what should I be looking for from school (warning long)

[Whojamaflip]

Hi ds is in yr1 at a lovely village school. He has complex needs including epilepsy, speech problems and is "somewhere" on the autistic spectrum (his paeds words) He needs prompting to stay on track and is incapable of following more than one instruction at a time, is easily distracted and lacks confidence in his abilities.

In reception he had 15 hrs 1-1 supplied by the school, (large school) and he thrived. This year his help has been cut (4 hours a week if hes lucky and the TA is not pulled else where) as they decided he was too reliant on having the support. I wasn't sure but went along with it.

He is supposed to be on SA+ but I haven't seen an IEP since last May. We have just had parents evening where I backed his teacher into a corner and she admitted that she doesn't have the TA support to give to ds as in her words "there are 29 other children in the class". She also stated that ds was incapable of completing work on his own without constant prompting and that when asked ds said he was "scared of getting it wrong". IEPS were then produced for Sept 2012 and Jan 2013, neither of which I had seen but which were allegedly sent home in his book bag. I have also requested a meeting with the SENCO and the class teacher on 3 separate occasions which have been ignored. I have spoken to the TA who has been working with him last year and this and she says he works well with her but it doesn't translate to the classroom situation. She has also been told NOT to talk to me about ds and that any request to discuss what she is doing with ds has to go through his class teacher.

I asked how far behind he was and was told a term - I then queried why his reading was autumn term Reception class level which to my mind meant he was nearly 18mths behind in reading. She refused to give me levels for English or Maths.

All in all I feel the school is failing ds and its now come to the point that I need to go forward for statementing if only to force the school to give him the support he needs. I asked the class teacher if she would support me in this to be told they would not assess before he was 7 (bullshit I know).

I have a meeting with the SENCO on Monday and I want to go armed and sound like I know what I am talking about and what my rights are. I Have a copy of the SEN code of Practice for 2 years ago but have a feeling that things have changed. Can anyone bring me up to speed on the latest legislation?

Or am I expecting too much and living in cloud cuckoo land? Thank you if you have got this far - I didn't want to drip feed.

Things haven't changed yet, but obviously budgets are stretched. You can request SA yourself, as you know, and I would say you probably should.

The school don't sound very supportive. I'd be very wary if they are already coming up with bullshit and refusing to give you levels! I guess the TA should go through the CT, really, TBH, but apart from that, they are sending out all the wrong vibes. Can you go back to the Paed and see if they are ready to DX? More grease for the wheel.

More bullshit to be aware of is that although the SEN system will change, the old law still applies.

They aren't meeting his needs and likely won't be able to or want to meet his needs even with a statement in place. He is being failed here by this "lovely village school". I'd also now be looking at other schools.

SA plus means bugger all really; its far too easy to get support cut or curtailed because it is simply not legally binding. His support got pulled after reception.

You are his best - and only - advocate here.

Never forget that.

I would also apply to the LEA for a statement asap. www.ipsea.org.uk is a good website in this respect as they have model letters you can use.

Thanks guys - trouble is this is the best school in the area without travelling for miles and I have 3 other dc to consider as well.

I am going to spend the weekend setting out my reasons for requesting assessment and discuss them with the SENCO on Monday - a bit of good news is that the TA who has been helping ds is also going to be there so will have a bit of back up from her.

I am going to apply to the LEA next week for assessment with or without the support of the school - I had got to this point just before ds started school in 2011 and was persuaded to wait to see how he got on in reception, which to be fair was great, its just this year it seems to have gone pear-shaped. In hindsight I should have just pushed for assessment regardless

I have also put in an email request to his paed for an appointment to discuss assessment for asd.

Anything else I should be doing?

Download copy of SENCOP (SEN Code of Practice) Think its available online.

If you have not also applied for DLA I would suggest you do this as well and use the Cerebra guide for completing this monstrous form.

Keep posting on here!.

www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/DfES%200581%20200MIG2228.pdf

I linked it only yesterday.

I have a copy of the code of practice from 2011 - has it changed much or is it still valid?

Re DLA - we have been getting this for the last 3 years for ds at middle rate care with lower rate mobility so at least someone admits he has problems...

Thank you all

No, not changed at all! In fact, it's still got the introduction by Estelle Morris from 2001!

If you go to the IPSEA website there is/a copy of a draft letter to start the statementing process yourself. Start it and then inform the school

I would apply anyway go along to meeting with a copy of your letter to LA and hand it over whilst saying you think your ds has complex needs which need to be clarified via statutory assessment and that you feel his needs will require further 1:1 support. Write down everything they say and don't commit yourself to anything.

I agree, apply for SA yourself. You sound very well informed and armed with knowledge already which is brilliant. Remember to start keeping a diary of everything that happens, both with school, and also with ds (behaviour, problems etc). And if you can, get things in writing from the school - I tend to try and do everything by email. Good luck.

Do you have an excellent EP report to include with your parental request? I did not; I had a very detailed report by a dyslexia consultant which I thought would open doors however the LA rejected my parental request.

In retrospect, I think we might have saved ourselves 6 months had I submitted a super duper EP report from the start.

I have not come across any posts on this matter. What exactly do you need to provide with your parental statutory request letter that gives a parent the best possible chance at getting a yes from the LA?

Best wishes

Good questions nostoppingme - no idea....

re EP - is it right that LEAs don't (or won't) accept a private EP's report? If so I need to get ds assessed by the EP through school in order to get one - or hope that if I request a statutory assessment they will then order one to be done.

I am also under the impression that the LEA will not take on board ANY private reports - please correct me if I have this wrong god I hope so

Our assessments are all private, we had no other choice.

I hope someone can clarify what is really necessary to have a best shot at getting magic yes from LA. We are waiting for final statement now.

Piece of good news - paed is referring us to our local clinic for assessment re asd so thats another box that will be ticked - hopefully they will be able to tell me more than "complex needs"

On the other hand I have had the school bus driver come up to me today and tell me that its getting to the point that he won't alllow ds onto the bus as heis behaviour is becoming dangerous as he won't sit down and is insisting on getting out of his seat while the bus is moving. Guess its back to ds1 to look after his little brother again.

then I find out that ds is mucking about in school dinners and is now being sat directly by the serving hatch as its the only place they can keep him under control.

Why oh why has NOBODY told me any of this before?