A teachers opinion desperately needed

[Taraohara]

Knock knock

Can I come in please?

Sorry to interrupt staffroom chat but any ideas what I can I do about issues I’m having at my child’s school?

I made a complaint last year that school were not providing the full support stipulated in my child’s Ehcp . Governors upheld out complaint. School said it was mistake, they didn’t know how many hours dc should have been getting but promised it would be fully provided ftom then on.

This year dc still not getting full provision.

School said it’s just been a mistake.

I’m putting I formal complaint again. But really what will happen. Last one upheld by governors, yet nothing’s changed. DfE will only look into once I’ve exhausted new complaints this time around.

The LA has been informed. They’ve made no response.

What can I do as a parent to ensure the full entitlement is provided to my child?

Any any ideas would be welcome. I feel
So alone in this situation

None of this means that the school are justified in not providing the provision. I just want you to see how difficult it is for schools at the moment.

You should be holding them to account if the lack of support is really impacting in your child. We have a student entitled to a 1:1 who has developed reliance on the LSA. The SENCO stripped back support and the pupil is flourishing.

@Teachermaths you should advise the parents of the children whose EHCPs are not being met to complain to the Local Authority because ultimately if the school doesn't have the funds available then the LA will have to fund the EHCP or risk a Judicial Review. LA's will avoid a JR at all costs.

@Teachermaths

Hi yes we know that there are issues with lunch times

But we’d never know about these

The lack of support is during core class times Both morning abd aftertnoon

That's not good. But how do you know there is no support?

Parents are not interested in complaining to the LA. They are generally happy with school and they don't have the skills etc to fight for it.

@Teachermaths

Because there were 2 occasions in a week we were in the school with our other child !

@Teachermaths

I told our sen worker she said she’d pass to person who deals with complaints but never heard anything back

@Soontobe60 I am also a SENCO and I’m well aware of the difficulties with staffing and finances. I was referring to the excuses given by the school saying they didn’t know and it was an oversight.

@Hiredandsqueak

Thank you for that link I’ll send it Monday

her mum is amazed that she, along with most of the other children, no longer have a 1:1
That is usually down to the other school being better set up for the child rather than the child not needing 1:1 in general.
It's OK to try and wean children off 1:1 but some just need it anyway.
"Banding" is not generally legal, the funding should pay for what the child needs not vice versa.
It would be worth asking whether the lack of provision is due to lack of funding from the LEA.

@drspouse

I think I could understand more if that was the case, rather than the reasons given
Last year - not knowing what the Ehcp said
This year - Just an oversight

Going to tribunal or getting a pre-Action letter for judicial review are very effective means and parents need to use them more. While I am very aware of the financial constraints in schools, you cannot let a child not get support because of this! So parents need to use the law to demonstrate the inadequacies in funding. I’m both a SEND parent and work as an LSA in a school. The LA needs to be aware of the issue.

Not knowing what the EHCP said and oversights mare sadly indicative of the stress SENCOs are under, with increasing students needing support and ridiculously low funding levels. This is no excuse, but a fact. Our core TA/ LSA team has gone from over 20 staff to 6 over 4 years due to lack of funding, and increasingly hard to get top up funding. In that time the number of students needing input from them has doubled. I would be tempted to sit down with the SENCO and discuss if the school can realistically, for the next few years, meet the needs of the EHCP and ask for an emergency review to broach the LA together.

@Springcleanish

I just don’t think they are interested

Last year they refused an emergency review and only allowed one after we contacted La

For months we were saying they couldn’t meet needs but they insisted they could !

Now they have said formally they can’t meet needs but I still think while we find an alternative they should abide by what’s in the ehpc

What support does the EHC plan state which they aren’t providing?

@fedup21

There’s quite a few elements I don’t think I want to list them here. But the schools not disputing he’s been getting them. They’ve just said it was an oversight

My problem is how do I ensure dc gets the support?

If a complaint about same issue was upheld by governors last year and same problems are happening it seems unlikely it’s just an oversight

Also I did bring up before making a complaint again. They said they would ensure dc gets full support. But then I found out is still wasn’t being provided

@imip hear hear, I find it incredibly shocking that parents and school don't seem to comprehend that the EHCP is a legal document and as such not providing the support contained in it isn't an option. Any school apologising for not making the provision or justifying it because of funding is completely unacceptable. Parents need to be aware that they have the protection of the law on their side and should use that option if their child is being shortchanged.

My problem is how do I ensure dc gets the support?

Regular meetings with the school and good communication.

@fedup21

Hmmm... I think you may be optimistic there!

As a parent I really shouldn’t need to be regularly annual leave from my job to meet with the school over something they required to provide. And anyway I imagine they will say it’s ‘in all in place’ like they did previously when the reality was they weren’t providing it.

Tactically, you could say to school that you realise you can take the LA to tribunal for an EHCP not being implemented. Place the blame on the LA - perhaps they will then make sure they don’t ‘forget’.

Well, regular could be termly and good communication could be by email.

Apologies for my optimism-just a friendly SENCo trying to make a suggestion.

@fedup21

I think your a different kind of senco ...!!

I sent three emails asking why support had been removed. Didn’t get a reply until I sent email saying it was now a complaint !!