Statement review part 2+3, and how do you know what support to request?

[Boboma]

My DD is in Y1. We were lucky, she had a specific statement in reception (she couldn't talk) and had a very good year with the right support. The school wrote an action plan for Y1 which in hindsite isn't very specific. We had an annual review and the LEA said that no changes were needed and the statement was 'maintained in its present form' from how they originally wrote it for reception. I thought that everything was fine since the school had been so fab. She has come on a lot (great) but....she's not getting much support now as far as I can make out and isn't very happy in Y1. I am not sure where I stand with the statement though. Part 2 and 3 are completely out of date (written when she was 3 - the process took so long!) so there is no point in me arguing that they are not following it since it is not relevant. I also have no real idea what help she should be getting now because she has changed so much! I don't think that it should have dropped right off though - at least not with knowing that it is the right thing!

So (for next time) - should I have requested part 2 and 3 to be updated? I'm guessing that the answer is 'yes'!
-How on earth do I know what help my DD needs? What about educational psychologists? How do they fit in? Is it worth paying for a private one to suss out where we are up to?

Thanks for reading :-)

I haven't been through annual review yet with our statement but I would think you need up to date reports that set out her difficulties and make recommendations as to how to meet these. Once you have these then you have the information to change parts 2 and 3. If the LA will not listen and make the changes then you have the evidence you need to appeal. Depending how your current statement is worded you might be able to get these reports done as part of the review (ours has assessments written in so they would have to be done and updated) or you may have to request them. If the school will not play nicely then you may need to get private reports. Be aware that the LA can remove a statement if they feel the child has made sufficient progress that extra help may not be warranted so you may choose to get both private and school arranged (+/- NHS) reports to ensure that every aspect of your ongoing concerns is professionally addressed.

You could make a request for statutory reassessment, which is like going back to the beginning of the statementing process, but potentially that could take another 6 months before you get an amended statement. I'd suggest that in any event you start talking to the school now about getting updated assessments so that, at the very least, new reports will be available for the next review - you could even try asking for that to be brought forward because the statement is so out of date. If possible, it could be an idea to get your own reports anyway.

Statements are often written so that they need little modifying year to year, are a little bit general and the IEPs give the specific targets. The best time to modify and update the statement is during the annual review. You can request an emergency review if things aren't working, though. Extra reports after gaining a statement tend to be few and far between.

What support was written in to part 3, it should be quantified and specified (as in number of hours of 1 to 1 support?)