Statutory assessment ladies, a question please

[claw3]

My request for SA was refused and im appealing.

I have since written to the LA and requested 'help you expect local schools to provide for children at school action plus with my childs special needs?'

'Details of the criteria you use to decide when to make a Statutory Assessment of children with my child?s special needs?'

They have responded with The criteria used takes into account the level of support a child is receiving at school and their academic progress.The panel noted ds was progressing academically but felt that ds's high anxiety levels needed to be explored through a Common Assessment Frame; a way to identify the underlying reasons for a young persons anxieties'

and

School to use own resources 15 hours.

How can i use this info in my appeal?

How do you feel about the CAF assessment? Would it make sense to go through the process and come out at the other side with further reasons why a statutory assessment would be appropriate. I was just wondering if playing their game might get you further. I'm not experienced in this process so feel free to shoot me down in flames.

Hi Al1son, i dont have much experience either, all suggestions are more than welcome.

It would make sense, as ds has so many professionals involved in his care. Getting them all to communicate can never be a bad thing.

The only problem is school already have recommendations from various professionals which they cannot implement because of lack of resources! (despite the school telling me this in writing, they are not backing me!)

Im assuming CAF would just make more recommendations that the school could not implement.

Perhaps this could be used in my appeal?

is academic progress being made as a result of additional support?

if he is making academic progress with no additional support then you will find it really hard to get any further, i think. if he has additional support and this support is enabling him to make extra progress (and this is recorded, eg through iep targets at sa/ sa+) and you feel he could make additional progress with more support, then it's worth pushing.

are school already using resources and they are inadequate? do school think he needs more support?

do you feel an ed psych/ camhs assessment would be of help? sometimes it is necessary to get private ep assessment done to provide additional evidence of support requirements in school. what other evidence do you have of his additional needs? (paed reports etc? they can ll be forwarded...)

if ds's support requirements are more of a health requirement then you may be better off using school nurse (there will be one, but you might have to dig about to find out who it is) and pushing for support that way.

oh, cross post. yes, then given that info - go for CAF and re-assess how you feel afterwards...

Madwoman, 'academic progress being made as a result of additional support' is a very good point.

Class teacher wrote a report (March 2010)for SA and it stated 'in class ds needs frequent support to complete his work. He appears to lack motivation and is over reliant on adult support. He needs frequent reminders to keep him on task and motivated. At times he disregards instructions from staff and sulks and cries and physically removes himself when reprimanded' (she then wrote some 'good' comments too about his academic progress)

In November 2009 class teacher reported to SALT 'ds can focus within the class room'

That sounds like regression to me, not progress?

All of ds's difficulties are self care, eating at lunchtime, socially etc. In school he is regarded as average academically.

I have already supplied the LA with Ed Psy, Paed, SALT reports.

He is currently being assessed by CAMHS, OT etc.

Well, as the school would be part of the CAF meeting then hopefully at least you might end up with a cross-agency agreement of what your son needs and how best those needs can be met. If you can get them to agree that his academic progress is being restricted by lack of provision and that school cannot provide for his needs on action plus shouldn't that justify the statutory assessment?

If they are saying that his needs cannot be met until the reason for his anxieties are identified does that mean that they may not be school-based anxieties? If that is the case they are on pretty solid ground because no provision in school would help him to learn effectively. I think you have to find a way to show that the support you are requesting will reduce his anxiety and therefore enable him to learn. If you have to cooperate with the CAF process to do that I would go with it.

Again I'm no expert and I'm sure there are much more knowledgeable people around who have been through it and can make more sense of it all.

Should also add ds receives

1:1 TA support to help with his pronunciation 20 minutes twice a week.

Group TA support where necessary.

Often has adult support on his table to assist with work.

All of his difficulties, as listed by professionals

Anxiety
Phobias
Delay in play skills
Speech and communication difficulties
Feeding difficulties
Social and interaction skills difficulties
Sensory dysfunction
Soiling
Self harming behaviour

for which he receives no help or support in school. All help is aimed at academics.

Claw (used to be Grumpy here)

Have you looked at IPSEA failure to assess pack?

I'd appeal anyway - by the time you got to tribunal you could have had the CAF and seen the outcome and know if makes any difference, whereas if you lose right to appeal, have CAF and nothing changes you have to start all over again and can't reapply (I think) for 6 months.

I would say all reasons why not meet need to date - had prof input etc already - no confidence will be any different in future, not progressing re anxiety / sensory / socially

Could argue school itself is problem eg too noisy etc - do YOU need a CAF to know what causes anxiety? If you know already eg too noisy / busy etc could argue sensory / anxiety issues only be solved by different environment and school can't make adaptations nec eg can't make class smaller / provide quiet space. Can say already enough evidence to show statement nec (we had this argument - DS too young and not had enough time to collect evidence) say if evidence missing more appropriately obtained via stat assessment than CAF. You can always withdraw an appeal.

Lots in Lamb Report and Institute of education report last year about how LSA hours are not in themselves good intervention. Can argue level of training LSA would need outside normal resources of school / need higher level LSA or specialist teacher. Or entirely diff curriculum etc etc Social skills teaching needed, not just academics.

Also issue self harm (I think am remembering rightly was your DS who did this?) requires urgent action - again outside expertise of school etc Talk about concerns if not assess eg risk things could get worse.

My LA backed down as soon as we put the appeal in. Sometimes they just call your bluff to see if you will bother to draft an appeal.

Also don't be fooled by Panel. They spend very little time discussing each case and the SEN Officer can ignore their advice and make different decision anyway.

Remember adequate progress is not just academic

From COP:
Whatever the level of pupils? difficulties, the key test of how far their learning needs are being met is whether they are making adequate progress.
6:49 Adequate progress can be defined in a number of ways. It might, for instance, be
progress which:
● closes the attainment gap between the pupil and the pupil?s peers
● prevents the attainment gap growing wider
● is similar to that of peers starting from the same attainment baseline, but less than
that of the majority of peers
● matches or betters the pupil?s previous rate of progress
● ensures access to the full curriculum
● demonstrates an improvement in self-help, social or personal skills
● demonstrates improvements in the pupil?s behaviour
● is likely to lead to appropriate accreditation
● is likely to lead to participation in further education, training and/or employment.

You can send a draft to NAS (ring helpline) to check before submitting appeal

With that range of acknowledged behaviours and dxs his needs can be described as complex and therefore full extent will only be revealed by Stat Assess.

Also, the number of hours is of itself irrelevant - a stat assessment would reveal what specific strategies those hours need to focus on.

'school cannot provide for his needs on action plus shouldn't that justify the statutory assessment?' the problem is school are having problems identifying his needs, thats why he needs a SA. School will continue to say 'he is doing fine' catch 22!

Most of his anxieties are sensory related.

Hi Agnes, yes i have IPSEA pack and ive made a start on my tribunal submission. Just trying to collect as much info as poss in the next couple of weeks. I requested the info from LA, now i have it, im not sure how it can be used to strengthen my case (if at all)

I dont need CAF to tell me what causes his anxieties. Unfortunately everyone else needs something in writing and no one wants to commit themselves to WHAT the actual cause is, they are side stepping with 'its commonly seen in ASD children'!

Getting changed for PE for example i keep a diary, i can see the connection between PE and anxiety levels. School will say he doesnt 'look' distressed or anxious.

He has been physically sick, pulled out his eyelashes to the point of being sent home, lost his trousers, put on someone elses clothes, comes home with his clothes on inside out, back to front, shoes on the wrong feet. HE doesnt want to go to school on PE days, says he feels sick, hates PE etc, its as plain as the nose on your face, but im the only one who can see it!

Thanks for all that info, really helpful.

Hi Wetaugust, thanks thats what i need 'what grounds' and then expand on it.

Not much in LA letter that i can use to my advantage?

ok - have you got the full set of his ieps? is he consistently meeting iep targets? are they 'smart' targets? have his current therapists (esp OT if sensory etc) had good input for target-setting purposes?

is he failing to meet smart iep targets? or are the school not setting targets because they can't identify what his needs are?

Mad, In nursery he wasnt on special needs register, he just had SALT input. He left nursery in December 2008 and because he was then receiving input from OT, he was automatically put onto action plus for when he started school in January 2009.

He had no IEP in place until October 2009. So i have IEP October 2009, revised IEP November 2009 and February 2010 IEP (which i hadnt even seen until LA sent me a copy of all the papers school had supplied)

All concerns listed in IEP are social, self care or emotional. Targets set are academic!

For example ds has difficulties building positive relationship with peers is a concern.

Targets are learn to count to 10 (something he could do before he even started school)

I have been trying to get the school to do SMART IEP's and they are refusing.

So targets are being meet because they are unrelated to his difficulties.

blimey. how totally bizarre and utterly frustrating.

are your therapists on side? ours visit school and have input into target setting - can you get (for example) the OT to put three targets in writing for inclusion in the next iep? at least it would be a step in the right direction whilst you appeal etc...

why on earth are they target setting educational targets?! we've had a few - usually wrt to fine motor/ written - and some reading ones which targeted 'spoken' stuff - role play/ character stuff (slt targets cunningly disguised, as well as social to encourage participation/ speech in class). does the senco have a clue? do you know who is writing the ieps? ours were reviewed/ targets set termly in meetings which i attended...

frustrated for you tbh. what a bunch.

i would still say go with CAF - at the very least you will get them all in the same room listening to each other - it can't be a bad thing? you can keep fighting the rest of it - it doesn't have to be either/ or...

Madwoman, it is and the plot thickens!

OT who ds saw in 2008, basically didnt do her job properly, she was supposed to write a report, make recommendations etc, she didnt. Then just disappeared, she wouldnt return my calls. I had to make an official complaint about her.

So different OT has been into school once since 2008, she doesnt know ds and the school are telling her 'he is doing fine' and she is believing them as i have moved boroughs and they just want ds off of their books.

We now have a totally new OT from the feeding clinic, who came home yesterday for the first time and will be going into school after Easter, she is on side.

SALT set targets for ds and recommended 1:1 20 minutes twice a week to work on pronunciation and social skills. School have only included the pronunciation in the IEP.

Old OT did make some recommendations after complaint, none are included in IEP.

Private Ed Psy stated ds will need a high level of 1:1 to prevent his social/emotional difficulties getting in the way of effective learning.

Bibic made recommendations, none are included in IEP.

I have written SMART IEPs for the school and they replied stating the help i requested was not available due to lack of resources, yet they wont back me!

SENCO and class teacher are writing the IEP's (i have asked to be included, but they never do)

Meetings always turn into a disagreement as to whether ds actually has any needs! So outside agencies are there to provide strategies, the school will say he is doing fine and doesnt need them

Oh and i have no objections to the CAF being put into place. This is something that the LA have recommended to the school. School couldnt organise a piss up in a brewery. I understand that i can organise, just wondering if my time and energy would be better spent on Tribunal?

Al1ison, 'If they are saying that his needs cannot be met until the reason for his anxieties are identified does that mean that they may not be school-based anxieties?'

That is a very good point, because school really dont understand, they are convinced that i am over protective and mollycoddle ds and try to convince others of this too!

definitely go for CAF - is there any way you could fork out for your private ep to attend too? it would be interesting to let the professionals who have noted problems discuss them with the school. they can't be dismissed as easily as a parent

think of it as a battlefield lol, you can have CAF running along the right flank whilst you form up your tribunal troops

such hard work.

but at least you've got the beginnings of evidence that his needs aren't being met, even it's just letters saying 'no resources available to meet these (professional) recommendations.'

Mad, private assessments and opinions dont seem to carry much weight with the school, hence the request for SA. I also have ds's name on the waiting list for another school.

I had a meeting with school, which SALT and ASD Outreach attended and they both sat there like dummies in silence!

When OT went into school at the end of February, class teacher told her ds had no difficulties other than his handwriting. But yet the same class teacher wrote a report for the LA a few days later stating 'in class ds needs frequent support to complete his work. He appears to lack motivation and is over reliant on adult support. He needs frequent reminders to keep him on task and motivated. At times he disregards instructions from staff and sulks and cries and physically removes himself when reprimanded' this is a difficulty ARGH!

School are really not seeing the connection in his behaviour and they need someone to point it out, but outside agencies cant point it out if school are not reporting it to them. Its a vicious circle.

Thanks Madwoman, we will get there in the end

that's sort of why i wondered if the private ep could kick off the discussion, and ask lots about the stuff that the school are reluctant to recognise/ report officially.

have you spoken at length to your area inco? i always start there, tbh - has the area inco assessed ds in class?

Mad, i had good discussion with sensory trained OT from the feeding clinic yesterday when she came here and she seems to be really on side.

I gave her copies of everything IEPS, class teachers report and did a summary of my concerns ie school not seeing the connection and she is going into school to talk to them, along with a SALT (who is part of her team).

I have also written to the SEN Governor expressing my concerns at the school not working in partnership with me.

What is inco? sorry i have never heard of this.

area inclusion officer (essentially the lea/ la version of the senco). if you call the lea they should be able to tell you who the Area IncO is for your school...

it might be worthwhile - i tend to use them as a bit of a sounding board - so, play a bit dumb 'the school are doing this and obviously we are all trying to do the best for dd, but it doesn't seem to match up with what the therapists say she needs... can i ask what the procedure is to get extra support for x?' etc. they usually know which pots of money can be accessed for what etc...

sen gov a good shot fwiw

ot sounds very good - as soon as you've got a sympathetic prof who is willing to stick their neck out, some things at least should fall into place. hope her visit is fruitful.

Oh right i know who you mean now, the inco is called something else round here. He was supposed to attend the meeting that SALT and ASD Outreach attended, but pulled out on the actual day because of illness!

He had copies of my draft SMART IEP's and my questions. Perhaps i should track him down for a chat.

Good thing about new OT is she is based at a hospital in London, so has no connection with my Borough. I have found profs who dont work for the Borough you live in are more likely to stand up and disagree with others.

Thanks for your help.