Statutory assessment question

[debs40]

Do any of you wise ones know whether there are a certain amount of hours a school is supposed to be able to supply out of its own budget? I'm just trying to gauge the level of support required which makes a school say we can't do this without a statement.

less than 20 I think

(only because the form the SENCO filled in for DD had "only for 20 hrs plus" on it

So I'm interruplating (spelt badly)

There is a set amount of hours at School action pluS that the school will be required to fund - it's not that they are funding it from their existing budget, they will be getting extra ££ for having a child on SA+.

The SEN officer or the school will be able to tell you what the hours are, i think it may change from area to area?

so my badly spelt interruplating was wrong - sorry

As starlight says it doesn't mean they have to use funds for 1 to 1, it can be used to fund any additional expenses incurred by the school, over & above what they should provide from the standard per capita budget.

Our lea has a points based audit system for all children on the SEN register - the idea being the greater the need the more points & "what do points make - prizes"

How bizarre - why then are they using my DD's need for 121 as a starting point for the request for funding

Sorry Debs

Katymac, your funding route is different to others. You are applying for 'sudden and specific medical condition' funding. Your LA has said that schools have to cope, unless a child needs 20hrs+ support.

SEN funding is as SM says. Devolved budgets allocated by formula using a matrix of school population characteristics.

Remaining funds are held at a central level, and allocated depending on LA criteria. Ours only gives funding for 'low-incidence' statements. i.e. conditions you wouldn't expect to see regularly in any given year. Such as severe sensory impairment (total blindness, deafness, etc).

Thanks. What I can't work out from all this is how you then establish that the school cannot meet the needs from its delegated funding. The LA will surely always say it can and the school may agree - and then not provide the assistance anyway.

The delegated aspect of the funding is entirely opaque as it is not ring-fenced and there is no guidance as to how and on what it should be spent.

So, how do you work out when a school should be able to deal with it and when it can't?

Our Autism Outreach team set out a list of things to be done. The OT will do the same. I have little confidence that the school will do them consistently and there is no legal obligation on them to do so without a statement. But they could so if you had a SA which said all these things should be done but school can do them, how do you dispute that?

It seems that statements are alot of effort for schools to apply for so they do them only when the child is causing them a problem. They have no interest in 'blotting their copybook' with the LA unless the teachers really need the help. So, how do you justify that the needs of a child who does not cause a disruption exceed what school can provide.

I have organised an independent ed psych assessment in Sept and DS is to be seen at the end of May. Perhaps it will become clearer then

There is some information on this in IPSEA's Refusal to Assess Pack. There is a model letter on p.12 where you can ask the LA about details of the help you expect local schools to provide for children at SA+.

I think I wrote in my appeal that 'the school could not meet needs from existing funding' as DS needed 1:1 support (which school agreed with but weren't providing). I didn't put any facts and figures in, but DS was (is) disruptive so a different situation from yours.

Do you have your LA's criteria for Stat assess?

Star - I understand what you say completely. I suppose, from what you say, that it is expert evidence that establishes the level of support required and whether school can meet this. This is why we have booked an independent Ed Psych already as there is no use just sitting waiting for what the LA EP says.

Debs i asked the same question of the school and the LA.

School replied gave number of pupils with statement, SA + and SA, stating there is no set amount.

LA replied stating equivalent of 15 hours support.

I understand that any support ie working in a group with adult support is included in those 15 hours.

How i dealt with it in my SA, might be of some help to you.

So, how do you work out when a school should be able to deal with it and when it can't?

When a child is not making progress, it proves that school are not dealing with it.

Our Autism Outreach team set out a list of things to be done. The OT will do the same. I have little confidence that the school will do them consistently and there is no legal obligation on them to do so without a statement. But they could so if you had a SA which said all these things should be done but school can do them, how do you dispute that?

You prove that even with the help of outside agencies the school are unable to identify needs or provide adequate support. Recommendations that havent been followed, needs too complex etc.

So, how do you justify that the needs of a child who does not cause a disruption exceed what school can provide.

Reports from professionals and the consequences of lack of support for you ds.

and once you apply for SA, the LA will give you grounds for refusing, you can then go about proving them wrong. Also get a copy of school file and will probably find more evidence in this to support you.

Thanks Claw, thst's helpful!

Morning Debs, have you applied yet or are you just thinking about it? You have a good understanding and your legal background it will be a breeze for you

The recommendations of outside agencies, i seem to remember you saying that the school were not following recommendations made by Bibic?

I have the Autism Outreach report and we are seeing Ed Psych at the end of the month. DS also has his dx assessments (ADOS/ADI) at the end of the month and his OT report is on its way.

So by June, all these reports should be in so I will make the application then. We have an independent psych report lined up for September too.

We're so close to getting all the reports in, that it seems better to wait.

Hi Debs,

me here.

Re the ADOS the people who did my DS's were a clinical pysch (not directly introduced to her but guessed who she was), the developmental paed and his assistant paed. It could well be difficult for you to watch this process so forewarned is forearmed. I received the report a few weeks later (a record for this bunch). Also I was not informed they were doing the ADOS beforehand but guessed this is what it was (thank you MN).

Make this Statement application asap (the LEA will ask for all these reports anyway) and be prepared for the LEA to perhaps a) decline your initial request for SA and (most certainly) b) not take a blind bit of notice of the independent EP report (they may well do so if this whole thing gets to Tribunal as it could well do).

Be aware too that SENDIST do not work at all during the month of August. IPSEA's refusal to assess pack is well worth a read, hopefully you will not have to read it.

I agree with Attila that you're better off putting the statement application in asap, just to start the timeline ticking. They have six weeks to decide, so you should be able to send some of the reports in before they make their decision.

Thanks. To be honest, I am trying to finish my PhD at the momennt with a deadline for June for submission. I only have a few more weeks then I am off with the kids for the hols. I was kind of thinking that I will prioritise! Then by the time I've finished, I can apply my mind to this by which time the reports should be in. I have been given a date to get the dx report for 15th June.

Does that sound selfish?

Not selfish at all, debs! You need to make sure you're not overloading yourself. It sounds like you have a lot of interventions going on at the moment.

I think that you will have a stronger case if you hit the LA with as much evidence with the initial request. I am just not convinced that it makes the difference between the LA saying yes or no.

No, I understand sugarcandy, I think the response will be the same because, as we know, LAs work on blanket policies but I think it might save myself work in the long run.

Sorry to hijack debs lou031205 so will the funding the school gets for DD be ring fenced for a 121 & I posted about the pupil specific funding on another thread -
"'We have been told' (so I don't know how accurate it is - as a 'new' user)

The school is applying for Pupil specific Funding (for Severe & Sudden Medical) - this is term specific (so applying now for April - July)

It will take 4-6 weeks to process then they will recruit a new LA/TA (which will take 4-6 weeks)

So DD will have help for about the last week of term

Then when we go back in September it will be reapplied for (taking 4-6 weeks to process then recruiting)"

Does that make any sense?

"It should be noted that where a pupil is identified as having a sudden and significant medical need which is considered to be likely to have a long-term, enduring impact on a pupil?s access to the curriculum, consideration should be given to a referral for statutory assessment."

"Completed applications must be sent to the SEN Caseworker designated for the school at the appropriate Area SEN Office for the attention of the Single Area Panel (SAP). (It should be noted that SAPs meet weekly, with the exception of the Christmas/New Year period.)"

"When a school receives either a final Statement of SEN, or written confirmation of FYS or SSM from Single Area Panel, they should contact SEN Finance to request release of funding. Please note: once a school is aware that the provision has been agreed, it is the school?s responsibility to employ teaching assistance at the level agreed by the Single Area Panel and to notify SEN Finance as soon as this has been done and the funding will be allocated from the date that the teaching assistant is employed and will be calculated to reflect the pupil?s level of attendance.

In all cases schools will receive written confirmation of the allocation and the Finance Section will adjust the school?s budget accordingly.

The allocation made will be calculated until the end of the current financial year in the first instance or until the end of the period specified by the SAP. " From this guidance document

Katymac This is the key to your question, I think, from reading the document:

Sudden and severe medical funding is not intended to be a long-term solution. It is not designed to provide a teaching assistant for your DD consistently throughout the year. The guidance document specifically says (following on from the guidance to consider statutory assessment):

"In the interim [emphasis mine], sudden and significant medical need funding is available for children and young people without Statements of SEN, for example, a pupil returning to school after a serious road traffic accident, who is now quadriplegic and dependent on adult support for a significant portion of the school day."

The whole point of SSM (from my reading) is to provide a 'sticky plaster', which is temporary support for a pupil who is suddenly and significantly affected by a medical condition. If the school consider that the condition will persist, and that as a result your child will need significant additional support, then they are urged to consider applying for a statutory assessment.

Equally, as the SAP meets weekly, it seems unlikely that you should have such big breaks between funding - the process is meant to be one of continual assessment. If the school is nearing the end of funding, they should be applying for further funding prior to this set running out. The guidance document makes it clear that with the exception of Christmas, the panel meets each and every week.

Sorry for such a long post, but I would urge you to apply for statutory assessment on the following grounds:

-Your DD has a sudden and serious loss of sight, which has a non-organic cause, and as such it is impossible to know when it may return, or with what quality, and for how long.

-This condition is relatively rare, so schools should not be expected to know how to deal with it, and if a child was organically blind they would be likely to receive a statement.

-The school is going to require teaching assistant time for your DD, and time to prepare resources for her to access the curriculum.

-As this is a relatively new diagnosis, you require a SA to understand the full impact of this condition on your DD's ability to access the curriculum.

-Without Statutory assessment, and indeed a statement of SEN detailing appropriate additional help for a significant portion of each day, your Daughter will encounter health and safety risks, fall behind academically, have a lowered self-esteem, and indeed if she is hurt at school you will sue their arse. (you might want to rephrase that last bit ).