Can you please read my letter to the LEA to support DD1's secondary transfer to MLD?

[SparklyGothKat]

I have removed her name and the schools name, but would appricate some feedback, I think its need more personally, but without the new statement I am unsure what is needed.

Re.XXXXXXXXXXXX DOB

To whom it concerns

I am writing to outline our concerns and opinions with regards to xxxxxx's Secondary School Placement.

xxxxxx has a diagnosis of Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) She has a significant speech and language delay. xxxxxx has learning difficulties across the board. Her
memory is poor in some areas, which affects her ability to remember letters, spelling and numbers. She has weak visual perception, and her peripheral vision is depleted on her left hand side. xxxxxx has difficulty with attention and concentration, and her inter-personal skills are delayed. Although xxxxxx's self-esteem has greatly improved since the statement was issued, this is still an area of concern.

With all the concerns about XXXXXX we feels that the best placement for her would be a MLD school and would like to name Xschool. We feel that this school would meet all of xxxxxx's educational needs and social issues.

Xschool has only 122 pupils in the school and this means smaller class sizes and year groups.
xxxxxx's Statement of Educational Needs 2009 states 'xxxxx can still struggle socially with her peers, wanting to be in control of group activities. Other children can find this unfair and overwhelming at times' 'She does sometimes become frustrated in play situations, especially when the games are very physical or fast moving. She still sometimes has "bad playtimes" when she says that people don't want to play with her. However xxxxxx has not yet developed the skills to be able to seek out a variety of play options and she becomes upset very easily' So therefore smaller classes would be of better benefit for xxxxxxx.

We feel that xxxxx has difficulties with being overfriendly with unknown adults and children, therefore we feel that the supportive staff at xschool would be able to manage this better than a larger mainstream school due to the smaller staff:pupil ratio and use of link teachers.

'xxxxx still has considerable dificulties with her attention and concentration skills and her achievement in this area is inconsistent, depending on the activity. She is able to listen for 10 minutes on the carpet in class and sometimes for 20 minutes when the activity is multi-media. She usually remembers simple instructions, although this is still with some support, and she struggles with more complex instructions. xxxxx's short term, sequential, visual and working memory is weak and impedes her progress. xxxxx does not retain much information for long enough to write, and she is still easily distracted. She sometimes still has difficulty with not calling out in class and taking turns' (Statement of Eductional Needs 2009)

We feel that the 35 minutes lessons within Xschool will enable her to reach her educational goals and ensure that she is achieving to the best of her current abilities.

Due to xxxxxx's ongoing difficulties with self esteem we feel that the aims of Xschool 'to create a supportive atmosphere in which pupils feel valued and confident so that they can contribute to society' would continue to address and improve this.

As xxxxxx's parents we have great concerns about xxxxx's interpersonal and social skills. xxxxxx has a significent learning disablility which impacts on her ability to understand social bounderies and others around her. xxxxx has been known to approach strangers when out, hugging them and also running off, she also does not understand road safety. We are very concerned that in a large mainstream school xxxxx could be easily lead, taken advantage of, and could be a danger to herself and others.

We also feel that given the statement that ' xxxxx requires adult assistant in order to fully access the curriclulm' that this would not be possible in a mainstream school, due to class sizes, te level of work and the speed of which it is delivered. Xschool has access to a mainstream school next door meaning that xxxxx could access some mainstream classes that she is making progess in, mainly Maths.

Physically xxxxx can manage one level schools but needs supervision when ascending and descending stairs, and due to her balance and visual problems, she would have problems in large crowds. Xschool is an one level school with few steps and with the smaller class sizes we feel that this would be better for her.

We have visited a number of secondary schools including mainstream schools and feel that X school is the best place to meet xxxxxx's needs.

We have considered xxxxx's needs carefully when choosing a school for her for secondary transfer.

Thank you

Your sincernally

I would amend some of your letter in terms of wording (if you want me to do that I'd be happy to give you my suggestions re wording) but the basic tenet of this is fine.

I would try and address this to a specific person within the LEA dept in question, rather than a non descript "to whom it may concern". If you have previous and recent correspondence from the LEA use that name or determine who is currently dealing with the case file.

Was wondering how far along the amended Statement process this application is. Have you already been asked to name the secondary school of your choice?. I ask this as we were before the amended statement was finalised.

Another suggestion is to speak to someone like IPSEA, ACE or SOS;SEN as they could also be helpful in these circs.

I would suggest contacting one of the organisations mentioned above, just to get the wording as tight as you can. Do you think the LA are supporting a transfer to the MLD school?

I think it may be worth making explicit reference to the relevant section of the CoP:

'Where an LEA proposes to issue a statement or amend part 4 of an existing statement they must name the maintained school - mainstream or special - that is preferred by the parents, providing that:

The school is suitable for the child's age, ability and aptitude and the special educational needs set out in part 2 of the statement'

The child's attendence is not incompatible with the efficient education of other children in the school, and

The placement is an efficient use of the LEA's resources.'

I think it would help to make direct reference to make as much reference to the SEN in Pt2 as you can. You've done this throughout most of the letter, but there are a couple of paragraphs that aren't. I would avoid using 'We feel that...', just state it as fact, 'It is clear that...'. Try to take as much wording as you can straight from reports/the statement.

It may be worth saying that making the changes required for DD1 to attend mainstream would be 'incompatible with the efficient education of the other pupils', particularly if there are any behaviour issues or changes to the physical environment needed.

Also I think that you need to say that it is the ONLY school that can meet DD1's needs, not the BEST school. The LA don't have an obligation to provide the best education, only an adequate one.

thanks, have asked the SENCo for a copy of recent reports etc on DD1 and she said it hasn't changed much from last year so in a way that is a good thing as it will give us more ammo. to fire. I plan to expand the letter some more with the recent reports. Will contact parent parentship later and ask for some advice too. Thanks

SGK

Be careful in your dealings with PP; I only say this as they are not always independent of the LEA and can thus tow the party line.
They can be helpful but ultimately ineffective.