LEA refused to assess :(

[McFarts]

For my 6yo DS. He has ASD, a hearing impairment and attention difficulties (possible ADHD).

He attends a small village MS primary school with a SNs units. He's in Y1 and is still working on P scales (P8 maths P5 writing P4 reading). He's had access to our SNs schools unit for over 12 months, for literacy and in the classroom he is in a small group with the children who have a place in our schools IR unit. So lots of support is already in place for him. His school is fabulous, very experience and inclusive. Despite the support they have given him DS has made very little progress. His behaviour in school whilst occasionally challenging is MUCH better than at home, he's a bottle it up for home type.

I submitted a parental application for SA and today it went to panel.

LEA have refused on grounds that school are meeting his needs. I provided them with his levels, school didn't send them with the information requested from them nor did they send evidence of his lack of progress. Because the LEA didn't request it, the SENCO just filled out the form and answered the questions that she was request to and now they have used this as a reason to not assess!! so fucked off both with school and the LEA (tho in fairness the SENCO is new, but very willing and supportive).

Following a phone discussion with SEN I have a meeting in a couple of weeks with the SEN officer and the SENCO. School have been asked to provide more detailed evidence of how they have been supporting him and what progress he has made. Then we'll go over it in our meeting, depending on the outcome of the meeting, they may send all evidence back to panel to be reconsidered.

What else can i be do to prepare for this meeting? feeling a bit lost if anyone could share their thoughts and experience i'd be very grateful.

Agree with earlier post that they are so stretched with applications and by law they have to say something within six weeks. Half the time I don't think they've even read the paperwork so it's No to buy them more time. They only seem to really bother with the ones that come back fighting.

Panels have no legal status. They are advisory and councils set them up to try and get more consistent decisions (or to hide behind for unpopular decisions) but the legal decision maker is the SEN officer and they do not have to follow the Panel
Most councils have internal policies saying panel has to approve but the SEN managers can overrule - Tribunals are not interest in panels or their processes at all. Often panels have ridiculous rules applied e.g. they can only make a decision if very specific evidence is provided and if its missing have to reject - the law doesn't say anything like this it has a legal test based on the childs needs and the ability of the school to meet them.
Always go back to the law and COP not whatever convoluted local process the LA has dreamed up - all you need to be interested in is the decision and reasons, not who made it.
You will have to have a meeting to show a tribunal you are reasonable and willing to co-operate - if you don't want to delay for mediation you could do the one with the LA and then say mediation isn't worthwhile as you have just had a meeting and the LA showed no willingness to compromise.

Agnes From reading your post it would appear parent partnership have fed me a load of bull again! They did the same when i applied for DD1s SA. Every time i have asked them for advice, their replies were always aimed to put me off trying, save yourself the hassle type answers. DD1 in incidentally got her statement and a places in an ASD specific unit (for secondary) all of which she was to clever for or not needy enough according to PP. I lost faith in them along time ago but decided to give them another go. Wished id not bothered!.

Yesterday PP asked me what extra support did i expect the LA to offer DS that he's not already getting, why do i want DS to have an EHCP when he gets lots of support any way. They also told me that school wont get any extra money if DS has a EHCP, funnily enough our head teacher also said the same to me yesterday morning . My reply to both was that im not asking for funding nor am i actually asking (at this point anyway lol) for an EHCP, at this stage im asking for a muti professional assessment to assess the complexity of my DS needs, to get a better picture on how we and school can better support him and to hopefully identify why he is making little to no progress, despite additional support.

Again thank you all for your support and advice really dont know what id do without MN at times like this. Its all so blooming confusing!

Oh god getting myself in a right pickle here .

Right informal meeting in place for 17th tho not yet confirmed by LEA as they wanted to check with school, however ive spoken to SENCO and she is fine with time/date.

As you know spoke to medication service and forwarded DS detail, with tthe view that mediation would take a week or two to sort out and if the informal meeting wasn't in our favour i'd have a shot at formal medication too anyways just checked my emails and mediation have sent this.

Hi Ms XXX

I have contacted XXXX Council SEN unit today, on your behalf, to notify them of the dispute.

I will keep you updated periodically and the matter should take approximately 2 weeks to get to mediation, as I have proposed 11.30am on the 18th June.

It would be useful to start to plan your approach to the mediation by gathering information and evidence which helps to support your position, such as school reports, statements from the school, care workers and support groups.

Once I have confirmed dates I will notify you so you can arrange to attend.

A few days prior to the mediation I will contact you to explain the process on the day, expectations; and to confirm the venue, date, time and introduce you to the mediator.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on this email address or my mobile number xxxxx.

Kind regards

XXXX

Ive cocked up haven't I i should have waited, while after the informal meeting shouldn't I? bloody hell i feel so lost, what do i do?, I dont want to rub the LEA up the wrong way, if there is a chance they'll work with me on this or is that just wishful thinking?