Refusal for Statement of Education Needs

[no1grams]

Please Please Help if you can. I am a Grandma who is desperately worried about a 14yr old DGS. He has AS & ADHD to name just 2. He is a very bright boy although his grades are begining to fall now, The reason he needs a statement is so that he can be transfered to a school that can deal with his behavioural problems. He gets extremely angry and aggressive mostly because he is unable to read social situations and often says or does things that are totally innappropriate. He has self harmed, and on many occasions has threatened to kill himself, or wished himself dead. The refusal for a statment is that they believe they can put things into action at the school he is at now. This has been the promise for a long long time. Yet he continues to recieve regular detentions, Call outs, exclusions, and inclusions (this is where he has all but three lessons a week in a room with bars at the windows and a camera with one teacher, not to teach just to monitor them.) Needless to say DGS just plays games on the computer all day. The school can never give him the environment he needs with the specialised help he deserves. If anyone can advice I'd be so glad to hear from them

Your best bet is to contact your local Parent Partnership. You can get their details through your local council. They are impartial and should be able to help ensure that he gets what he is entitled to and, if necessary, support you at Appeal. HTH.

it is policy at our LEA to refuse all applications just to see if people can be bothered to appeal.
get in touc with parent partnership and ask their advice and certainly appeal.

Hi
The problem is that at age 14 the school and LEA will be hoping that they can just contain the situation until he is no longer of statutory school age. Our LEA actually let slip that they rarely Statement in the final few years of statutory education. That usually results in the child having to leave school because they are not given the help they need to permit them to remain at school.

Please don't let the school focus on his 'behaviourial problems'. That's a cop out. he probably only has these problems because he is not getting adequate support so is struggling.

If school cannot or will not give him the support you think he requires then his parents should apply directly to the LEA for an assessment that may lead to a Statement. The IPSEA website shows how to do this. If the LEA will not assess then his parents could appeal to a Trbunal. But time is not on his side unfortunately so if they do this it needs to be done soon.

Ooops sorry - I reread your post as it wasn't clear whether school had refused to seek an assessment or whther the LEA itself had refused to assess. Sorry.

Sorry I pobably didn't make myself clear. An application for a Statement has been made, and refused. The grounds being that they feel the school can give additional help in some way

no1grams,

re your comment:-

"The grounds being that they feel the school can give additional help in some way".

It is clear that they have not been able to help him to date and there have been empty promises made. His behavioural issues likely stem from his additional educational needs never being met. With AS and ADHD a statement should be granted. A statement as well is legally binding unlike any other plan.

Would certainly appeal the decision as a matter of course not to assess. BTW who made the statement application originally?.
I hope the parents made this application because they can and should appeal. They should also seek independent advice from ACE, SOS;SEN or IPSEA to name but three. Many Parent Partnerships are closely associated with the LEA and can thus tow the party line. They are not fully independant unlike the other organisations mentioned.

re your comment:-

"The grounds being that they feel the school can give additional help in some way".

But the argument that your grandchils's parents should make is 'How can the school fully support his needs if his needs have not yet been fully assessed because of the refusal to assess?

That's an argument that the appeals Tribunal do listen to.

But if they are to appeal against the LEAs decision then they need to lodge an appeal with SENDIST within the timescales for appealing. It can be effective to write to the LEA and tell them that you have lodged an appeal with SENDIST as some LEAs will actually start acting reasonably at this stage and overturn their own decision not to assess. After all they know that SENDIST is hardly likely to agree with the LEA that a child with long-standing difficulties should not have them fully assessed for a possible Statement.

Thanks so much for all the support I've had so far. I think that an appeal is the only way to go from here, but can anyone help me with drafting a letter - what to put in and what to leave out etc.

Hi No1

If you google IPSEA you'll find their website.
Top left hand corber of their home page has model letters. Click on refusal Assesments and Statements of SEN: What you can do.

That brings up an entire screen of guidance on how to appeal to the Tribunal (SENDIST) and suggestions as to your grounds for appeal.

Hope this helps.

Thank you so much, the website looks invaluable.

Oh and if you call to speak to IPSEA, to attempt to obtain some (free) professional support (from solicitors etc) do not use any big words.

If you have a middle class accent do your best Jamie Oliver/Nigel Kennedy or you will be deemed too articulate/educated to warrant any help.

Do I sound bitter?

Good luck with getting the help your DGS needs.

In my local schools welfare/safety (of child and school class) is the priority, so a young child that is a danger to self (or others) will get a statement for that reason rather than educationally. My not be relevant for your DGS though.

As already said - contact IPSEA
State that his behavioural problems arise because his educational special needs have not been met and he is being discrimnated against because of his disability [ emphasis this everytime behavioural problems are mentioned]
Threaten the LEA with the disablility discrimination act
State that he is a vulnerable child who is in danger without the statement - the lea is failing its obligation under the ECM - every child matters agenda
The government is putting pressure on LEAs to cut out statements
Some LEAs only give out statements for medical reasons, others as said above for welfare/safety/vulnerability to harm, others are more generous
The school still gets the money but it is not ring fenced for the pupil and can be spent on anything - ludicrous
Similiarly - unless a school is named on a statement the local authority can refuse
Good luck

"it is policy at our LEA to refuse all applications just to see if people can be bothered to appeal" OMG, really Fattiemumma? Doesn't this disadvantage kids from backgrounds whit parents who are not bothered!

My son is 12yrs he has A,D,H,D, A.S, Separation Anxiety and Hyperkinetic Disorder. i have just got a letter saying that the local authority feel it is not necessary to carry out a statutory assessment and that furter support can be provided at school,they say his grades are within average range? he is a very bright boy but i feel that his level of a 4c to 5b,is low for him, he gets kicked out of classes all the time he is always in fights and has been to hosiptal so many times they will not x-ray him unless its life or death as he has had too many x-rays he has been excluded from school twice this is not good at all, i need help in what i should do next?????

Serenity - love the name
Sorry things are so grim at the moment
Ask for a referral to CAMHAMs - they are a multidisplinary team including physchologists etc
As above contact
IPSEA - The Autistic Society
Request an emergency meeting with the school, the borough educational psychologist and borough specialist teachers as your son is vulnerable and at risk because of his needs not being meet in school
State again and again his behavioural problems arise from his disability
State your son's educational special needs are not being met and they are not furfilling their duty under the disability discrimination act
State your son is vulnerable because of his disability and the LEA is not fulfilling its responsiblity laid out in the the Every Child Matters Agenda
State your want an immediate review
Bring an advocate to the meeting - take a note book and record everything - ask for all reports to be forwarded to you before the meeting and ask for the minutes as soon as they are released
Try the special needs thread as they have lots of people who have been through this
Good luck

Thanks, my son is in the care of CAMHS and is under a physchologist,all i get from teachers is that his behaviour has nothing to do with his disability, i will look up ipsea thanks again

Ask the teachers how his behaviour can be divorced from his behaviour.
Give them leaflets and downloads from the autistic society which shows how behavioural problems can and oftern arise from having Aspergers, etc -
Im sorry to say these but the your son's teachers are ignorant about your son's condition.
Ask what training they have had in ASD and related conditions - request that they have training from specialist teachers/ed psys
Ask are they implementing Government guidance in the education of children on the autistic spectrum - look on the Governments Standard Site - loads of info for teachers
Could his physcologist come and speak to hi teacher
Good luck

In our authority hardly any new statements are being given. Instead, they are all put at action+ with funding. Sounds great, but there is no legal requirement for the LEA to give any funding with A+ and they can withdraw the money at any time. There is also no requirement on the school to spend the money on support for that child, so an unscrupulous headteacher, could spend it on a tea lady if they wanted! We have been told now that we only have to do IEPs for A+ children, who would be entitled to a staement of at least 20 hours under the old system. Since hardly any child ever gets 20 hours statement, they are effectively saying do not bother with them!

if you haven't already done so, contact your local Parent Partnership. They can attend any meetings with you and they know precisely which "buttons to press" as it were, to make progress. You will definitely have one in your area, it may take a little bit of hunting to find them though. They are fantastic support for you - good luck.