Statement again.....

[MyAngelChuckles]

So, I went to see the SENCO about the proposed statement and about how wooly it was to see where she stood, She is new and I thought from what I'd seen that she would be onside(she is also only here for 1 term so I will likely have all this again in the new year), but she kept changing the subject from changing the statement to what provisions they would provide at the school and said over and over about how the LEA doesnt really like to quantify because if the childs needs change it gives no leway :(

Then we moved onto the main bit of my gripe, support at lunch time, after 20 minutes of the social communication Therapist sitting there saying that small, short pockets of games engineered to increase DS social skills that would need to be overseen by some one her grand idea was to make sure the dinner lady kept a 'special' eye on him .

So I now have a meeting arranged with the SENCO and the person on charge of DS statement and they are both going to be sitting there telling me that it's not really the done thing to be to specific in statements, feeling kinda lonely now.

Why does every one seem to think that a statement is there for the LEA or schools convenience instead of DS's security that he will be provided with the right help.

How many of you have taken the tribunal route for just this reason and what results did you get, I'm curious as to what the likely outcome will be as this is looking very much like the route i will be going on.

I think there are a fair number of people on here who have gone down the Tribunal route re failure to specify and quantify.

SENCO seems pretty much useless if she is only there for a term as well. I would not have bothered seeing her about the proposed statement anyway as she has no imput into it and she has been fed the usual lies by her employers the LEA. She also saying over and over about how the LEA, "doesnt really like to quantify cause if the childs needs change it gives no leway" is all nonsense frankly and shows she has been got at by the LEA to tow their party line.

Have you had independent advice (not parent partnership) from IPSEA, SOSSEN or ACE re the content of Parts 2 and 3 of this document?. You need independent advice re the wording. Both these parts are the most important parts of this whole thing and by law the statement has to be both quantified and specified. LEAs know the law and there is no excuse for a woolly worded statement; such things too if not quantified and specified are not worth the paper they are written on.

Re lunchtime support, if it is not specified and quantified in the statement then this also needs to be addressed via a tribunal situation. If its not in the statement then it does not have to be given.

When is your meeting with these two taking place?. Do not attend on your own if at all possible.

I would ask for the statement to be finalised then take the LEA in question to a SEND tribunal over failure to specify and quantify the statement. Use IPSEA's website www.ipsea.org.uk as that has lots of information on it.

I would also recommend getting some independent advice. I went to see SENCO when I received proposed statement and she said she was happy to look at it if I wanted but reminded me that she WORKS FOR THE LA so probably wouldn't be able to help. I didn't bother to show it to her.

I called IPSEA and got advice from them, the lady I spoke to said I was doing all the right things, and to make it very clear that I was willing to go to tribunal if it wasnt settled to my satisfaction, she was the one who adviced me to arrange a meeting first to give them the oppurtunity to come to an agreement and if they wwere obviously not open to it then tio finalise and go to tribunal.

Who would I get to come with me Attila, as far as I know parent partnership do this if they have ppl to spare but you seem to be a bit dubious about them, can I ask why as they seemt a have a good reputation here?

Some Parent Partnerships do work extremely closely with their LEA (for instance the PP in the area I reside in work in the same offices) and are thus not fully impartial or independent. The counsel they can sometimes give can be suspect and more in the LEAs interest. However, not all are like this and some PP are good and do work for parents.

Thank you for replying Attila, your advice is much appreciated.

I think I will arrange a meeting witht the local PP and gauge the waters a bit as having some one impartial at the meeting would be great, would it be ok to post on this thread after I have seen them with the advice that they give so you could give me some feed back on it, as you seem very aware of the in's and out's of this process where as I am not very knowledgeable about how everything works and, I am coming to suspect, much to willing to take ppl at face value and trust that they have my sons best interests at heart.

My PP were very good up until the point I had a woolley statement.
I got advice from IPSEA and SOSSEN and then re-wirte the statement so it was specific. They didn't change it so I filled in the tribunal forms. The finally got down to talking to me properly to negotiate about a month before the tribunal and I got the final amended statement that we agreed the night before the tribunal.
Now I am embroiled in the challenge of getting the school to do it all as they don't seem to comprehend that they have to - not sure if it is because they are normally completely woolley.
FWIW I ended up with private OT report and private Ed Psych help.

Well, off to see Parent Partnership this morning, lets see how it goes, is there a apprehensive emoticon?

Good luck and let us know how it went!

Well, it seemed to go well from what I gather, the lady I met with said I was doing it all right and that I wasn't actually asking for anything unreasonable and that there was absolutely no reason the LEA shouldn't make the changes I have asked for, which seemed positive to me.

She said that they would try their best to arrange some one to come with me and seeing as it is a couple of weeks until the appointment that should be ok but she couldn't garantee it. The only thing she suggested I do between then and now was to right a letter to the statementing officer saying basically that I look forward to the appontment at such and such a time etc and hope we can sort out (insert problems here) so that a tribunal isnt necassary.

Does that sound about right? appears ok but I seem to get this wrong alot.