APPLICATION FOR FUNDING FOR HELP IN SCHOOL , HELP OR TIPS URGENTLY NEEDEDE.

[bigknickersbigknockers]

DS2 had his 2 year assesmentin june 2006 and the health visitor was concerned about his poor speech. She referred him to a speech therapist and he has made a little progress.
The pre school he goes to were also concerned about his speech and arranged for the SENCO to come and see him and after that the Educational Psychologist came and assesed(sp) him.
The outcome of this is that he has delayed speech and struggles to understand anything more than basic instructions.
As a result of this they have reccomended that pre school apply for funding for help for DS2 which should see him through reception class. There is part of the form which asks for parental concerns and
I would be so greatfull for ANY help and advice about what to put and what not to put on this form to maximise the chance of getting as much help as I can for my lovely DS who desperatly needs it.
TIA BKBK

Help, is there anyone there who can help me please

PS wasnt sure where to post this, education or special needs

Anyone, please.

Don't panic bigknickers. I'm sure others will come on to help you later. Personally I try to be as honest as possible in my parental contributions to things like this for ds. Make a list of all your concerns and where possible include examples.

Just be clear and logic. Stuff like:

• You are concerned that DS will struggle to develop social skills if other children can't understand him and extra support will give the preschool the time/person to help with that.

• You are aware that children with speech difficulties often struggle with literacy skills (true, although I think all the speech therapy actually helped my DS3 with learning the alphabet, letter sounds etc) and early intervention will help your DS keep up with his peers.

• You are concerned about the effects his speech delay will have on his confidence and self-esteem, and again, any extra support might help here.

Good luck! Let them know how concerned you are, and that you are looking for positive, proactive ways to help your son.

logical, even.

You could also try your local Parent Partnership for advice - they were a great help to me.

Is this a request to be assessed for statmetning? If so I would suggest that you do it yourself as a parent rather than have the school do it as you have more right to appeal if they don't give you what you want! Before you fill out the form make sure you are clear about what you want, what you think your child needs and how you want him to be supported. Be very clear, say what your concerns are and how you think it will impact his schooling, especially his 'ability to access his education' try to use that phrase somewhere - it helps to drop in some of the language they talk! Also make sure you don't down play his difficulties, as parents we tend to focus on what they can do but you need to make it very clear what he can't do.
Finally while I would also recommend partnership with parents they are funded by the LEA and there is anther oragnistion called IPSEA that isn't!
Hope this helps.

If this is a request for statementing I would also advise you to apply for a Statement yourself rather than let the school do it for the reasons HairyMaclary stated.

Would detail precisely the nature of his difficulties with communication.

www.ipsea.org.uk is the website of IPSEA who are independent and have model letters you can use.

Parent Partnership whilst they can be helpful are not totally independent of the LEA (they can be also located in the same building).

HTH

Thanks for all your replies, I am pretty sure that its NOT a request for statementing, just an application to try and get funding for some extra help for DS2 whilst he is still at pre school and for reception class. Its called EEYAP funding though I dont know what that stands for. The funding is usually awarded for $ terms (I think).

SORRY 4 TERMS

Ooops caps lock on

I googled it and it says it stands for ENHANCED EARLY YEARS ACTION PLUS SUPPORT/FUNDING

Look here

thankyou dusty and everyone else, I am a novice to all this but just want to to my best for my DS2. DS1 talked really well from an early age and hasnt stopped since. DS2 is different, and needs some help and the more he is assesed the more concerns seem to be raised. I am now totally dreading him starting school in September as he gets taken advantage of by other children, an observation made by the SENCO not myself.

thankyou dusty and everyone else, I am a novice to all this but just want to to my best for my DS2. DS1 talked really well from an early age and hasnt stopped since. DS2 is different, and needs some help and the more he is assesed the more concerns seem to be raised. I am now totally dreading him starting school in September as he gets taken advantage of by other children, an observation made by the SENCO not myself.

School Action Plus will likely not help but they may make you go through this prior to applying for a statement. SA plus is not legally binding and will give limited support in terms of hours per week (and certainly no one to one).

With his difficulties being as they are I would now put in a request for your DS to be statemented to your LEA (IPSEA have model letters you can use on their website for this purpose). There is nothing to stop you actually doing this and if they say no you can appeal their decision. It is also better for you as the parent to do this rather than the school (you have far more power than they do in this regard).

The earlier he receives proper support the better his school life and education will be for him.

Has he ever seen a developmental paediatrician as well as a speech therapist?.

Sorry its taken me all day to get here
DS hasnt been seen by a developmental paediatrician but he does have an appiontment to see one at the end of this month. I dont know anything about special needs as this is relatively new to me but I always thought statements were for children with more severe problems than what DS has.
Also no one at any stage has ever mentioned anything about a statement.
From what I have heard they are not handed out as often as they were.
Also could someone pleas tell me a little about statements and what they mean.

Sorry its taken me all day to get here
DS hasnt been seen by a developmental paediatrician but he does have an appiontment to see one at the end of this month. I dont know anything about special needs as this is relatively new to me but I always thought statements were for children with more severe problems than what DS has.
Also no one at any stage has ever mentioned anything about a statement.
From what I have heard they are not handed out as often as they were.
Also could someone pleas tell me a little about statements and what they mean.

Ooops I am on our new laptop and havent really got a clue what I am doing

They are difficult to get thats true but don't be fobbed off by either the school or the LEA saying he isn't severe enough. If he is unable to access the curriculum fully without support then he is entitled to get support.

Its good that he is being seen by a developmental paediatrician at the end of the month.

Statements are for children with all sorts of special educational needs. I would think your child has a good case to get a Statement due to his speech and understanding problems. It will certainly help him having a legally binding document like a Statement behind him (anything else offered is not legally binding and has limited scope). LEA's are under increasing pressure not to hand out statements due to funding issues but they can still be obtained.

Attila there is someone who could use your advice on special educational needs

Thankyou for the super fast replies
I really hadn't considered him in need of a statement and it hasn't been mentioned to me so far although the involvment of the SENCO only started November ish and the Educational Psychologist came in early feb.

This whole special needs area is intimidating. How am I supposed to know if DS needs a statement if they havent mentioned it?

Well its quite early days then as far as getting him extra support is concerned but i agree with attila that he sounds like an ideal candidate for a statement and as she says a statement is a legally binding document that the school must abide by. School action plus and all the other things like that are not legally binding and so give you far less power as a parent to ensure the school meets the objectives.