Urgent - statements.

[bochead]

Is there anyone who can assess the quality of a statement? I can't get through to IPSEA and have been trying for a couple of weeks now. I'd just like someone neutral to look at it and tell me what it's "worth".

This is pretty important as at the moment my son doesn't have a school to go to as his school decided this morning they don't want him. I've just spent the day getting a permanent exclusion for a 6 year old turned into a 9 day fixed term one.

I need to be clear on "next steps" as it this is a really serious situation right now.

Hi,

Have you got a good parent partnerships service in your area, they could be useful to you.

Also maybe if you put some of the wording on the statement here people will be able to give more concrete advice, I would say though that wording such as regular, or access to are not specific enough language the statement should be quantified. I am sure someone with more experience will come along shortly.

My parent partnership officer was on my scatter "help me please!" email I sent this morning at about 10 am.

She hasn't responded yet, but to be fair she may just not have been in the office as she's normally very prompt in her responses, (sod's law says this sort of thing will happen when those that can help are on annual leave.

The Lea seem like they are being helpful, but I'd just feel a lot more confident in myself if I had an independent viewpoint ya' know. Despite their sympathy my son has just his world ripped out from underneath him, (friends, a class teacher he liked, afterschool club, a nice learning mentor)on one person's whim. It seems so unfair.

if you dont get an answer for PP quick enough or IPSEA try the NAS helpline ive rung all three on occasion and all been helpful PP always ring me as soon as she picks up her messages but yes you deffinately need someone to give it the once over to see its in order a lot of people do it themselves ive noticed but also a lot seem to be saying they are being mucked about by the LA so i IMHO prefer to have someone in my corner cos you can be sure the bells gonna ring ding ding round 2 lolsorry feeling silly this morning hope you get hold of someone what about ringing a educational solicitor for just some advice

ace and sossen may be worth a go.

oh sorry bochead forgot to say as you know its their responsibility to provide an education so in meantime whilst statements going through are you then sending yr son back to the school as you said you had tried to get the permanent exclusion overturned to a fixed 9 day one or are you going to be temp home tutoring? or are the LA sending a tutor to your home (they did this for me for a while?) just wondering what the LA or inclusion officer have said about this

Oh and ipsea have a lot of info on exclusion on their site, if you haven't already seen it. Are you going to be looking at other schools now or are you trying to get him back into school? Have you let your sen case worker know what's going on? Hope your ds is ok.

If you post some of the key bits here (with your son's name etc removed) - people here will be able to comment on the wording....

Thank you all so much for the ideas. I've actually been trying to contact IPSEA for a fortnight.

On the phone the SEN officer has said the LEA are sending a home tutor after half term.

I feel really stupid, as I trusted his school when I asked them to review the proposed statement with me, and 3 weeks later they wanna permanently exclude him! So I no longer trust their opinion his statement at all iykwim & I've been made just how important it is, by the fact that if he hadn't had it he would have deffo had a permanent exclusion stain splotched across his record aged just 6.

I'll try your other suggestions, SOS! SEN are always busy, thank you all so much.

All I have in writing right now is that he has a fixed term exclusion for 9 days and is under house arrest for the first five. The permanant exclusion stuff was all verbal threats and the LEA are telling me they won't accept it. However she won't take him back and they won't force her to.

I have a bad feeling about the whole situation right now that I can't shake off - sort of like that was only the first shot in what's gonna turn out to be a nasty battle iykwim. The Head made this comment that my son had no bounadries that has set me on edge as to what she's up to. He has a social communication disorder ffs! (He understands when I tell him no too!).

I've found a solicitor, who is willing to read the statement stuff and feed back to me. Based on my gut instinct I just want someone at my back right now. The world was ripped from underneath us at lightning speed on Monday, and the dust WILL settle in such a way that ensure my son gets a fair chance of getting an education if I can manage it.

Sorry for the essay, but it's all been such a shock. I so appreciate your support.

i totally understand as my son was treated much the same i even prev overheard a teacher speaking about a pupil in sim circumstances and say to my horror and i quote"i wash my hands of him" omg a child of 5 this was, what is the world comming to when a child so young is refered to in this way what becomes of us all if we give up so eaily on a child with obvious SEN and treat them all in a blanket manner as just "naughty"and this was the deputy head of the school saying this. so just do as you say luckily he has his mum and someone in the know backing you is deffinately important , youve done nothing wrong just get as much back up as possible and make sure they dont do what they did to me and thats take my sons tutor away without prior notice of letter or even a phone call and without putting anything else in place, it really is shocking bless you, keep up your morale and try and take it easy

am on your behalf, there are ways of doing and saying things without all the crap! I guess the school are looking for a way of saying they can't meet his needs but going about it all the wrong way, totally out of order. Hope you can find somewhere alse that's a tad more understanding.

Sat in a room 3 weeks ago, looked the head in the eye and said "this is your opportunity to say so, if you feel this institution won't meet his needs. I promise I won't be offended as I had no idea the LEA would consider he needed this much support in a school environment".

She assured me the school could, and let me settle into a false sense of security. I do feel very, very betrayed if I'm honest at how she's chosen to handle the situation. There's a word for that sort of behavior but I'm too much of a lady to use it.

For others who may find themselves in similar situations. My son's vicar (he does Sunday School) & afterschool club leaders have spoken up for him and I'm sure helped to influence the LEA in a postive way in the last couple of days. It's unoffical and off the record of course but in a situation like this the attitude of the SEN officer dealing with your case is critical. ANY respectable outsider who has known your child for a period of time in a social setting may come in handy. This is something I'd never have thought of but is deffo something I'm bearing mind for the future. I enrolled my son in a few out of school activities he's enjoy to boost his self-esteem not realising they could help prove he's not a monster.