EHCP support thread no. 2

[Phineyj]

This is a support thread for anyone at any stage of the EHCP process. I've got an 11 year old girl in year 6 of a mainstream private primary school. I've been seeking an EHCP since she was in year 5, to support her transition to secondary school. She is diagnosed with ASD and ADHD and is working about two years behind age related expectations. Our local authority refused to assess and refused to issue. We are currently in the 11 month wait for a second tribunal which I am hoping (but not sure) will take place before she actually goes to secondary, although I doubt the actual EHCP will be finalised by then. In the meantime I've been enjoying (not) learning all these acronyms and trying to support other people in this journey. In my spare time, I'm a secondary school teacher.

If you, too, are drowning in acronyms and paperwork while finding your local authority (LA) as useful as a chocolate teapot, join your fellow travellers here!

My LA conceded as soon as they were told that I was taking them to tribunal.
And as its stands 2 months later we have a decent EHCP and they named the college I asked for (a mainstream with basically a sen unit).
Why they caused so much hassle when they just did it in the end is beyond me.
But In most cases its a delay tactic.

@246810k I second chasing the school. The LA should finalise by week 20 even if the school hasn’t replied. If the LA has said they will likely name the current MS, they are likely to do that even if the SS had replied on time.

@Phineyj the Noddy guide covers national vs local provision and the somewhat conflicting case law surrounding it. pg 15/16. IMO, looking beyond just local schools is right. Otherwise you risk DC falling between the cracks even more than they currently do. You already see DC moving to secondary without EHCPs because the primary has gone above and beyond. This was a particular problem in years gone by where some primary schools could provide 1:1 without an EHCP, so not legally protecting the provision, which was never going to happen in secondary.

Thanks @SearchingForSolitude you are always so well informed 😀.

It is a fairly daft discussion though as we both know which school she is going to (assuming nothing goes horribly wrong on offer day) and I know what they provide, as I work there.

I've actually just looked and the school, despite being in a different borough, is exactly the same distance as the one that probably would have been my choice within the borough (had DD been a different kind of child).

I'll mention that next time another parent acts like I'm sending her to the Moon!

@Phineyj it is all LA bluster anyway. It is clear DD requires provision in excess of what is typically available in MS secondaries whether you look within your LA, region or nationally.

Indeed. Honestly, this has taken 18 months of my life and I was already quite busy before. As if I'd do it for fun.

I have just had a browse through that Noddy guide. Fascinating! And I note that my LA appears many times. Interesting to see their track record, so to speak.

I've totally taken my eye off the ehcp ball, and this thread but I hope everyone is doing well.

Finalising our draft is really dragging on. LA insisting on ignoring most of recommendations from private SALT and OT in favor of their own assessments. Ds is out of school and waiting for consultations to begin about new schools but none of this can happen before the draft is finalised.

I think at this point we just say encourage them to finalise asap and then we can assess later whether we want to appeal its contents. Is that right?

Has anyone here done that?

@listlesscat yes, push the LA to finalise and appeal if it doesn’t include all needs/provision or doesn’t name your preferred placement.

Consultations should happen before the EHCP is finalised though. You make your representations and name your preferred placement, then settings are consulted, then the EHCP is finalised.

Morning All

Did anyone else see this in The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/feb/28/how-the-system-is-rigged-against-children-with-special-educational-needs

It struck me as a disingenuous assault on SEND families, trotting out that by now familiar script from LAs, that sharp elbowed middle class families are gobbling up more than their fair share of resources, dressed up as something else.

Should we work on a collective reply? Anyone know who Rebecca Lucas is?

Or maybe I am being too harsh - would be interested in your reactions to it?

Ds currently in mainstream, ehcp due to be finalised v soon. Requested a special school la one, told its full already numerous times however they are going tomorrow from the special school to visit and view ds in his current ms school. I'm trying not to get my hopes up however any positive stories greatly appreciated!

The Guardian letter isn't unreasonable, I think. I can recognise her description of the situation.

I would strongly reject though that parents in a situation where they are being forced to fight over scraps bear any responsibility for that. We're only responsible for our own children.

Her last sentence reveals her politics.

If she had ever used a private school she would be aware that they in no way guarantee SEN support and generally charge extra for what support there is. When your child is in a private school, local authorities use that as an excuse to deny you support. Private schools are increasingly adding to their terms and conditions that they can ask you to remove your child if they have significant SEN/SEN you didn't tell them about.

And that's before you consider the safety valve the private schools with 1/3 or 1/2 on their roll with SEN provide. We've got a couple of those in our area.

It was the line, 'this often leads to an exaggeration of the child’s needs' that I took exception to.

Agreed, I dont recognise the exaggeration of needs bit at all, and it is offensive to give a sweeping statement that we're all just over-egging the pudding to ensure we get provision.
My little whirlwind has today been offered a place as a specialist unit attached to a mainstream school. Yesterday I had to collect him after lunch as he was apparently making 'unsafe choices' (he's a fizzy 4 year old) - this despite a full time SEN trained TA and 32.5 hours per week top rate funding from the local authority. EHCP being finalised in the next 3 weeks. No exaggeration required.
We have been so lucky that his behaviours are so disruptive, it means it's only taken 6 months to get the EHCP and specialist provision. He still doesn't have the SALT he's entitled to (been waiting over a year since the first pointless SALT meeting via Zoom which child did not engage with), nor have they assessed his sensory needs despite showing very significant sensory seeking behaviours witnessed by school, School Supprt Partnership, SEND caseworker and 2 x Ed Psychs.
It's so frustrating advocating for our children and being treated like we're just being sharp-elbowed and taking something away from other children (when I first raised the matter of EHCPs with the school I was told by head teacher that if my little boy was allocated an Ed psych appointment it was taking away from another child! - I dont consider it particularly sharp-elbowed to challenge that response).
At our local support group there are parents from every walk of life, all doing our best to support eachother, all advocating for our kids. I can assure you we're not all middle class mummies trying to get ahead (some of us are, and that's ok too of course).

Sorry. Rant over. I am so relieved my little guy is going to get a second chance at going to school. Keep fighting the good fight folks.

LA have officially conceded and will now assess needs (a day later than the tribunal deadline to respond but we will take that and keep notes). They will be in touch to allocate a SEND caseworker, does anyone know if there is an enforced time scale they now have to meet? does a little jig, hoiks up pants for next round

Hi all

LA have accepted my PAP and will give me a full response by 11th March!

School offer day tomorrow - eeek!

Will keep you all posted.

@RMNofTikTok yay! Great work.

I am also v nervous about secondary offer day.

@bendattheknees yes there is. I'll look it up for you tomorrow (unless @searchingforsolitude gets there first...)

@curcurlydiamond I like "fizzy". Hopefully he will de-carbonate a bit when he gets more used to them and vice versa.

@Bendattheknees if the LA is going to issue they must finalise within 14 weeks. If the LA is not going to issue they must inform you within 10 weeks.

@curlydiamond fingers crossed the LA finalise the EHCP to include the specialist unit ASAP. Unless yesterday was a formal suspension that was unlawful of the school. If SALT and OT aren’t in F when the EHCP is finalised you can appeal.

The sharp-elbowed parent (and let’s be honest more often than not they mean mothers) rhetoric is infuriating, but I can see how it gained traction. DC whose parents know the system, can advocate for their DC and enforce their rights get better support (nothing they aren’t entitled to though). It shouldn’t be like and fails the most vulnerable, but it isn’t going to change in the foreseeable future.

Sorry. Accidental post. Good luck!

That Guardian letter basically said that you get an EHCP and that child then gets a monopoly on the schools resources. I don’t think the writer understands what ‘monopoly’ means. In reality lot of parents get an EHCP and find that what’s been specified can’t be provided by the school at all for resources reasons.
The jab at private schools is completely misrepresenting the reality, I absolutely agree.

Today’s EHCP battle is awful but the families who make it through successfully aren’t taking something away from someone else, they’re getting their child’s needs met. Why do we have any provision for kids if we’re going to demonise the kids who access it? That’s exactly what the system is supposed to be for.

Those parents aren’t doing anything wrong. We need the system to be funded such that all families get their needs met. It’s a disgusting shift the blame trick that the Tories are pulling to blame parents for trying to get their kids’ disabilities supported in schools. That’s not a question of parents ‘taking advantage’.

The government are constantly taking advantage of kids with disabilities by shirking their legal responsibilities to support them. It’s so disheartening and stressful to read this active stigmatisation as a parent trying to get through this process. I’m writing this in the middle of the night because I can barely sleep because of the stress of my child’s unmet needs.

Yes! Its the 'shifting the blame' rhetoric that underlines the article and makes it unpalatable.

And it's repeated across a number of domains of society.

Government underfunds or neglects something. Tries to blame the victims!

What an unpleasant ideology it is.

I am so sorry that things are difficult @EHCPerhaps.

Also what @SearchingForSolitude said about mums.

I don't know how many hundreds of hours I've spent over the last 5 years emailing people, phoning people, filling in forms and having meetings to get our daughter's needs met (and frankly throwing loads of money at the problem). This is actively getting in the way of my progressing my career or earning more. I'm going to have to give up the charity trusteeship I have. I can't manage it as well as all this other "voluntary" work. I still get some pushback at work for being "part time" (teaching job takes me 40 hours a week before commute. 50 with commute).

I am mega lucky. I have time, money, education and lots of experience with annoying bureaucracy. I know right is on my side! But I read so many stories in the press where the mum has had to give up work (and so would I if we had EBSA of any duration). DH is supportive but passive. Happy for me to fill in forms. Doesn't really know a lot about the system.

SEN is a feminist issue on top of everything else apparently.

I’m new here. My DD has an ehcp but it was difficult to get. I sent off a formal complaint to my council and they are looking in to it but now I’m having second thoughts. Are there repercussions for complaining? DD is in an independent sn school which I fought very hard to get. Could my complaint impact her school? I complained because my council took too long to do things and also because I felt bullied by them. I mentioned all of this. Has anyone complained and it had a negative outcome?

I complained about the delay to EHCP assessment decision to the Director of Children's services at my LA and they were helpful.

I have got the distinct impression over the last 18 months that there's not much love lost between the SEN unit and the other bits of the LA.

I bet they get the most complaints after dustbins.