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.

I would tell the LA you look forward to meeting with them to come to a resolution.

Thank you @BrumToTheRescue the meeting went ok I think. Everyone agreed that ds needed 1-1 in lessons. We struggled to convince the L.A. that ds needs supervision outside lessons in secondary school. The ed psych said that if he gets lost on the way to lessons he can go to the well being hub. I and the current senco had to explain that it's not getting lost that's the problem, the problem is he is a runner and will try to escape.

@elliejjtiny glad it went well. If you haven’t already, follow up the meeting with an email. It doesn’t sound like the EP has a grasp of DS’s needs. Even if DS wasn’t one to run, DS would still have to find his way to the well being hub then to lessons from there and think of the wasted lesson time over and over.

Morning everyone
We have been allocated a EP. She came to visit my daughter and myself at home to try and get to learn about her needs.
The EP was very dismissive of any type of support.. I suggested that my daughter needs one on one because she doesn't do any school work. Due to her autism, sensory processing difficulties, dyspraxia and hyperacusis.
The EP wouldn't listen to my views about the lack of support my daughter is receiving in school.
The EP is meeting with the Senco and myself next week. ( the Senco doesn't have a lot of experience )
I'm worried that my daughters needs will get played down as I feel they don't want to support my daughter.
Any suggestions anyone??
Thank you.

@Onegentlepeer remind the EP the process should be person centred with child and parents’ views listened to and represented. Point them in the direction of the guidance here. The LA must take into account for views. That is set out in law. Unfortunately, LA EP reports are often poor and inadequate.

Thank you. I'll read it all and print it off.

That should say ‘your views’. Not ‘for views’.

All: you might want to contribute to this discussion:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/guest_posts/5157023-education-secretarys-back-to-school-message-to-parents?reply=138076267

Thank you for the link, @Proserphina.

Anyone know how long it's reasonable to wait after term starts for sessions outlined in EHCP to be put in place? She has a timetable with only her main course on it (same as given to all in her class as it also has GCSEs Eng and Math on it which she isn't doing) but it has only been induction week yet - am I being too hasty?

Anyone know how long after term starts that DD should expect to begin the sessions outlined in the EHC plan? It's only been the induction week but she's got a timetable and there's only her regular course on it. This is going to be a whole new fight isn't it? Or am I being too hasty?

Apologies I don't know why it posted twice

Provision detailed, specified and quantified in F should be provided from the start of term.

It isn’t uncommon for timetables not to include interventions though, especially if it isn’t a personal timetable.

Thanks @BrumToTheRescue I thought so. The college haven't communicated anything to DD or me and I've been given no point of contact either so I'm not sure how or who to ask about it.

If you can’t find contact information for the SEN/pastoral department online, contact the main reception and ask to be put through. If you don’t get anywhere, contact the head/principal, whose details you should be able to find online.

@BrumToTheRescue I asked the person who was waiting to help DD get to her lesson this morning and they gave me a nondescript (not a person's name) email address for the EHCP team but I'm dubious as I emailed this address during the needs assessment and got no reply. There are no details for the SEN department online but you have a good point with the pastoral team - I will copy them into the email and that way hopefully one of them will actually reply.

I've started reviewing our EHCPs (finalised in June) for our appeals on sections B & F. I'd be grateful to hear about 1) any experiences of appealing content alone or with legal support and 2) the Working Document process.

I had a helpful call with SENDIASS yesterday, so I feel like I'm on the right track in terms of highlighting the things that need to be more detailed / specified / quantified. But DH and I are wondering if it would be good to have a solicitor or experienced SEN advocate review the plans to make sure they're watertight. I'm not sure if it's absolutely necessary, but we are fortunate to have some budget for it, if needed. (There doesn't seem to be any availability via IPSEA.)

OTOH, if we find DC aren't progressing and need to request / appeal for a change of setting or provision at a later point, it might be better to put the budget towards legal representation then. The LA actually made a lot of the changes we requested during co-production and most of the amendments still outstanding are things like provision being delivered by "school staff" and "small group intervention" not being quantified as in the EP report (max 8 children) -- pretty straightforward changes it seems ridiculous to have to put in front of the tribunal. Then again, maybe a legal expert will catch things we haven't.

Regarding the Working Documents, the LA only sent them in PDF format. I've requested they send them in Word so I can add my comments. This is the format we should be working in, according to IPSEA, right?

Does the WD need to be submitted with final evidence?

Should I expect to have some back and forth on the WDs with the LA's legal person before the final evidence deadline in a few weeks? When do the WDs need to be 'finalised'?

Thanks.

This is good to know, thanks. There was no provision this week and I've been debating how long is 'reasonable' to wait to nudge the SEN team.

You don’t need a solicitor or advocate for an appeal. IPSEA’s tribunal helpline and casework are both in demand. The latter in particular. If you do want someone to look over the draft, SOSSEN is reasonably priced if they have the capacity.

Be careful with SENDIASS. Some are good, but far too many are not, even if they appear supportive. They receive LA funding so aren’t truly independent and many will ultimately toe the party line.

Ask the LA to send a word version. The WD needs to be sent to SENDIST by the deadline to submit it in the directions. However, it can continue to be worked on right up to the hearing and even at hearings parties are sometimes sent away to work on more issues if there is a lot outstanding. Whether you will have some back and forth before the evidence deadline will depend on how responsive your LA is (some don’t engage much with the WD until after the evidence deadline and even after the evidence deadline getting some LAs to engage in the WD is hard work).

Hi all, popping in to say hello because I am a little bit overwhelmed at the moment. My year 6 son has been diagnosed with autism and ADHD (described as significant combined ADHD). He's currently doing well in primary school but I am dreading secondary school, I think that is going to be a huge transition for him (I just can't comprehend how he is going to remember to go to his next classroom when a class ends?!) we are applying for schools currently and I have a meeting with the SENDCo of our first choice this week and she's asked if we are planning on getting an EHCP, but having a quick google I just don't think the primary school would support right now because he generally does pretty well in school (they were great with supporting the diagnosis process though)

I suppose I just have to wait to see how he manages high school??

You can request an EHCNA yourself now. You don’t need the school to support you. Any decision now should take into account the upcoming transition.

Joining for any tips now that tne ECHNA request has been approved. Things aren’t going that well with school attendance and as I posted on the EBSA thread, I’m not that clear that the school will add anything very helpful to the ECHNA process. So far they haven’t really engaged with the problems to try to meet sensory or SEMH needs effectively.

DD’s EHCP has now been finalised and my chosen nursery has been named. The nursery is a LA funded one and when they received the draft of the EHCP, they requested for a higher band of funding to cover DD’s needs. If went to panel and was approved so now DD’s funding will give her a 1:1 for the 30 hours a week that she’s at nursery. I’m extremely happy that it’s over and done with for the time being.

As she has an EHCP, we have to apply for schools through the SEND team by 30th of September. I had no clue that you couldn’t apply through the general admissions way so I actually have to apply for a school 4 months before everyone else. That’s stressful but I guess I’ll have to make it work!

I submitted an EHCNA for DS who’s 2 years old and the LA have given a decision to assess. I did submit about 24 pages of evidence and because of his health needs, I don’t see how they could have said no. It’s a relief that I haven’t had to appeal the decision unlike DD so hopefully the process is less stressful this time round.

Brum (and anyone else), who needs to be included with DS’ assessment? I can see they’re requesting advice from physio, OT, SALT, Paediatrician and DS’ Complex Needs Officer. In terms of Audiology, Ophthalmology, Neurology and DS’ Epileptic Nurse, will these things be covered by the Paediatrician’s report or will all teams be individually contacted? I also wondered whether DS would still be assessed by an EP despite the fact that he’s not in nursery? Would they possibly do a home visit or they may not be included?

URGENT
send 45 form. Just filling in. We have no witnesses, got independent reports but myself as parent representating with husband. Don't think it'll actually get through to hearing as only minor issue left but where it says witnesses do I put me and husband there?!

Sorry I don’t know the answer 246. Can you call SOSSEN or IPSEA for advice? Or call the charity Contact? Just trying to think who has phone helplines as your qu is urgent.