Have a meeting with LA

[claw3]

LA have refused SA and have now phoned and requested a meeting with me on Monday. (I am taking it to Tribunal)

What can i expect?

Im assuming they will be trying to talk me out of SA, what kind of offers are they likely to make?

Good luck!! And I think it's very good advice not to agree to anything on the day. Go with someone else if you can?

Star, you are quite right, i just need to have confidence in myself and tell myself i have a good case.

Ive been doubted so much previously, its a habit i need to break.

I do know what i need to do (said without a shadow of a doubt!)

Sc13, thanks and i emailed parent partnership to see if she can make it.

Just want to say good luck!!

Good luck Claw, it's for them to have to justify their refusal, remember that. You have made all your points and given them the evidence you have. Let them explain why forcing you to Tribunal is appropriate!

They have to invite you to a meeting evenif only to show SENDIST that they tried to reach an agreement.

They will probably try to tell you that you have no hope of winning at Tribunal etc and may possibly make some concessions. As Star says be totally non-committal and just listen and take notes.

I have no personal experience of this part of statementing, but agree with what has been said here.

I hope it goes well for you

Thanks everyone. I like that 'why they are forcing me to tribunal' and have written it down. I almost have a pad full up with MN's quotes!

Very grateful for your support and the confidence boost, no more doubting doris for me!

Star, when i think about it in October 2009 i didnt even know what an IEP was!

Ive come along way since thanks to MN, i have become a kick ass SEN warrior

Had meeting with LA today and apparently they are prepared to put this back before panel.

Woman who sits on panel stated the problem panel was having is that school and my report totally conflict.

So woman who sits on panel wants to arrange a meeting between me and school and she sits as an observer. She will then write a report and put back before panel as evidence.

Anyone heard of this before?

That's kind of what happened with us. We applied for SA and were turned down. I went ballistic as school hadn't provided any information. Talked to the school Inclusion Officer for our school who agreed to meet both sides. She basically ripped school to pieces telling them how lazy they were and offered to resubmit the application herself, this time as a school application, and collated all the relevant info so school couldn't worm out of it. Result SA was approved and DS got a large (and LONG overdue) statement.

Good luck! Stick to your guns, hopefully you can have someone with you like parent partnership to give you confidence. Make sure you write down all the things you feel the school needs to take account of in their evidence and ask for reasons why they aren't doing it at the moment.

I would be wary, claw.

To be honest, in my experience, if you get the LEA and school in one place versus you, they will gang up on you subtly.

If you agree to this meeting, you need someone else there with you. Again, old cynic here, but Parent Partnership wouldn't be my first choice. They are employed by the LEA and, in my experience, not impartial. Can you get a friend or relative there, to take notes? Or someone from a charity

Then you can agree to go away and think about what they have said, absorb it and make your decisions.

Although, in all honesty, I would be pursuing the SENDIST tribunal route.

also totally agree with Starlight's 'MN on your shoulder' thing

Anything you don't know or feel unsure about after the meeting, you can come straight on here and seek clarification. Or give IPSEA a bell.

Thanks Wedgie, glad you had a good outcome im hoping mine will be the same

Andiewalsh, to be honest the LA seemed very much on my side, which made me feel strangely uncomfortable not what i expected at all.

LA said she would not be doing any talking, just observing and taking notes.

I told her i had already lodged my appeal with SENDIST. She was saying, waiting for an appeal date takes time and we should try to get ds some help now.

I stated agree to a SA and ds will get some help now. She stated that she would be happy to put it back before the panel, but the problem was school were saying ds was making progress. I stated i had already shown that the progress was inaccurate. She wanted to get more evidence, so she could put it back before panel

claw3, I know I am a cynical hag, but honestly, the LEA saying 'let's not wait until the tribunal to get your child help' sounds just too good to be true.

Just be very wary that what the LEA woman may be trying to do is build a case (based on your conversation with the school, that she observes) that your child's needs can be met under School Action, and that there is no need for a statement, e.g. gathering evidence against you for the tribunal.

Go in with your eyes wide open.

If I were you, I would type out a list of bulletpoints detailing what your child's needs are, how they are not being met and what you want the LEA/school to do to meet them, and then stick to those points rigidly, in broken record fashion.

Good luck!

Andie, no worries, im a cynical hag too!

I suspect they are trying to prove 'school havent done everything they can to meet ds needs, therefore could do more, so doesnt need a SA'

Another cynical old hag here,too

As "nice" as an LA lady might be, they ultimately have to work with the school long after your issues have been sorted and DS has moved on. I thought the LA was on my side at one point of our troubles, but then they backed down and although didnt "gang up" against me, they were definitely neutral.

Same experience with parent partnership,too. Verbally they were horrified at what the school had done, then when it came to writing up notes from the meeting it was so watered down it was not worth the paper it was typed on!

Good that they are listening to you though and good luck with getting your DS what he needs.

Oooh, Claw, that is an odd one.... I'd like to hear Star or Wet on this!

I would be wary too I think. It does seem strange to have an LA person sit there listening and judging. I take it as a 'this is all a storm in a teacup, we just need to bang heads together to get the boy some help' type approach.

This may, I think, end up with them trying to suggest that this is down to a problem with school and you and not a matter for statementing.

I actually think that this is quite a big ask. It sounds very stressful to undergo an 'observed' meeting with school. The questions which occur to me are:

What does she hope to glean from it - that you or school are not telling the truth?

How does she think it will help to observe the two parties face to face?

What will be the agenda and what will the discussion focus on? You don't want this to deteriorate into a slanging match

They must have lots of cases where parents apply for SAs and schools say adequate progress is being made. Do they observe all of them?

How will watching you and school change their view about an SA?

The more I think about this the more I would be wary that they will be there to get the nitty gritty of your case and test the strength of the school as witnesses before a SENDIST.

Legally, either he meets the criteria for a SA or he does not and focusing on the SENDIST is key because observed meetings etc are not necessarily going to result in an SA.

Perhaps you could do a formal letter to the Head of SEN asking a couple of questions and asking them to clarify in writing the purpose and intention of this meeting.

Thanks very much Debs, i have her email, so i can definitely ask some questions.

Her exact words to me were 'we needed to make what was needed clearer'.

So i asked how do i make it clearer, i thought i had made it very clear? it was basically they wanted to clarify why school were stating they were implementing recommendations, making progress etc with the implication that they feel that school is not telling the truth. They want answers from the school, to questions from myself and PP.

It was like they were suggesting that PP and I gang up on school, if that makes any sense?

She even said that she cannot question the school, as questions should come from me as she is suppose to be impartial, then she corrected herself to 'i mean i am impartial'.

It was all very strange!

and yes Debs i would really appreciate Star and Wet's take on all this too. They seem to have been there and bought the t-shirt!

Oooh yes, post for their attention. We need their words of wisdom (and that of the other gurus)

Debs, your post is spot on and i will be using your questions to write prior to meeting.

I also dont think school cancelling the meeting last week with myself and LA, went down to well with LA, seems they had something to hide. School then tried to arrange another meeting with me, without inviting LA.

Everything seems to be happening at once at the moment, i cant think straight

Debs, forgot to ask, did you go for a beer and a film in the end?