parental comments for statement - good examples

[Bookreader]

Hello
another long time lurker here. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some sample letters for parents to write in support of a statement.

my ds is in year 3 and they tried to get a statement for him in year 1, which I didn't think would work but the old SENCO was confident would, but the LEA knocked it back straight away.

move forward two years and the new SENCO feels we've got a good chance. He has told me to prepare a letter to send giving my views but I don't really know what to put. it's complicated by the fact that I'm not entirely sure what my DS will be statemented for. He has multiple difficulties, all relatively minor no doubt compared to many people's DC on this board, but put together are making a severe impact on his learning and school enjoyment.

WIthout outing myself too much, he seems to have some aspergers traits, hypotonia and dreadful balance, poor motor skills which means he refuses to write, some visual problems and very poor receptive language skills and short term memory problems, for which he is receiving some SALT in the school although this is only because there is some sort of SALT project in the school and so will finish soon.

my thanks if you have read so far. I just can;'t really find what sort of things have most impact or would be most useful to put in the parental statement or whether it makes any impact at all!

many thanks
Jo

I don't know too much about this as we haven't applied for a statement yet, but I think IPSEA might be helpful - they have model letters on their website.

And I'm sure someone else will come along who will be much more helpful

I think it can help to write a list of headings - my LA form has these on already eg physical, motor / fine motor, sensory, daily living skills, academic, social, behaviour etc etc and then write about each one and how is different and what extra help needs. You don't need to do this to ask for the assessment you can just send a letter asking them to assess and then they write back and ask for your views. You need a copy of the Code of Practice - you can download it from teachernet but should ask for a free hard copy too. There are sections in there about the sort of help that might be over and above what a school could provide eg 1;1, equipment etc You can also get help from Parent Partnership Officer - they are not always as independent as they should be but usually ok at the drafting statement side of things

You should write what has been done so far, what has worked / not worked and why this is not enough

Hi
sorry for not replying. emergency dash to sick mother.. but that's another story.
I had a look on IPSEA but their letters seemed to be geared to asking for a statement assessment or challenging what has been provided/not provided.
I suppose what I want to know is what I should put in the letter that is different from whatever the SENCO says. I expect he will send copies of the reports from the professionals who have been involved so should my statement be more "emotional" or should I also be quoting facts and figures and I assume it should only be related to his school life
I've tried contacting parent partnership before, but it seems that they're open every other thursday or something similar!".

Anyway thanks for your advice. I shall try and be factual but cover everything and if if repeats what the SENCO said I guess it's no bad thing.
I'll go through the code of practice too. it was a bit daunting to read online but I'll see if I ccan get a paper copy
thanks again

"I expect he will send copies of the reports from the professionals who have been involved"

I would ask the SENCO specifically which reports he is sending, or better, copy the reports yourself and send them to the LA direct. They might end up with two copies of the reports but it's always better to send them too much information than too little.

The information should be geared towards his school life, but your insight into issues at home can be useful - e.g. difficulties with sleeping causing tiredness during the day, food/eating/self-care issues, social skills outside of school. The teacher is less likely to know much about these things and might not mention it at all.

You needn't be too emotional - it won't make a difference to the panel. The facts and figures approach is good - as a parent, you have time to do things more thoroughly than the SENCO. Use quotes from the reports to back up your arguments, and quote from the SEN COP.

Also, if you can find your LA's criteria for SA online, it's useful to go through that and make sure you've covered their points. It won't override the SEN COP criteria but it helps if you set out your argument in the way the LA see things.

I would also ask the school and GP for his school records and medical records as there can often be useful evidence in there.

You may find it helpful to look at the ACE website. There are some helpful downloads see www.ace-ed.org.uk. It might be helpful to itemise your sons difficulties and especially how they interact, and make it very clear.