Help please, I have a meeting with the council this morning.

[kojackscat]

We are in the process of applying for an ECH plan fr DS.
All evidence has been gathered, and today we have a 'co-production' meeting.

This should be where all professionals who have had an input into the assessment, as the council SEN team, and me, sit together to agree what he actually needs, and write the draft plan.

However, most professionals did not get their invitation, so it's just me, the council, and the school.

The OT knew about the meeting, because I told her, but was unable to attend due to issues around who would fund her to attend. The school had commissioned he to do a set piece of work with DS, a certain number of sessions, but not to pay her for this meeting.
The education department of the council would not pay, I offered to pay but apparently that would not work cos the NHS could not invoice me.

So, my question is, with all this fuss about who was funding her to attend a meeting, how do I get them to agree on funding for what DS actually needs.

I have the vague idea that his plan should state what he needs, and they have to find the money, rather then letting the money dictate what support he receives, but is there some part of the SENCOP that actually states this?

Some pointers would be appricieated ,as I have been trawling through the document for an hour and can't find the bit that I hope exists.

thanks

2 highlighter pens needed.
Going through every report you have from professionals either nhs, school, la or indie : ot, senco, ep, physio, consultant, cahms etc...

Every single need - highlighted in one colour.
Every single recommendation - highlighted

another colour

Then everything highlighted needs to be in that EHC plan. (sorry am still on old systems where so needs went in part 2, recommendation / provision in part 3. I imagine its similar in EHC.)

If salt says he has speech delay and requires direct input for 1/2 an hour every other week by a SALT, that is the line you want in there . Do not accept any "access to SALT" rubbish.

As much as possible you want direct quotes or accurate paraphrasing from the professionals report.

If the professional hasn't specified and quantified then get it minuted that the LA need to return to the writer of the report (assuming they are not there) to get clarification as to what the difficulty is and what provision are they recommending to meet the outcomes. Must be specified and quantified not vague "access to" "regular." It needs to be x happening y times a week or daily etc. Must specify who is doing it (name or role) and monitoring arrangements.

Don't let them set outcomes which are either too aspirational (way beyond your childs potential) nor so easy that there is no challenge involved (ie they meet them with little effort as they are not really moving them on enough.)

Money and how they find the resources is not your priority. You're priority is documenting all his needs and all the things he needs to meet these needs. Needs should drive this, though LA's often think the other way and money, existing resources should drive the process. Slotting him into an existing provision is only applicable if that's suitable to his needs. If there isn't suitable local provision, their duty is to commission it from else where - expensive, but not your problem.

Don't sign anything there and then. Take it away and read through so you have space away from pressure to think through, ensure everything is covered.

Hope it goes ok.

Thanks Mario, I have done most of that highlighting etc.

This council has such a backwards way of doing things. This draft plan will be drawn up before it is even agreed if he is to get a plan! Once it is written, it goes to a panel to decide if he gets it or not. So I doubt I will be able to sign anything today, even if they ask me to, they haven't actually agreed to offer him anything yet.

Does anyone understand the bit about personal budgets? The OT he needs is not available on the nhs, so I guess cant go in his plan. Could I use his personal budget to get it?

if the OT not available on the NHS it can still go in and the LA must fund it - that's not your issue - you just need to ensure that it goes in.

The OT he needs is not available on the nhs, so I guess cant go in his plan.
Yes it can
If you think he has language diffculties either fro what you see (eg stands to close, gets body language wrong, has less speech than his peers) stick it in with all his other difficulties

The correspnding SALT provision can be 'as recommended by thea qualified SALT to meet dcs needs'

ignore person budgets for now

bad typist in a rush
gd luck

Ok, so I will ask for OT to go on there too. Ta.

Personal budgets...be very very careful...a lot of admin. Not as simple as salt cost £50 an hour. We need 10 hours per term, so we need £500 x 3. Huge implications if YOU are commissioning and organising it, as you may need to factor in employer stuff like tax and hol pay etc. Also have to be respinsible for priving it's making an impact. Was initially interested in the idea, but a little research - wouldn't personally touch with a barge pole! May work for some, but I would focus on Needs.

Ok, personal budgets sound difficult, ill steer away from that.
I am in the car park, even though the meeting doesn't start for 35 mins! Gulp. So nervous.

Oh that was horrible. The council lady had already made up her mind what she wanted on the plan, didn't listen to me or the experts. She took a verbal recommendation from another expert over the phone this morning that contradicted everyone else's advice, but chose to believe that over the rest, despite no written evidence or explanation was given, just 'i think he is ready to return full time to mainstream'

Just a waste of time and certainly not a plan that will support my ds.

OH kojack I'm sorry.

But write up your minute of the meeting and then do a nicey nicey letter saying 'thank you for your time. I attach a minute of the meeting. Please let me know if anything in it does not reflect the LA's position acurately, many thanks;

Then you can write a fairly dull minute with who said what and slip in the bit She took a verbal recommendation from another expert over the phone this morning and concluded 'i think he is ready to return full time to mainstream'

With luck she will be too bored to read it, and when it comes to appeal you can pull the document out to show the pathetic way the decision was made.

flowers, wine, gin, massage, punch bag - whatever would help

Senvet, sorry I ignored you yesterday, I felt so beaten by the system that I couldn't not face talking about it.

The sentence 'I think he is ready to return full time to mainstream' was not the conclusion from the Sen officer, it was the entirety of the verbal report!

I didn't get to say anything I wanted, because we could only discuss what the form asked us for, so free discussion about his needs was very difficult. We had to do it all box by box, and it didnt allow me to put my views forward in a cohesive way.

And the OT suggested he needs small class sizes of 8-12 children. That bit got ignored, cos I was told by the SEN advisor 'we don''t have that provisions in the area'

I argued that it wasn't my problem to find the provision, I was just stating what would meet his needs, and she just told me not to be dissapointed because he would not get that.

So, just a terrible meeting, where I felt ignored, and so did the OT and head teacher.

And the OT suggested he needs small class sizes of 8-12 children. That bit got ignored, cos I was told by the SEN advisor 'we don''t have that provisions in the area'

Make sure you minute that bit as well. It is very straightforward law that if it cannot be provided in your area then they must find somewhere out of area that can do it.

Remember that what is bad for dc now is all good for the appeal, and because they are being particularly bonkers, you are increasing your chances at appeal.

If dc has anything looking like ASD/C then you can get a trained volunteer now from NAS education advice line 0808 800 4102, and IPSEA does the same as does SOS SEN.

And these boards are great.

Loads of people on these boards have won their appeals. Do you have a school in mind that can provide eg small class sizes?

I do have a school in mind. It is already over its numbers.
It can take 29 children, it has 31 ( I think those numbers are correct). It is out of area. So I have been told that even if there were spaces, they would go the children from that la as a priority.
I would be willing to consider other schools, but no one has suggested any where else that might suit him.

I will spend tonight making some notes. But until I see the draft plan, after panel, I wont know how much of w she actually my evidence she actually took on board and what she ignored.
I have the right to observe panel but not to speak, so I have asked to be told the date and I will go to watch it.

Hi Kojack. sorry I'm not able to offer much firm advice as I'm at the very beginning of my "journey" to help my own DCs, so trying to learn as much as I can in preparation for the future.

I was horrified to read about your meeting though! Did the council lady say who her "expert" was? I'm wondering whether it is a professional who has seen your son or one of her superiors who holds the purse strings?

Just found this which I thought you might find useful: www.ipsea.org.uk/file-manager/SENlaw/ipsea-ehc-plan-checklist-2015-april.pdf

It's an ECH plan checklist which details the bare minimum required by law which should go into a plan.

One of the notes in part F says "LAs should resolve conflicts between advice from different sources and state why they have reached their resolutions."

Also, this: "All special educational provision required to be
put in place to support a child/young person in education and training should be specified. If it needed it must be included, without regard to cost or convenience."

There's probably other quotes you might find useful too.

Obviously it won't help much until you get the draft plan, but at least it's more ammunition to add to your repertoire

Wishing you the best of luck and hopes for a positive outcome!

Thanks bedelia.
I know who the expert was. Her written reports say he is not able to cope in mainstream. The report is 6 months old. I saw her two days before the meeting and asked if she wanted to submit any more up to date information.
She told me nothing had changed, and was happy with her evidence.
She speaks to me and the head teacher at least weekly, and has never made any comments indicating she thought he was ready to go to mainstream.
That is why a sudden change of heart, on the phone, undocumented or supported by evidence, was such a shock.

How do you feel about looking round other schools to find a second choice?

I think you should ask for your first choice, but if you can find yourself a second choice that might be wise.

Actually if your second choice is an independent then they may look more kindly on your request for the next door maintained. Just saying...

I have looked at loads of other schools, but they are all ms, 30 children in a class. I think class size is vital here, he needs to be in a small group, plus full time 1-1. And other stuff. I just cant find a ms school that will be able to provide this.
I wouldn't know where to start looking for indi schools. Surely they are all v academic, and not geared up for children who might upset the class, and who need time out for therapies, or just to calm down.

No, they are not all academic. Some are indie special schools which can cater for more academic sen, some are indie schools which have good SEN support and small classes but are mainstream. My friend has a dyslexic ds who was crumbling at ms primary but switched to a nurturing indie primary with smaller classes and a desire to meet needs, and he is now flying.

If you feel dc needs a small group plus 1 to 1 then go for it - parent's instinct is really very very often right.

Kojak I've found this quite handy in locating schools with SEN provision: www.goodschoolsguide.co.uk/find-a-school

You can limit searches to indie/special schools, and there's more options to tweak in the expand/collapse section. Hope this helps!

Have you got someone supporting you, an Independent Supporter or someone from what used to be Parent partnership for example? There are Independent supporters in every area and you are entitled to seek help from one during the 20 week period. Sounds like you need someone on the ground to help you. IS is funded by the government and provided by independent providers through the council for Disabled Children so completely independent of LAs. There is a list of providers in the CDC website.