School applying for a Statutory Assessment

[Tez]

Further to withdrawing our son from school on health grounds we had a Review Meeting at the school today. Having read many posts where the school are unwilling to work with parents and deny any problems, and having been in that position myself in the past, I consider myself very fortunate that for the past year I have worked with a Deputy Head who has moved Heaven and Earth to help my son.

 

Despite his best efforts my son has still found the past few months very stressful and his anxieties, twitches and ability to communicate are so bad that he is currently at home. The Deputy Head said that he had noticed that he had become very withdrawn and intense. Both he and the Psychiatrist feel that my son needs more one to one support than can reasonably be provided at School Action Plus and they are going to request a Statutory Assessment of the LEA. They feel that they have all the necessary evidence and whilst not guaranteeing anything feel that he should receive a Statement.

 

Parent Partnership expressed their concern that whilst his emotional needs could not be questioned, the LEA would refuse to assess because even with long absences from school he was still achieving way above the standards required acaedemically. The school have said that whilst this is true they could prove that he was a gifted child who was failing to meet his potential. They also feel that a statement would help him post 18 since whilst it ends at 18 many universities get additional funding for students who have previously had statements and put better support structures in place.

 

Various suggestions were put forward concerning how we could progress, most of which would require the additional finances that a statement would bring, and I will be investigating them over the next few weeks. The Deputy Head is going to ask the parents of a former pupil he helped whether they would be prepared to talk to us since they have been down a very similar path and their son is now doing well.

 

Thank you to everyone on this site who has given me support so far. Please bear with me if I need a bit more support whilst we go down the Statutory Assessment route. The Deputy Head has said that since the school are making the request and they have an influential contact within the LEA things should be easier for us but he can't make any guarantee of outcome.

 

I'm still not sure that we are doing the right thing but given that my son does not want to be home educated I feel that this is the right option to pursue.

 

I am concerned about how the various assessments will affect him emotionally because he hates people watching him or asking him questions at the best of time so I would be grateful if any other parents of teenagers that have been down this route could advise me exactly what to expect so that I can prepare him accordingly.

Edited May 12, 2005 by Tez

[annie]

Hi Tez,

 

It's great that your Deputy Head has been so supportive......it certainly helps.

 

I don't know if you remember but we finally took our son (15) out of school due to a rapid deteriation in his health too. So I totally understand how you must be feeling.

 

Alex was assessed when he was 14, he was at school at the time. He did some tests with the Ed. Physc. in school. He also had to fill out some questionaires about his feelings, likes and dislikes too. He had general medical as a part of the assessment which took about 15 minutes. The assessment doctor asked general health questions, listened to his chest, took blood pressure that type of thing. Apart from that the seemed to have been based on reports from us, school, and all of the doctors that had contact with Alex. I was told at the time that the words 'complex needs' from doctors were what made the difference between getting a statement and not getting one. (IPSEA's website say that theyare not happy about that requirement).

 

When Alex went through the assessment it went more on reports (sorry, I'm repeating myself).

 

Alex is gifted too. We have finally given up with the school stuff. Alex is now doing Education other than at school and is so much happier. Finally no stress, and the staff genuinely want to help the students. We've come to term with the fact that Alex isn't going to achieve what he is capable of, but he is going to get 5 1/2 GCSE's and if he wants to stay on he can get more.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Annie <'>

[Tez]

Hi Annie,

 

Thanks for the information. I'm glad that Alex is doing so much better now. My major concern as a parent is that my child should be happy and as free of anxieties as possible. Education is important, but as you say, exams can be taken at any time in life and don't need to be gained in a school environment.

 

We were given many options to consider with regards to ways forward and a number of these were alternative forms of education including educating other than at school with private tutors and the LEA footing the bill, this wouldn't be the same as home and hospital and could be combined with part time attendance at some type of educational facility. But whatever option is decided upon, everyone is agreed that he needs extra support and in order to provide the finance he needs a statement.

 

I am just concerned about his reactions to these assessments. The school have told me that they may not need a medical because the school doctor is his doctor at CAMHS and she has on record the results of a medical and blood tests he had at our doctors last week. I hope this is the case because he reacts very badly to physical examinations.

 

As to the EP report, again he is going to find this very difficult but the EP is very understanding and in the past has terminated tests and said that she was unable to test to limit due to his anxieties.

 

I'm sure that the school will use the term "complex needs", if not the doctor, because that and the words "extremely vulnerable child" are words used constantly by the Deputy Head. I just hope that at the end he does get the statement and it gets his needs met because I would hate to put him through these assessments if at the end nothing is achieved.

[Kathryn]

Hi Tez,

 

Good luck, I hope you get the statutory assessment. From what you've said in the past, be assured you are doing the right thing.

 

We've just at the end of the assessment stage and like you we worried about this: my daughter was mute, very anxious around strangers and in strange places. Being stared at and asked questions is more than she can bear.

 

She was stressed when we went for the medical and had a full on meltdown - she was in there for all of five minutes. The doctor didn't examine her at all. My husband took her home and I spent an hour talking to the doctor who was extremely sympathetic and asked me what he should say in his report. The Ed psych had already seen my daughter and talked to me at length, and she discussed on the phone what she would do for the assessment so I could prepare L. She visited us at home and brought a couple of tests: she was prepared to play it by ear and see what L was prepared to do. L likes her and enjoyed the tests, in fact she asked me if the EP was coming again to do more!

 

Before the senco did the school report, he sent me a blank copy of the form so I could contribute any ideas.

 

I found everyone very supportive during the assessments, which mainly consisted of talking to me rather than scrutinising my daughter, as no one wanted to cause her undue distress. They were all concerned about what we wanted from a statement and discussed what they would say in their reports.

 

I would say find out who will be doing the assessments and try to discuss the situation with them and find out as much as you can beforehand about the procedure; that will help to de - stress the whole thing for you and your son.

 

It sounds awful, but if your child is stressed during the assessment it demonstrates the needs that he has more clearly to the professionals involved, although I do understand your feelings about putting him through this process.

 

Please pm me if I can be of any further help, having just done it, it's fresh in my mind!

 

K

[Zemanski]

Com is G&T too and the LEA refused assessment as he didn't meet academic criteria, or meet enough in any one other area but we went to tribunal and they were on Com's side - the needs of AS children are complex and being G&T is an SEN issue if other factors relating to a disability or other SEN problems are stopping them achieving their potential.

 

Keep at it - it's worth it

 

Zemanski

[helenl53]

Hi Tez,

 

I know that Nellie will probably point you in the right direction.

 

On this site is the link to the Code of Practice and the various toolkits for the COP. The criteria for proceeding with an assessment is shown at Part 7 of the COP and you may need to dowload those pages and in conjuction with the school, see if your child meets the criteria and then the school can report accordingly.

 

I appealed to the LEA MAAG panel to overturn a decision not to proceed with assessment. My son was also a gifted child but this academic ability should not prevent a child from obtaining a statement. A childs education should also encompass his social, personal and emotional development and your child should be able to fully access the whole of the curriculum. Being more able academically can sometimes be more of a hindrance when it comes to trying to make the LEA understand that your child has some very complex needs that are not able to be met at Schools Action +

 

Good luck

 

Best wishes

 

Helen

[Zemanski]

try this link

 

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=611

 

another good one from Nellie

 

Zemanski

[Tez]

Thanks everyone for the information. Just one other quick question, many of you refer to the ACE handbook, would I benefit from buying this at this stage or is it information that is readily available from this site and other sources?

[bid]

Hi Tez

 

I would buy the ACE handbook. I found it invaluable...everything you need to know is in one place, it also includes examples of draft letters you might need to write, and even lists of the relevant legal Acts in case you want to quote them/look things up, etc.

 

I found it very reassuring to have!

 

Good luck...please PM me if I can help as my son was Statemented last year around his 15th birthday, when he was signed off school because of mental health problems caused by school.

 

Bid