Got a meeting with Council on Tuesday about draft statement. Any advice????

[cktwo]

We've asked for the meeting as they want to reduce DD1's 1:1 hours.
She is in a mainstream village pre-school which is small and only has two members of staff so I'm pretty keen to get the maximum hours we can (i.e. 12.5).

So is there anything i should be stressing to the council to fight our corner. My list so far is:
She cannot talk
She has limited mobility (we get high rate DLA for her)
She is not toilet trained
She needs help with signing

Anything else????

Ask them for the 'evidence' that shows your daughters needs have changed and that is why they need to reduce the hours
this evidence should be provided by all the professionals involved with your daughter not just lea representative and also needs agreement from all involved with your dd

what do the pre school say?

personally i can't see them being too happy with what you describe as it will put additional needs on all in the setting including all staff, children and most importantly your dd

fight fight fight and do not back down or you will be walked over for ever- i speak from experience!

Thank you for your help. The pre-school need all the help they can get. She is their first SN child and have been wonderful but by being there DD1 effectively deprives the other children from a member of staff unless her support worker is there.

The SENCO has recommended 12.5 hours so i don't really know why they want to reduce it (aprt from saving themselves £15 per week!!).

Anyway, I'm prepared for a fight. I feel strongly that we win this initial battle as it'll set the tone for the future .

let us know how you get on,good luck x

I think 12.5 hours doesn't sound enough given your daughter's needs. I would go in and say that you think she needs 20 hours support a week. A child who cannot communicate effectively and get around properly needs far more support per week than she is getting. Point out to them that if the school can prove that her presence is affecting the other children's education adversly then they are within their rights to say that they cannot meet her needs as they are detrimental to the learning of the majority.

What SALT and OT provision is being given to your child. They will try and fob you off by saying that this is non-educational provision but it is educational because without it she cannot access the curriculum. If they think you are in the know and have some clout they will back off.

I can imagine that the headteacher won't be too pleased if these hours are cut. If she is on your side and she refuses to accommodate your daughter (she might not be doing this really but just saying it to put the frightners on the LEA) then they will realise they are on a sticky wicket.

All the best.

The 4 areas they take into account are

social/emotional skills (how does she relate to others)
Academic/learning /development(age appropriate )
physical/sensory/medical (obvious she has mobility and continence difficulties)
communication (obvious difficulties)
try to match as many as possible. Good Luck

DD1 is in pre-school so I was under the impression she could only get 12.5 hours. Can we argue for more?

We have semi-regular contact with SALT and OT and once term starts again tomorrow they'll be back again. SALT is mainly focussing on learning makaton as a bridge to communication and DD1 is doing really well. OT has been rubbish but she changes otation this month and I'm hoping for a better one!

If you daughter only attends pre school for 12.5 hours a week that would account for the SENcos recommendation but I would ask how this will impact when she transfers into reception as IME it can delay getting the extra hours support she will obviously need. Good Luck

Hey hey! Cktwo 1, Council 0

Hours increased to 12.5 with a review at end of term. I'm really pleased

good result for you well done, be prepared for the lea to try and 'maintain' current statement when your dd transfers to reception- you need to push with all concerned for it to be 'amended' to reflect your dd's placement in full time school, don't except any crap about them not needing to provide full time support until the term she turns 5 either
hth x

We're thinking she'll start off in special school so we did talk about that at the meeting and I think they're happy with that decision. Which really, makes their initial decision to give only 10 hours silly. Told DD1's support worker today and she was thrilled. I'm guessing though, this is the start of many many battles to come

Well done on winning round one