LEA holding panel meeting right NOW!

[jackjacksmummy]

So, found out this morning that the meeting to decide whether or not to statement my DS is going on this morning. School say they have sent reams and reams of information as have all the other outside agencies.

Anyone know if I will hear an outcome today? (they have said they'll call me rather than write)

My LA told me that the 'case' does not return to a 'panel' following assessment to decide to offer a statement or NIL.

You should also know that 97% of SA lead to statement coz being granted SA is bloody difficult.

They phoned me - perhaps they are anticipating tears of gratitude? before you see how crap the proposed is

My statementing officer phoned me the minute the meeting had finished.

This was offered as an attempt to stop me from turning up to the panel meeting declaring myself ds' lead professional though, as he wasn't yet in school.

In our area phone call is bad news. Letter is good news. We couldn't wait so rang up to be told letters in the post. Panel was a Thursday. Think we got the letters Saturday.

Oh fingers crossed tightly I hear today! He's just gone into year 3 and can pretty much only write his own name :(
I didn't expect it to be so quickly tbh because we only got the decision to assess at the beginning of July and know that holidays aren't included in the 10 weeks of that stage.

What area are you OneinEight?

Not heard anything yet, no news is good news right?!

You do know don't you that the named officer, who is the one who is legally responsible for your child's SEN support, will already have made up his/her mind long before he/she presents his/her views to the Panel and seeks their endorsement of his/her decision.

You know that the Paneld don't actually sit and read all the advices from all the reports on all the children's cases they are dealing with in their short session and that the information they are given is summaried by the named Officer.

So basically the Named Officer could have told you before the Panel Meeting what the result will be.

Just saying as there seems to be a lot of excitement about 'panel meetings'.

They are a smokescreen designed to enable the LA to say ' "Not me guv - it was a Panel decision".

Well guess what - It is solely a Named Officer decision - as they have already been formally reminded by the Dept for Education.

'Panel' is one of those terms that when I see it I get

It makes me almost as angry as the term 'school refuser' which makes me very indeed.

back to the sun lounger and Jilly Cooper

I agree entirely with Wet. I have heard IPSEA describe Panels as nothing more than 'white noise'.

They give the pretence of 'judicious decision-making' but are often used as a cover for ensuring decisions are made in a way which doesn't cross policy or funding practices - which in themselves are often unlawful.

Then the person dealing with you can pretend the decision has been made by someone else.

They certainly pretended to me that the Panel was all-powerful.

Nothing could be done without the consent of the Panel.

And then I saw the letter on the IPSEA site that the Min of Ed had written to LAs reminding them they should not "hide behind Panels" and that the Named Officer had the legal responsibility.

The next time they tried to pull the Panel stunt on me I quoted the letter to them.

Their attitude changed radically. We started to talk sensibly about options and any need to bring the Panel into the decision-making was glossed over with an "Im sure they'll agree".

Just one of the little confidence tricks that LAs play in an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of parents.

Like the "there's no money available for support" or

"we don't do Statements".

And what really sticks in my craw is that as a council tax payer my money is going to them so they can spout this illegal shite to me

So the answer for the Op is to say to the person in the LA she is dealing with:

"Let's cut the crap and you tell me what you have recommended to this Panel of yours."

'Tis worth it just to watch their little face drop

My son had a 'panel' so that they could refuse to SA. I was devastated when I received their letter that the 'panel' had refused - it felt the end of the line for him (now, in hindsight, I know it was just the beginning).

Months later, just weeks before the Tribunal for refusal to assess, I received all the DPA material. This included the meeting minutes for the 'panel' . Except it wasn't the 'panel' that refused him, it was one specific all powerful senior SEN Manager (the Named Officer). In an email exchange between this woman and an in-house lawyer, this woman said, and I quote her exact words "it is a resounding NO." She then went on to say "Nowhere near statutory assessment level." - this was despite two letters from my DS's school saying that they couldn't cope, and proof his reading and spelling age was already 3 years below his chronological age. (The LA conceded the refusal appeal just weeks before the hearing)

A year later I met this woman in court for Tribunal over the Final Statement - a very nasty piece of work who knew all the games to deny children provision - including the illegal finalising of my son's Statement, trying to remove a medical diagnosis during the hearing, and trying to argue with the Judge that transport to the LA school couldn't be included in the costings for school provision. She even tried bully-boy tactics of intimidating me before the hearing. Having refused to meet with me or negotiate with me in any shape or form in the period between the Finalising of the Statement and the Tribunal, she made a great point and performance of coming over to me in the Reception to introduce herself and shake my hand. Although she didn't even know my name, she had to say to my barrister 'is this the parents'.

If my LA really does have a panel to decide our children's future, then they are playing lip-service to it. The real power is down to individual people who are all too powerful and the power has gone to their heads.

Last week this woman wrote to me with my DS's Final Statement - as directed by a Tribunal Judge - which has placed my son, who is "nowhere near Statutory Assessment" and she dismissed with a "resounding NO" into a tiny indie SS for children with his needs. She said in her letter 'I hope you are happy with the Statement'. I hope she choked on her words.

great post TOWIE . More proof if any was needed that Panels are just smokescreens - the real power lies elsewhere

And we should keep repeating that message every time we see a post about a 'Panel'

Just took the call that they are going to statement him. So relieved, so happy!

Phew.

Funny thing to be happy about, but I reckon we all know exactly how you feel.

Well done.

BTW, I agree with the posters below about our use of language etc. regarding LAs and panels etc. I think it would be more accurate to say 'The SEN Case officer is going to statement him' iyswim.

There is no 'they' in LA. If anyone uses that then ask them who 'they' are by name. 'They' are not some mysterious power-awarders, they are individual people charged with spending taxpayers money efficiently and effectively and fulfilling their statutory obligations.

Well done Jack, good result!

I would like to know who sit on this 'panel', my first application for a statement went to 'panel' with a draft already written and the outcome of the 'panel' was not to issue the draft but to report me to social services for 'the level of mum's anxiety about ds's needs' again so a panel had a draft, reports on ds, but decided to diagnosis me with anxiety!

Well done. Pay careful attention to its contents when you get it.

Glad you know what I mean - not happy that its resorted to this but happy that he will finally get the help he needs after 2 years.
Now just to see what the statement proposes!