my local authority are useless!!!! im so stressed!!

[meerkatsandkookaburras]

we were supposed to get our draft statement by yesterday but it didnt come so i phoned up at 12.30 asking about it and was told it should be posted out today so i asked that being as it was supposed to be recieved by yesterday would they send me an email copy so i can get it read and have it to speak to the people we have appointments with this week while im waiting for the hard copy to come, he said no problem and he would email it for me today. so at 4 it hadnt come so i phoned again and was told it would be done before he leaves work that day - well unless he is still at work it wasnt done so im not happy!!!! nothing but a moan really know that noone can help me or tell me why this la are being useless but thought id get it off my chest!!! am i being unreasonable?!?! should i ring the net person up the chain on my list of the named people at local authority office today or just be patient and wait to see if it comes in post in next few days?! obviously he did say he was posting the paper copy yesterday - but then he did say he would email too so i dunno!!!!

Ah we had this it's the date they have to post it by not day you recurve

Same happenened to us. Also when I requested an email copy they said they could not email confidential material(this was couple of years ago). I vaguely recall that the parentpartnership lady was able to get a copy (worked in same building) and discussed it over the phone with me.
If it is vital to have it today are you near enough to go and demand a photocopy?

if it doesnt come in post today ill go nd get a copy good idea, its a bit of a way but im sick of waiting!!

expecting the useless social worker this morning so all busy!!!

Do an email complaint to this lot. It is the government department who can give your LEAs arse a serious kick for this kind of thing.

We had lots of different draft statements emailed to us and this was only 1 year ago.

I think government departments are turning themselves inside out with new ways to make delivery of documents slower more secure, since some dingbats keep leaving memory sticks and laptops on trains and stuff. In the space of the past month, ours has gone from insisting everything to be sent by recorded delivery in a tough plastic envelope (nowt like attracting attention) to now not by recorded deliver (obviously too expensive). Documents can be emailed, but they are emailed with a password which is passed on verbally.

I wouldn't be surprised if your LA is doing this, in which case, they've no excuse for not emailing you your draft statement.

I got my draft statement 2 days early

We were meant to get our final statement 15th feb which was a monday -nothing. 16th feb-nothing .So i phoned LEA "oh we posted it monday you should get it tomorrow (weds) " I then phoned SOSsen who said we should ideally have got it recorded delivery ,i asked if i have every right to go and pick it up and she said yes ..so i did and i did not get the hard copy until thurs so then really you have only 7 weeks to appeal !!I also kept the envelope as proof of when they posted it -i remember 1 mum telling us to do this -monday 2nd class post Bar@!ds

hiya, yes just logged on to update, got the email today, still no sign of the hard copy though!!!! its not very good though so got a proper battle on i think!!! it seems to point to mainstream school with hardly any support - i wanted special as he needs lot of one to one and for numerous reasons needs special ie violence, escaping issues, etc etc. hes autistic and also has dcd (developmental coordination disorder/difficulties), yet the dcd is completely ignored on it and most of his issues are it concentrates on what he can do not what he cant do!!!! looks like it will be a long battle!

im still kind of stuck not knowing what to do, going to wait til i gte the hard copy tomorrow which will have the reports etc they have used and read them then at least i will know if one of them was useless and what the problem is so to speak. then if it is as i suspect the ed psych report - she is hopeless and sat and played with him then said he would cope fine mainstream she never observed him on his own!! then im going to find out if they will send a different ed psych to assess him to actually assess him from observing not play with him!! to be honest i dont know what to do and am stressed. do i ask the special school for advice, thy were very helpful and did say i could ask them anything i needed to, or do i try parent partnership, or do i just list everything that is wrong and send it in?! or do i sit and cry for a week then panic that ive done nothing!!!!! im thinking a glass of wine tonight then tackle whatever needs to be done in the morning! any suggestions?? i know i probably sound so helpless and useless but i dont know what to think, ive never read a statement before so no idea if this is better than i think or what?! though i think it is useless and nothing is set in stone by it all, its very airy fairy kind of he needs support when needed, needs access to an adult when learning opportunities arise and similar random statements!

I think the first step is to read the reports and see if you see your DS in them. Have they understood him? (If no, then contact the report writer/ LEA)

If yes, then photocopy them, get a highlighter & highlight every statement of need. Check if it is represented in Part 2. (If no, list what is missing)

Then, look at Part 3,and see if there is an action point for each need. If yes, is it specific, quantified and measurable? (If no, list what is missing)

Then, make sure that anything like OT & SALT needs are in parts 2&3, not part 6.

Then, look at the level of support (1:1, small group, therapy) and see if it is sufficient (if no, write it down).

Then look at part 4 - it will either say mainstream, or indicate special with some sort of phrasing like "a setting with an enhanced pupil/staff ratio with staff skilled and experienced in teaching children with learning difficulties" They are not allowed to say "special school", I think, as you have a right to mainstream education in 99.9% of cases. It may also give an either/or phrase.

I think it's worth making sure you understand whether they are thinking of SNS or MS, too. I panicked when I read my draft statement, because it was all vague "SALT through all aspects of the setting through the whole school day; therapy as needed; opportunities for small group, individual, teacher modelled work", etc. No 1:1 specified at all. I was horrified.

THEN I read "a setting with an enhanced pupil/staff ratio with staff skilled and experienced in teaching children with learning difficulties" and thought "How on earth are they going to ensure THAT? You can't dictate who applies for LSA roles and the experience they have, and DD1 can't just wait for a good LSA to turn up.

Suddenly, the penny dropped that they were thinking of SNS, and it all made sense. Not much was specified because it takes place across the whole school day.

meerkats,

You will need to get tough with them if the statement provision is crap.

My counsel is to talk to an independent organisation like IPSEA, ACE and or SOS;SEN and run parts 2 and 3 by them as it is written. They will tell you what it should actually say instead.

Parts 2 and 3 are the most important bits in this legally binding doc and they need to be 100% accurate.

www.ipsea.org.uk is a mine of useful information.

If the special school have previously been helpful then ask them for advice too. The more info you have the better really.

Parent Partnership are not always fully independent of the LEA and can tow the party line. Use an independent organisation like one of the above instead.

Any provision that is neither specified nor quantified should be rejected by you. Infact from the sounds of it you will need to reject this draft statement anyway and perhaps even prepare to go to Tribunal.

Part 4 may actually be blank; this is left intentionally blank so that you can name the school of choice.

thanks lou, ill work through it like that, the problems i seem to essentially have though are that in part 3 nothing is specific or quantified and measurable in it?! its all just he needs an environment where pecs are used when needed type statements and he needs help when needed for toileting though with the emphasis to gain independance in this (hes not anywhere near toilet training so needs it all the time!!! and hes only 4 so im sure its a long way off!), cahms is in part 6, should it be in part 2 and 3 too?? ot isnt there at all though i think it should be but they are not involved anymore - discharged us as were short of staff and decided he didnt need it but he does! nowhere through the whole thing does it say anything like level of support except one phrase which says he needs access to one to one, small group and whole class situations - and that was inrelation to the language part nothing else. nothing at all written in part 4 - though this was emailed to me and still waiting for the hard copy so might it be in the copy im being sent - though i was under impression this was the same just emailed so i stopped pestering for it!! aaaaaahhhhhhh stresssssssss!!!!!!

No, but at the same time, it is the document that will frame that child's education for at least the next year, so in recognising the importance of it, there will be stress when it is rubbish.

My blood ran cold reading mine, until I realised it was for SNS.