advice please?

[xproudmummyx]

hiya just to warn you, this is going to be a long one sorry.
anyways, I have a 7 year old daughter who has severe brain damage, epilepsy and autism, she done so well with her development I decided that trying her in a main stream school may be more beneficial for her, but I am now going through the whole stamenting process so I can get her out of this awful school. But I have been told this can take around a year to do! is there any way I can get it done quicker? the school are not helpful at all, and my daughter is so unhappy being there. she gets bullied rotten, I have tried to sort it out for her so many times, I spend 4 out of 5 days in the school evry week complaining about the bullying, I know I come across as an "over protective mum" but my daughters epilepsy has worsened over this past few months to the point that she ends up spending time in intensive care on a ventilator. what scares me most about her being in this school is that at lunch time non of the dinner ladies are seeing any of this bullying take place and as they just stand around chatting to each other, I have spoken to the head teacher about this many times but she never sorts the problem out. the dinner ladies have just started tellin my daughter to go away and play when she goes to tell them that a child has hurt her! but surely they should be trying to sort the problems out instead of sending her off on her way? because of my daughters autism she finds it so hard to make friends and often plays by herself in the playground which I think might be making her a target to these bullies but no one seems to be helping her despite me constantly being in the school asking for help. she often comes home from school in tears because she's had such rubbish day in school, she's 7!! surely she should be enjoying school?? I just really don't know what I am supposed to do for her with another year to wait before she can get the proper education and care she needs from a school? I can't move her and then move her again as I'm scared that too much disruption could bring on more seizures. so I guess what I'm asking is if anyone knows what I can do to make this last year here an easier year for her or if there is a way of getting the statementing done quicker? I want her to be happy in school, it breaks my heart that I have to send her to that horrible place evry day, but I'm all out of ideas on what I can do to make it easier for her.

thanks
Amalie
x

I'm going to suggest that this post is moved to the special needs board, I think you'll get some much needed support and advice there from people who have been down the statementing road.

Hi there. Would you like us to move your thread, xproudmummyx? Andromeda's suggestion is a good one

hiya, yes please :) x

Done for you.

Bumping for you

Statementing shouldn't take as long as a year - with luck it should be six months. What stage have you reached in the process?

Hiya :)
I have sent off the letter to get the ball rolling, as the senco at school said it was up to me to start the whole process off.
she said they would be in contact with her within 6 weeks.
oh good 6 months sounds so much better than a year.
x

The LA will write directly to you to let you know if they agree to statutory assessment. Check out the ipsea site www.ipsea.org.uk/ for all the info and deadlines. The LA have 6 weeks to reply to a request for SA.

Do not be surprised if the LA response is refusal as this is often par for the course. It does not mean that your child does not need a statement. You know what the problem is diagnositically but you need to present this in terms of how it impacts on her educationally such as ability to access the curriculum and/or academic performance and rate of progress.

The bullying may be the biggest practical problem at this moment in time but you need to start thinking about the statementing thing as what resources DD will need and how often, eg 1:1 for just lessons or for breaks as well, what level of qualification etc. Does she need SALT/OT etc?

If the intial request is refused you can appeal (ipsea have a refusal to assess pack) or reapply after six months or sooner if you have additional information.

Once SA is granted, the timetable is then 6 months.

In the meantime read around (google may be tax-dodgers but searching is very useful) and keep coming on here.