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SN children

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Original poster

meeting at 12 oclock with the LA - wish me luck

24 replies

bjkmummy · 01/02/2013 09:12

its too discuss the working document - there will be 2 SEN officer plus their solicitor - then me and DH

I was all for going power dressing etc but have decided to go dressed down so they think im a rubbish mum and therefore will be rubbish at tribunal. they are not going to concede anything so going in their guns blazing isnt goingt o work - need them to think im weak etc as at the moment they havent got hardly any witnesses against us and i want it to try and stay that way.

going to follow the advice on here and just go through the things that are not agreed and say what i want in and what i want taken out - the LA have made no amendments as they have had no reports done so it will be me asking to take some of the previous amendments we have made out so the LA should agree to it. i dont thnk there is anything they have put in that we have an issue with but then they have no reports so its a no brainer really.

it seems pretty pointless really meeting them. they have made it quite clear that this is not mediation and they will not agree our school placement. im a bit miffed that the LA are saying that we wont agree to mediation when it has never even been offered but that is something i will raise at the tribunal and try and produce as late evidence the letter we sent to them about it.

my only concern past today is to get our case sorted - we have to show that our son is not a mainstream school child and the other school cannot meet his needs - sounds so simple but i know the head of their school will promise the earth in the tribunal and then will never deliver the promises.

think i will be enjoying some well deserved alcohol later after this is all over.

OP posts:

flowwithit · 01/02/2013 09:15

Good luck!
Keep us informed.
I've got all this coming up soon too so it's good to hear other experiences.

StarlightMcKenzie · 01/02/2013 09:41

Why are you meeting them if they aren't going to concede anything?

What on earth is the point?

Go in and say, 'are you going to concede anything?' and when they say no, just walk straight out and into a pub.

StarlightMcKenzie · 01/02/2013 09:43

Although, if they are using this meeting to go all guns out to convince you to accept their provision, then they'll have to attempt to 'sell' it to you in the way they would a tribunal, which then gives you a significant advantage.

Icedcakeandflower · 01/02/2013 09:46

Good luck and honks x

sweetteamum · 01/02/2013 09:51

Sending you lots of luck and HONKS

imogengladhart · 01/02/2013 09:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

nostoppingme · 01/02/2013 09:55

Good luck, I think you are amazing btw.

KOKOagainandagain · 01/02/2013 10:06

Good luck.

Keep us all posted - if they have made it clear that they will not concede it is hard to see what there is to discuss. Must be trying to rattle you pre-tribunal. I have had the 'what are you going to do if you lose' - ie he's going to have to go to a mainstream school anyway. Pre-emptive. Its up to tribunal to rule on the appropriate type of placement.

Maybe paranoid but I would also watch out for them being all nicey nicey and seemingly reasonable at this meeting (paper trail) so that they are better able to stab you in the back at tribunal.

PolterGoose · 01/02/2013 10:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

bjkmummy · 01/02/2013 10:16

starlight - you just made me laugh re the pub!! i have sent their solicitor a copy with everything in red we want to come out so will just rattle through that. the judge at the telephone hearing on monday said that the document was too lengthy so we need to reduce it - i am probably slightly at fault as we have out so much in but the judge made it clear that all reports to be appendiced to the statement. think the LA will still say its too lengthy but i dont care - there should actually not be that much not agreed as we have taken ourselves a lot out - they dont want in about small class sizes, asd specific school etc etc - they are try to get part 4 to fit the statement rather than the other way around.

OP posts:

Original poster

bjkmummy · 01/02/2013 10:26

their solicitor has also asked me to bring everything with me - not going to do that - taking the working document and the reports i want to go in and thats it as the meeting is solely about the working doucment so why would i need to take anything else? wonder if they want to see how organised my bundle etc is.

also i have a feeling they may ambush on us that they want people to see our son before the tribunal which is now 11 days away as they have no reports - will i be okay to say - no and if you really want to get reports done then go to the tribunal and ask them as the final evidence submission has gone plus he is out of school of the moment

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StarlightMcKenzie · 01/02/2013 10:30

'their solicitor has also asked me to bring everything with me'

ha ha. You could take a suitcase and just tell them the rest is all in there but refuse to open it!

StarlightMcKenzie · 01/02/2013 10:33

No. don't tell them how to go about achieving it.

Just say, I'm afraid that ds has had so many observations and assessments now that you do not think it is interest to have repeats.

And leave it at that. It's up to them to come up with a request to tribunal. If you tell them to do that then they might think you're calling their bluff and do it.

StarlightMcKenzie · 01/02/2013 10:34

Oh, and when you are there Think to yourself now and then 'what would the MN lot think of this then?'. It can help you be objective.

At least it did help me, when it didn't make me giggle

AuntStressie · 01/02/2013 13:20

Honk, honk. Hope it goes o.k

Original poster

bjkmummy · 01/02/2013 17:27

feel absolutely drained now - 3 sodding hours i was there!!! teh working document was at over 30 pages so it did need to be condesned.

they have totally baffled me as they gav away quite a bit of where they are coming from whereas i kept the poker face on.

there are 2 OT reports - theirs and mine. both are very similar - both different different test and recommend slightly different therapy - i want parts of both reports to go in so it shows ALL of his needs. LA have now decided after many many months of thinking about it to go with only their OT report and that they can only commision one type of therapy hence why its one or the other. they refuse to put the therapy in part 3 - want it in part 6.

had a 'debate' with them at the beginning how they are doing the working document completely wrong. got the response' thats how we do it' i dug my heels in, solicitor thought about it and then went off to phone their counsel who she could get hold of, after she thought about it she agreed that actually i was right they were wrong! when i got hime there was another bundel from the tribunal waiting for me and in it was an email from their solicitor bleating that i was having a go at them doing it wrong, they were right and i was causing the confusion - and yet the truth is i was right all along!!

i had a private SALT report done. they now say the cannot even consider it as he needs a NHS assessment as tehy cannot pay for private SALT therapy.

we agreed on lots of part 2 and appendiced the reports - but when it came to part 3 i absolutely dug me heels in - solicitor was making snidey comments as i wouldnt reduce it - she said 'are you not going to read it first before you say that' i said - 'i dont need to read it as i wrote it and i want it in'

so thats that - tribunal an absolute certainty - tehy dont agree my ed psych report because they have their own ed psych??? who hasnt seen him since may 2012.

the email i got in the bundle today totally shows me what their case it and i can completey counter argue the lot with evidence. so they dont agree my OT my SALT or my ed psych report but have not got any of these reports themselves.

now i wait for them to return it and see what an absolute pigs ear of it all they have made of it. they and their soilcitor clearly have absolutely no idea at all what they are doing. they think they can just go to tribunal and say we dont agree with that report with no evidence to show why it cant be agreed and that to wheel out a head of a mainstream school who says we can meet his needs will be enough to persaude the tribunal.

let battle commence!!

OP posts:

StarlightMcKenzie · 01/02/2013 17:34

What a waste of money on that solicitor. If they had any sense they'd sack her and offer you a job after this is all over.

Original poster

bjkmummy · 01/02/2013 17:45

best bit was how we have added in that if he god forbid stays in the mainstream then he will have autism outreach in one morning a week. they wanted that out as they are arguing his place in a mainstream school in a mainstream class is a special school placement and autism outreach doesnt work in the special schools as they are paying extra for the specialist provision. looked the sen officer straight in the eye and said i want it - she got very very flustered about it and frustrated - she doesnt seem to understand it is a mainstream school!!! they have clearly stated he will never ever have access to the autism class. there is one teacher who specialises in autism in the specialist class but she is senco for all the SEN kids so she would at best have an hour a week to spend 1:1 with him. School have said that this specialist teacher will write his IEP and thats about as specialist as this placement is getting

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Veritate · 01/02/2013 22:43

How can they possibly say they don't want OT in part 3, assuming that it is therapy that is going to help with motor control and sensory problems? All that is clearly educational provision. And if they think he needs an NHS assessment, why haven't they arranged it?

I suspect that, unless their barrister's an idiot, there will be more concessions before the hearing. Barristers generally don't want to have to waste time arguing stupid points like that which will only annoy the tribunal.

inappropriatelyemployed · 02/02/2013 08:00

What a mess you have to put up with. This is why the Tribunal process is so useless. If they dig their heels in, there is nothing you can do but prepare hearing, yet they could cave last minute without sanction for poor practice and incompetence and time wasting.

You really should be to judicially review poor decisions and challenge poor decision making processes irrespective of the existence of a Tribunals hearing.

Original poster

bjkmummy · 02/02/2013 09:10

on the working document the LA have been writing down the side stating why they dont agree things etc - re the OT they have written that as it is not commissioned by the NHS here it needs to go in part 6 - they are wrong. for it to go to part 6 they need to be sure that the NHS can provide that therapy which they cant so if it goes there he will never get the help he needs. the solicitor yesterday was telling the LA what to write down the side of this working document but then said later make sure you take whats written down the side out - i was sat there thinking damn it would be good for that to be left in as it shows how completely imcompetent they are.

when i got home another bundle from the tribunal arrived - my bundle is now 1050 pages long (LA say i have no evidence!) in the bundle was a copy of a working document that they had sent the tribunal earlier in the week with said writing on the side attached which has made me smile so the tribunal will see that they have been doing it completely wrong and what they are saying is completely wrong and an attempt to mislead me.

the SALT they are screwed - in their response to tribunal in october they wrote that they had decided that no SALt or OT report were required so to try and adjourn the tribunal this week so they could get one was a bit ridiculous. they tribunal are just as frustrated with them. i got the minutes from teh telephone hearing and the tribunal had put explanation marks next to some of the comments the LA solicitor has said. they admit they are not ready and again they are stating i have no idea what i want or what i am doing. so that is there only defence but to attack me

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MareeyaDolores · 02/02/2013 09:26

Chill. Doesn't sound like they will be convincing on the day.

Veritate · 02/02/2013 12:57

Is this a local authority solicitor? Whoever it is hasn't a clue about the law or the tribunal. I'm not in the least surprised about the tribunal exclamation marks against the notes of what she has said.

Original poster

bjkmummy · 02/02/2013 14:54

yes she is but she has said that she has no experience of attending tribunals hence why she made the request to attend mine. i said no and tribunal agreed with me. at the telephone hearing last week she asked again and again i said no - the judge made it clear that it was not fair to ask me. when the judgement came, the judge went further and said it was not fair for the LA to be instructing counsel for the hearing and then to ask the instructing solicitor to also attend as well. she also said that parents do not get the opportunity to watch a tribunal hearing to prepare so the answer was a no. i half expected her to ask again but the order was quite brutal about it so dont think she would dare! although i wouldnt put it past her to turn up on the day. have to say the judge last week was brilliant and shot the solicitor down in flames. unfortunately the solicitor has misinterpreted some of the things the judge had said , i did try to put them right but decided to leave them to it as tehy clearly have no clue.

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