refusal of statement assessment

[Essex0kel]

my 3 yr old son has ADHD, global development delay, speech delay and behavioural problems, he was at a mainstream pre school 6 hrs a week and a special needs pre school 9 hrs a week. the mainstream one called me in and asked me to remove my son as thought he,d be better off at special needs one full time, so i did. he has 1-1 there and has made some progress. his speech report also said some progress made he had gone from 2 joined words to 3/4.
hes due to start school in sept so requested a statement assessment, sent diagnosis from consultant that said he would need 1-1 at primary school as well as his IEP and reports. i was gutted today to find they have refused to assess as he has made some progress!! 3/4 word sentences are hardley enough for a child starting primary school!! he couldn't even complete the griffiths test as he couldn't sit still long enough. They dont seem to realise the only reason he has made any progress is because he has 1-1, as soon as he gets to primary and finds himself in a class of 30 kids, he is going to get further behind. on the report from his pre school it states that on some things he is not age appropriate and is at the age 22 months, hes 4 in three months!! i no i can appeal but they said with new evidence, could anyone please tell me what your thoughts are and give me any advice. im a single mum with no family support but a sister, im at my wits end.

thanks

Hi please appeal immediately, you don't need new evidence to appeal that's bollocks. Sounds like you have plenty of evidence to show the LA should do a statutory assessment and the LA will hopefully back down when the appeal stuff arrives. We had to go through this before Xmas and it held us up by 4 weeks or do. LA is just doing this in the hope you'll go away or they can buy themselves some time. Appeal forms can be downloadad from website and there's lots of info on IPSEAs website about how to do it too. Form was quite quick to do, i found - if you get that off quickly and a letter to the LA telling them you strongly disagree with their decision and have appealed, then you've done everything you can do. It is also good if the LA realises you are not going to go away, think Attila the meerkat said to me you want them to think you are one of "those" parents (ie that make their jobs harder but ensures they get what their child is entitled to)

It's also worth reading the SENCOP to get a clear idea of the rules the LA are supposed to follow in all this. Good luck!

Did you request the statutory assessment yourself using the model letter from IPSEA?

Go onto their site and read how to appeal a refusal.

Don't think they don't realise. Don't think they aren't clear or that there was anything wrong with your application.

The law changes in September and Local Authorities are refusing statutory assessments as a matter of course in order to push as many requests into the law timeframe. This decision has nothing to do with your child's need or otherwise for a statement.

agree with star - im on a number of SEN groups on facebook and the feeling is that many many parents are getting refusuals who clearly shouldn't be. people who have lodged appeals have now had the LA back down so yes it can be a pure delaying tactic. I have applied myself for my 3rd daughter and I am waiting now myself to see if I get a refusual. in my LA they have never had a tribunal over a refusual to assess so will be interesting to see how this changes now - my LA has had a surge in applications as parents/schools apply before the changes begin to take hold

That is shocking. Really he is half is age delayed so no doubt he needs help. Appeal today, I phoned sendist and got them to email me the appeal forms. Also if you can phone ipsea for advice. Getting the appeal in takes maybe half a hour to fill out a form and post it.

Don't worry too much ( easy to say) I don't think your lea can take this to a tribunal and win.

I have just had my lea back down on refusal to assess

I rang SENDIST today - they have a backlog of paperwork to process.....................surprise.

Perhaps some of that £30m the government has made available for parent support ought to go to SENDIST then?

Perhaps!!!

Appeal asap, they refuse a lot now.

If you are in Essex - judging by your name - it would be shocking if they agreed, Essex are bastards of the biggest calibre.

Oh yeah. Essex - bleugh.

They don't even pretend to do the right thing.

An Essex LA rep talked me through the SA process during which she said 'when we REFUSE ...' I think this says it all as I hadn't even applied!

Yep Essex are not only total bastards but they also act unlawfully and then blatantly lie to cover up when LGO officially investigate their unlawfulness

Also in essex

In my post above I was trying to say you can download the forms from SENDIST's website... I had to wait about 3 weeks for SENDIST to process our appeal application and they offered a tribunal date about 10 weeks into the future. Thankfully LA conceded quickly and didn't string out to tribunal. Don't know if me pointing out in letter to them that they didn't comply with the SENCOP had anything to do with it! By the way did they outline how they think your child will be supported at school? They are supposed to do this if they refuse to do SA.