advice re transition statement nursery-primary school

[jussi]

Hi everyone,
I have got so much advice from reading these boards that I hope someone can come along and give me some advice now.

It may seem a bit long winded but here goes.

Have got proposed statement for DS who is at nursery for 3 full days. He is getting 15 hours support which is on the proposed statement.

He is due to start primary school September 2011 and we have named the school. The LA have contacted them and I know they have asked for a full statement.

I spoke to a woman today from the LA who said the number of hours on the statement will still say 15 although I asked to be told how many he would get when he starts school.
She did say to me that this is pro rata and that when he starts school the number of hours will increase.
She said we would have a review in February time or we could ask for an interim review 6 weeks after the final statement is issued as his nursery should have a planning meeting then anyway. We could use this to then request the number of hours for when he starts school.

Well, I have asked her to put everything in writing and send to me. But I have also asked her to request for us to be told the hours that DS will get when he starts school as it seems pretty pointless in agreeing to a final statement and then in 6 weeks time requesting a new a one to be written!!

Also, although this woman near enough told me that DS would get more hours they could easily change their mind at the review if everyone said how much progress he is making(which he is-but obviously with the support).
Also, when asking the school they said they would need more hours so I'm wondering, if they named the school but did not mention the increase in hours, does this in a roundabout way mean they have agreed to them as otherwise the school would not accept DS.

Also, we were also told that after contacting the school their reply would be put to the panel again but if no decision has been made what is the point in saying it went back to the panel?

Sorry if this is really confusing, I probably haven't worded it very well but I guess my main questions are:

Would you accept the final statement with the 15 hours for nursery and then expect it to be increased at a review(seems too cagey to me).

Ask for somewhere on the statement to state that 15 hours is pro rata and that hours will be increased when at school and number to be decided at review?

Has anyone been in the same situation and did you/can you get the hours for primary school to be put on the final statement while DS is at nursery school?

We had a similar situation when dd2 was going from preschool to the school nursery. The final statement was issued in April and it said that she would have 8 hrs support while in XX preschool, increasing to 15 hrs support when attending XX Nursery (from Sept).

Incidentally, the school has to accept your child if they are named on the statement, regardless of whether they like the funding arrangements or not. Your concern needs to be getting the number of hours right and then the school will have to provide that.

Yes, you can say that the statement has to say that ds will have 1:1 support for every hour that his attends his setting. That is transferable to any modification of hours or increase.

TBH though, a new statement used to be key as once set it couldn't be challenged. However, from Sept just gone, parents have the right to challenge statements that aren't ammended.

BUT, you may as well have that battle now, with the 15 hours in place, by asking for it to say full-time before he needs the additional hours iyswim.

The 6 weeks thing is their attempt at ensuring you go over the deadline for appeal. You'll have no power of negotiation then.

Hi,
I have this evening got an email from woman I was speaking to from LA and statement has been amended to 'DS will require full time support when he starts school. At present he gets 15 hours, etc, etc.

She has said actual hours will be amended at 6 month statutory review before starting school.

Would you be happy with this?

And is this right that there is always a review meeting before starting school?