at what point do I withdraw appeal?

[chocjunkie]

we appealed against Dd's statement of SEN. eventually, LA gave in (buggers were clearly judt trying it on) and i have what I want for Dd (yay! and thanks for all the advice during this battle).

i have received the final statement and signed and sent of the acceptance form to the LA. is it ok to withdraw the appeal now or should i get anything back from the LA?

If you are totally happy with it and have that final document there then you can cancel the appeal yes. Just be 100% sure the wording is right with you too though - make sure everything is clearly defined without wooly wording such as "access to x hours" and "consideration to be given to..." etc.

Congratulations! If you have a final statement, I should think it's ok to withdraw, but others will have actually done it and know what to do better than I

thanks - yes wording of the final version is fine now (took total of 14 months though!).

I would wait till LEA send it to school as the 'yep, signed and sealed, now get on with it' document myself. And then doublecheck each and every line for any last minute typos changing 'will' to 'could' etc. But then I'm a cynical old mare

thanks mariam - will do

Or you could go for a consent order instead. It should have the appeal heading, and I think it then says something like "Upon the parties having reached terms of agreement, it is ordered that the LA issue an amended statement in the form attached." That then brings the appeal to an end. I like the idea because I've heard LAs talk about withdrawn appeals as if it was some sort of victory for them.