Am i being fobbed off?

[flyingunderpants]

DS was turned down for a assess for a statement.Recieved the letter last monday but it was half term.SEN agreed to a meeting at school with SENCO,SEN and myself.This will be on 19th nov.
So i have been and spoke to SENCO at school today.She said she was aware DS might get turned down,because of changes being brought in.She said unless a child needs more then 20hrs on a statement,they will not get one.Not sure when this new rule comes in but think it may be next april.
She said DS would most likely have got 15hrs,so under the new rules he wouldn't meet the criteria.
Not sure what to do.Poor DS.

Senco said that the changes mean,any child who needs under 20hrs of extra support,will not get a statement.In DS's case we were looking at 15hrs.So he has fell under the 20hrs,and won't get a statement,even though under the old rules he most likely would have.
The school will have to support the child, without the extra funding that a statement gives.
Not sure how that will happen.

never heard about the 20h rule. IMO the Senco is talking complete nonsense.

apart from that it is not for the senco to decide if your DS will get a statement and if so, how many hours he would receive.

time to get the appeal sorted?

In some LEAs a statement is certainly not a guarantee of extra funding - but it is a legal statement of what support your child needs. So while that may not be worth the effort for the school to pursue, it is certainly worth it from your child's point of view

SENCO said the reason the SEN have turned DS down,is because he will not meet the new guide rules.i.e.he will not need more then 20hrs.
She said every child that would have got under 20hrs on a statement,are having them turned down.The schools are being told to support the child out of its own budget.
She said the meeting with SEN will be just to confirm this.

I really don't know what to do.I don't think the SENCO is lying to me.It was her that put in for the statement.
I'm waiting for parent partnership to ring me back.

is your PP trustworthy (mine is a LA parentship)?

would be worth ringing ISPEA or so I suppose...

but unless support is not in a statement, nothing is guaranteed. if you think your DS does need a statement, then I would get the appeal in.

surely the new rules NOT being effective, finalised and in use...means she cannot quote on this anyway?...and it isn't even factual I don't think...not seen anything about amount of hours being relevant...it's about 'needs' not how long in any given week iykwim

It is now you are needing things done...new rules do not apply yet and it's irrelevant...and 1 senco is not in a position to say that you would not get the statement your DS needs, that is for the analysis and assessments to figure out. AND I would imagine, regardless of when the new rules come in, any process started before then would follow the current rules to completion.

sounds entirely, stalling, negative and unsupportive...you need to take this elsewhere and push from another direction

I'm going to start the appeal on the grounds i have nothings to lose.
I think PP are trustworthy,but who really knows.
I'll try ringing ISPEA.Thanks.

Every time i take a tiny step forwards,i feel like i get kicked back 10.

whatthewhat thank you for your post,and everybody else.
Of course you are right.
I need to get back up and fight.
I can't and won't just sit back and let them do this.
DS needs this help so i WILL get it for him.

It sounds as if the 20 hour thing is purely LA policy, and they would no doubt claim that it is because they are delegating enough money to schools to cover any support under that level. It would be interesting to hear what your child's headteacher says about that. Of course, what is really absurd is that they can't sensibly claim to know how much support your child needs UNLESS they do an assessment, so it can't be a valid reason for refusing to assess.

If it is LA policy, it might just be worth seeking legal advice from an expert education solicitor, because it sounds to me as if it could well be unlawful. You can't just impose blanket policies like that for SEN - LAs have to consider the needs of each individual child - and this sort of thing should not be left for the tribunal to sort out because it is a waste of tribunal time and money, and it is certainly unfair to children who will just be delayed in getting their needs properly identified and met. It's also unfair to parents having to go through the appeal process, of course. It may well be that investigating that sort of action could be done on legal aid in your child's name.

There are details of appropriate solicitors here - www.chambersandpartners.com/UK/Editorial/45186

SENCO definitely said changes the goverment are making,not just my LA.
But you are right, without an assessment how do they know how many hours DS may need.

Its a long time ago now, but I can remember a conversation with the education officer following our request for a statement. The gist of it was he had been turned down for the LA nursery of choice because his needs were too great; but then we were told they didn't normally statement at that age unless there were severe needs. So I asked which it was and how they knew.....

It appears that IEP and IEP+ are also going to be scrapped.
So if i can't get a statement for DS,where will that leave him?
I'm getting more and more stressed.

Based on our LEA only - I think that some LEAs are getting jitters over the implications of the new system and are actively trying to avoid issuing statements until they can ascertain cost implications.
There have been several clear cut cases here recently where no statements have been issued, but the children have been told (by the LEA) that MS is not suitable and they need SS. The rule used to be no statement, no SS. They have been either issuing note in lieu or absolutely nothing (to the more naive gullible trusting compromising parents)

Thank you for all the replies.
PP didn't ring me back,so hopefully i'll hear from them tomorrow.

Our LA has had a 20 hour limit for a long time. What they mean is the school has been delegated funds and children who need less than 20 hours will get their needs met by the school from this pot of money.
If there are things other than TA time your child needs which are not being provided eg SALT, OT, outreach, equipment etc then its worth trying to get that quantified in a statement. You have to show that what your child needs is more than the school can provide from its own resources and its own resources would include the money for 20 hours 1:1. So you have to show something more is needed.

You are definately right to appeal - you're being told a load of bull!!

Seemingly, according to the Senco, the LA have turned down your request for an assessment because he needs less than 20 hrs support. To reach that decision the LA would have had to carry out an "assessment" and come to the conclusion his needs didn't warrant this amount of support. You need to see what that "assessment" looks like.

At the moment have you a clear picture (IEP) as to what support the school are providing?

We obtained a statement in August for our DD1 (age 4) for less than 20 hours a week. It is a delegated budget statement but she has OT and SALT funded directly by the Local Authority. She is having 7 hours per week of dedicated support from various TA's. She is also having fortnightly SALT and termly OT review at school. I am told she would never have got fortnightly SALT or OT at school without her having a statement.

Sounds like you are being fobbed off about the 20hr rule. Shouldn't it be about your child's needs at the decision to assess stage?

Any changes the Government are proposing aren't going to come in until at least 2014. In the meantime the old statementing system and rules still apply - even if you are in a pilot area for the new single plan.

You are being fobbed off.

In my LA (wokingham) the rule for 20 hrs is long existed. If child needs more than 20 hrs then statement (money from LA) and if child needs less than 20 hrs then note in lieu (money from the school itself). It is established rule atleast in my LA for a long time.

I don't understand how each LEA can just make up their own ad hoc rules on this... And then change them as they go along!
Ds has no statement but the lea gave him 15 hours of funding at level 2c
It's a blardy mess

Up-date for anybody interested.Sorry its abit late.
Had the meeting with case officer from SEN,SENCO,Parent Partnership(who were great) and myself.
It seems SENCO had got abit mixed up with info.
The SEN panel turned the assessment down,because they felt not enough time had been given to put in place recommendations,made by EP in the march.
Also they wanted to see what happened about a referral to CAMHS.
It was nothing to do with changes to statements.The only change at the moment in my LA, is if a child is placed on a statement, the school have to now show how the funding is being used to support the child.Where if the child isn't on a statement but is being monitored by LA learning support,they get the same funding,but don't have to show how or where its being spent.
Anyway DS had already been seen by CAMHS.They sent me letter saying they wanted to do a more indepth assessment,which i took with me and showed them.
DS had also had a review by learning support in october.Which showed 3 word progress over 12mths.
SEN said with the evidence that we had got, she was recommending school resubmit the request for assessment.The paper work doesn't need to be redone,because there wasn't anything wrong with it,just add the extra evidence.
So we haven't got to appeal yet,just wait and see what happens this time.SEN did say she thinks it will be accepted this time, but that was just her view.We have to wait and see what the panel decide.
One thing i have learnt,do not trust anybody.I really thought the school wanted what was best for DS,but not so sure now.

It might be as well to put your appeal in anyway. You don't want a situation where they get the further information and decide not to proceed but tell you that they don't need to issue a new decision letter, and you've lost the chance to appeal because the deadline is past. You can always withdraw the appeal if they decide to assess, and it might actually make them move a bit more quickly.