school say no to applying for a statement!!!

[fedupoffeckingschool]

just had a meeting at my ds mainstream school, he has not been at school for nearly 3mths as the school put him on school action plus at a local centre which has proved to be a good thing as very local to me, at first it was only for 6wks but got this extended whilst we waited to see if ds got into a special school, he did not get into the ss & now the school say for him to go back there! ds who is 13 & has a dx of asd does not want to go back & is extremly upset, a member of staff from the referral unit came with me to this meeting & said how well ds was coping with smaller groups & want him to stay there a while longer, in the meantime i asked the senco worker at the mainstream school that i wanted ds to have a statement as 2 other local schools have asd units in them but to access them ds will need a statement & also to access the transport, the senco worker said no, as the council will not give a statment of needs but i said how do you know if you dont try?? she also said there is a lack of medical evidence for a statement but i get dla so there must be medical evidence!!! i think the senco worker is talking bullshit, what i would like to know is how do i apply for a statement of education myself?

It is not up to the SENCO to decide who gets a statement. Wonders why he was sent to the local centre if he was coping fine on school action. Google IPSEA - they have a model letter you can copy to ask your LA to perform a SA. Good luck!

thank you x

You can apply yourself and the SENCO doesn't get to say no

Ask the short stay school if they will support your application if the senco wont.

The others are right the senco doesnt get a say in whether you apply but she will put a spanner in the works if she tells the LA that your DS doesnt need a statement.

We have just found this out the hard way but if the staff at the centre supoort you their opinion will be taken into account as will the fact that he has been sent there in the first place.

Good luck

By all means push for statementing. Get the school moving and get on it yourself. Just be aware that statements are extremely hard to get nowadays. You will need as much evidence as possible. Start recording everything now . All his behaviours. Everything he says that us relevant to school etc.
find or get the medical/professional evidence. Your teacher is right that you will get nowhere without it. Statements are only really given to the most extreme cases at the moment. Good luck!

IPSEA website NOW hun.

Look up the model letters page and put in an application yourself for a statement tonight. You address it to the head of children's services at your LA and keep a copy for yourself.

His recent non-attendance, specialist alternative provision etc is ALL the proof you need to get a statement.

I'm disgusted at how you are being treated!

The LA decides who gets a statement not the school.

Schools become liable legally for not supporting those children who have statements. This and funding means kids become victims of office politics.

Do ring the IPSEA hotline. SOSSEN can also be good sometimes for help. The national autistic society can also give advice, sometimes even being able to direct you towards a local advocate service.

Statements are based on educational NEED, not diagnosis by law so the SENCO is talking outta her $%*. I know this from personal experience, as my own DS got a statement a good couple of years before his medical diagnosis. (just as well really as it took the NHS 5 years!).

Only 1.5 % children get a statement nationally, but being unable to attend for 3 months is nowhere near the norm. He has a diagnosis of ASD - that's your evidence too!

thanks all, you have all been very helpful:)) iv since had a call from his ms school from the senco worker saying she will support me & ds & gave me a phone number to call the statementing officer, the phone number is completely different to that of the local council/education department! for all i know it could be a friend/colleague of hers that will probably tell me im wasting my time???? how do i know if this person works for the education department? it sounds a bit iffy to me, why didnt she say so at the meeting? after reading all your replies im gona apply myself:) x

[MESSAGE FROM MNHQ: post edited to remove a real-life name]

I doubt the SENCO would be stupid enough to give you a false number because it would be so easy for you to check. However, you do need to get your request in in writing because the timetable doesn't start running till they get a written request.

Go for it just tell SENCO the letter was already in the post after her previous comment. Good luck x

Your DS being in a referral unit for 3 months is pretty strong evidence that the mainstream school were unable to meet his needs without a statement. Or unwilling. The result is the same though. Forget any phone calls and get that request in, in writing.

One of the biggest advantages of making the application yourself is that it means you are then kept informed of what's happening. This means two things:-

1/ No more being fobbed off.
2/You can see for yourself that things are happening (eg EP assessement, SALT visit, school doing X) within the statutory time scales and chase if things don't happen.

At a time when everything seems very scary, just that little bit of control of KNOWING what's happening/coming up can make you feel so much better. Also you can reassure your CHILD that life is going to improve and know you are being truthful - something that you can't put a price on.

For the above reason alone I'd advise parents to make the application alone.

Also there is a legal advantage to a parental application - you have a right to appeal if refused that is denied to schools. For this reason I have occasionally seen GOOD schools request that the parent write that initial all-important "official application letter".

Just for information, the parent can still appeal against refusal if it was the school that made the original request.

thank you all for your help, iv just got a letter from LA to say they are to follow up my request for a SA by writing to the head of ds school, just hope the school play ball!! im hoping this is good news x

Well done Fedup

What the LA is doing at the moment is deciding whether they need to carry out a full statutor assessment that may lead to a Statement.

If they turn down request because the school doesn't play ball then please appeal - people on here can help you do this.