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.

@MairOldAlibi most refusal to assess appeals are heard on the papers and are taking around 5-6 months.

We didn't need a tribunal in the end but we went to mediation and that was really quick, less than a month if I remember rightly.

Sorry if a bit off-topic.

Do I need to provide my son’s national insurance number in the DLA application? He is 4 and first claim for DLA. Is it easy to get the “Child Reference” number?

Can I leave it blank?

@Coatsy If you have claimed DLA before, it is the reference on the letters. If it is a first claim and you claimed child benefit after 23/2/21, it is the reference on the CB letters. If it is a first claim and you claimed child benefit before 23/2/21, you can call CB for it. If you don’t claim CB, you are unsure or you are struggling to find the CRN/NINO, leave that question blank.

Thank you

LA have conceded EHCNA appeal following our meeting. Am I right in thinking they have 10 wks from date of conceding if they are not going to issue or 14 wks of they are going to issue? Get the feeling I am going to need to keep on top of this, particularly as they won't be able to do much until schools are back.

@handmademitlove If the LA is not going to issue, they have 10 weeks from the date they notified SENDIST they don’t oppose the appeal (if before their response) or from the date of consent order (if after their response) to inform you. If they are going to issue, they have 14 weeks to finalise. There is an exception if it is impractical for the LA to adhere to these times because you/DD are out of the LA for 2+ weeks or exceptional circumstances affect you/DD during the time, or the LA requests advice from the setting when they are closed for 4+ weeks (starting 1 week before they close, ends 1 week before they reopen). However, they must still comply as soon as is practicable.

So in reality the clock won't start until term starts in September? I guess that will add a few weeks on.

The clock starts from the notice date/date of the Order. The exceptions are only if it is impracticable to stick to the deadlines for one of the given reasons. It isn’t a blanket exception.

Hi everybody,

I've been lurking for a while now, my DS about to be 5 this week has suspected Autism and ADHD.
I have been successful in my son being awarded an EHCP and I am currently going through the joys of going through the draft and also awaiting a decision on whether DS attends a mainstream or specialist provision. For context I tried to settle him into a mainstream school earlier in the summer and by week 2 my DS lashed out and hit a teacher in the face and the school did a complete U Turn even though they had all the paperwork, conversations and understanding of his behaviour. So I have deeply expressed my desire for him to attend a specialised school.
I have a couple of questions that regards the EHCP, Has anyone been in a similar position and successfully managed to secure a specialist place after trying mainstream? I am aware that to secure a place in a specialised school is very difficult and in the pit of my stomach I feel they will try push for him to go back to the same school under the guise that he now has an EHCP and the school must adhere to current guidelines.
Any advice would be much appreciated x

@OnlyHope33 when the LA finalises, if they do not name your preferred school, you should appeal.

Do you have a particular SS in mind? Is it wholly independent?

With the draft, go through all the reports with highlighters. Highlight all DS’s special educational needs in one colour and all the provision to meet the needs in another colour. Each need should have corresponding provision.

Then go through the draft and make sure all the highlighted needs are in B and the highlighted provision is in F. Make a note of anything the LA has omitted from the draft, any needs without corresponding provision, any woolly and vague wording, and anything the reports have failed to include.

Everything in F needs to be detailed, specified and quantified. Otherwise, the EHCP isn’t worth the paper it is written on and cannot be enforced. Look for woolly and vague wording such as "access to”, “would benefit from”, “regular”, “up to”, “or equivalent”, “opportunities for”, “as appropriate”, “would be useful/helpful”, “such as”, “e.g.”, “etc.”, “as required”, “as advised”, “key adult(s)”, “small group”.

When you come across vague and woolly wording, check the reports to see if they are woolly and vague or if the LA has watered down provision. If the reports are vague and woolly, ask the LA to go back to the report writer(s) to make the reports detailed, specified and quantified. Provision in EHCPs is taken from the reports, so if the reports are vague and woolly, the EHCP will be too. If the LA has watered down provision, make sure to request the LA sticks to the wording in the reports.

Then make sure any health or social care provision that educates or trains is in F. For example, LAs like to put therapies like SALT and OT in G (health care provision) when it belongs in F.

@BrumToTheRescue thank you for your tips! I will definitely go through and challenge anything that needs to challenged.
I have just received the news that panel have agreed that DS will require a specialist provision! How in the world it happened without appealing I don't know!
However they are suggesting I place DS in mainstream until a place is available which I am strongly against. The issue is I kept DS in nursery for another insisting that he should be taught out of year because DS was nowhere near developmental milestones, we were in the middle of ASD referral and other investigative work with a view to complete an EHCP at that time.
Can anyone advise if there are any other options, has anyone kept their DS/DD at home until a place has come up? Any advice would be extremely helpful! Xx

@BrumToTheRescue
I have a couple of SS in my mind I don't think they are independent. I do need to do a little more research as I was so busy with everything else I haven't considered SS's across the Solihull region, again any advice on independent vs non independent schools would be greatly appreciated xx

@OnlyHope33 your LA is doing things incorrectly. The LA should not be naming a placement or type of placement until you have been given to make representations and state your preferred placement. When the LA finalise they either agree to name a specialist placement or they don’t. None of this fobbing you off with saying attend an ARP whilst waiting for a place at SS.

Once the LA has finalised, don’t let your right of appeal lapse in favour of trusting the LA will name SS next term/in a few months…

Lack of spaces isn’t on its own enough to refuse to name your preferred placement. Unless your preferred placement is wholly independent, the LA must name it unless the LA can prove:
-The setting is unsuitable for the age, ability, aptitude or special educational needs (“SEN”) of the child or young person; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the provision of efficient education for others; or
-The attendance of the child or young person would be incompatible with the efficient use of resources.
Being full is not defined in law, and on its own being ‘full’ is not enough of a reason to refuse to name your preference. The LA has to prove the school is so full admitting DS is incompatible. There is a point LAs can prove this, but the bar is higher than many LAs admit.

Personally, I wouldn’t EHE. By doing that, the LA will say you are making suitable alternative arrangements, thereby relieving them of their duty to provide education. State your preferred placement, then appeal if the LA finalises without naming it.

Being educated outside of the DS’s chronological year group can be included in the EHCP.

School suggestions would depend on DS’s needs. What suits one DC with ASD/ADHD wouldn’t suit another.

@BrumToTheRescue Thank you so much, I might have just went along with what the LA were suggesting if they pressed me further.
To be honest I am currently contemplating speaking to a professional to help with EHCP draft and have an understanding of DS and the situation in the possibility that I do have to appeal. Your advice is greatly appreciated and has given me the reminder to tread with caution in regards to communicating with the LA.

@OnlyHope33 follow up all verbal communication with the LA with an email. This is a good routine to get into with any professional.

You can respond to the draft yourself. Professional advice isn’t essential. If you decide to pursue advice, SOSSEN has a reasonably priced draft checking service. If you decide to use an advocate, choose carefully. Some are good, some can do more harm.

If you appeal, you should consider independent assessments, e.g. Ed Psych, SALT, OT. If you can’t afford them but aren’t eligible for legal aid, there are other avenues. But that’s for later. Right now, focus on the responding to the draft

Hi wondering if anyone can advise.

I am currently getting together evidence for deadline which is October so I have a bit of time, appeal for sections B F and I. The la did not use independent salt report and cherry picked parts of independent it report, DD has since has had a private ASD assessment and I have now had it confirmed she is till on waiting list for full assessment for gdd, ADHD, sleep and again asd.

I am submitting the following evidence:

Private ASD report
Private ot and salt report
I am also disputing inadequate assessment and report from la ep (I have an email from head of la psych the report is not good or to legal standard)
Consultation from mainstream school advising cannot meet need
Incident report due to a safe guarding incident
Photos of dd injuries caused by other children
Photos of tas restraining DD due to unpredictable behaviours
Risk assessment indicating DD cannot attend school trips.
Child's attainment showing little to no progress

To tie this evidence together I have written a parental statement citing Sen law and failures in some areas with headings and points as to why the mainstream cannot meet needs and referring to the evidence and then a section as to why parental preference can meet needs. (I do not have consultation response for this yet as it has just been sent to the school)

Am I on the right track with this? Is there anything else I can add? Should I leave parent statement out?

@Mummytodo you have a significant amount of evidence already, but if you wanted to/could afford to/can find someone with availability, you could look at an independent EP. You are on the right track with your evidence and position statement. Don’t make your statement too long or waffly and don’t focus on past failures.

Thank you at @BrumToTheRescue I do suspect it might be abit waffly so when it's all together I will shorten it. I am just waiting for a bit more info from the school and then I think itl be about done.

I can't do an ep report tbh affordability more then anything they are so expensive but I had the ot and salt report checked and been told they are very good to tribunal standard

@Mummytodo you have a significant amount of evidence already, so try not to worry.

Thank you. I'm certain she needs a Sen school I have found the most perfect maintained specialist ASD school that's close to home that I think would help her immensely so that's what I'm pushing for

Hi everyone. Ds5 is 10, about to start year 6. He has autism, working at greater depth in maths and either expected or working towards for everything else. This has gone down since last year when he was greater depth for maths and expected for everything else. He also has a delay in his emotional development and is 7 years behind his peers. He has a reading age of 11.5 and a spelling age of 8.

We have his collaborative outcomes meeting next week which will be 2 hours long. Attending will be me and dh, a representative from the LA, someone from the primary school (either the head teacher or one of the sencos), someone from the secondary school (one of the TA's who work with children moving from year 6 to year 7) and the ed psych.

I'm not sure what questions I should be asking and what I should be saying at the meeting. My main concern is now the secondary school will keep him safe as at the moment the teacher has to closely supervise him with scissors and he self harms at school by stabbing himself with a pencil. I'm worried about what he will do when given access to a Bunsen burner, compass etc. The school have asked for 1 to 1 support for him and the ed psych has recommended this too.

Popping in to wish everyone a good return to school this week. Secondary kicks off for us on Tuesday. I'm nervous about how DS will cope with the transition but I'm hoping it goes better than expected. (DD had a very rocky Y7.)

Meanwhile, I really need to get on top of our appeal of sections B&F. Just needed a breather over the summer.

Good luck, everyone!

@elliejjtiny sorry I missed your post. How did the meeting go?

Good luck @SpaceInvader321.

The build up to September is a little different for us because I now only have one DS preparing to return to school. My other two school age DC have EOTAS with some of their packages continuing in the holidays, so it isn’t quite the same and there is the same anxiety.

Hey all, wonder if anyone can offer some guidance. Ehcp appeal of contents. Evidence sent off to tribunal and la, they sent there's saying they would like to meet with us to discuss contents, do I arrange this or wait for them to make a move after reading our experts evidence? Thanks!