statement - whats next?

[Suzza]

Can anyone tell me their experiences of the statementing process please.

School have just sent off the paperwork requesting a statement etc for my son. I know it takes 26 weeks but not sure if that us for the answer or the actual statement itself?

Also following the document,does anyone know how long it takes to get the funding?

thanks,

what they have done is send of a request for statutory assessment by the sounds of it. The lea has 6 weeks to decided whether to assess or not, if they decide to assess then they will write to you asking for more information and who you want them to contact as part of the assessment. If they refuse to assess then you can appeal. Once they have assessed they will say yes to a statement, or issue a note in lieu. I'd say if you haven't already, have a good read of the ipsea site, some really good info on there and explains the process much better than me.

also (as its so many pages long but is downloadable) they should have sent a copy already but if they have not ask for a a copy of SENCOP hth

The timeline is here. 26 weeks sounds like a long time but there is quite a bit for you to do, as the LA will ask for your views and your child will have to see various professionals (if statutory assessment is agreed).

The funding will be released once the statement is finalised, at the end of the 26 weeks (or possibly longer if you have to appeal). Any extra provision should be put into place asap by law but in practice it can take time if a TA has to be employed etc.

BTW never ever accept a note in lieu because these are not worth the paper they are written on!. A statement is what is needed.

Contact details to get a free copy of the sen code of practice and sen toolkit:

DfE Publications
PO Box 5050
Sherwood Park, Annesley
Nottingham
NG15 ODJ
United Kingdom
Telephone: 0845 60 222 60
Fax: 0845 60 333 60