Received Proposed Statement Today

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Hi there. This is my first ever post!
My ds is almost 9 and 6 months ago I asked for Statutory Assessment for him. He has HFA/Aspergers and anxiety disorder.
After six months of appointments and assessment, and me filling in untold forms and pouring my heart out in letters and appointments with professionals, I received through the post a proposed statement which is so very disappointing.
DS is in a main stream primary. The proposed statement says he will remain in his current setting, and that the LA will fund 5 hours per week 121 and the school will itself fund a further 2.5 hours per week for him.
I am so disappointed by this. There are copies of all the professionals reports which are fantastic, and all of which say he will need 121 supervision throughout most of the day.
Obviously I am not going to accept the statement as it stands. I am going to draft a letter asking for the 121 hours to be increased, and copy the sections from all the reports which state he needs consistent 121 for all areas of the day.
Just wondered if anyone could offer any advice, and if anyone has been in a similar situation and had 121 hours increased from those in thier child's porposed statement.
5 hours per week is an hour a day, which just seems insulting considering my son's difficulties and all we have been through to get here. Thanks xx

Gosh that does not sound a lot at all. Yes I would appeal if I were you.

I would appeal using any reports you have as evidence. Be prepared to take it to tribunal. We had a similar thing with our son but the day before the tribunal they told us we could have what we were asking for. They are only tring to save money by not giving the support.

have you phoned IPSEA? Very good advice there.

SOSSEN are also a good source of advice. Hopefully someone with more experience of appealing will have some more information. Otherwise a thread title, 'I need to appeal my DC's statement, help!' might be useful.

You have a good chance of getting this changed without going to appeal if the professionals' reports are all recommending a high level of 1:1 support. And as you can, as you say, copy & paste all the sections from the reports saying this, it should be hard for them to argue why they have seemingly ignored what the professionals are saying. Especially the Educational Psychologist - assume an EP assessed too and recommended the same thing?

Basically, the provision set out in part 3 should be based on his needs as described in part 2. Both these parts are based on what the professionals have said. So part 2 should be accurate and complete, and part 3 should provide relevant, adequate, and specified support.

Look at SOSSEN website, they have guidance on going through a proposed statement.

My sympathy - we're going through statementing atm too and it's horribly stressful isn't it.

Link to SOSSEN advice sheet for checking the statement

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am REALLY hoping to get this sorted out without going to tribunal, but will do if that's what it takes.

I was never expecting to get a huge amount of one to one funding, but 5 hours just seems crazy. I am hoping that if I contact his caseworker on Monday I can meet her and discuss with a letter and hopefully get the hours increased without having to appeal. I was hoping for 12 per week, and don't think this is unreasonable given that the ASD service, Ed Psyche and Paediatrician all said he needs help with all areas throughout the day, in particular lunch and play times when he is very vulnerable and isolated.

I don't think I could really face a tribunal. Both my boys have Autism, my younger son being severe with other health issues. Why is everything a fight and a struggle?

When we were going to tribunal we got a lot of help from the national autistic society. We were given a case worker who helped us present our case in the best way. I hope it doesnt come to that but it is just somewere else that could support you. I know it is really hard having to fight for the help. Just try to stay positive.

You may find that simply lodging your appeal is enough to make the lea more cooperative in giving your ds what he needs so that you don't have to take it all the way to tribunal.
As well as the sources of help mentioned by other posters you may find partnership with parents helpful. Our local pwp produced a statement analysis which simply mapped where the statement reflected professional evidence submitted and where it didn't - gaps or inaccuracies.

I know tribunal feels really daunting but hold on to the fact that you have right on your side - if your instinct is that the statement comes nowhere near meeting his needs and doesn't reflect the evidence, you are likely to be right and able to convince the panel at tribunal.