No SEN support plan

[organictomatoes]

My child was refused an EHC assessment at tribunal on the basis that - despite ASD and DCD - because he’s doing well academically there is ‘ample scope for his needs to be met with SEN support in school.’

Now this made me laugh because at his secondary school only kids with EHCP get any kind of written plan that is followed and reviewed.

It was not the same in primary where SEN support was brilliant, well documented and really helped.

I don’t mind him not having an EHCP (saves me years of appealing aspects of that) but does this ruling help in any way to secure any actual specific support and adjustments? I just really want him to have APDR and help where needed. I feel like one body (tribunal) says he’ll be fine with SEN support and the other (school) says sorry he’s not getting any even if we are legally obliged to provide it.

At primary he got extra TA time, extra exam time, differentiated tasks and 1-1 support in art and PE, small group lessons, social skills group, help with using cutlery at lunch, a wobble chair, ear defenders, motor skills intervention, special equipment like easy grip pens and desk mats, stopwatch for tasks, so much more.

Tribunal seemed to assume he’d still have all this at secondary - they relied on what he got at primary for evidence - but he’s getting nothing! He’s excelling in the subjects he’s great at and failing at a lot of other stuff where he’s behind.

What do I do now?

Thank you in advance.

Hi there, I'm a SENDCo & will try and help you as much as I can.
Unfortunately, school and county policies vary quite substantially from one to the other so I'll try to give you generic advice as I'm not sure where you are based.

It sounds like your son had a lot of support in primary school and I would have expected the secondary school to have put this support in place during his transition period. Do you know if the primary school passed his APDR onto the secondary school? Sadly, this sharing of information sometimes doesn't happen/is not effective. Did the SENDCo at the secondary school contact you during the transition/have you spoken with them throughout the EHCP application process?
When the tribunal said he will be fine with SEN support, are they suggesting the universal SEN offer from the school is enough or a specialised plan (such as APDR) for your son? I would again be asking that question with your SENDCo, they should really be supporting you with this.
As you know, an EHCP is not necessarily essential if there is appropriate support in place (I support many students without an EHCP through their APDR's and our SEN universal offer) but the school should be informing you about your son's APDR and you should be able to give your view on it.
If it was me, I would start by making contact with the SENDCo at the school and ask for a meeting/phone call to discuss the support your son had at primary school and ask about the plan for his support at his current school setting. From your description of his needs, I would expect them to have an APDR for him at minimum and for all of his teachers to be aware of it. If the SENDCo is resistant or if you do feel that he will only get the support through an EHCP, then I would be looking at appealing the decision.
I hope that helps. Happy to answer any more questions as best as I can.

Thank you this is comforting. The secondary at present does not do APDRs. It was criticised by Ofsted for not supporting SEN pupils who lack EHCPs. As you say, these can be unnecessary for many children who get the right targeted support. That is what we are lacking. I believe this is a breach of legal duty.

We’ve had meetings with Senco that seemed to mainly about saying nice things and good words with no commitment to produce a support plan or APDR.

So yes i think the choice I offer is either produce, implement and review a plan/APDR or we keep you mired in EHC bureaucracy.

Presumably the lack of any specified school SEN support is a reason to appeal the tribunal’s ruling that an EHCNA is unnecessary?

When was the refusal to assess appeal? If you have recently received the judgement, I would get someone to look over your case to check SENDIST hasn’t erred. You say they only focused on primary, but upcoming transitions should have been considered too. They should have also considered can DS’s needs be met through ordinarily available provision and will they actually be met. So it is actually still possible to get an EHCP when the school could do more but won’t.

If it has been a while since your appeal, I would request another EHCNA. And if you have to appeal again, really look at your evidence and consider if independent assessments are needed.

Alongside this, I would request a meeting with the SENCO. Ask them why they think they can completely disregard the SENCOP. Remind them of their duty under the Children and Families Act 2014 to make their best endeavours to meet DS’s SEN. Also remind them they must make reasonable adjustments. Follow up your meeting with an email to create a paper trail as evidence should you need it at a later date.

If the school needs more funding to meet DS’s needs, have they applied for high needs top up funding?

The list of support you say DS got at primary goes beyond ordinarily available provision in secondary. Some of it could be provided, but some things such as the 1:1 and TA support would be unusual to the level you describe without an EHCP.

Thanks very much @BrightYellowTrain

We just received the refusal to assess appeal this week.

It confirmed that my child has SEN but said there was "headroom" for his needs to be met by support in mainstream school and relied on evidence from primary for this. The secondary school told the tribunal it was 'meeting needs' less than two weeks after the start of Y7. Since then we have seen no evidence of SEN support plan or APDR.

So we have an EHCNA refusal based on how well my on did in primary with ample generous support. But that support is not being replicated in secondary.

I would get someone to look over your case, to see whether the FTT has erred in law and you have a case for challenging SENDIST’s decision. I am not saying you definitely do have a case, I haven’t seen any of the paperwork, but even though lots of the time parents don’t have grounds to challenge the decision, I think it is worth checking in your case.