just had meeting with SENCO at school.

[angeLstillchasingDXpeacock]

following on from my last thread "help writing a letter to school", I noticed there was a "drop in" with the SENCO at school to discuss IEP's etc...so i booked an appointment for tonight.

We went in, and sat down, and the first thing she said was "I received your letter saying you have applied for SA".... ok, well thankyou for clarifing that...lol Then she said we needed to fill in a CAF.... EH? thought this was an appointment I booked...not you!!??

anyway, We went through some of the CAF, and she said that she would fill in the bits she needed to and could do without me there, and send me a copy to add bits, add them in, send me another copy to check over, then send it in.

then proceeded to show us (me and DH, the kids were accupied with lego and colouring..) a chart from a test she "is doing with all the children on IEP's"
It has two tests on it that the child completes. one is two pictures on either side of a list of words. the child has to then pick the word which best connects the two pictures E.G. a table on one side and a tree on the other....best word..."Wood" IYGWIM
The second part is a test which is like a jigsaw and has peices across the bottom of the screen, the child has to pick the right peice to fit the section of the jigsaw....IYGWIM

in the first test he scored highly, and was just about his age....the second test he scored VERY low and was 2 1/2 years behind.... but this lead to an overall score which was "88" apparently between 84 and 120 is "normal IQ"....even though it gave him an age 1 year behind.....

surely this is an indicator again of something being not right....

then at this point she asked if i had any questions etc.!
I asked her about getting the EdPsych in, which she said would happen if the SA was granted. I KNOW THAT!! DURRR!!! lol..... So i asked if the SA was refused could we still get them in. She said she would "look into it" GRRRR!! but that wasnt a NO! hahahaha

she then tried to recover the old ground of "he will catch up" "all children are different" and "he is making progress" (yes but not enough!) to which i had calm, reasoned and concise retorts!

anyway.... chase up SaLT and the Outreach report, Wait for this CAF form to add my pence-worth, and wait for the SA decision.

hate this waiting malarky!!

no need to reply, just wanted to update... :D xxx

Why are you doing a CAF?

Are you sure you want to do one?

In my experience CAF's is short for lets blame the over anxious mother, so we dont have to carry out a SA.

Scatter amoungst 'tests' and an uneven profile, is even more reason for them to carry out SA.

When i applied for SA, they refused and recommended a CAF assessment 'to establish exactly what ds's needs were'. I refused on the grounds that ds's needs had already been established ie 1001 professional reports and establishing exactly what HELP ds needed via a SA would be more appropriate.

I assume the school will not be backing your SA request?

She told me that if the SA was granted, the CAF would be requested anyway, so get it out the way now.....is that not the case???!!!

I have never felt i had the backing of the school...and she used the terms "its your right to request one" over and over again, like she didnt think it was needed, and in her opinion she wouldnt go for it (which she obviously hasnt hence im doing it lol)

i simply thought a CAF was a form that stated who was involved with DS, and nothing more.....am i missing something??

It's a bureaucratic process that ties you up in knots and involves too many people, too many meetings of self-justification whilst giving those involved the right to share information have meetings about you in your absence IMO.

They are not necessary. There is nothing in the code of practice that says they are. They are usually an attempt to look like things are happening by producing reams of paperwork and getting names on your case in attempt to 'prove' you are getting lots of services.

If focussed, involving few but key people, with clear outcomes at the end, they can be useful, but from your description of where you are I doubt this will be the case for you.

we never had a CAF, it was suggested once but even the SEN manager dismissed it as a waste of time given we had applied for SA

Claw - you're back! how are things? You've been missed.

When CAF was devised and originally started, it had nothing to do with statuatory aSSessment at all.
Over the last few months in our LA, lots of things are being 'measured' by CAFs - how many have been done, what's happening to those people with a CAF, you can't access this that or the other without a CAF, when actually CAFs are entirely unnecessary for most people. There really is no link between a CAF and SA IMO.

I dont think i have seen a positive thing about these since looking now....hmmm....i could just drag my feet about it for now, gather evidence (for myself) and when they grant me the SA (which they will......they better had LOL) i can tell them i dont want to complete it lol....

Ill look further into this CAF thing.... anywhere i should be looking for more info on it, and why i dont need to complete it?? is there any site or leaflet which states its not needed?? xxx

You don't have to prove why it's not needed. That's ridiculous.

Just write to SENCO and say you thought about the meeting, were taken by surprise and on reflection woukd like to stop the CAF thanks.

If she asks why, don't give her a reason, but ask her to put in writing HER reasons for doing it for you to consider.

claw is that really you?

I don't think the CAF in your case is being started to help the SA process. I think it is being used for gathering evidence against awarding SA and I would halt it now.

That is just an opinion btw. I haven't had great experiences of these things and may have a coloured view.

Thankyou very much for all your advise.... i will stop the CAF tomorrow.
Starlight...i agree, it feels like that! I havnt had much support from school (DS has had some support, thats not what i meen...) and it wouldnt supprise me if shes doing it to hinder things.

it seems like she has "lied" to agencies and myself in the past about things, and i do not trust her.... im just at a dissadvantage not knowing the field as well as someone who has had the training...(no matter how good they are at it or not)

If she has lied to agencies I most certainly would not let her take charge if a CAF.

Sorry. The theory behind all of these things is usually pretty sensible, but how they are actually used is another thing entirely.

Well, oddly enough, now you've put that, then a CAF could make more sense for you. You would have a Lead Person (theoretically of your choosing) to call the meetings and insist that everyone involved attends, and then all agreed actions are minuted and who should be doing them is noted. So if you have been runing up against agencies not working together or supporting you, then that is when a CAF comes into it's own.

(Sorry, I don't "know" you or your story, so hope I'm not waffling on about things in general, if everyone esle knows a back story which means none of that which I post, applies!)

BackforGood..... Thankyou for that, i have much thinking to do....

who would i sugest as a lead person? in the meeting today, the SENCO said to leve that....??!!

oooo confusled now! lol

Well, that's where the theory is sometimes different from real life. Some people have a Family Support Worker ? Or a Parent Advisor type person (lots of similar positions with different names out there). A lot do use the SENCo, but that's where it's someone the have got on with over time, and feel they trust. In theory, anyone who is involved in your family's life can do it. Sometimes the parent does it - it's allowed, but not common as not many parents know their way around the system.

hmmm.... finding someone whos on my side....will have to ask arround for that one lol.....

Leonie.... do you meen SS are involved with you? or involved with a general CAF? (i take it SS are social services) xx

SS involved with the general CAF - not with you ...agree with everyone else - sounds most strange.

hmmm..... thats more food for thought, do i want it to actually go ahead now and get them involved, or will this be a bad thing for us??!! oh deary me! i need some time to think this over,.,,,,

Thankyou all for being so honest about this! xxxx :D

Yes SS are often involved in CAFs. Often as many agencies as possible are. This is because they draw up a list of 'needs' and then each agency can encourage another to take responsibility for the funding of the 'support'. Also each agency can hear the needs and tell everyone what they can offer.

I found that they can offer nothing except placement on their relative caseloads which gets each agency a small sum of money even though the actually DO nothing. I also found that from then on any implication that nothing is being done for your child will be met with the reeling off of a list of all the people 'involved'

Ange, I think the key thing for you will be who is in control of the processes and how much you are included.

You can do a CAF where you run the show. You can tell them you will be CAF team leader and that all info needs to come through you but you'd like someone to be selected whom you can turn to for info about the processes etc, but making it clear that any action on their part is carried out with written consent iyswim.

God, I know I sound slightly insane with paranoia but lack of information, conflicting advice and woolliness is your biggest enemy here even if it isn't intentional.

Where I am you had to do the CAF as part of the SA request. I filled in the CAF, school completed their bit and they've now applied for SA. I'm just waiting for the parent bit to arrive now.