Meeting with SENCO re: DD Statement - any advice?

[sadnog]

Hi, I have a meeting with DD SenCo on Monday, to finalise details before sending application for Statement. Does anyone have any advice as to what I should be looking for on the application? Am totally clueless and always seem to make the mistake of being too compliant in these sort of meetings and always end up kicking myself afterwards for not asking the right questions! Anyone help, PLEEEEAAAAASE!

How far along the process are you?. Who is applying for the statement - the school or yourself?. Unlike the school, you have the right of appeal.

The initial letter to the LEA requesting statutory assessment does not have to be very long. IPSEA are very helpful and there is a lot of info on their website:-

www.ipsea.org.uk

The Senco is applying for statement on my request. She asked me to write a letter explaining DD behaviour at home as additional information to go with the application. She rang me yesterday asking me to go in on Monday to go over and finalise all the information she had gathered ready for the application. The SenCo sees no reason why the LEA will refuse to do a Statement but are you saying that if they do the school cannot appeal? Would I be able to reapply myself?

Hopefully it won't come to that either but it can be reapplied for by you.

The LEA need six weeks to reply. I would subsequently ask the SENCO to confirm the date the application was sent so you can mark that six week date on your calendar.

IPSEA are good at the whole statementing process; they can also advise.

I would ring the local SNAP/Parent Partnership office (SENCO will have the number)and arrange a meeting with them so that they can describe exactly what it entails.It is essential you understrand it and get it right.I cannot stress that highly enough.

Thanks Moondog, I have spoken to our local PP before when I was considering requesting a Statement for DD, they were extremely helpful and sent out heaps of information to me. I'm just worried that I won't do enough or ask the right questions and I'm already annoyed with myself for not taking some sort of action alot earlier than I did, but naively I put my trust in the teachers and other professionals involved in my DDs education. How foolish was I???????

I found the ACE website helpful. See www.ace-ed.org.uk/advice/booklets/GettingStatement.html Good luck!

Nothing to add to the good advice given, except good luck

Thanks all, for the advice given. I have taken note of it all and will return to this thread at a later date with an update of how things progressed.