to go or not to go for a statement

[kittyfu]

hi

my four year old son has chronic renal failure and PUV. on top of this he does not sit still and now i'm being told he may have speech and other development issues(what ever that means). he is allready attending appointments for his medical needs and now is waiting for speech thearpy assesments.

he is ment to be starting school in september and lets say that even though they have not said as much, they seem less than pleased to have him there. his nursery has surgested i apply for a statement. i'm not sure what this really is,or what it entails and if it's really worth it as they have said it's hard to get.

any advise would be great and im sorry its so long

They are indeed hard to get but are worth the time and trouble - if they are backed up with requirement to provide additional help for your son.

Its a statement of need - ie what additional support the school/education department can provide your son to make his time at school better - practical ways, additional specialist teaching, one-to-one support. The statement will recommend what support and how many hours of support they think would benefit your son. It costs the LEA money but the school gets that extra money.

It is a good thing to make sure the school know as much about his physical and edcuational needs so they can best provide for him, so contact the school - they will have a special needs co-ordinator, have a chat and they should be able to talk you through the statement process.

I haven't taught for 3 years but i think the systems are very much the same.

I was told last year that schools no longer recieve any additional funding for children with a SN statement, I'm not sure how accurate this information was. I was also told that he wouldn't get an assessment through the LEA and I would have to see the GP for a referral. I really do hope you manage to get some better, accurate information.

thank you for your help, i think they do get additional funding, but i'm not sure.
i will let you know what happens and any information i do get.

good start so far. i posted my request two days later i got a phone call from the special needs education office introducting them selves and informing me that the forms were in the post. and they have six weeks to make their decision.

i wonder if the rest of the process will be a quick as the start

It can take six months to get a Statement set up and that is also if you agree with the content of the proposed Statement document once issued.

Whether the school gets extra money depends on the LEA. Our LEA gives the SEN budget directly to schools, so unless specific things are needed for a physical need the schools get no additional money. Definitly worth getting a statement though, schools have to prioritise help for statemented children and it is impossible to get special school places or access to special provision in mainstream (such as a speech and language unit) without a statement should those be appropriate later on.

where we are, if a statement is given that requires over a certain no of hours support a week (16 I think) funding is given to the school, otherwise it has to come out of the SEN budget already allocated ti the school.

I think that it would be worth attempting to get the statement, as it sets out what extra support your child needs, which the sxhool should therefore provide.

Kittyfu, hi DD1 is 4 and will start school in September, we have just gone through the statementing process.

What concerns me about your posts, is that you don't seem to be very clear about what Special Educational Needs your DS has?

Obviously he has some physical needs. But the question that the LEA will be looking at is "Do these medical needs cause an Educational need?" In other words, do the LEA/School need to make additional provisions for your DS because of his renal failure and PUV, or will he simply have times where he might miss a bit of school, and need to catch up (which lots of children do).

If you have simply been brief in your OP, then that's great. But if, actually, you really don't know what the nursery are concerned about, then that is a problem, because to make a case for Statutory Assessment, there is a need to show that everything that could be done by the setting is being done, and it still isn't working. That is usually evidenced by IEPs, etc.

Have they raised concerns with you before now? What are they hoping to gain from a statement?

Hi lou031205, the nursery is great with my ds they take care of all his medical needs. they medicate him, catter for his diet, keep note of what he's eating, drinking. ensure he double voids when he goes to the toilet remind him to go, as he is not always aware he needs to wee and change him when he leeks. they have more teachers in the setting so they are able to do this, he gets one on one time with teachers and small groups to do work as he finds that easier to cope as he has trouble understanding instructions and getting his point across he prefers physical play to verbal so they have a hard time getting him to take part, they also and i admitt i do to have a hard time getting him to stay still. his point of contact with the specialist teaching service feels this is because he is constantly trying to escape any discomfort he feels. if only i could keep him there.

the concern for both my self and the nursery is that when i spoke to the school they seemed to be being overly difficult they would not refill his juice as he can not drink plain water i would have to send him to school with the 2500 ish mls he drinks a day as well as a packed lunch as they can not monitor what he eats (what if he nicks food from another child) he's medicine would have to be taken in daily already drawn in the syringe(which will leek). they will not push him to go to the toilet (i have visions of him in wet clothes all day). i think mostly they (his, nursery, potential school, specialist teaching service, hospital,)want one to ensure his physical needs are met and they have the resources to do this.

as for his educational needs he will miss a lot of school, he has language difficultys and he is complettly on his own agenda (this i think is they nursery's bigest proplem because if he is not interested he'll go do his own thing)i would also say he is generally behind the other children. but i admit i don't (from my point of view) know if i would say he has educationl needs but can see how they would have issues with him in a group setting, but these are things i dont have at home, as its just us i can ignore him and persit in getting him to do what i want him to do.

maybe i just don't see it, maybe i should have a talk to the nursery, i just want to feel he is safe at school, maybe this statment won't do that if it won't cover his pysical needs.

sorry it's such a long one, but i'm starting to feel very lost with it all.

Kitty, no, no no you are not getting lost with it. A statement can do all those things.

The reason I was asking is that your OP gave the impression that you didn't really know what all the fuss was about, so to speak. However, if your DS already has input from the Specialist Teaching Service, then he is on their 'radar', and you obviously were made aware at the time that he had additional needs over and above health needs.

Do you see a developmental paediatrician, at all? I realise you will see a urology paed, but it does sound like your DS could do with someone looking at his general development, too.

It is completely the right thing to apply for a statement. The good thing is that the school and nursery are supporting that. What you might need to consider is whether this particular school is the best one to meet your DS's needs. You want a school who will cherish your DS with his needs, not one who will see him as a problem to be dealt with.

Statements are very useful as they are a legal document that school and LEA have to action.

Care issues - including drink and general monitoring can be part of a statement and part of a care plan. My ds wouldn't drink water and school were initially difficult until the EP pointed out it was a health and safety issue.

The LEA have 6 weeks to decide if they will assess or not but the whole process of information gathering, draft statement and final statement takes 6 months.

LEA's have Parent Partnership Services that can offer help and support. These can vary depending on which authority you live in but are worth contacting.

thank you lou, feel better with all the comment people are leaving, since my ds first became ill i've been looking for some where to ask advice and rant with other mums. i know it sounds silly but he's just by perfect little man and i know the issues are there, but i don't want them to be, as they are not issues to me just differences.

i keep,questioning my choice of school.it's my local school,the others are all a fair distance as i don't drive and if there our any proplems i would need to be able to get their quickly. on top of this academicaly it's a very good school and the children all seem very happy. it could just be the deputy head/school senco thats a pain in the butt.

i am waiting for an appointment to see a developmental paediatrician as he has never seen one. i feel that may be where the proplems are. i think its more a case of him not wanting to talk to other people, i'm always cathing him playing pretend and talking with his toys.

Why don't you come over to the Special Needs topic? There are lots of us, and we all know what its like to have a child who needs extra support