Can someone check this for me.

[DeadlyNightShadeofViolet]

I am writing the statement request letter - what do you think of this paragraph.

My reasons for believing that the school cannot on their own make the provision required to meet my child?s needs are:
? F has complex requirements and obvious need for adequate support.
? F needs adult input both in school and from outside agencies already involved with his care.
? Without a statement the result will be failure to thrive within the school environment.

TIA

Perhaps add the word "medical" or another appropriate word between complex and requirements?

F needs regular specialist and professional input etc etc

I would tweak it a little to include what his main difficulties are: e.g. Speech and language/social interactions/self-care(toiletting, dressing)/physical disibility requiring aids etc/attention difficulties/safety and danger awareness.

and something like "in order to be able to access the national curriculum, F will need support from a specifically trained adult on a 1:1 basis throughout the school day."

Thanks Polar eyes - love that bit :)

I have in an earlier paragraph listed his difficulties - should I list again?

Yes, it's all good and i'd go along the same lines but include his dx or like Lucinda has said mentions the professional/medical involved.

Maybe on the last sentence i would write:
'Without a statement the result will be failure to make adequate progress within the school environment.'

Can remember on another thread there is something about the term 'adequate progress' which is what LEA look for or rather lack of when issuing statements.

I would state the specific difficulty - "F has x difficulty"

Then state what support is needed for that difficulty - "so he needs y hours of z support"

Then state what would happen if that support wasn't there - "and if F didn't have y hours of z support, then ___ would happen"

Don't be vague with phrases like "adequate support" - they'll be vague enough themselves! You have to pin down what's needed, when, for how long, who it's delivered by so that the right support is put in place.

if you have already listed that should be fine.

Maybe something like "F's difficulties detailed above mean he has complex requirements...."etc

You have to see this from the LA's eyes, Deadly.

The bar for a Statutory Assessment is high. The LA has to believe that a Statement of SEN is 'likely to be necessary'.

The need for a Statement is down, essentially to one criteria:

The school cannot be expected to make the necessary provision out of its own resources.

There are different ways to fulfil that criteria, however. In a nutshell, the criteria is going to be fulfilled if:

-He won't make adequate progress even on School Action Plus
or
-He will disrupt the education of other children
or
-He will cause other children to be at risk
or
-He will be at significant risk which cannot be avoided himself
or
-He needs expensive specialist equipment
or
-He needs regular specialist teaching
or
-His needs are severe and complex, requiring multi-agency collaboration
etc.

So, what you are trying to do is give them a concise, clear document which they can 'tick boxes' with.

You need to use phrases that imply a high level of need, and a high level of risk without the right provision.

Use words such as:
Significant
risk
harm
disruption
failure
specialist
complex
severe
etc.

I don't think you need to have a crystal clear plan for his educational requirements at this stage. If you knew what he needed you wouldn't need assessment. However, you do need to demonstrate that he has a high level of need.

I think you need to break it down into areas of need, and address the need for SA with each. Concise but specific.

Do make sure that you include things that are relevant to educational issues. So, if he has difficulties breaking routine, you need to highlight the difficulties he would have with transistion times and that he needs adult support to reduce his anxiety at these times. Also, what the consequence is both for him and the class as a whole if that doesn't happen.

Overall, a relatively passive child has to be shouted about more, because if the only effect is harm to that child, they will slip under the radar. A child who will disrupt the whole class day in day out is going to get a statement much easier, because it causes trouble for everyone, IME.

Oops, that was long

i will pinch and print this post from Lougle to add to my useful file.

And i so agree with this last comment "Overall, a relatively passive child has to be shouted about more, because if the only effect is harm to that child, they will slip under the radar....".

This is sadly what is happening right now with DS.

Thank you ladies - you all have such great advice :)

My main concern is his language delay, both expressive and receptive. He cant follow basic instructions yet - how would you phrase this?

Lougle - you are right. DS is not disruptive so he could easily slip under the radar while he is actually drowning.

"DS has a severe speech and language delay. He is at present unable to follow even basic instructions. He will be unable to comprehend and respond to whole-class instruction in an educational environment, and will need individualised support from a suitable adult, who will need to gain his attention, explain/use makaton to communicate, give physical guidance and ensure that he has understood."

Lougle I could kiss you :o

Lougle You seriously need to consider making a career or at least a bit of part-time work from home money out of this.

Sure people would pay you a nominal amount for drafting their letters, or reviewing them and inserting relevant research/docs etc.

Not instead of the input on MN obviously, but when you can give more specific individual support,

And I get the impression you'd love it.

Thank you Star I would seriously love that. Don't know how I would get started with that though, when I don't have any qualifications in it (I have a degree in Social Studies, and a Nursing qualification) and no employment history in it. Who would trust someone saying 'I like doing this sort of thing....'?

I desparately need intellectual stimulation, and love this sort of geeky stuff. I have just taken on the Chair of Preschool Committee, and am Chair of an Interim Partnership Board for a Phase III Children's Centre at the mo (although we haven't decided for sure who will be Chair of the actual Partnership Board - there is another lady who seems very keen to be so, and I am not one to big myself up, tbh. I just get on and do stuff...).

I would gladly help anyone that needs it, and we have PM boxes now

Deadly - glad it helped

Excuse me butting in here but "Who would trust someone saying 'I like doing this sort of thing....'?"

I think that would be music to alot of parents ears and like any sevice personal recommendations go along way. I rang a solicitor when the LA refused to amend DS1's statement and issued the final virtually unchanged. The cost for their statement checking service was £300 plus VAT. Plus extra charges (think £150 per hour) if further letters were needed. And I knew they had no personal passion for it which swayed me against using them. IPSEA and another charity local to me wouldn't help me so I just had to let it go as I really wasn't confident on dealing with it myself. I had images of me turning up a tribunal and just going errrrrm I dunno why they should change it but they should. I have the SENCOP etc but it is just beyond me. And probably if I had written a better response to the proposed statement the LA may have amended it my favour.

Suppose the main issue is leaving yourself open to being personally sued/breaking some regulation somewhere or other ....There must be a friendly lawyer around MN who could give you some advice. I really think it is worth you investigating and would be in the queue for Lougle SEN Services.

Thank you PolarEyes Perhaps I need to look into it.

I think there is a real gap in the market for case-management, pre-solicitor stuff.

You don't have to pretend you have any legal knowledge, just LA 'systems' knowledge enough to ensure their evidence-base and arguments are sound before they go to war if you like.

People won't pay big money, because they don't realise quite how important it is or how crafty LA's can be, but they will pay I'm sure, for anything the peace of mind that someone else has proof read their letters, and that that someone is more knowledgable and experienced than them.

And the more you help, the more you'll learn, and the more personal recommendations you'll get etc. Perhaps you could say take on 2 or 3 parents until final statement for a fixed fee, just general document-checking from home, inputing, research referencing etc.

Yes, maybe I could. I do love it, totally. It is so important for the whole family. I don't think people really get that unless they have been through the system themselves. Lack of support for one child in a family affects everyone.

I would pay, as I can imagine alot of the parents on here would - you have given me fab advice on lots of things.

That's really kind of you to say, but that's what we do here, isn't it? All of us give the very best help we can to anyone who will listen .

That's the thing, I suppose. I would love to make money doing something I love. Of course. But you guys on here, well it would be like charging family. So I would need to get my client pool from somewhere else, but of course those people wouldn't know if I give good advice or not

Lougle, you don't need to stop giving advice here. You can give as much as you like.

What you can offer simply, is an off-line relationship if someone wants it to talk in more detail and more specifically.

People won't ever post every detail of every letter that they want help with, they just post snippets of ones they are REALLY struggling with. I bet all of us could saturate the board with things we would rather have checked or second opinions on, but we don't, because, as you said, it is family and we don't like to abuse people's good will and nature. So we stick to things that a)are about to tip us over the edge, or b)things that we believe might be interesting to other people and c)not too boring even if we would like some help iyswim.

Ah but you see I have written out countless posts which I then don't actually post. The reason being is I don't really have anything to offer back to the board, asides from posting about chronic constipation(!) and even then I am no guru on the subject. Also being a public board I am wary of perhaps someone from DS1's LA/school lurking etc. If there was a reasonably priced service available I would jump at it tbh especially for help with letters as I find it hard not to go into ranty and hysterical mode.

Yes, you're right Star. I am terrible really. I get so conflicted. I suppose it would be a bit like what flowerybeanbag does over on employment - she posts free advice to posters, but it is also what she does for a living.