louie
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Post by louie on Jan 6, 2014 12:48:48 GMT
Hi everyone, happy new year.
I wonder if anyone could give me advice on this...my DS is statemented with full 1:1 throughout the day and during lunchtime and breaks. Academically he is very able but has massive anxiety issues and is on a limited timetable because of this-short term with the view to reintegrate. He is in mainstream. However, due to his massive anxieties he is still finding it impossible at school and consequently doesn't access the curriculum. Some of the experts and DH & myself feel that he should be home-ed for a while as he is able to access learning at home. My question to you lovely people is-how can I get the LA to maintain his statement if he is taken off roll? It currently states the things school should do and his hours of support etc and mentions access to outside agencies if needed. Do you feel that we would have a good enough case to have the statement maintained whilst he's at home or that we wouldn't have a hope? I'd be very interested in your thoughts-thank you.
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Post by gertiesquidge on Jan 6, 2014 16:35:55 GMT
Sorry I have no idea, but have you tried contacting your local Parent Partnership for advice? Good luck x
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Post by oysterbabe on Jan 6, 2014 18:15:49 GMT
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Post by moo on Jan 6, 2014 22:10:22 GMT
Tricky situation Louie.... Sorry I don't have the answer but please keep us posted what you find out or sites that help you.... It is a problem that I & many others struggle with....
Good Luck....
Xx. moo. Xx
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statement
Jan 6, 2014 23:26:44 GMT
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Post by wibbley on Jan 6, 2014 23:26:44 GMT
Hi. We home ed both ours,youngest is HfA with huge sensory issues & struggles with anxiety. There is no way he would've ever been able to function in school, even a special school.
We don't have a statement so I don't have concrete answers, but as far as I am aware you (& therefore I am sure your LA too) don't have to fulfil the statement requirements at home. I would not be surprised if you got no further help at all with your son. I know even getting an NHS referral & diagnosis for dyslexia is impossible here as all Dyslexia referrals come via school. So unless someone wants to go private, in our LA a HE child would never be diagnosed.
However, you may find with HE your son needs nowhere neAr the level of support he needs at school.
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louie
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Post by louie on Jan 7, 2014 17:10:16 GMT
Thanks for your answers. The main reason for wanting the statement maintained is if we decide to return to school in the future we want the statement to be in place-if that makes sense! As there are so many people at the moment finding it difficult to get children assessed (let alone be granted a statement) we would be silly to let our son's 'disappear' due to technicalities. IPSEA seem to think we would have a fight on our hands. I think I will call our local Parent Partnership. Our LA have 'off the record' admitted that there really isn't any where in county that could accommodate our son-as with so many of our children. I'll keep you informed.
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Post by leo on Jan 7, 2014 21:31:22 GMT
I think that the Statement is effectively put on hold while a child is out of school for any reason but there is not automatically an entitlement to the same provisions when they re-enter; there would need to be an up to date Educational Psychologist report and reports from any other agencies that remain involved while he is not in school. The only difficulty that may cause is if he is far more settled once at home then reports etc would reflect this rather than his difficulties in school; could be negotiated around but worth planning for now. I think this was for if the child was out of school for more than six months.
This was how it was explained to me when I took this option for my boys - but probably different LAs and also now more than 2 years ago. The strategy did work for us and although we are still not quite at full time school yet, we spent a whole term transitioning back in up to 'nearly full time' (in a new school that was fully supportive).
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Post by phoebe on Jan 7, 2014 22:15:44 GMT
Louie, I don't think you necessarily need to opt for Home-Ed as such. You can ask for "education otherwise", as it's appropriate. This could be a combination of specialist tutors working with your child 1:1 at home or somewhere like a local library, if appropriate. The LA can still be responsible, you are just saying that their current offering is not working. Push it back to them to come up with something suitable to his needs. That doesn't mean they can just cop out! The statement is reviewed annually, but the review can be brought forward if circumstances change. I would talk to your Ed Psych and statementing officer and ask for the review to be brought forward as a result of the crisis. They are then tasked with creating something which works for your child.
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statement
Jan 7, 2014 23:45:57 GMT
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Post by wibbley on Jan 7, 2014 23:45:57 GMT
Ah. Sorry I got the wrong end of the stick. I thought you were asking if the LA would still put in place the specialist help recommended in the statement whilst you HE.
A number of friends who HE have kids with statements. These are still in force & the parents still attend the annual statement review to say 'still HE'. I know of 2 that de-registered with a statement & then pursued a special school whilst HEing (both accepted at school of choice but 1 family had lots of legal advice had to put up quite a fight). So though I can't say 100% that your statement will be upheld should you go back to school, it seems here that the LEA don't let you of the hook that easily - some parents I know have no intention of ever stopping HE so would love the statement to be void.
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louie
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Post by louie on Feb 8, 2014 12:51:16 GMT
OK, I said I'd report back when I had some info:
Here goes-as DS's statement is predominantly about additional prevision at school, it is highly likely that our LEA would cease to maintain the statement if he is taken off role. So, I think we have come up with a compromise-he is going to attend in the mornings with his TA and come home at lunch and be home ed in the afternoons. Flexi schooling I hear you shout-this is no longer allowed and indeed it is not. However, we are looking at a split placement-rather like if he were to be in another school in the afternoons. From what I have investigated, there is nothing to stop us doing this. School are very pro, as he finds it so difficult to access the curriculum (due to his incredibly high anxiety levels) and really achieves well at home. He actually wants to go to school, so he'll be happy with this and I get some time for myself too-yoga here I come! We are going to trial it for the next half term and then go for an interim statement review (if successful) to finalise it. Can't see county having an issue-it'll save them a fortune and I feel very happy with this scenario.
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dusty
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Post by dusty on Feb 9, 2014 13:02:55 GMT
Just to say that our child is fully statemented and it is worded that the TA will go where the child goes eg if in school the TA will be in school and if at home the TA comes home. This allows for continuity of learning etc. If the TA is funded for your child then in theory there is no reason why the TA cannot come home and provide the same at home. Our TA is fantastic and got highly commended in a Teaching Award a few years ago. The TA also attends appointments etc. It may well be worth asking SOS!SEN for advise on how to do this (if this is something you feel your child needs). Also the wording 'advice from' 'benefit from' 'up to 5 hours etc', in legal terms equates to nothing. You need to have to worded so that it cannot be changed and must be inforced such as 'will have', 'needs' etc.
Good luck
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louie
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Post by louie on Feb 9, 2014 14:40:07 GMT
Hi Dusty, thanks for your thoughts. Our statement currently is very tight-with no allowance for the LEA to worm its way out of their obligations. However, for our DS having the TA in his home really wouldn't aid learning. TBF he doesn't access the curriculum at all at school and everything he learns is from home ed. We want him to attend school part time so he learns that he can survive successfully else where without me. I see school as a means to an end really and hope that our DS will be able to access the curriculum in the future by this more formal educational manner but until then I'm happy to home ed part time to ensure he reaches his potential. Hope this makes sense. I am lucky that school have stuck by our DS and he has a dedicated and excellent TA. In reality he needs to be in a special school if he was to attend full time-this is just another way of doing things, so he doesn't have to experience yet another move.
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louie
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Post by louie on Feb 22, 2014 16:04:14 GMT
And we've hit a slight hiccup! Isn't that always typical! As lots of you know, each LA has to have a "Local Offer" in place by September of this year. My local parent partnership rang this week to say that if we do dual placement with mainstream primary school/education otherwise (home ed) then DS will only be receiving 15 hours of 1:1 (for the time he attends school). Therefore the LA wont need to maintain his statement as up to 20 hours will simply be dealt with by the school with the new way SEN 1:1 is being funded. So we are now back to the start. For me it is vital that our DS's statement stays in place (just don't wont to go through being reassessed all over again) and it seems we will have to accept something we don't wont, at considerable extra cost to the LA, just to keep his statement in place! Why oh why is nothing every easy! I am going to set up a meeting after half term with the various departments etc involved and will let you guys know how it goes.
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