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!

Ah, but last time I "just got the certificate" they gave me the third degree over the phone.

It's clearly a general instruction LAs have been given: "make it harder".

You have to be a stuck record sometimes but the rules say you only have to consider mediation, not actively partake. And it is still quicker than mediation itself.

I know but they messed up the mediation certificate (can't even get that right) so I was able to put it forward to tribunal and have mediation.
So I had nothing to lose, and luckily I won.

Yes I know you don't have to partake in mediation as it's a waste of time.

Another delaying tactic

Hello, just saw this new thread.

Well shocker la have agreed to issue to my surprise and sent a draft EHCP this morning.

It is shockingly bad. Even says daughter's brother has ASD. My daughter does not have a brother. Nothing is specified at all and there are many omissions in her needs section. 15days doesn't seem long enough. I'm still waiting private ot and salt reports too :(

How disappointing @Mummytodo.

I don't know if we'll ever get a draft here but I have drafted my own to compare it to...

SENDIST misgendered my daughter in their first decision letter which did suggest a bit of cut and paste.

Hello hello, can I join? I have just gone in on the ECHNA request (also South East London @Phineyj but on the outer reaches, Borough starts with a 'B').

DD is year 5, has diagnoses of ASD and DCD/Dyspraxia. We relocated back to the UK last year- in her international school she got loads of support- basically a 121 sat with her to keep her on task and teachers with tons of SEN experience. She has a very woolly plan do review, none of which is being delivered, including the SALT she's supposed to have from the MAT SALT specialist.

School are vaguely supportive of applying, but her behaviour in school is extremely good (even if she does have to hide under the bedcovers for 2 hours after she gets home); her test scores are great (reading) bad (maths, which is a huge slide back, she was doing well until starting at this new school) and her written work is awful, in part due to the dyspraxia (reading age off the chart but still writes with a palmar grip and gets ds and bs the wrong way round). She's supposed to be supported to use assistive technology (ha ha ha). So massively underperforming against her potential.

She also has barely any functional verbal social communication; 90% of everything she says is scripted.

I do think most of this could be supported in school in the normal way of things with some additional OT and SALT- but they are not doing so and this is an attempt to force them to do it, along with planning for phase transfer next year. Is that 'enough'?

I'm sick of having conversations with school about what they're not doing, empty reassurances and meanwhile she just slides more and more under the radar. I am 95% sure they will refuse to assess at first on the basis that school have been crap, but that's not going to make the school do what they should be doing. Anyway, I am learning a lot from reading! Here for the ride.

@Macramepotholder welcome. Like the user name. My mum made a LOT of those in the 70s...

Your experience sounds beyond crap - I'm so sorry. Is it the MAT the one started by the carpet baron? And does the B Borough have a shopping centre named after a popular brand of air freshener?

Hmm maybe we should have a coffee!

DD is in year 6 of a private school (the one with the yellow back of bus adverts, if you're in the same area as me). She has had great support at school. It has cost us a pretty penny.

So council says her needs are met.

Well yes they are, council. No thanks to you!

@Macramepotholder request an EHCNA yourself. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use. Your description of needs sounds beyond what would typically be available in a mainstream. It is possible to get an EHCNA if the school could do more but won’t. If the LA refuse, appeal.

@Mummytodo the regs say at least 15 days so if you want longer you can ask for more time. You can also request a meeting, which sometimes delays things anyway. However, if you think you are going to have to appeal anyway don’t let the LA prolong the process.

Many years ago DS3’s first draft had 3 different names, 2 different ages, in places he became a she and a preschooler would have numbered it better.

Yes the very same, carpets MAT it is... We're actually very close to Lewisham & Southwark so am hoping to go out of Borough for secondary anyway. I'm going to see the senco at the school we both like and think we'll get into after half term so will ask her advice as well.

I feel for the SENCO tbh, he tries but covers 2 schools and attention invariably gets drawn to the children with big behaviour challenges.

On the other hand I still have teachers demanding she makes eye contact. So.

It sounds very typical they would be delighted you have been paying for it and declare not a problem. Pretty much their MO for everything.

@SearchingForSolitude yes we've requested it ourselves. As we have 2x diagnosis reports I don't see how they can say she doesn't meet part 1 of the test. One of them is from their own OT...

Sorry @Macramepotholder, I should stop trying to multitask, you clearly said you had already requested an EHCNA.

No worries at all!

@Phineyj it's disgusting how poor they are, first letter had a different name on. This draft says daughter has a brother who is also ASD. She doesn't.

@SearchingForSolitude I do think I will need to appeal I'm almost certain. The salt we saw said daughter could do with no academic stuff at all for atleast 6 months and full ot and salt during that time instead, I think it will take alot of support to help her

@Macramepotholder I worked for the carpet people for a year. It was an eye opener. Our two nearest secondaries are carpet ones.

I'm sending DD to my own school in Southwark. It's not perfect but the teachers are kind, the head is human and there are lots of DDs there.

Just give me the EHCP, B Borough and I will go away...

We’re possibly needing to move LAs in the next few months when it’s likely EHCNA will stilll be on a desk at our current local authority. Does anyone know happens in that situation? Would I have to start the whole thing from scratch again?

Sadly a new LA doesn't have to take on anything the old one agreed I don't think.

Please tell me you're not moving to Kent 😬.

Unless completely unavoidable it would be preferable to remain in the current LA until the EHCNA is complete.

If you move during the EHCNA, the new LA will decide whether to assess or not. They should take into account the old LA decided to assess and any information already gathered should be used. SENCOP 9.162 covers it.

If you move with a finalised EHCP the new LA becomes responsible for it and must provide the provision in it after transfer, including paying the fees of the school in I if attending the same school is still feasible. However, the new LA will review the EHCP. And they may reassess, amend or even cease to maintain. All the timescales are in Reg 15 of the SEN Regs 2014.

Thank you very much Searching and Phiney
By completed ECHNA presumably you mean as in that the LA have formally agreed to assess?
Not Kent!

It means that the assessments have been completed - not that they've agreed to assess. Our LA "agreed to assess" (because SENDIST ordered them to) in mid April last year but the actual assessments weren't completed until August.

@EHCPerhaps I mean until an EHCP has been finalised or the LA has refused to issue. If the LA hasn’t even agreed to assess yet they aren’t undertaking an EHCNA yet. I have read back and you have not long since requested an EHCNA and are waiting to hear if the LA will assess or not? In that case, if possible, I would move ASAP or wait until the process is complete (i.e. you have a finalised EHCP or a refusal to issue).

Thanks, I don’t have very much control over the timing unfortunately but this is really helpful to know.

What is wrong with Kent?

Kent are notoriously crap with SEN.