EHCP support thread no. 3

[Phineyj]

A new thread for when no. 2 is full up.
Link to thread no. 1: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/4834986-ehcp-support-thread
Link to thread no. 2:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/special_educational_needs/4989146-ehcp-support-thread-no-2

I am the mum of an 11 year old girl with SEN and have spent the last 20 months battling for my local authority to issue an EHCP to support her transition from primary to secondary school. We are currently after draft stage after two tribunals. I've had so much useful advice and moral support from posters on here.

This new thread is here to help everyone, whether you're just starting out or are a battle-hardened veteran of years of this.

There is no such thing as a stupid question and there are many acronyms and technical terms so please ask for an explanation of anything that you don't understand.

SEN: special educational needs (sometimes SEND: special educational needs and disability)
SENCO: teacher at school charged with overall responsibility for students on roll with SEN
ECHNA: education care and health needs assessment - the process of a local authority commissioning reports to find out a child's needs
EHCP: the education care and health plan that details a child's needs and the agreed provision to meet them; a legally binding document
SENDIST: the special educational needs and disability tribunal - an independent appeal panel which considers parental appeals against Education Authority decisions about special educational needs.

We had Tribunal online this afternoon and the LA have agreed to all points in our favour. The Judge has issued a consent order.

The judge and panel were excellent at allowing all to have appropriate air time but also good at directing proceedings where school and LA tried to derail about school not being able to make provision.

The judge pointed them to the fact (more than once) that we were there only to look at B and F and what was reasonably required.

DH and I had made a list of arguments/counter arguments and took it in turns to challenge or make points.

What next? Should the LA issue a final within 5 weeks of today's hearing?

Thanks for all your support everyone. There will be more to come but we feel that justice won the day today for DS against an LA trying to sneakily reduce SEND provision. We actually ended up with more than we went in with.

Happy to answer any questions on our experience if anyone has one coming up and would like to know roughly what to expect.

The LA was woefully unprepared. I almost felt sorry for their representative but then they took the job and must know they are LA flying monkeys saving the £ but in truth passing the cost to our children in loss of/lack of proper provision.

Not a job anyone with an ounce of moral scruple would choose.

Thanks @Bendattheknees and @UnendingSaga for your messages of support.

To all of you struggling with the system, good wishes for your campaigns on behalf of your DC. It's hard work.

Heartfelt thanks @BrumToTheRescue for believing we could do it.

We proved you right!

That's excellent news @Alltheyearround, you must feel a huge sense of relief.

Brilliant news.

Well done for ignoring the LA’s nonsense over the last few weeks.

Yes, the LA has 5 weeks to finalise unless the consent order agreed otherwise.

Well done @Alltheyearround

I certainly am glad it's over @UnendingSaga , but I'd do it again if I had to...with a bit of time to recover from round 1 : )

I am sure it won't be the last time. Glad to have gained the experience of how it all works. Felt like we were able to advocate for DS, even though the LA had pretty much made sure the specialist couldn't be there (by trying to reduce a long established provision more or less at the last minute, they'd actually conceded the original grounds of the appeal).

I'll be aware of that tactic next time round.

It was good to get stuff sorted as been going round in circles with school for ages. Now it will be very clear.

Thanks @Wednesdayy123

Well done @Alltheyearround , well done, really good to hear your thoughts on the process.

Fantastic news! Well done
I’ve just submitted an appeal so it’s really encouraging to hear positive outcomes like this.
Can I ask, were current school there making arguments to reduce provision?

Post-appeal and amended EHCP, most of the provision is still not in place and school are shrugging shoulders. Letter sent to DCS on non-compliance. This really is the gift that keeps on giving...

Yes, the head of the unit was there. Saying as he had won a race at sports day his motor skills seem fine to her. The OT with 20 years of experience and a 5 page report would beg to differ.

School and the LA only brought opinions not evidence.

We were well prepared for any arguments. We have heard them before.

I'm sure this will be us in Sept. Happy to send pre action protocol to LA.
I am done with meetings and emails and doing things amicably. It goes in one ear and out the other with the head teacher.

I guess school know they’ll now have to fight the LA for extra funding to provide additional provision. 🙄

I'm so upset. DS is starting school in September he's non verbal, in nappies and has the social, emotional social cognitive development of child much younger (currently in the 8-20 month bracket).
Nursery applied for an EHCP for starting school, included all his SEN plans, mind map, letters from Seco from LA, letters from paediatric doctor. Got rejected. Applied for mediation which is supposed to be in 2 weeks. Yesterday lady from the LA phoned and said she was strongly against mediation as we haven't provided any new information and she will not overturn the decision based on current evidence. I felt bullied in to agreeing to cancel mediation but I wish I hadn't. Are they even allowed to contact me!
I don't know what more they want. School have met DS, his settles did not go well and head teacher has said off the record they won't be able to teach him but will keep him safe. We had exactly the same response from another school.
Am I just supposed to shove him in to class of 30 and hope for the best (it will be 15 for the first few weeks). Obviously I have told school I am able to pick up early if needed.
Meeting with the head and Senco next week.
Sorry for the huge essay but I just wanted to let out how I'm feeling to people who understand
I'm exhausted too. Not slept properly since January.

Are you going to tribunal @Crystallizedring. If this was a refusal to assess, the vast majority of refusals are overturned at tribunal, or before even because local authorities give in before they lose. The threshold for conducting a needs assessment is incredibly low. Local authorities try and say you need x, y and z before they'll agree but that is not at all what the law says.

If you can get your mediation certificate just file your appeal paperwork. It's really shit you're having to go through this but don't let the LA make you think this is a hopeless case. They try to put parents off to save their budgets, it's disgusting.

I'm awfully sorry to hear this @Crystallizedring.

Please apply for tribunal. It doesn't cost anything and there is a step by step worksheet on the IPSEA website. Parents nearly always win. We will help support you on here.

It is a shocker to find out that the LA is not on your side and will even lie to you, but it is what it is.

Keep a note of every time you are asked to pick up early and ask for the exclusion paperwork each time (although I'm not sure about the rules on that when child is below compulsory school age - when's he turn 5?)

@Crystallizedring so sorry to hear you and DS are being put through this. LA make bad decisions over and over, it’s why they loose 98% of tribunals. A solicitor I recently spoke to
said it’s because they face no penalty at all for making the wrong decision, yet save a fortune in special school fees while parents appeal.

Get your mediation certificate and start the appeals process. I would also advise getting EP and OT reports as even when you eventually get an EHCP the recommendations from these will be what secures a special school placement.

I Was also recently told that LA won’t meditate with me on placement. So fed up with dealing with them anyway, accepted now that I need to let the legal system overrule LA to get an appropriate school placement .

Good Luck

Its not additional, we were just defending current provision. However we came out with another 45 mins over 2 weeks.

School have been saying for ages they can't afford to provide (even though it was all in the EHCP when they were consulted by LA.

I think they thought they could just get away with not doing it.

Y7 there was no planned provision for motor skills at all. We ended up doing it at home).

LA said to them to ask for more £ from panel. TBH that is for them to sort. I have many problems and that's not one of mine. 3 years in, my sympathy for school/the head has run out. They have tried to gaslight their way out of provision (by claiming it is not needed), as have the LA. If people had been truthful I could have had some respect. School and the LA had burnt bridges we had strived hard to build. I have bugger all patience left.

Now it's just tough, they need to get on with it in line with the law.

@PeaHen99 same with loss of provision too. Our LA got away with providing no direct speech therapy since Feb 2023. We have won now, but 18 months of not paying is a bonus to their bank account by thousands of pounds.

Luckily we managed to sort out on line provision via NHS specialists who wrote the reports but we had to take time to do this at home within working hours for 2 hours plus 40 min round trip to school as he usually gets transport.

DH has been losing £60 a week at minimum as he is self employed. I changed my working hours to accomodate it.

@Crystallizedring, welcome if you're new on here.

Just on the very brief description you have provided, it sounds like you need a specialist setting. No mainstream is going to be able to educate your DS effectively, in all honestly. Let's go one step at a time though.

Do you get DLA? This can help with paying for reports.

What reports do you have so far? and how recent?

Can you get what the head said in writing? Always get everything in writing. If they are reluctant, you can record conversations by emailing the day they happen or day after - e.g. 'Dear Mr Head, thank you for your very honest conversation today about how you felt that school x can't meet DS's needs, but felt you could keep him safe even though you can't provide him with a suitable education for his extensive set of needs'.

TBH I am surprised the school said they could meet needs when the LA consulted. Sometimes they are pressured to do so by the LA (more money saving).

Even without mediation you can still appeal. Do you know the timescale you need to appeal within? If that has run out you can raise a new ask to appeal but I have a feeling you may need to wait 6 months before re starting the process.

We will help you. You are not on your own. There is loads of knowledge here, and also we get it. The sleepless nights, the looking after a well loved child with high needs, plus trying to assert their rights.

It seems like a mountain but step by step you can get there (with us on your team). Your DS is entitled to a suitable education, not just being kept safe.

@Crystallizedring get the certificate and submit an appeal to SENDIST.

You can choose to send DS part time until he is compulsory school age or not at all until he is compulsory school age or the beginning of the summer term of reception whichever is first, but the school should not call and ask you to pick him up because they can’t meet DS’s needs. That would be an unlawful, informal exclusion. The school being unable to meet DS’s needs will add evidence.

Personally, if this is a refusal to assess appeal, I wouldn’t seek independent assessments now. It sounds like you have/can get enough evidence to get over the low threshold for an EHCNA without independent assessments and if you have to appeal further down the line you risk the reports being considered out of date. Save your money in case you have to appeal further down the line.

The school will be able to apply for high needs top up funding.

Hi all, hope everyone is doing ok, or at least making some limited progress.

I need to submit the Case Review Form this week for a refusal to assess appeal. The guidance on the letter says this should include my 'final written submission'. But- I submitted everything at the initial stage, including a very detailed letter. I'm assuming that I don't need to add anything else? The only additional paperwork I would have now is a very cursory end of year report. I'm saving the independent assessments for later and have provisionally booked in slots for these just after the appeal date (October).

And if it's being heard on the papers I don't need to name witnesses? (it would be the SENCO who's also done a detailed letter already).

Honestly the LA response to the appeal is awful, just repeating the same unlawful reasoning. It's so obvious they are just delaying.

Thanks :)

@Macramepotholder use the final written submission to summarise the key points/evidence of your case. You don’t need to complete the witnesses section for a paper hearing.

Thanks for this, @BrumToTheRescue . I think sections B&F are pretty well detailed, specified and quantified but we've registered an appeal and I've flagged some things that I think could be improved. I'm also going to try to get the EHCPs looked at by someone (a solicitor? a SEN advocate? SOSSEN?) to make sure.

In the meantime, our SENCo has asked the LA to increase the funding but the LA has refused, saying to ask again after 'two cycles'.

I know that the LA is legally obligated to ensure the provision is delivered and to fund it. So what happens when they refuse to increase funding? Eg, one of our EHCPs says DC1 gets 20 hours a week (including some 1:1 mentoring, small group social communication work, precision teaching, etc), but the funding is the lowest level and doesn't cover the actual costs, which the SENCo has detailed for the LA. When the school responded to the consultation, they said they could meet needs 'provided that the LA fully funded the EHCP' and the LA named them on the Plan.

Can SENDIST order an increase in funding when they hear the appeal? If not, who can? Do we threaten JR? (TBH, I'm not clear on what JR is and how it works.) Or is the school meant to fight that battle? As with everything, I feel like nothing will happen unless I push for it.

@SpaceInvader321 if provision detailed, specified and quantified in F isn’t provided, including because the school claim not to have the funding, you can enforce it, including via JR if necessary. Judicial review is a legal process. Don’t worry about that at the moment, focus on getting the EHCP watertight.

one of our EHCPs says DC1 gets 20 hours a week (including some 1:1 mentoring, small group social communication work, precision teaching, etc),

However, ^^ this would need to be more detailed, specified and quantified to be enforceable. I appreciate you may have paraphrased but this is pretty woolly.

Hope it's okay for me to jump on. I'm just reading alllllllll the posts on the previous two threads (only on page 8 of thread 1 at the moment so in it for the long haul!) in an effort to learn as much as I can.

On page 8, someone said:

"I do think the council want parents to crack up. I heard not sure if it’s true a panel allocates 6 minutes per child and they haven’t even read the full documents of the child. It’s just bonkers. It’s just a delay tactic to save cash - the longer it runs the more cash they save."

Does anyone know if that's true, where this information is from, and how I can find out how long the LA spent on my son's case (before deciding to refuse to issue)? I'm sure they've read nothing except the EP report...

Thanks.

Thanks all, I have mostly read through these threads and it has made the process so much clearer, I would not be where I am now if I hadn't read these wise words! 2 appeals underway. One dc has a visit from ss tomorrow (specialist was agreed last week). Other dc- most changes agreed in working document so far. We are still a way off but far closer.. feeling a bit emotional has been a long day.