What is the point of them?! I also don't see why they object to an earlier hearing date. Given that the hearing isn't until September NEXT year, they're hardly going to have to do anything very quickly, are they?

Their email:

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately, the LA does not agree to an earlier hearing date. CHILD NAME will have a school either via general admissions or if you make your own suitable arrangements and that school can apply for a Funding Inclusion Plan if CHILD NAME requires further support once at her new school.

Please note that Funding Inclusion Plan’s are not available in independent schools.

Can you please ensure that all emails relating to your appeal are sent to LA NAME Tribunals Team only these do not need to be sent to SEN Admin or the EHC Coordinator.

Thank you

@Phineyj thr point of any non-statutory plan/funding is that it is non-statutory. They benefit the LA because they aren't legally binding. They can be amended and the funding removed at the whim of the LA. Sometimes they can help DC e.g. if they are in the process of appealing. LAs object to earlier hearings because later hearings save them money (at least in the short term). Was the LA’s reply sent to SENDIST with you copied in? If the LA hasn’t already sent their reply to SENDIST, you should (making sure to copy the LA in).

Thanks, they just sent it to me so I'll forward it on to SENDIST tomorrow.

Thank you @ThomasWasTortured 🙂🙏

Morning,

It was over a year ago however they made me wait for the council to respond for a stage 2 complaint for 12 weeks. Maybe I'll do it in the new year thank you as all the Xmas holidays for staff. However the only contact I've had with them is a 30 min chat on the 10 July so seems like forever ago!

Morning All. Respect to everyone for the outstanding displays of stamina and tenacity. Keep on keeping on!

Not much to report other than the appeal bundle sent by LA had very important ommissions, which despite being pointed out, has not so far been corrected and reissued. We're past the final evidence date now, but there has been no contact whatsoever from the LA to discuss the contents of the working document. Should I steel myself for a suggestion the appeal date has to move backwards?

I don't think they can be that bright @MrsLamb, the people tasked with this stuff.

Teacher hat on.

What happens if you annotate their mistakes yourself with a red sharpie, scan and send it off to Sendist, copying them in?

Thanks @Phineyj - it's more that there are whole documents missing...

So if I was going to annotate it, it would probably be, 'see me - you are struggling to complete work in a timely manner and making silly mistakes'.

To be fair...if dim people are doing it...collating a 100 page plus tribunal bundle is quite challenging.

How about you get down to Hobby craft for a pack of coloured paper and print each missing bit on a jolly colour, and scan that?

I'm sure in the billion pages of Sendist guidance I read last month it said something somewhere about this situation. I can look if you like?

Thanks @Phineyj. Have an advocate who is on it - she says it happens a lot and they will need to reissue.

Not sure whether dimness is the issue here...

We submitted for sendist over summer, LA are now wanting an early AR (Feb) at school. Having not bothered to reply to school or attend AR meeting this May.

Very delayed final came Jan 23, and they declined to update in May citing Jan EHCP as reason (oh it's too soon to issue a new updated one, especially with all those expensive SLT sessions he needs now after you saw specialists/consultant in London).

We have private OT and SLT booked Feb so - do we agree to AR in Feb though it will be a total waste of time...or do we push them for a Mar April date , come armed with reports and invite private SLT...hoping they will write the things into the EHCP..or better to save ammo for tribunal itself?

Good god, it's like playing multidimensional chess.

Can we refuse to meet in Feb? Or do we not have a choice if they insist?

I guess if they do have a meeting we should be there, as we might miss a trick or look bad at sendist?

@Alltheyearround gosh that sounds complicated. I don't know what you should do (sorry, that's not helpful). I do think it would help some of us if these LAs would just admit they're clueless and pay us to go away...save them time and money in the long run...

@MrsLamb I have spent many years in the NHS and education and dimness is more often the reason for problems than actual evil intent. The job of these SEN bureaucrats is not to actually help any children. It is to push paper around and presumably to make sure they change job before any disaster comes publicly to light. I feel sorry for anyone who went into it with the aim of helping children. I imagine they don't last long though.

Yes I think if you're invited to a meeting you need to go to show goodwill, even if it's pointless.

We had amazing OT and Salt done for my boy. Beware once they do the assessments which cost thousands and make the recommendations in tribunal they could possible refuse the therapy that they suggested! As they like tribunal work as it's mega money! And there are limited people that will do it! Even the LA don't have salt and Ot available 😂 That's my bug bear

However, we had some of the best regarded OT and Salt do the assessment- and we do have it in the EHCP. Has he received what he should in his EHCP ? No because the LA is useless and also the director is none existent beyond 💩

So even if you do get it in the EHCP quantified / specified all that jazz it still doesn't mean you will receive it (yes you should and you can complain to the director etc but that's ignored but I'm just stating what has happened to us)

For context - OT one hr per week for over a year - guess how many sessions he has had 5 hr I'd say at best maybe not even that.

So it seems all this arguing is sometimes pointless 💩

So it depends how valuable you believe the therapy to be to your child and whether it's worth the hassle / stress to argue

It seems to be best to expect nothing and be delighted if you get anything.

I'm just saying the truth with our experience .....

Ipsea did an amazing zoom on the 1 Dec for one hr about annual reviews.

Maybe you should try and get a recording of that. They haven't sent it out yet.

It was brilliant what should / shouldn't happen and it was a free one hr zoom

@fedupallthisrubbish if the SEP is detailed, specified and quantified in F and isn’t being provided and you are being ignored, have you sent a pre-action letter? Not all professionals who undertake Tribunal work do ongoing therapy, that is completely normal. Some specialise in assessments rather than ongoing work. Re: LGO, waiting at least 12 weeks to allow the LA time to respond is normal. Personally, I would give it a year from after that time.

@Alltheyearround EHCPs must be reviewed at least annually. That still applies when there is an ongoing appeal, so you won’t be able to stop the AR process. But, one should be held in Jan. I would push for Jan rather than Feb. If the LA makes amendments, the amended version can become part of the WD process.

@MrsLamb I would strongly push back at any suggestion of a delay. Bundles are often issued late so needing the bundle reissued shouldn’t be a cause to delay. If the LA refuses to engage with the WD process despite reminders, they can be ordered to.

Strategic incompetence is very common. Another tactic of the LA is having the paper and electronic versions contain different material.

Another tactic of the LA is having the paper and electronic versions contain different material.

Given the strategic importance of what has been left out, this feels at least as likely as dimness. 😨

@MrsLamb a lot of the time I think it is the exact opposite of dimness. They know exactly what they are doing.

Maybe...just maybe...there is dimness AND perfidy?

Cock-ups for sure. Churn. Inexperience. Heavy workloads. But organisations typically work at managing customer experience these days.

At the very least there would seem to be organisational incentives/drivers that are more important than timeous legal compliance (like saving money?)...the tactics of which then descend into unethical behaviour?