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!

I do love a good list

Me too, @QuickFetchTheCoffee.

During an EHCNA the LA must seek advice and information from:
a) the child’s parent or the young person;
b) educational advice (usually from the head teacher or principal);
c) medical advice and information from a health care professional;
d) psychological advice and information from an educational psychologist;
e) advice and information in relation to social care;
f) advice and information from any other person the local authority thinks appropriate;
g) where the child or young person is in or beyond year 9, advice and information in relation to provision to assist the child or young person in preparation for adulthood and independent living; and
h) advice and information from any person the child’s parent or young person reasonably requests that the local authority seek advice from.

It is best practice for this to be a comprehensive assessment, but the legislation does not require this, only that they seek advice and information.

@SearchingForSolitude Thank you so much for your reply, yes it's the EP assessment.
He's at pre-school and every agency that can be involved is or was (be referred) so OT, speech, physio, SALT, paediatrics care coordinator etc they have all been asked to do reports for the EHCP

I will start making notes now based on time lines time frames etc what we have tried what hasn't worked what has.
I'm very greatful thank you

Ok sorry if I'm being thick @SearchingForSolitude but does this mean they will just ask for advice from EP, but EP may not ever actually speak to DD before issuing advice?

@QuickFetchTheCoffee unfortunately, it isn’t unheard of for EPs to not speak to the child or young person during the process. That isn’t best practice (is very poor IMO), but it can satisfy the seek advice and information required in law.

@SearchingForSolitude
Thanks for replying. Not what I wanted to hear but I did suspect as much.

After a lot of back and forth and missed panel dates due to 'clerical errors', our case worker at the LA told me over the phone that they've agreed to issue for both of my children and the draft Plans will be sent out at the end of this week. I still don't have anything in writing, so I feel like I'll believe it when the drafts actually land in my inbox!

The case worker did ask me to let them know which schools we want them to consult, so I guess that's a promising sign!

Well done @SpaceInvader321!

I just wanted to share my news, I had my draft checked by an advocate who advised me that draft was perfect for Sen provision lots of 1:1 in there and lots of OT to a level that simply wouldn't be able to be provided by a mainstream school.

On the same day I also received response to my stage 2 complaint which comprises of failure to meet timelines, unspecified ep report, failure to seek ot advice and the resolution I requested was to be reimbursed for my private ot report and finalisation with the requested amendments. The la have upheld all parts of the complaint and will be reimbursing me the cost of OT. I am over the moon every single person including professionals and the advocate told me I would not be reimbursed nor would the complaint be upheld. Every single person was wrong.

Keep fighting.

I am over the moon now to find a Sen school

Congrats, @Mummytodo. That's great news.

I was told by our HT and others that there was no way DS would get an EHCP. They were all wrong.

We need to keep persevering and follow our instincts rather than listen to the 'professionals'.

I'm so pleased things have moved forward for some of you.
Such a shame that some EPs are not engaging with pupils though.
There input is the most valuable in an EHCP so really does not make any sense for them not to know personally the person whom there advocate for or writting very important information about.

My oldest dd now has her EHCP which is great, she has no dx (although we all think she has ASD but the paediatricians refuse to except refferal).
You can guess what her primary need is on her EHCP communication 🙄.
She is leaving school this year and is starting a specialist in sep.
They will be picking and dropping her of (a major problem for her).
All 1 to 1 to start of with and will be doing 1 to 1 horse care which she is beaming about (I haven't seen her this happy for a long time).

The school have pulled her out of GCSEs as there is no way she will do it and she will fail as not been in lessons for years.
Tbf the school have been amazing and I know we have been very lucky.

@SpaceInvader321 sovely news. If you haven’t already, follow up with an email to create a paper trail.

@Mummytodo good news for you too. It is very rare for an initial draft to not need any amendments.

Great news! @SpaceInvader321 and @Mummytodo

Congratulations @Mummytodo!

Great news for you both!

Well done for complaining @Mummytodo. You’ve had a great outcome😆

Thank you all I'm super surprised but I do write tactfully horrible emails so maybe they just wanted to get rid of me lol

@SpaceInvader321 @Mummytodo great news, well done!

@Mummytodo just wondering, were the stage 1 and 2 complaints made via email? At what stage/how many weeks into the process did you make the stage 1 complaint? I may find myself in a similar position in the near future.

Thanks everyone :)

@Ponche i made stage 1 complaint the day after they were late on decision to assess, they then refused to assess within the hour of the complaint being sent. So I had to appeal to tribunal. They conceded before tribunal date in Nov.

They didn't actually get back to me on 1st complaint despite me chasing.

They started the assessment process, I was not happy that ep did not contact me prior to remote assessment at school and at the same time requested or assessment but again they ignored me. so I logged another complaint. I then received the ep report which was really poor of course so asked for amendments and added to the 2nd complaint. I then received the draft, and after the draft received a new EP report which was not included in the draft. They had also by then gone over the total 20 weeks. So of course I chased the 1st complaint then the second complaint after a week of no response I asked them to escalate the complaint to stage 2 for both complaints and wrote a clear timeline of events, highlighted failings in regards professional standards, missed timelines, lack of response to OT and quoted the law. also wrote to the head of educational psychology at the la and head of children's services.

I did the initial parts of the complaints both by letter and via email but followed up with email

@Mummytodo thank you so much for explaining everything. Sounds like a complete nightmare but it’s great you persevered and eventually got the outcome you and your DC deserved.

Thanks, everyone.

Hats off, @Mummytodo for your tenacity. I'm exhausted just reading what you went through.

When do I need to tell the LA which schools we want to consult? They've said they need to know asap so they can send them the draft EHCP when they send it to me (ie, tomorrow). Is this true or can I see the draft first, in case there are any glaring errors?

Do I need to indicate my preference already or can I do that at the end of the consultation period?

@Ponche I would advise to use the IPSEA site it's very helpful and as horrible as it is keep getting on at them.

@SpaceInvader321 I'm not sure on this can only advise on my situation however they gave me a form to fill in and send back when I received the initial draft. What I did was amended draft asked them to put in the amendments and filled in the form

@SpaceInvader321 when you receive the draft you will get at least 15 days to comment on the draft and state your preferred school. Consultations should go out after you have been given the opportunity to comment on the draft.

@Mummytodo They seem to want to send the draft plan out to schools before I see it. I'm just imaging the problems that could potentially cause if it's not written well. I just went through the LA's EP report and the provision in it is very woolly compared to the private one we had done.

@SearchingForSolitude Hmmm, is there something I should quote to the LA so that they don't start consulting straight away? We are sure of two schools we want them to consult, but we're looking into some other options as well, so haven't finalised the list yet.

I've contacted some schools and heard nothing back. I know some of them have a lot of SEN kids and EHCPs, so I suspect they hope I'll go away if they don't reply.

@SpaceInvader321 you don’t have to state more than one school. There’s nothing explicitly in legislation stating the LA can’t consult earlier, but they should give you opportunity to make representations about the draft and state your preferred placement beforehand. If the LA chase you for preferences, I would reply you will provide them with your preference by the end of the period of time given to you to make representations about the draft (which must be at least 15 days as per SEN Reg 13).

I just have some questions around complaining/threatening legal action re LA refusing/ignoring requests for OT input.

If the LA eventually concede and agree to request advice/assessment from OT, and then I later send them my private OT report- can they turn around and say the private assessment was done too close together to the LA one and ignore the private report altogether? I doubt the LA assessment (if it happens at all) will take place before the private assessment.

If I complain that the private report is ignored (or if the LA report is favoured over private), can they say well you pushed for the LA to seek advice from OT and now they've done that so why are you unhappy they're using that advice?

Is it better for me to not raise any complaints yet, but keep record of my emails that are being ignored and wait for the private report to be issued. And then raise a complaint that my requests for OT input were ignored repeatedly but the LA were happy to take into account my private report.

My private OT assessment was arranged before I made the requests for LA OT input, so not sure if I stand a chance of being reimbursed. But also it's not just about reimbursement, it's the principle.

The LA deadline for assessments/reports is 17th May, but the private report won't be ready until 7-10 days after this as the assessment is on 13th May. I doubt the LA will stick to this deadline (due to the EP shortages), but if they do and if I choose to wait until after the private assessment to make a complaint, I risk there being no OT input during the EHCNA at all, whether private or LA.

If the LA agree to OT assessment and this takes place in nursery, I worry this may be favoured over the private assessment that will be taking place in clinic. I just worry that I may push for an LA assessment/report, but if it's weak and inadequate but still favoured whats the point?!

I'm confused as I feel like in theory I know what I need to do in terms of following the LA complaints process/threatening legal action, but not sure what this means for me in practice. Hope that all makes sense.