|
Post by larsti on Oct 16, 2014 18:40:50 GMT
Is it worth going private? This is for EHC plan purposes.
DH was told by an ed psych on our county (but not in our area) that we should get a dialogue going before we apply for EHC plan (just as well I had not written The Letter yet then!) This is because there's such a tight schedule for EHC plan, the report would be 'sketchy' she said.
|
|
|
Post by runmum on Oct 17, 2014 8:11:31 GMT
Hi Larsti
We got private EP reports done for both our kids over the summer with a view to applying for an EHC plan. We used the boys PPP money - after a lot of wrangling!!!! There is a danger that our LA will say we don't accept the views of private EPs but we will say:
You only do 4 assessments/year School now has access to a new resource stream in PPP so we and school agreed not to burden your stretched EP service with our request and instead invested their PPP money in an EP report from an EP who is a specialist in adoption and fostering.
So lucky you - you get to see a specialist EP report which obviously will be much more helpful to you.
Well that's the plan. We are starting the EHC process next week we have EP reports, PAT statutory assessment of support needs and an OT report also via the PAT. - we got all those ducks in a row first.
Good luck.
|
|
|
Post by daffin on Oct 17, 2014 21:02:54 GMT
Good to know how you've approached it, runmum.
We're at the starting block on this process. We've been told we need a School Plan first. Then an Ed Psych report.
What is a PAT assessment?
|
|
|
Post by larsti on Oct 20, 2014 17:20:33 GMT
yes I wondered what a PAT assessment is. And Daffin what is a School Plan?
|
|
|
Post by daffin on Oct 20, 2014 17:51:31 GMT
We have been told that Monkey Boy needs a a School Based Plan before we even start the process of getting an EHCP. I don't know what it is! I just know that it's a stepping stone to getting the EHCP. We're meeting the SENCO on Weds, and after that we'll be a bit wiser.
I think that the whole process of access SEN support has been changed, so maybe the a School Based Plan thing is new, too.
|
|
|
Post by runmum on Oct 21, 2014 9:10:13 GMT
Yes ladies the SEN system has changed - its supposed to integrate education health and care needs more effectively but it's been rushed in and there is a lot of muddled thinking. There is a great link in the schools resources section to information and template letters pulled together by one of the big legal firms - obviously looking for business with all the appeals!!! However good on them because it's the best point of contact i have found for clear information - much better than the LA.
You have to be able to demonstrate that intervention at school level has failed to deliver adequate results before you can apply for an EHC plan. So make sure everyone is clear about expected outcomes and don't let the teachers talk about baby steps - what they do is set goals that are tiny so they can say progress is being made in line with personal goals. My line is - if you don't know underlying intelligence you must assume it's average and you must get an ed psych assessment to check this. If underlying intelligence is average or above then the goals must be set along a trajectory that leads to catch up with age expected minimum standards. Under the new system these are now set out descriptively the old levels 2a 2b 2c 3 a etc etc etc have been abolished.
PAT - is just post adoption team.
|
|
|
Post by daffin on Oct 21, 2014 12:21:05 GMT
Very helpful runmum. Thanks.
|
|
|
Post by runmum on Oct 22, 2014 16:02:28 GMT
Our experience in reality yesterday was pretty depressing.
As you know we had EP reports done by an EP with expertise in adoption and fostering. We also had an observation, assessment and report done by the OT at the PAT. Both recommended a specialist dyslexia teacher for both boys and 1:1 TA support for our younger son in relation to sensory processing difficulties and hyper vigilance.
We met with school - class teachers, head and SpLD person from another local school - we took our SW.
The outcome was - by all means we will take up our precious time to fill out all the forms and apply for an EHC. However our LA never supports provision of specialist dyslexia teachers, never supports 1:1 TA and never supports adult support in the playground. They then produced timetables showing all the amazing support the boys have apparently been getting for the past 2 years - looks like about 15-18 hours a week 1:2 or 1:3. I hate to be cynical but I wonder if I would observe it being applied if I parachuted in un-announced. DH kept pressing home - well that's lovely but it's obviously not working pointing at levels in the EP report below the first centile and an attainment graph showing a flat line. They just said well your children have blocks to learning so that's all you can expect. Our SW asked what they would do if money were no object and they refused to answer but when pressed the head said she did not think our boys would benefit from 1:1 support. DH said but we have two experts saying they would - silence, everyone looks at the floor.
So I said well that's a tragedy because in adopted children attainment levels like this exacerbate their already dreadful self esteem (smaller boy is already a serial non-attender partly because he just cannot face the humiliation) . This poor self esteem results in them being far more likely to get in with a bad crowd at secondary school and there's a well worn path from there to criminal activity and prison or suicide and we are not going to sit back and allow that trajectory for our children. This was met with silence again although I expect they thought I was neurotic.
They then offered a whole load of peripheral rubbish like spending time with a lovely lady (one of the TAs) who's had lots of training in counselling funded by school and getting the school nurse to talk to me about whether she could refer to a paediatrician given we are not expecting to get anything useful from CAMHS. Of course we said all this is only any use if you get a referral to a specialist who we think will be able to help and I cannot imagine the school nurse can swing that if the GP thinks it will be a struggle.
Basically our boys are only disruptive at a low level at school - the older one mainly in the playground - so it's not really a priority for them. They will still be able to show that 90% of children reach the relevant attainment standards obviously our children will just be in the 10% that does not and furthermore they will be about 3 years behind with resultant awful self esteem.
And it's not something they are prepared to tackle. We will still go for the EHC plan and I am seeking advice from my network and from parent advisory service about whether all their "never" statements are true. A pretty soul destroying experience!!!! But we are going to pick ourselves up and battle on.
|
|
|
Post by doubletrouble on Oct 22, 2014 20:33:11 GMT
Really feel for you. Have been there too. I once brought up the suicide bit in a school meeting about DD's depresive state and her complete lack of self esteme and was basically scoffed at. Her mother had just taken her own live weeks earlier.
We moved schools to a private small school in the end. not perfect but much better at the self esteme thing and much less caotic than the state school.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2014 6:20:19 GMT
Blimey Runmum that sounds awful.
Think I'd be inclined to start looking for a new school with an more open informed attitude.
|
|
|
Post by daffin on Oct 23, 2014 7:11:52 GMT
Oh poor you, runmum.
You have done so much to get the right information and evidence on your boys to help the school keep their side of the bargain and to be faced with this lack of care for your children is just grim.
We are treading this path behind you so I have no advice based on experience. I wonder whether disability rights legislation helps at all? Your boys have barriers to learning that have been identified in writing by specialist professionals. If the school and LA refuse to apply for/fund provision that will enable them to learn and meet their latent potential, surely this is disability discrimination - they have impairments and by refusing to make special provision those impairments become disabling.
I don't know. It's just so depressing when our children are treated as an inconvenient resource drain - rather than unique individuals - and when we're seen as neurotic/ over-educated trouble-makers.
Maybe discuss with a disability rights charity? MP? Virtual school?
|
|