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!

@curlydiamond good luck with the visit. I hope the LA name your preferred placement. Just so you know, unless wholly independent, you don’t need the placement to agree they can meet need, they can be named even if they object and must be named unless the LA can prove one of the exceptions but they might force an appeal.

Hi, my yr 7 lo has an EHCP but I spent the last 12 months waiting for tribunal for section I- naming of type of placement as we need specialist but LA offered mainstream.
lo vomiting daily at mainstream so not been in this year.
tribunal refused, specialist we wanted saw lo is too able.
no options left
still applying for specialist but feel la will refuse
secondary have tried lots to support child but is too big, chaotic, not ASD specialists.

not sure next steps, we held school off until tribunal (they want lo in, he can’t go in) I’m not putting up with sencos social stories to help him in! They won’t stop him vomiting with anxiety!

@Ilovethewild if the tribunal was recently, you could get someone to look over the decision to check there isn’t an error of law. If not, you could gather more evidence and appeal again when you next have the right of appeal. Did you appeal B&F as well as I?

Hi, only appealed I, just exhausted with the fight. Working, fighting, child not in school, it’s so hard.

just needed a break from the fight..
just need child in right environment to learn

it shouldn’t be so tough, schools are no longer meeting so many childrens needs by being so strict/ so big/ so results driven…
saddened by it all
see no option other than homeschooling

If you do appeal again you should appeal B&F as well as I because they will be written in a way that supports the MS placement the LA named in I. Did you have any independent reports?

Personally. I wouldn’t EHE. Parents often find it easier, although not easy by any stretch of the imagination, to get support when remaining in the system. If you EHE the LA is likely to say you are making suitable alternative arrangements thereby relieving them of their duty to provide the provision in the EHCP. If DC can’t attend I would use it as an exercise in gathering evidence e.g. putting things in writing so there is a paper trail, ensure the absences are coded as I, etc. with the view to appealing again.

Could your LO be supported in mainstream in 1:1?

This is what I am currently contemplating as DD11 is in year 6, needs a lot of support but when I look at specialist provision none of them offer GCSE's?!? She's very able academically!

May I join? DD11 in y7 has recent dx anxiety, ASD, SPD, ADHD, visual stress. No specific dx for PDA traits because EP said it’s a normal part of autism but these are a big part of daily challenges. No EHCP in primary despite on and off EBSA, they said she was just very anxious.

No behaviour problems (terrified of being told off at school), does averagely academically by heavily compensating and masking. She’s bright. Teachers can’t believe it when I describe the meltdowns before and after school. Start of secondary has been a disaster. Absent with EBSA after first few very difficult weeks. Won’t do school work set for her to do at home.

Her school has shown me draft EHCNA. Even with additional funding they say they can’t meet her needs there. They state she is struggling to be in MS. True. DD says she will never return to a classroom and wants tutors to help her concentrate (so, not to go to online school). I think she might return one day to a classroom IRL or online when she’s older and able to specialise her subjects and maybe values peer friendships more. For now I just want her to have some form of education with adults helping her feel secure enough to learn.

Has anyone had any success asking school to fund tutoring for a short period to test that, with LA taking over the funding via EHCP if tutoring is successful? What should I be asking school to add to EHCNA to try to get this outcome? How likely is school to go along with this, I imagine it’s very unlikely they would want to do this?

@EHCPerhaps under s.19 of the Education Act 1996, the LA has a statutory duty to ensure compulsory school aged DC unable to attend school full time receive a suitable, full-time education. This is separate to the EHCP process. The LA may well try to tell you it is the school’s responsibility, but legally the duty to ensure such provision is received lies with the LA. Email the Director of Children’s Services requesting provision - IPSEA has a model letter you can use. If they ignore, refuse or delay email again threatening judicial review. Then, if that fails, you need a pre-action letter - SOSSEN can help with this.

Ensure an EHCNA is requested ASAP. You can do it yourself. Make sure all DD's needs are included, including stating school is inappropriate for DD's needs.

With an EHCP, if it is inappropriate for the provision to be provided in a school, you can look at an EOTAS package via the EHCP. Many have to appeal for EOTAS, but it is more than possible. The number of DC with EOTAS is growing rapidly. EOTAS packages are completely bespoke to the individual. DS1 has an extensive EOTAS package that, among other things, includes home tuition.

@EHCPerhaps sounds v difficult.

School won't do that (who would they send?) but as pp says, maybe the LA can.

My daughter is PDA and when she's comfortable, with people she likes and her needs are met, she's not all that demand avoidant.

I think if you focus on getting her better that's the main thing.

She said to help her to concentrate. Do you think she may have ADHD as well?

I'm in a PDA Facebook group for my area and some of the mums do meetups for the kids out of school. Do you think she'd be up for something like that?

Thank you both so much for replying, it really means a lot.

searchingforsolitude Right so I will go straight to LA to ask them to fund an independent tutor company ASAP. Thank you so much for this really helpful advice. I’m really confused why school have never suggested I do this. They just told me they were out of all options if she wouldn’t come in or go to the SEN unit in a massive MS secondary which I already know wouldn’t suit her at all.

Should I ask school to mention/recommend the tutoring as being likely to suit DD, in the draft EHCNA? Or does LA not care what school think?

I was assuming it is better to stick with the EHCNA draft put together by the school rather than do my own, is that right? Given draft is saying as a MS school that they can’t meet DD needs and she struggles in MS, which is true. Is it better to do my own EHCNA though?

Phineyj yes my DD has ADHD. her PDA aspects sound very similar to your DD. It’s amazing the difference when she’s calm. Or over the long summer holidays!

School have to input to the ECHNA anyway so I'd start drafting it yourself. You know your DD best.

I don't know what system your LA have? We had a portal thing.

IPSEA have a guide on their website for what to put.

Requesting an EHCNA yourself (IPSEA has a model letter you can use) means it is submitted ASAP with all the relevant information. If the school is going to request an EHCNA now, fine, but the problem is often when schools say they will request an EHCNA it will be done at a random point in the future weeks, months or even terms away. The EHCNA request should mention DD is unable to attend school and requires s.19 provision.

Yes, request s.19 provision from the LA. For a multitude of reasons, it isn’t uncommon for schools not to mention it, sadly. Section 19 provision comes in many forms e.g. home or online tuition, online school, 1:1 or small group tuition at a tuition centre/unit/in the community/at a PRU, hospital school, an AP such as a care farm/forest school/outward bounds centre… It depends on what is suitable for DD and what is available locally, but it must be a suitable, full-time education (except in the small minority of cases where full-time education in any form (the scope of what is considered educational is far wider than traditional academic learning) isn’t in their best interests).

@Phineyj - have been thinking about Private Eye etc. I think what we also need is a SEND pledge for SEND parents and their supporters to use with all prospective parliamentary candidates, which is produced, or at least sponored by charities/high profile disability campaigners. Would draw on IPSEA's SEND reform principles. We'd keep a map showing who'd signed up.

That would be brilliant cafeTabac and an important opportunity for candidates and sitting MPs to be in touch with and understand needs of local children with SEND, allow families to air local issues to them, and disprove that disgusting line that has been put about recently by Tories that LAs are being bankrupted by expensive SEND packages

This is a good starting point to send to any candidate or sitting MP
https://www.ipsea.org.uk/blog/when-childrens-rights-become-demands-and-parents-get-the-blame

Morning all. Got a moving forward meeting tomorrow. 5 yo in ms school y1 asd. Echna accepted awaiting draft though draft to be discussed in meeting. We want specialist provision and know which one we want, have made this clear though oversubscribed. Any tips or advice from anyone how's been through similar would be most helpful! What to expect how to respond?! Thanks

Hi I'm new to this thread.

I completed the request for EHC needs assessment in December and had the refusal to assess in January, I started on the appeal but found it hard to fit in with work and home life so I have contacted a solicitor who said I may be eligible for legal aid.

Does anyone know the savings threshold for LA? I haven't got massive amount just £1000 which is for a holiday that's booked. Does anyone know if this will affect my LA application?

TIA

@Theoneandonlyjrae you can see the rules for legal help here.

@246810k take minutes and follow up with an email so you have a paper trail as evidence. If you have someone else that can attend with you to take minutes it can help.

Make a list of anything you want to say or ask. It can help to have a list (or highlighted reports) of the needs and provision that need to be included and the evidence to support that. Look out for the LA watering down provison from reports. LAs often try to put SALT/OT in G when they should be in F. If they try this you should challenge them. Same if they say your preferred school won’t be named because it is oversubscribed. Unless the school is wholly independent being full is not enough of a reason on its own to refuse to name it. The LA has to prove it is so full placing DS there is incompatible which is a higher bar than LAs would have you believe.

@Theoneandonlyjrae I don't think you need a solicitor for a refuse to assess appeal. Ipsea has guidelines on their site and I could share what I wrote if you like? It took me a day to draft it and a day to edit it.

The reality was not as bad as I thought.

I've now done a refuse to issue appeal too and while it was a bit more demanding, it was perfectly do-able for anyone who writes reports at work.

Alternatively, you could engage someone like Ken at Talking SENse. Much cheaper!

I will have a look at the guidelines thank you for that. If you don't mind that would be great, any help is appreciated!

No you don't technically need a solicitor for a refusal to assess appeal (they can't represent you in any case), but I've also asked for legal help appealing because I can't for the life of me get my head round what to write on the SEND35 form.

If you are eligible for support via legal help the big benefit of going down that route even if you could manage the paperwork yourself is the assessments it can fund.

I'm the same. I spent a ridiculous amount of hours on a request that I knew was going to be refused.

Yes this is exactly what I've done. I can prepare the statements and bundles myself, but I would not be able to afford the private assessments at a drop of a hat. Legal help is incredibly beneficial for that!

Dear parents,

I am reaching out for advice regarding my four-year-old son who has autism. In November 2023, he started attending an independent SEN school after tribunal and it was named in his EHCP. The school also did an assessment to determine his suitability before they accepted him. However, my son has been experiencing severe issues with his tonsils and adenoids since birth, causing him difficulty in breathing and constant pain. Towards the end of November and the beginning of December last year, he began exhibiting behavioral problems such as throwing himself on the floor and hitting his head with his fist. It is important to note that he is non-verbal so this was a way to communicate his pain.

During this time, the school informed me that due to his behavioral challenges and self-harming tendencies, they required two staff members to supervise him. They also mentioned that they would initiate an emergency annual review to request additional funding from the Local Authority to support this. However, during the Christmas holidays, my son underwent surgery to remove his adenoids and tonsils, and there has been a significant improvement in his behavior. He now rarely displays self-harming behaviors or any other problematic actions. Despite this improvement, the school is still insisting on proceeding with the emergency annual review and asking for extra staff members for this four year old child.

I am becoming increasingly concerned about the outcome of this review. I strongly believe that the Local Authority will not grant the request for additional staffing because, quite frankly, my son doesn’t requires a 1:2 ratio. I fear that the school is using this as an excuse to claim that they are unable to accommodate my son and to get rid of us. This is causing me to panic, especially considering the fact that I had to go through a tribunal process to secure his placement at this school, and we have only been there for a short period of time.

I would greatly appreciate any advice or guidance you could provide me with in this situation. I am unsure of the best course of action and would like to avoid going through the process of finding a new school if possible. There is also no way the school to justify that.

Thank you very much for your assistance.

Best regards,