Government proposes biggest reforms to special educational needs in 30 years

[CQrrrnee]

online consultation closes tomorrow - last chance to reply
here

It's great news and will lead to much better and more joined up provision for kids with SEN.

Oh I do hope that's true moondog. But with this Government's track record on disability, I fear the worse, and that this will be yet another cost cutting exercise...prettily dressed up, but cost cutting nevertheless'

I think people should stop fixating on cost and start thinking about effectiveness which is possible without great expense.
The present system is incredibly costly and frankly, bloody useless.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that throwing more money at it will fix it-it won't.

My personal experience of the SEN system has been that the support my daughter needs has not been provided and it is the cost of the support that has clearly been the LAs motivation for refusing it. I agree that money is wasted - a prime example being my LA taking us all the way to Tribunal in the face of irrefutable evidence, and then employing a barrister to represent them, that was truly a waste of public money!

Exactly Spending taxpayers' money to prove a stupid point because you didn't brown nose!

I just responded!

I used the Batman comment moondog . I also bleated on about talked a lot about the need to embed proper EBP across the public sector and enforce adherence to it and proper data collection and analysis at all levels with inspections and sanctions for non-compliance.

Less meetings about meetings. Efficient paperwork. Self-esteem is not a SMART target etc etc.

Hehe!
It's a handy one, that.

If I hadn't experienced the LA provision and 'service' first hand I would be against these cuts.

However, I fought with all my might to get adequate provision for my ds and despite having won his right to it (for most part) the delivery quite frankly was not worth the effort.

I do not believe this government is particularly keen to promote the wellbeing of vulnerable groups. I expect the model they would like to see is SEN provision cut by 50%. However, I also expect the 50% that is left to be more under parents control.

If my ds has 50% less provision but it was provision that worked then IMHO that is what I would prefer.

I think that is the way I see it Star.
Data driven evidence based outcomes, not more £60 000 'sensory' rooms (my pet hate)

A fortune (in my eyes) has been spent on meetings etc for my son without him ever getting an hours theraputic intervention.

Timely assessment of need, measurable targets set and then timely intervention measured against those targets. Self-esteem is raised by default when a child has a sense of achievement. Concrete targets kills two birds with one stone.

I haven't yet recovered from the meeting where they wanted to put a bright year 2 kid in nursery so he'd be "happy". At least 4 of those present are on £50K+ per year to make choices like that.

You could cut 90% of the people,( and therefore the money spent by various agencies) who have have DS on their case load without my DS or myself noticing any difference (bar reduced stress) at the moment. After a long fight to get it, it's an untrained, inexperienced 21 year old low paid TA who has most direct influence on my child's education right now.

Giving back some of the power to the parents would be fantastic. I'm beginning to really resent how much of my parenting effort and time is spent on the "system" and not directly concentrating on my child, home and family life (late nights on everything from DLA forms, to prepping for & attending meetings and tribunal application etc). I doubt I'm the only Mum that feels this way.

Put 50% of the current budget under this Mum's control and make those responsible for service delivery accountable and I KNOW my DS would acheive to his potential.

'After a long fight to get it, it's an untrained, inexperienced 21 year old low paid TA who has most direct influence on my child's education right now.'

BNochead, the terrifying fact is that that is how it is most of the time, irrespective of how much one has to fight.

Parents need to wake up to this fact.
It is the single most important thing to know.

moondog I disagree

Ok.
Care to elaborate?

well (I have had wine!) I think you're saying that the untrained 21 year old is all that there is so parents need to just accept it. If that is what you're saying then I don't agree for various reasons ( depending on the LEA).

Nooo I'm not saying that at all.
Just the opposite.I am saying that is what they will try to fob you off with.
A lot of important people with hefty salaries and important sounding jobs will create the illusion that they actually see and deal with your child.
They don't.
They just fob everything off onto an ill equipped individual and drop in now and again and claim to offer 'support' and 'advice'.

oohh sorry! I blame the wine

I agree Moondog. It is certainly what I am experiencing and that leaves me with a quandry - do you spend lots of money 'fighting' for your child's provision which will ultimately be delivered by someone who might not even get on with your child or have any training based on the insights of someone who barely knows your child if at all?

Is that worth £3000 of legal and expert fees?

I doubt it but what else do you do? Let the LA trample all over parents and deliver crap without question?

Or fight and get more crap - if you're lucky?

Even with a S&LT of our own working with school, we are still tied to crap targets and who would give a child the time of day without the statementing provision that schools are legally obliged to implement. If they would, I would use that money to pay for proper services rather than fight for crap.

So - what do you do? I've a Tribunal in 2 weeks and I'm just about to throw away the year's holiday money and for what?

well I agree with moondog now that I know what she was talking about!

AT, I think the only way is to familiarise yourself with the extensive guidance and professional standards governing the professions that exist ostensibly to support your child.

They all insist on data driven evidence based practice.
Quote it at them and demand to see evidence of it.
Refuse to accept ill founded 'professional opinion' (which often covers a wealth of sins.)

Keep telling them it is not good enough.
Try not to have a mental breakdown as you do so.

AT, I am in a completely ridiculous position of having to spend more on a tribunal than the total cost of the provision I am asking for, which incidentally costs less than the LA provision.
My arse is it about money, it is about who controls the money, not how much is spent.

The last time they had a similar cost cutting review in 1984, they changed the Teacher Training Curriculum so that Special Needs changed from being a core subject, to become a voluntary option. And we are still suffering the affects of that.

And where the money goes.

They would rather spend more money on their own salaries/outsourced legal team to protect their own salaries than less money on a child but that goes to an outside person not chosen by them with no direct strategic benefit.

Star, I agree completely with what you are saying. They all like to keep offering the same old crap irrespective of whether it works and then they moan about resources and lack of funds. CHANGE WHAT YOU DO THEN and make interventions effective.

Moondog - I did all that and got branded a 'vexatious correspondent' and now no one has to listen to me!!