Refusal to assess

[ProtegeMoi]

We are currently asking for statutory assessment for my son and have a refusal to assess, the reason being that he is not behind academically, which is true, in fact he is ahead in maths.

He has diagnosis of ASD and ADHD and has huge support in school, including full time 1-1 all provided from the schools own budget.

This has allowed him to make massive progress recently as until this point he was very behind. He still needs a lot of support with his social skills, speech and language and behaviour and socially is very behind his peers.

The issue is he is due to go to secondary school. At which all this support stops, and the support he receives is the only reason he has done so well recently.

They argue there is no way of knowing how he will cope at secondary school yet, in fact previous behaviour and the way he has struggled simply moving classrooms in primary school show this is going to be a difficult transition for him anyway without losing all his support.

Is it possible to get a statement for a child that is doing academically well in order to allow his support to continue into secondary school, or do we really have to let him fail, fall behind and destroy the little self confidence he has in order to get his support reinstated?

It's gut wrenching isn't it getting the refusual. I have been refused as well -one of the reasons i applied was that after talking to the secondary school they made it clear she would be expected to fail before they would help which is not how you want their experience of school to be!

There are so many of us on here who are getting refused at the moment ,,personally I think it has a lot to do with the changeover of statements in sept. I would appeal. My other son is academically able - he got 3 in his sats at year 2 is statemented so it can be done if academically able

I would appeal too. An educational need is not just for children who are performing poorly academically - it's about being able to access the curriculum - if your DS is unable to communicate effectively or engage with his peers, then he not gaining an equal education as children without a disability.

We had a similar refusal to assess although our DS is just about to start school. Our LA said it was impossible to predict how much progress DS would make as his skills were still emerging. A statutory assessment with evidence from experts is one way to accurately measure if your DS will struggle.

Appeal: our LA has just agreed to assess.

Appeal their crass decision as a matter of course.

Being ahead academically is a spurious reason to refuse assessment frankly.

The only criteria for a statement is a need of one.

IPSEA's website is good and I would suggest you look at that as well www.ipsea.org.uk. They also have a refusal to assess pack.

I am in a very similar situation. In a recent meeting I aske the LA why they are not capable of planning ahead for our children. I followed the question up with an email which hasnt been replied to yet.

My Dd3 also struggles to move to the classroom next door every year but this year was an epic transition failure due to the new teacher.

Dd3 is going to be meeting lots of new teachers in September as will your Ds. They have to form relationships with each of those new teachers !! Dd3 will not be able to do that without support

Get your appeal in, it often doesnt go as far as tribunal LA's often change their minds and agree to assess. They are just trying to save money and many parents wont appeal so it is a quick but cruel money saver

Good luck and keep coming on hear for amazing advice

Watching with interest as I need to apply for a statement for ds to ensure he gets help for secondary dreading it tbh

What yr is he in autumns ??

Give yourself plenty of time for tribunals

What yr is he in autumns ??

Give yourself plenty of time for tribunals

He's in year four and has hfa and is exactly the type of child who seems to get refused he's academically average but has huge issues with anxiety and routine change .the head said she would back us senco said we have no chance

Exactly the same as us.

We have had an independent Ed Psych assessment for Dd3 which has shown up some interesting areas where she is struggling.

In the cope of practice there is a section which says that if the child needs differentiation that is over and above what schools normally offer then the child may need a statutory assessment.

The SENCOP is all changing though so dont know if it will still be included in the new version.

I have been told to keep a diary recording every occassions when Dd3 refuses to go to school even if I manage to get her there and also when she is anxious or upset when she comes home due to school issues, especially where her needs havent been met.

It shouldnt be so difficult to get help for our children and why should they have to fail before they put support into place

Good luck

Thanks with dd2 it was so different the borough said she needed statementing to access the school
She needed

I asked the LA where they would put Dd3 if her secondary placement breaks down because without a statemenr she wont be able to access a specialist setting!!

The Reps answer was ..... I dont know !!!

We're applying for similar reasons for DS who is in Year 5. I am in very little doubt we will get refused assessment.

I need more the only place suitable for ds is a resource provision in a mainstream secondary which you need a statement to access even starting the process terrifies me as we can't afford tribunals etc

Its horrible isnt it

The very fact that your son only makes progress when he has a high level of support is strong evidence that the needs a statement to ensure that that support continues. I think there's been an Upper Tribunal decision on this, but I can't find it as the website doesn't seem to be working at the moment - basically it said that if the only reason a child is making progress is because he is getting support well beyond what is normally available in schools, that indicates that he needs statutory assessment.

the head said she would back us senco said we have no chance

Autumn. That Head is really letting your child down badly, as if the Head thinks a Statement is required the Head should be instructing their SENCO to make an application for one.

It's very poor behaviour to leve it to the parent.

Hi. The majority of applications get turned down. I strongly believe you should appeal. My son was turned down 2 years ago on the grounds that he was making progress. I appealed. They backed down 2 days before the tribunal was due. Good luck.

Thank you wet I have two dcs with autism there treatment has been unbelievably different dd2 was statemented at three and is at a superb sp sch she is in the nursery ds who is high functioning has had very
Little help as his parent I realise I should have been a lot more pro active

I just want to add to the advice that you should appeal protege. My HFA DS has just moved onto secondary - a large 'outstanding' comp - which has an OK reputation for SEN support. I haven't got any particular issues with the support my DS has been offered - it seems to be mostly the case that he is finding it difficult to cope because of the number of transitions in the course of a school day and the number of teachers to build relationships with. The school is strucured so form sizes (and the lessons like drama, history and geography that they are taught as a form) are smaller than some secondaries as there are 'only' 25 in a form. I thought this might help socially BUT that you have to add in the different children DS meets in DT (group of 20 but not all from his form), PE (girl and boy sets) and ability sets for maths, english and science (and for these Ds is in sets of 30 as he is in top sets and it is the low ability sets that are kept small). And all these are impossible for the school to 'adapt' for DS - they can't change the number of subjects he does or how they arrange classes.

For DS it wasn't as if the support was 'taken away' when he went to secondary - he wasn't getting any at primary - but secondary has brought up huge issues about transitions and relationships. DS found the first time difficult and this term it has all become overwhelming and over the 3 weeks of this term he has found it harder and harder to get into school despite being put on a reduced timetable. Last week he didn't manage to get into school at all (got to the gates 3 times ) because his anxiety levels are now so high.

Ironically it is HFA DD Y4 for who I have just had a refusal to assess. I made the request last Nov and at that point her needs seemed more pressing than DS's. DD's anxiety is also causing her to not get into school on too many days now.I am determined to appeal the refusal as even if DD 'gets through' her current crisis (her support at primary is not sufficient and needs improving) I am well aware that it is hugely likely that things will fall apart for her at secondary (which would be the same comp her brother is at as we know that the local grammars would not be suitable for DD.) We had a meeting to discuss the refusal to assess with a LA rep last week. She admitted there was no specific provision for HFA girls for secondary in our borough....

Ds is hfa in. Y5 we has refusal to assess last year, request is about to go in again, no doubt we will be refused but i will go to tribunal this time.