Is there a good website that explains the whole statmenting process?

[MehgaLegs]

Besides this one of course

DS4 still has another year at preschool but the EP has just visited his theraplay group to observe him and she is coming for a home visit next week (she seems very, very nice).

He isn't due to start Rec until Sept 2009 but his statementing process has already started.

The SALT is already drip feeding ideas that he may need to attend either a SN school or or MS with a Speech and Lang unit.

I have always assumed he would attend village school with my other three so feeling a little down.

I think the IPSEA site is meant to be good.

SN or Mainstream with SALT Unit schools were also mooted when DS3 was pre-school (verbal Dyspraxia); I resisted, largely because I would have had to send him off in a taxi on his own each day and so he went to mainstream with 20 hours a week of 1 to 1. He's now at the end of Yr1 and is doing fantastically - almost always intelligible. WHat I'm trying to say is consider all options - if the village school is clued up re SN, and you get a Statement with 1 to 1 support he might do fine there.

This BBC site looks quite good

Thanks hassled that BBC site is great. Also found some good info on our LEA grid for learning site.

Glad your DS is doing well at local school. I'd feel sad not seeing DS4 with his brothers.

I have now depressed mself further by reading the OFSTED reports firstly for the three Special Schools near here, two are satisfactory and one is on special measures. The MS school with SAL unit is satisfactory, our village school is good with a few outstandings.

I did feel somewhat pressured by SALTs to send DS3 to the alternative schools - but as well as the taxi thing, like you I wanted him to go where his siblings had gone and be part of the community. It was a gamble that paid off, but only because I had the 20 hours a week support and because the school's SENCO was really on the ball.
Maybe you could go and talk to the mainstream school SENCO and get a feel for how they would respond to a Statemented child? There seems to be a huge variation in the standard of SEN provision, help and just attitude within mainstream but if you get lucky it could work.

Good plan hassled. In fact I have a good friend who's son is at preschool with my DS. They will start Rec together too. He has Speech and Lang probs and they are tentatively suggesting he is displaying some autistic traits. We had coffee together last week and decided we should boo a meeting with the head and SENCO.

The school has a part time SENCO at the moment and I have never seen her so it would be interesting to meet her and get a feel for how they might cope with a sudden influx of children with SN (Two others in same year group have Speech and Lang delay and one has Behavioural stuff going on)