proposed statement, what to do now ?

[skewiff]

We have just got a proposed statement through for our son who has mild left sided cerebral palsy.

He has balance issues and other bits and bobs, but mostly he is only able to use one hand.

The statement seems OK to me, and has lots of talk about my son needing one-to one at times and extra adult input etc.

There are no details of how many hours ...

But I think the level when agreed on is going to be low, so he won't get funding for an actual one to one.

Sorry this is really garbled.

I suppose I'm just asking what I should be bargaining for - I know I must not just accept what's there. Or at least I feel that I shouldn't (confused)

There are a number of places you can go to for advice ACE-Ed, or your local branch of the National Parent Partnership Network.

If the statement says he needs 1-to-1, then there is a legal obligation to provide it.

It is difficult without knowing his age, but I think you need to consider when he will definitely need one to one - learning to use a ruler in maths? science practicals? does he feel self-conscious getting changed for sport / is always last out of the changing rooms? does he need to carry a lunch tray?

If you go into the meeting with a clear idea of the stress points in his day and think through his subjects so that you can make reasoned arguments you will be in a stronger position. It is unlikely that the level of support will be revised upwards so it is worth trying to get as much support as possible.

Statement provision needs to be both specified and quantified. I would reject it out of hand as the provision has not been quantified (as required by law) and tell them to rewrite it stating number of hours 1 to 1 per week!.

Parts 2 and 3 are the most important bits of this whole document so these have to be completely accurate.

Talk to someone like IPSEA or ACE and or SOS:SEN as they will tell you what parts 2 and 3 should say. It may look good to you but the idea here is to fool people in to believing that the Statement as it stands is okay. They rely on parents ignorance you see.

NEVER accept any such document without taking independent advice beforehand. Be wary of using Parent Partnership as well as they are not independent of many LEA's.

Another good forum to post on here is the Special Needs; childrens section on these pages. That forum gets more traffic than this one does.

Oh, thank you.

My son is only 3 1/4. He starts nursery when he is 3 1/2 in September.

I have spent a lot of time in the nursery, so know what sort of help he needs there.

But school is over a year away and I cannot imagine that far ahead yet. Can they increase the number of hours he has help for when he starts school? It can't be kept the same as nursery surely. He'll only be at nursery for 2 1/2 hours a day.

Once the Final Statement is issued, it will need to be reviewed by the nursery/pre-school within 6 months as he is under 5. At this point I would suggest that you discuss transition into school and start involving the school. It should be stated on the Annual Review paperwork how much support time they would need. The school should request this, particularly as the ratio of adult to child changes significantly, once children start school.

Many Authorities forget to state the 6-month Review date and note an Annual Review instead, so if I were you, ask the setting to arrange the Review. All parties invited should be given at least 6-weeks notice. Also, if he is due to start school in Sep 2011, you have to request your first three choices of school to your Admissions Team by around end of October 2010 (not that far away). As his Statement should be finalised by then, it gives you greater choice. If you need help with this, contact the Parent Partnership Choice Advisor in your authority.

Hope this helps