My youngest child is 16 and has an Education Health and Care Plan for Social, Emotional and Mental Health issues. He was unable to attend the last two years of secondary school due to extreme anxiety and he had a few hours of home tuition and then one to one support in a PRU.
His EHCP stipulates that he requires robust transition support, but this never occurred and he began college in September with no preparation (except for the support I gave) and his placement failed within a week.
I sourced various options for him, including The Prince's Trust and a Late Start course at another college and some part time work at a car wash. However, he refused all of these. The local authority suggested he attend a NEET drop in, once a week in the local library. He attended once, with me, and then gave up.
In January he announced that he wanted to join the army. I was a bit surprised and thought this was an unrealistic option but I supported him. He went to the recruitment centre, put in an application and had a briefing. At the briefing a Military Preparation Course was suggested.
He has been attending the Military preparation Course for two weeks and he seems to love it. It plays to his strengths, fitness. He ran a mile and a half in 9.something minutes; he was the fastest in the group at HIT and he seems to cope with the group (four boys and a girl) rather well. He even studies English and Maths with no issues and seems to be scoring well on the other tests.
Yesterday, the Assessment and Review Officer left a message on my phone. She wants a meeting to discuss my son's EHCP. My son does not want anyone on his course to know about his additional needs and I really think the EHCP has been useless for him because recommendations were not followed.
Am I being a little foolish to want the A and R officer to meet with my son and me to formally close the Plan. I can see this may boost my son's confidence further, but he has only been on this course for two weeks.