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!!

Hi @Coatsy no you don't have to post copies and actually SENDIST aren't too bad - they're normally quicker than they say.

Thats great then 😊 underpromise and overdeliver!

We submitted our appeal against refusal to assess in September and have a hearing date in early Feb, so not too long of a wait, which was a nice surprise. I was expecting a year or more.

The LA kept messing up the final bundle though (left out docs or put it wrong ones relating to another child), so do check it over carefully when they send it to you after the final evidence deadline.

A few questions about timelines:

If we win our refusal to assess appeal and the LA must start an EHCNA within 4 weeks ...

1. Does that 4 week period start the day the tribunal makes their decision, or the day the parties are notified? (Will we hear the outcome on the day of the hearing or a few days afterwards? It's on papers.)

2. At the start of the assessment, are we at week 6 of the original timeline and everything follows on from there as stated? https://www.ipsea.org.uk/Handlers/Download.ashx?IDMF=25bfc071-444f-41c4-bbce-0c050441328f

Thanks.

@SpaceInvader321 the relevant date for the 4 weeks is the one that will be on the letter they'll email you and the LA with their decision.

Then yes I think you're back on the original timetable although @ThomasWasTortured is the expert!

It'll take a week or two to get the letter out I think.

@SpaceInvader321 you will find out the outcome afterwards. Typically the aim is within 10 working days, but it is sometimes longer at the moment.

As well as beginning assessing within 4 weeks the other timescales are set out in Reg 44 of the SEN Regs 2014. The time starts from the date of the Order. Within 2 weeks of the Order the LA must notify you they will assess. Then, if the LA is not going to issue they must inform you within 10 weeks of the date of the Order. And if they are going to issue they must finalise within 14 weeks.

The Order is the letter they email you.

Very helpful. Thank you, both.

The safest course is to send it to the LA with a request that they consent to it being admitted, and do a SEND7 application to be considered at the hearing. In practice, so long as the LA has had enough time to read and respond to the evidence if necessary, the tribunal is very likely to admit it.

If the Autism Officer can set out the provision she believes your child needs that will be over and above what is normally available in mainstream schools, that will effectively get rid of the LA's argument, and they may even concede.

Check all the directions made by the tribunal when the appeal was registered. They normally require the LA to file a witness statement from the current setting, together with other relevant information. Check whether they have complied with that.

Not quite, it's usually a separate document specifically described as an Order.

OK - well when I heard from SENDIST after my refuse to assess appeal it was an attached pdf headed 'decision notice' and then two more pdfs which were notes. The appeal was heard on the papers on 4th April 22, the decision notice was dated 14th April and I got the email that same day. So 10 days.

Hi all

DD (11) was declined an EHCP after having the EHCNA, which was disastrous. The whole process failed, assessments did not meet the required standards.

I've applied to tribunal, got a hearing date of 12.12.24 however I've done a send7 for an earlier hearing date as she starts secondary school in September. I'm just waiting to hear if they will move the appeal forward.

It took them 2 days to give me a hearing date last weeks, you might be pleasantly surprised. It does seem to be a 50 week standard wait for a date though.

Ah yeah, I expect that for the tribunal date, was just thinking there would be more waiting! Good to hear they got back to you quickly!

Hi all, new to the thread.

We're at assessment stage following an initial refusal to assess, followed by a refusal to mediate said refusal, followed by a JR threat and prompt concession 🙄😆

I've just spent my weekend writing up comments on the, frankly shoddy, EP report.

Same here. Submitted our appeal against assessing on Monday and heard on Friday. Just reading through the paperwork and timelines.

@RaquelW1 same happened with us, I asked them to make amendments the la have sent it back to ed psych now

Don't hold your breath, the LA EP watered down her assessment so much she recommended less provision than DD has now then refused to amend the factual inaccuracies. Refused to issue!

Report completely fails to mention that the school is voluntarily providing full-time 1:1 support already (or in fact any 1:1 support at all) and makes counterproductive recommendations (that if implemented are likely to make things worse). I figure I can at least use my comments on appeal to show that the report was sub-par.

Give how we've got on so far, I'm expecting a fight about EVERYTHING! 🙄

Welcome @Mummytodo.

Have had exact same issues with LA EP ignoring evidence of need (from two other Psychs) in order to reduce provision. No alternative formulation justifying this, just highly selective cutting and pasting. I wrote a friendly letter asking for a explanation and for correction of factual inaccuraucies. Never got a reply. Made an official complaint about conduct of EHCA and included the need for a response on inaccuracies. Never got a reply (both levels of complaints system). Included request to try and resolve issues in correspondence on draft EHCP - also ignored. Considering a complaint to Ombudsman/HCPC and ICO after appeal hearing.

La agreed to ehcp awaiting draft and have a moving forward meeting planned. School senco unable to attend due to commitments and requested the draft. We made clear we feel special provision. School and us completely agree. Question is do we have to have a moving forward meeting?? I just feel its repeating the same information over and over again. All the information for the echna was clear and la already know which special school we want and why based on reports? Can I decline moving forward meeting and ask them instead to issue draft without it? Thanks

@RMNofTikTok @MrsLamb omg I was really hoping they would make decent amendments, I am really not so hopeful now. I will see what they say. However I did get an assessment done with small talk and Natasha salt said to me daughter could do with six months out of school and just focus on ot and salt. She said daughter has significant sensory issues and anxiety. So off I trotted to children's choice and have now commissioned them to do an OT assessment. They are doing this on Thursday at the school.

Salt assessment was carried out at their clinic. Ed psych assessment was done remotely without my knowledge. I am fully expecting a tribunal hence the private assessments and hoping to counter argue the ed psych report as i don't believe it would have captured all daughters needs as she is non verbal and they did it over teams

I am meant to get decision if to issue or not on the 24th but I reckon they will be late, which may go in my favour as I don't yet have the ot report.

Well, there's your grounds of appeal should you need it. SEN code of practice states an Ed Psych assessment should be a MINIMUM of 4 half days if the child is not previously known to the assessor.