SenCo/LSA meeting Wednesday, Help/advice needed.

[CardyMow]

On Wednesday I have a meeting with DD's SenCo and LSA. To explain what each of her problems are, and how we can all best support her. Quick description: Epilepsy, MLD, ASD, GDD, Hypermobility Syndrome, Partially Deaf, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, (probable, as yet undxd Dyscalculia), and probably more I'm forgetting ATM. She's REALLY struggling with MS secondary (as I knew she would, no-one listened to me in the past, but her head of year, SenCo and LSA SEEN to be taking it on board now), has been on SA+ for over 8 yrs, and at almost 12 is only just starting on Lvl1/2 work (in Y7). I want to test the waters to see how they feel about me going for a statement, tried when DD was in primary (repeatedly) but primary SenCo was a bitch refused to back me as it was 'too much paperwork for her'. Any advice/what should I be asking/saying/taking with me. Help & advice needed, I REALLY need to be taken seriously this time, for DD's sake.

You need to be quite forceful.

A good starting point would be to make a list of all those areas in which your DD displays difficulty.

Then work out yourself what you think she needs from school to assist her in overcoming her difficulties.

Then ask school what they are going to do to help her overcome her difficulties.

If there is a wide gulf between what you think she needs and what school can provide then you need to think about applying for a Statement - with or without school's support.

I would tell them bluntly that that what's you're planning to do. 8 years is a long time to be on SA+ without any discernible improvement. Unfortunately at her age time is literally running out. Statements don't get issued post-16 so if you go down that route you really need to do so very soon.

I would also ask for a meaningful IEP - one that you and they draw up together.

Thing is, for the whole of primary, there was absolutely no discernible improvement. A term into Secondary, there HAS been some visible improvement (she's gone from working on p-scales in maths to working on Lvl 1 and she's gone from Lvl 1 in English to Lvl2), but there's no help with all the other stuff, and I just don't feel it's enough, what she's getting ATM when she was miserably failed in Primary.Thank You for advice, and any more/ from others is also/will also be appreciated.

BUMP! to see if anyone else has any more advice for me.

Please?? It's 11am tomorow...AND I've got to take an ill child with me as DS1 has come down with an ear infection (bad one) today, and I've rearranged due to children's illnesses twice already(before christmas)...getting panicky now!!

I think that you sound like you have everything in hand but you need to be thinking about her social skills development also. She is making some progress academically but is she making any socially (or at least the progress that she should be making). She is at the age where social 'oddities' become more and more apparent to peers, adults and also the children concerned. Teenage years can be a crucial time when many ASD children can becoem overwhelmed and depressed if they are not getting the support they need with reading social cues, understanding the complexities of language as well as general pragmatic skills. I would be asking the school to make explicit what they are going to be doing to support her in this area as this is part of her overall development.

She also needs to be getting taught some self-advocacy skills and perhaps more explicit general life skills. Of course not all of this is the school's full responsibility but they do have a responsibility for overall development. I know that the previous poster made a comment about statements not being issued after 16 but in my experience (professional rather than personal) it can be difficult to get them after 15 since it is such a long dragged out process.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

i would be telling them you are putting in for a statement yourself , ds was at preschool they was like he wont get a statement he is to young i apllied he got eventually.

does dd have any friends at school , are you planning on a change of school ?

BAH! Ruddy Snow meant that although the school was open (until lunchtime) Neither the SenCo OR the LSA could get in, so am waiting to hear about a new time slot. GRRR! I have tried (twice) when DD was in primary to get a statement by myself, but the LEA refused as the primary SenCo was a liar submitted a report talking bollix stating my DD was working on Lvl 3 (when she was actually working on p-scales). I REALLY need the secondary school to back me as the LEA consistantly refuse to assess if it's parent submission of form with no backing. I know MS can't meet her needs, it never has, but her year is full in both the suitable special schools (I have spoken to both) but with children with even more severe difficulties than my DD. Her asd IS causing her more probs now, her anger is getting unmanagable just don't know what else to do. TBH all I want for DD right now is (at almost 12) for her to be able to add up to £2.00 and to tell the time. She sat a maths test last week, a Lvl 2 test and she got 8/90. She was MOST upset as she had tried so hard. :-(

AAGGHH! NOT last week, YESTERDAY!!! (sorry 3 dc's at home driving me mental!)

loudlass did you see my message that our pct now has a incontinece nurse

Are her IEP targets being achieved? & what is the critera for assessment?
It may be worth having a word with the area special needs officer, if she is already working within accepted levels for her age it may be that they say she does not meet the criterea, so then you need to look at other areas other than just purely academic achievement.

If she is working at a level below that expected & she meets that criterea you then have to offer evidence (reports etc) to demonstrate that she needs more help than is available from the school without the statement.

You must ensure the SENCO & LSA are honest & don't try to be positive about your dd abilities.
Really you can only decide your next step once you have met with the senco.
You can apply for statement yourself anyway but it is always easier with the school support.

no I didn't phoenix...do you have a number?? DD is meant to be the first on the list as she is 11.10 now....at least that's what I was told in October...She is working WAAAAAAAAY below the lvl expexted for Y7, Lvl2 is too hard in maths, she's working between Lvl1-2 in english, and the school have given up on French after only a term, and are just giving her extra maths lessons as a second language is just too much for someone who has soooo many difficulties with their first language! I do however think this SenCo is a bit more realistic about DD's ability lvl than the primary one was, just even if I do manage to get a statement, the LEA has nowhere suitable to send her, and I know this, so it all seems a bit futile on the third attempt, as I know MS isn't the right place for her, and all LEA will say is MS with support will have to do, and currently Secondary are offering (way more) hrs on SA+ than they are meant to. So I think LEA will say that's fine. It's not. AARRGGHH!! (sorry for long post)

Criteria for assessment is currently 3 or more years behind with your reading age, and feck all even if you can't count to 5. She (officially) falls at reading age 8.7 (that was a while ago when her chronological age was 11.7, so 'only' 2 yrs behind, but her comprehension ability is hovering around Y2 level...so 5 yrs behind, but they only go by reading age. Her maths is supposedly low level 2 but her test yesterday she got 8/90 on the lvl2 test, so realistically, Lvl 1 I'D say. If her behaviour was disruptive, she'd get a statement err....8 years ago, but (mostly) she sits quietly not learning, so gets F all. It's only now that her awful behaviour is (just in the last 2 weeks before christmas) starting to spill over into school due to her isolation and the stress of MS secondary. So she doesn't ACTUALLY meet the LA criteria for statutory assessment, and even a TA in one of the special schools near me gets frustrated with the fact that my LA doesn't include lack of progress in maths as any sort of criteria for it.

I'm trying to work out the current level of support she's getting, it WAS an hour a day in a small group in the learning zone, but now they've dropped french, I think it works out to 7 hrs a week. On SA+. Don't know of many other children locally (and I know quite a few SEN DC's) who get 7+ hrs a week on SA+. In fact I can't think of any that gets 7hrs+ without a statement. OH and she's getting floating support just in the dinner hall now as she can't sort her lunch herself. so that's a little more, about 15 mins/day, so a total of at least 8+ hrs. She REALLY DOES need a statement...and am wondering how the hell on earth the school are finding the money to fund it all, and what will happen if they need that money for anything else. At least the money would be 'ringfenced' for her if she was statemented, even if 8+ hrs isn't enough for her in MS.

Hi Loudlass,

re your comment:-
"Criteria for assessment is currently 3 or more years behind with your reading age"

If the LEA are stating this, this is blanket policy and thus illegal. They cannot discriminate in such a manner. LEA's know the law and a lot of them try and act above it. They cannot do this.

I would make the statement application personally to the LEA regardless and give them what for particularly if they refuse to assess. They rely on parents to give up, it is clear that your DD's needs are nowhere near being met currently hence her problems at school. She is being failed here.

I know blanket policies are illegal, but the LEA won't state this outright to the parents, so no-one can prove it. IPSEA won't help me (or wouldn't last year when I tried) as they 'only help when it gets to tribunal' which it won't when they're refusing to assess. Any ideas for anyone else I can go to for help? I do have additional needs myself, which means I will struggle to do it by myself ( I have memory problems due to epilepsy, and struggle to meet deadlines). I know she's being failed by the education system, that's been precisely my complaint since she got into Y3 and her problems became more apparent. But the LEA don't listen/don't care, and I don't have the money to fund extra help due to being on DLA and unable to work myself.

I do have it on good authority that my LEA do this though... my Nan teaches (in a different LA) and uses teachernet, and an TA she knows was complaining about exactly this issue, from one of my local special schools, it's just being done in an 'unprovable' way.

Apply for the statutory assessment for the Statement yourself, using the IPSEA website's template and then take the fuckers to Tribunal if they refuse to assess. It's shocking how little help your dd has had

Just do it. Don't wait for the school - LA HAVE to write and ask their opinion anyway. Do it tonight!

I completely agree with what giveme said - apply for a Statement now and apply yourself directly to the LEA.

TBH you need to get off that fence you are sitting on and take the first step towards getting DD what she needs. You don't need IPSEa or any other outside help at this stage. Wait to see what the LA's response / excuses are and take it from there.

But if you continue to se even taking that first step of aplying for a Statement as too big a hurdle then the situation will not be resolved and you'll continue to beat yourself up about being unable to get her the help she so obviously needs.

Best wishes

Loudlass I've read through the thread and see you are under the same PCT as Phoenix so assume you are in Essex.

I would highly recommended www.familiesinfocusessex.org.uk/.

I've not needed their help with statementing (yet!) but they have been so helpful with the DLA claim for my DS1.

Loudlass email me if you like will see if can help , we can even meet up and see if we cant start the ball rolling

GAH! Last year when I went to families in focus when I applied for a statement they didn't have anyone covering North Essex, but they probably do now, that's one place to ring. Wetaugust, it's not really that I'm 'on the fence', it's more that I've applied twice in the past 2 years, and got nowhere, and missed the appeal dates. I missed it in 2008 because DS2 was in hospital on oxygen and in 2009 because I had a severe seizure and had my jaw wired up and had fractured my shoulder. It's not easy to concentrate on deadlines alone when you are trying to deal with 3 different peoples (including your own) medical problems as well. Phoenix, that would be a great help.

I'm going to try and get my printer working and write out the letter. Needs must. And this time I'll meet the appeal deadline no matter what!

Loudlass thats bad i know there was one in place back in August as we saw her will look up her number for you.

I tried familes in focus but same problem as none covering area but did mange to thrash out a 27 hr statement from our lea , Though have a meeting with them this moth for readjustment ie a whole new statement ,Mike Mcdonald at lea dreads me calling/writing /email him now , yet hes seen nothing yet lol

have you not looked at Kingswode hoe loudlass? have heard pretty good things about them.Im around most school days if you want a hand at any time just yell .also have yahoon im under phoenixlightfoot