Frustration with SEN process

[Frenchie1970]

My first time writing a post so a bit nervous! My son has been diagnosed with speech and language delay from the age of three. He is now five and I have been trying to get the council to initiate an assessment for a statement, and am now discovering exactly why it is so frustrating. They sent a letter saying I have been turned down, but the letter failed to spell out why. I rang up to ask my caseworker why I had been turned down; after all, I cannot appeal properly if I do not know the grounds. She said that she did not have the full facts and referred me on to a second caseworker. Called the second caseworker, who was peeved I'd been referred to her in the first place and spent a while getting that off her chest. Once we'd got past that, she found the casenotes. The council turned me down because the school had not used up all their allocated funding for giving my son enough support in class. I feel angry with the school. The system is hard enough without the school not doing all it can to support me. I now face a long meeting with the SENCO and staff to find out what is going on and very close scrutiny as to how he will progress in Year 1. I won't give up, but I wish more SEN parents would get more support and fewer hurdles to jump.

Still think about appealing the decision - you can argue even spending the extra will not be enough - chances are they will either back down or by the time your appeal got near a tribunal you would know whether the extra money has made a difference and if you are happy you can withdraw the appeal - even at the last minute.
It makes sense to get in the 6 month queue for a tribunal date and then carry on negotiating in the meantime.
But don't let yourself be put off appealing because then I think you have to wait another 6 months before you can apply again and if the school don't sort things out you will be stuck. ie you will have to wait 6 months to apply again - maybe be turned down again - then 6-8 months for tribunal.

You can always say at any meeting (they usually have to offer you a meeting to explain why they have turned you down) I am going to appeal and during the 6 months wait for tribunal you will have ample time to prove to me that action plus is enough and to demonstrate adequate progress.

Thank you Agnes and Starlight for your messages of support, really encouraging!

Starlight - I received the letter from my caseworker just last month. I was not happy with the reasons given as they were too general; when I asked for the specific reasons, this took a while to get at. It turns out that my school did not use up all of their allocated funding to give extra assistance to my son. Because of this, the council need to have two further terms of evidence, then will meet again to review the situation. I am very angry about this, as this weakens my grounds for appeal and will arrange a meeting with their SENCO first week of term. I have now requested access to the minutes, although that has been like pulling teeth. She has agreed to send me a copy by post.

I did send the letter asking for a statutory assessment myself, along with evidence; my son's primary school supplied evidence from their end after receiving a request from the council.

Agnes - thank you for your advice on the appeals process and the length of time it will take. It does seem onerous, but nothing ventured, nothing gained! I have seen a Parents in Partnership rep who will be assisting me with the appeals process. He will also be looking to attend my meeting with the SENCO to get a full picture as to what is going on, and to put firm plans in place this term to ensure that my son receives full entitlement to support.

There is nothing in the SEN COP that says an LA needs two terms of evidence, although LAs often have their own policy on this. The fact is, by the time it reaches a hearing date, it will be about two terms later so there's no reason not to appeal now.

Remember you get two months to submit the appeal papers, so mark the deadline and keep an eye on it. You need the outline of your appeal grounds when you submit the form, but you're able to add evidence later so don't delay just because you're waiting on additional evidence.

The Parent Partnership officer may help you with paperwork and meetings but always seek additional advice from an independent charity such as IPSEA or SOS SEN. PP are trained and funded by the LA and so they tend to see things from the LA pov.