God, what do i do now.??? Let down by panel for sept.!!

[FlameHairedFreckles]

my ds jono has got many problems, he was born at 29+4, developed hydrocephalus, and had a shunt fitted at 6 weeks old at G.O.S.H.
He fitted and had a brain bleed when he was born. He is epileptic, has cerebral palsy, has global developmental delay, moderate learning difficulties,and has speech problems roughly being 2 years behind.Also he isnt potty trained as he has no idea. He will be 4 in may and due to start reception class in sept. Have been involved with the early years team, and team around the child with him for nursery, and he has had all his assessments for the special needs panel.The result we got was for him to be in a mainstream school with 18hrs a week help. (shock) Im horrified, as i know he just wont cope with it.He needs to be in a school with SL unit, and the school they want to send him to doesnt have anything like that, or changing facilities. What can i do.? Im so upset that we've been thru all this and i feel he has really been let down, poor little mite. (sad) I spoke to the case worker at the SN LEA unit, and he said that the panel have made the decision and wont change it, but i can appeal, but the next SN panel isnt till nov.!!

No personal experience, but .... has he got a Statement of Educational Needs ? or is this about you trying to get him one? I was going to suggest taking a look at the IPSEA website or SEN SOS website - they have really good advise about SEN's and they have a helpline (if you can get through) - have a close friend who has used them both to her advantage.

i was told that panel meets every 3 weeks and if you are talking about the process for statments there fobbing you of they are limited in time for appeals , i would demand a meeting with them only know as im going through it and waiting on a propsed stament to if your talking of s and l as speech and laungage unit a lot will not take kids with a ggd learning disablity as i lookd into it to

found this if its any help is it final or a propased statement

When should I ask for a meeting?
Within 15 days of receiving your copy of the proposed Statement.

Why should I ask for a meeting?
If you are not happy with any aspect of the proposed Statement or the reports atached. Once you have asked for this meeting the LEA cannot finalise the Statement until the meeting has taken place. Make your request in writing, not over the ?phone. In the same letter, tell the Officer which school you want named in the Statement.

Do I have to give details of what I am not happy about?
Not if you don?t want to at this stage.

What if the LEA will not agree to a meeting?
The LEA have to agree to a meeting -- the law says they must after they have sent a parent a proposed Statement.

Who should I write to?
Write to the top person at the LEA, usually called the Chief Education Officer or the Director of Education. You can find out what the top person is called in your LEA by asking at the school or the local library.

When will I hear back?

i was sent a proposed statement, which i got last friday, they have statemented him, but decided he is ok to go to mainstream school, thats the bit i dont agree with, and also they have not named a school in part 4 of the statement either. So do i put a SN school down anyway and see what happens, and then ask for an appeal form.? The case officer i spoke to last friday, after hearing the panel decision, was quite matter of fact in that regardless the decision for mainstream was made, and that, that is what he will be upholding, even tho i have a right to appeal, i apparently cant appeal the mainstream decision. Just does not make any sense to me whatsoever, i could scream, arrrggghhhh, lol.

no its propsed only when you agree with final stament do you name the school , send it back with letter saying what you disgree with were be going through same come May as thast when propsed has to be out by

icandothat - i am going to google it and see where i get,

phoenix - i think they are trying to fob me off, the case worker really didnt want to give me any info, and in a way was rude, but im going to fight it, cos jono, bless him, really will be like a little fish in a big pond if he goes to mainstream,

crikey, as if things arent hard enough already at times, lol

yeah i to am wanting my ds go to sn school to and prepared for battle royal to and lol at Mcn name yu would not happen be a red head to would u

yeah i am a redhead, and i have freckles, much to my dismay in the summer, lol, they come out in force.!!!!

snap

hi fiofio,
my hv is on holiday atm, when she hears, she will be jumping up and down in fury, all the ppl jono has had assessments with, ie: ed pysch, physio, consultant, speech therapist, they all think he needs special placement, and said as much in their reports. one thing i did notice is, 2 reports are missing, 2 schools assessed him in nursery and agreed that mainstream isnt an option, they both agreed he needs a school with a SLU and for MLD, i pointed this out to the case worker and asked him why they werent included, he didnt know, so i asked him to get me the reports they made, cos i havent seen them. The case worker thought 18 hrs a week was quite high.!!!! I dont get what planet they are on either, certainly not this one, lol,

Nowt wrong with being a r3dh3d

You should have been copied on all the evidence that the statement was based on. Reports from ed psych, SALT, etc. The EP in particular is likely to have made fairly clear statements of need, if not of provision. If this evidence is wrong, then the statement will be wrong, and if you disagree with the evidence then you need to provide your own from private experts, which will cost ££££. You then take the reports (and probably the experts) to a tribunal. You may need a lawyer with you. You will probably not get legal aid.

If the evidence is good, then the decision is wrong and you may be able to challenge them without additional backup, ie take them to tribunal but without having to pay experts to come with you. Though you still may need the lawyer.

Or, because the above process can be v expensive, your alternative is to protest but let him go to mainstream, fail horribly and get the school head to tell the LEA they can't cope and he needs to be elsewhere. That could take a while though depending on how sensible the school are, and has obvious drawbacks.

It's worth doing 2 things right away:

1. calling your local PWP. They are not always good on fighting your corner but they are always good on process and procedure and helping you to play the game. They can make sure the LEA are aware that you wish to challenge the statement within the deadline. You may have some chance of an extension to that deadline as they have published just before Easter hols and you can't get in contact with anyone from prospective schools (to get their confirmation of how they will support the statemented provision and thus choose the school you want in part 4) during the holidays. So you can argue for a 2 week delay and get your plan in order in the meantime.
2. calling IPSEA. Unfortunately, this will also be hard in the school hols as it is a charity helpline staffed by volunteers whose own kids are home in the holidays so they are short staffed. You just have to keep on and on and on ringing, you will get through in the end. Read the statement and the evidence first to get the LEA argument (and its weaknesses) clear in your head, before you call them. They will be able to advise your best grounds for appeal and where you go from here.

i read that the statement has to have the school written down on it

when i read on how to check my sons statement whenit arrives it said school must be put down needs must be made clear and all needs must be there if not then to contact for appeal

right just got my book it says checking proposed statement you have right to appeal if

it says the way lea describes your childs needs

the help described in statement
the school or early years named

you might also want to appeal if no school is named

good questions to ask when you look at proposed statement

is thetre anything missing
are all your childs difficulties mmatched by appropriate help

is the help clearly spelt out

does it say how much help your child will get who will give it and for how long

when you are sent a proposed statement you will be told you can meet with lea or the proffessional who wrote reports to discuss anything not clear and needing to be changed

sendist have sen helpline 01325392555

we been warned that my ds will probably only get 17 hrs was like seems be the default offering

he has GDD

ggod luck im so nervous about my ds statement arriving as i know it will probably need to be appealed against also so i wish you all the luck with this may well be worth calling special educational needs and disability tribunal line and see where they tell you to go next with this it certainly seems very wrong and you have a sure case to fight xx

Right

After Easter hols contact the two schools who said 'no'. Their heads will be furious. Get them to send you the reports (they will have copies). You might find a cooperative head that might send a stinky letter to LEA or even phone them saying that they need special facilities plus 30 hours support a week (have to have two people present to change your child - again I dunno this for sure but it sounds convincing!)

In the meantime look up SENDIST on the web and follow the instructions to take your LEA to tribunal.

Contact IPSEA and OR SOS SEN or would MENCAP or SCOPE be of use (dunno just suggestions. You need someone on the end of a phone to talk you through paperwork and tactics.

Go and see the School you want your child to go to. Is it an LEA SEN school? If so that makes life a lot easier.

Be prepared for WAR. It is a battle but you will win. The evidence sounds pretty incontrovertable. They are just being wankers. It is also possible that there isn't a place at an LEA SEN school appropriate for him and they know that they would have to cough up the dough for a private place so want to see whether they can get away with fobbing you off with mainstream first.

Very best of luck and you are not alone (unfortunately). I had to go through tribunal but in a way although it was awful and I wished we didn't have to, I could see the LEA's point of view and our son would have survived mainstream (survival not good enough though in my book). Cases like yours where the child so clearly needs to be in special education, make my blood boil. It does no one any good, not the mainstream school, not the teachers having to cope, not the parents of the SEN child, and most importantly, not really the child. Ohhhh - just thought of something which always works - use the phrase 'appropriate peer group' In mainstream your child would not have access to the appropriate peer group and that would undermine their learning.

Sod the panel. It is required by law for there to be one education officer who has responsibility for these decisions. They are allowed to use panels to help make their decisions, but they cannot devolve all responsibility to these panels. So nobody cares when the next panel meets - you need the name of the chief education/ inclusion officer who is in charge of the overall decisions and you need to meet with them. They can make the decisions.

I know this because, after several bonkers decisions by our local panel, all decisions about J now skirt around the panel and go straight to the Education Officer.

Good luck.

Givemesleeporgive me chocolate is absolutely correct in saying that it's the education Officer who has the statutory responsibility to handle your case and make decisions - not the 'panel'. In fact the Govt wrote to all LEAs last year pointing out to them that although they could take advice from the panel they couldn't 'hide behind it'.

Ypu are now involved in a legal process (Statementing) which has very strict timelines and well-defined procedures.

The thing to remember that this is now between YOU and the LEA - nobody else can do this for you although IPSEA and other charities can provide advice or assistance, your HV, school or anyone else's view do not count. YOU have to fight the LEA.

You MUSt write to the LEA (recorded delivery) within 15 days stating that you do not agree with the level of support they are suggestion and want a meeting with them. The LEA must then offer you 3 meeting dates for you to chose from. At the meeting you put your points of view and they may issue another Proposed Statement - if that next Statement is no good either then you write to them again with 15 days requesting another meeting ... and son.... until you either get whta you want or the LEA refuse to offer any more, in which case you would then need to take it to a Tribunal.

People get focused on Part 4. It's actually Parts 2 and 3 you need to focus on. Part 2 describes the difficulties the child has and Part 3 the support needed to help the child overcome the difficulties in Part 2. If part 2 is weak and inadequate and doesn't decsribe the difficulties fully (and mnay LEAs will ignore serious difficulties) then obviously Part 3 will not have adquate support described as the Part 2 difficulties are inadquately described or missing. So check Parts 2 and 3 very carefully and make a list of things the LEA may have overlooked to bring up at your meeting.

If parts 2 and, as a consequence Part 3, are incorrect, the case for a Special Schol is not demonstarted. What you need to do is get Parts 2 and 3 requiring so much support that it can only be delivered in a special school.

Don't give up - many parents win. the LEA's word is not final. You should get yourself a copy of the SEN COP as this is the LEA's 'bible' on how to handle Statementing and also take a look at the IPSEA website as it has lots of useful advice.

Best wishes

BLESS YOU ALL THANK YOU
you have all given me very good advice, and im going to follow up on all of it.

I have already been on the phone to sendist and they are going to send me the appeal stuff in the post, so thats a start.

Also, jono nursery teachers are spitting feathers, and luckily one of the ladies who is on 'early years' team, also sits on the panel, so the nursery are going to contact her, as she said to if we have problems.

Then im going to put down a special needs school as my choice, and ask the hospital consultant to add his two penneth worths, and see if that will give them a kick.

It made me cross and distraught for jono just thinking of him in a normal class, he just wont have a clue, bless him.

LOL, being a Taurus i think its about time i sharpened my horns a little and gave them a dig, LOL,

The good news is, if all the profs have said special school, you would win a tribunal and the LEA would know that and would back down before you got to SENDIST.

The bad news is that you wouldn't be likely to get a Tribunal before September.

So if they push you into actually having to appeal, despite all the comments in the reports (and quote them to the LEA, word for word, and ask for evidence otherwise), then go to the MP and, as a last resort, your local newspaper.

MP might actually be worth going to now. My LEA cave in every time she writes to them. She may actually be my new best friend