Help completing appeal form

[KezT]

The LA have refused to assess my son for a SEN Statement.

 

The school are in favour of the statement, and have said (off the record) that he is "worse" than other children that have been statemented. The LA refused to assess on the grounds that he is not significantly behind his peers and that a statement would not offer any additional benefits.

 

I disagree, so am appealing. I have downloaded the form but would like some advice on how to fill out section 5, which is the one which asks why you are appealing.

 

What do I put in there, in how much detail, and in what format?

 

I called my local parent partnership, but they just said that I should fill out the form to thee best of my ability, and they'd help me through the tribunal if it comes to that! They also advised i try just writing to the LA stating that I disagree, which I have done, and the text of that is below - should i just copy and paste into section 5? or does it need to be something different? or more?

 

any help/advice welcome

 

thanks

 

Thank you for your letter dated 28 April, stating that the Local Authority will not be assessing Son for a SEN Statement. I am writing to inform you that I disagree with that decision, and will be making a formal appeal in the near future. I have already contacted Wessex Mediation to use their services.

 

The reasons for my disagreement with your decision is that I do not believe he is making satisfactory progress, or that the school can meet his needs any longer. Although the school has been very proactive in all their dealings with Son, and have put many provisions in place, regularly reviewed with staff, professionals and myself, Son's behaviour continues to deteriorate, and therefore his academic work is suffering compared to his previous abilities and reasonable expectations of what he could produce.

 

Son's behaviour and social interaction are now a serious concern. The school has differentiated procedures for Son, and he works with the SENCO on an individual basis. He has also been attending CAMHS regularly since the beginning of this year. However, his behaviour is worsening, and serious incidents are becoming the norm. Since requesting the assessment, Son has been excluded from school again, for violent behaviour.

 

I am also concerned that the Local Authority appear to basing their decision not to assess on Son's academic results. I refer to the Code of Practise clause 7.39 which states

 

”academic attainment is not in itself sufficient for LEAs to conclude that a statutory assessment is or is not necessary. An individual child’s attainment must always be understood in the context of the attainments of the child’s peers, the child’s rate of progress over time and, where appropriate, expectations of the child’s performance”.

 

Son's teachers are agreed that his progress does not match expectations, and that he is falling behind his previous grades in some subjects.

 

I also disagree that the school are able to meet Son's needs within their budget. Son already monopolises the class LSA, using her as full time 1;1 support. The school also provides additional staffing to assist at lunch time and break time. This is well beyond what a school should be expected to provide, and is unfair on other pupils. Despite the level of support being constantly raised, Son's behaviour has continued to deteriorate over the past couple of years.

 

The next few years, during his transition to secondary school, are going to be vital for son. With support I am confident that he will be able to remain in mainstream school and will settle into his studies over time. However, I am very concerned that without the correct level of support, Son's behaviour will continue to deteriorate, possibly leading to school refusal, criminal proceedings , and permanent exclusion. This is obviously not in anyone's interests, which is why I believe an assessment for a Statement to be the the right course of action at this time.

 

Sonn is being assessed again by Education Psychology today. I will forward the report to you when I receive it, and ask that you consider taking this case back to panel at that time. I will also request a report/statement from Dr K (CAMHS) in support of the appeal, which I will also forward to you.

[caci]

I think what you have written is really good, but can you back it up with any proof ?

 

How do you find out about any incidents ? I sent in a copy of my son's home/school contact book as proof of several incidents.

 

Have you got copies of the exclusion letters to send in ?

 

Do you have test results that prove lack of progress ? I sent in the results from QCA tests, but I don't know if all schools do these. Even a copy of the school report might help (but read it carefully first as these tend to be very positive, so might not be what you are looking for)

 

Maybe send IEPs (but check they back your claims)

 

Ours went as far as 5.00pm the night before the tribunal date before the LEA backed down and agreed to assess, so don't give up.

 

Good luck, it is exhausting to keep fighting, but it is worth it as our children derserve better treatment.

[KezT]

so it needs to be details of individual incidents/behaviours rather than general issues?

 

I have the letters re exclusion, but we have a verbal meeting with his teachers daily so no record of the every day stuff - the school have something they put together when they applied for audit funding, so I assume I can ask them for a copy of that? their original report was depressingly detailed, but the LA still refused to assess

[caci]

I'm not an expert, but I was advised to give as much evidence and proof as I could. (I think by parentpartnership, but it is a couple of years, and several battles ago now !)

 

If you think it might help I can email you a copy of what I sent in and you could pick out any bits you fancy ?

 

 

[emmasmum]

IPSEA have an excellent refusal to assess guide which can be downloaded free from their website.

I'd strongly suggest having a look at that and trying to get through to their helpline before you send the form off.

HTH

Carol

[NickyB]

Hi KezT

 

Have the school been keeping a diary of concerns and incidents? Have they given you a copy of the evidence they sent in to the LEA in support of the application?

 

If you can get hold of as much information as possible, you can try to pick out the bits which support the points in your letter. Also, go through the LA's reasons for refusal (which should be noted on the purple sheet they sent you) and try to find some evidence relating to those reasons.

 

I sent in loads of extra sheets of paper and evidence - I don't think you can ever have enough!

 

Just like caci, our appeal went up to 4pm the day before the hearing, so you probably won't even get to that stage. IMO the LEAs just want to see whether you are going to fight them - personally, I was only too happy to oblige

 

 

Best of luck <'>

[KezT]

Thanks for all the answers.

 

I have downloaded and printed off the IPSEA stuff, which looks very helpful, and asked CAMHS for a statement/report. I have also asked the school for the behaviour diary they kept over the last couple of terms to apply for audit funding (sch action plus), and any other info they have. One of the things the ed pysch picked up was that they were doing loads to support him but very little of it was documented anywhere, so hopefully just a statement from her and them will cover that.

 

Ed Psych was very positive (in the meaning that she was positive her report would help towards a statement), despite turning up at the school ready to tell them they weren't doing anything and it would be easy to put a couple of things in place to radically change everything Her report should be here next week so will make it in time for the appeal to go in.

 

the SEN officer is coming to our house on Monday to "discuss" my letter stating my intention to appeal, so that's quite interesting........ we'll see what she has to say.

 

Will hopefully have all the paperwork together in another week or so, and can write it up properly then. I just hope that all the stress and distress is going to be worth it and the statement wilol actually be worth something by the time he gets it. Tory education policy is very anti-SEN but lib-dem is pro but the tories have the schools cabinet post but the lib dems might veto anything too stupid :unsure:

[caci]

Kez - Please remember to keep an exact copy of EVERYTHING you send off. It is far too easy for whole files to get mislaid, and if you don't have a copy, that is all your evidence gone too.

[KezT]

Well that was a waste of time! The SEN officer came round basically to say that son was progressing at an acceptable level academically and so that is why they refused to assess. I pointed out that I was not requesting the Statement on academic issues, and that his behaviour was deteriorating.

 

She said that the school was still waiting for a specialist outreach teacher to come in, and that "might" help with son's problems, so they might reconsider when that was done. I said I was time limited to put the appeal in so it would go in before that happened.

 

She went back to her old mantra of "a statement will go on his permenant record and may cause him more difficulties in the future" and I said not as much as being expelledor refusing to go to school would!

 

I think she gave up at that point and agreed to go back to her superiors and "discuss" it with them.

 

So it looks like the appeal is going ahead for now.

 

My sister is an Ed Pysch specialising in Autism, over in N Ireland. Is it worth asking her to do a report on him when we visit this summer, or would that be ignored because of our relationship? anyone know?

[justine1]

How annoying My sons school got outreach in three weeks ago,the first week my son got worse than before they came cause he takes a while to "warm" to people.Now he knows them he is fine but overall his behaviour is the same ,he has managed to do at least 1 hour of extra work a day,but he is still on half days and doubt when the outreach leave that he would last a full day in mainstream.So I dont think its makes any sense waiting for outreach!!!!

 

I would say your sisters(?) report wont have any influence as it could be seen as a biased viewpoint.My sister-in -law is a physio and my aunt is an OT but they cant help with even simple exercises as it goes against their Oath,so I always have to see my own pysio etc.Its a pain but it is understandable.

Sam is going to be assesed by the LA and they do ask for you to write a letter on your childs behaviour once they give the go ahead, so when they do agree to assess him you can have your views and say exactly how you feel.

 

Wishing you luck <'>

[KezT]

grrrrrrr! got a call from mediation today, saying that they had spoken to thecouncil, who said that they had agreed to wait for the EP report, then take it back to panel, so there was no refusal to assess as I would get a new letter with a new appeal timeline then.

 

I said that could take months, and that I considered it a stalling technique. The only thing I have in writing is the latest letter stating tha\t they are refusing to assess (this is already the second letter stating this, and moving the date forward three weeks!), and that I will be putting in my appeal based on that.

[NickyB]

Hi Kez

 

It's infuriating. I feel you are right, they are stalling. They did exactly the same with us. Definitely go ahead and put your appeal in anyway - if nothing else it will let them know that you are not going away! You can withdraw the appeal at any time. If they do decide to assess, make sure you have it in writing before you withdraw the appeal.

 

I really hope you get it sorted soon - my LA changed their minds after they heard about our appeal, so fingers crossed they do the same for you. Mind you, appealing, in itself, is not supposed to be a reason for them deciding to assess

 

Good luck <'>

[Kathryn]

I said that could take months, and that I considered it a stalling technique. The only thing I have in writing is the latest letter stating tha\t they are refusing to assess (this is already the second letter stating this, and moving the date forward three weeks!), and that I will be putting in my appeal based on that.

 

Well said. This is a very creative tweaking of the timescales for which there is no basis in law or the Code of Practice.

 

K x

 

 

[KezT]

Opinions please - I have not documented specific incidents (because the problem is really that there are hundreds of minor things every day, rather than single big problems). Do you think the below will do, or shall I pick out some major incidents and explain them in detail?

 

Re: Son

 

Section 5 – Why the child requires a statutory assessment

 

Son's school has always been very proactive in providing support and adjusting procedures for. They have regularly consulted us, his parents, and various professionals to ensure they have the best possible practises in place. They also sent a member of staff to the 12 week Early Bird Plus course run by the National Autistic Service. This member of staff (Mrs P) works directly with son every day, and moved classes with him last year to ensure continuity for him. However, despite every effort, sn's behaviour has been rapidly deteriorating throughout year five, and is beyond the school's ability to cope with within their current budget/structure.

 

Son has his own chair, table and equipment set out in the classroom for him. Mrs P, the class LSA spends all her time close to him to assist, prompt or calm as necessary. Although she is supposed to work with the whole class, the vast majority of her time is taken up with supporting Son.

 

Son can not make any transitions without direct support, and can not leave the classroom without a member of staff accompanying him. He also needs a member of staff with him during break and lunch times. When agitated son will often lock himself in a small space (cupboard/toilet) and so a member of staff will be needed to ensure his safety and wait for him to calm down enough to return to class.

 

Son's general behaviour is very disruptive to the rest of the class, and includes inappropriate noises, movements, calling out and throwing items. He needs continuous prompting to remind him to behave appropriately, and to get on with his work. He usually needs the work explained to him separately, as he does not understand whole class instructions. He finds working with other children very difficult, and usually needs supervision to ensure the work is completed correctly and safely.

 

At the present, Son spends some time removed from the class on most days. This is having an adverse effect on both his education and his self esteem. Although academically able, son is at risk of school refusal and/or exclusion due his social difficulties. He recognises that he is different from other children, and this has an adverse affect on his reactions to other people at school. He is quite large for his age, and can be very intimidating to both children and adults. This is obviously going to become more of a problem as he gets older and bigger. His moods are very mercurial, and he can become enraged within seconds of a perceived slight unless the situation is calmed down by a suitable adult.

 

We are very keen for son to remain within the mainstream schooling system, and believe that is the right place for him. However, he is not able to access the curriculum with significant additional support.

 

Son attends CAMHS regularly, and the work he has done there shows that he does have a good understanding of his issues, and that with the correct support and practises, his behaviour can improve dramatically. His psychologist, Dr X states in her letter dated 18/5/2010 that “given adequate support and encouragement [son] is motivated to address difficulties”.

 

The school, in a letter dated 4.6.2010 comment that they “have always seen [son's] needs as significant within the large numbers of children on the SEN register”. They also agree that son's behaviour has deteriorated greatly over the past year. This is generally agreed to be due to his age and the changing attitudes and perceptions of himself and his peers, and therefore is likely to continue for several more years. Transition to secondary school in a year's time is going to be particularly difficult for him, and we are concerned that without the appropriate support available in advance, this could lead to dangerous situations for him and other children, and possible permanent exclusion or school refusal.

 

We would like to an assessment of his needs, and believe that it is likely that such an assessment would recognise the need for Son to have a named support worker in specific lessons and at transition times to help him access the curriculum. The current practise of having the LSA “keep an eye” on son is no longer adequate, as she can not always be available to work with him on an individual basis, or to accompany him out of class when necessary, and I believe the safety of both son and the rest of the class may be at risk if suitable support is not available for him in the future.

 

 

 

Documents enclosed:

 

Letter from school dated 4/6/10

Educational Pyschology report dated 7/6/10

Letter from CAMHS dated 18/5/10

Letter refusing statutory assessment dated 28/4/10

Letter requesting statutory assessment dated 27/2/10

Letter following refusal to assess due to lack of evidence, dated 5/5/10

OT assessment dated 10/9/09

Letter from Paediatrician dated 29/9/09

CAP meeting report dated 24/1/08

Educational Psychology report dated 24/1/08

copy of school behavioural log

copy of audit funding application dated 25/3/10

[Sally44]

If your son did get a Statement and 1:1 throughout the day, do you think he would cope mainstream? He sounds capable, and yet is struggling, especially socially. At secondary school the demands placed on him academically, socially and emotionally will be much greater. He sounds self aware and may struggle to deal with his differences and difficulties as he perceives them compared with his mainstream peers?

Does your LEA offer anything else for children on the spectrum other than mainstream or MLD special school? Do any schools have an autism unit and have you visited them?

I think you are right to be seeking a Statement, BUT the support/placement can go two ways. It could remain mainstream with 1:1 and in that environment sometimes children remain dependent on the adult that supports them. Or you could seek an autism unit or ASD specific environment where he would be in small group and 1:1 teaching with experienced and specialist teachers (not TAs) who would structure his day so that he become more independent and able to work on his own.

I'm just putting the alternatives out there because i'm at a stage where i'm now considering an ASD specific or autim unit for my son when two years ago I did not think it was suitable because of the peer group in the unit. It is difficult finding a suitable placement and even then there maybe no places available. There is no perfect placement. But for many children they fall into this no-mans-land where the LEA do not have any suitable placement choices for parents.

As his mum you have a much better idea of what could/would work for him. But you can arrange with any school to go and visit their ASD provision/autism unit to see what it is like.

[KezT]

i am confident that he can cope in mainstream - he usually does when the LSA is available for him - things go wrong when she has to be somewhere else/work with someone else. Also, although the statement above sounds awful, there are some lessons which he likes, and can just get on with. currently that is maths, and some IT, but once in secondary school, where there is more " just get on with it on your own" type lessons, he may well find school easier.

 

I do honestly see this as only a problem for a few years - he was doing OK when younger and I expect him to do OK again in a few years - it's this inbetween time that is worrying me.

[JsMum]

 

 

If you where prepared to see your sister who is a Ed Psychologist, what about an Independant one that has no Bias relation to you, we used private assessments for educational issues, it helped massively and most of his statement comes from the private assessment comments, so I recommend going private, I understand it maybe expensive but we recieved legal aid so were in a position to go ahead, I would recommend you get intouch with a legal service to assess the possibility of legal support.

 

J is in a specialist school and that is mainly because he went without the support for too long, by the time the support was in place it was too late, in a specialist school he is finally learning so your right the precussions now will cause serious consequences in the future, however J will never be able to return to mainstream setting, the damage is long term because of lack of support in his infancy and juniour years.

 

J is a bright lad, he is gain very high scores in Science, ICT, PE and could get some good GCSEs but without the specialist support that could well be hindered, so it is essential your son gets the right support.

 

Anyway I would strongly recommend you look at private Educational Psychologist Assessment, private Speech and language Therapist, and if you can an Occupational Therapist Assessment.

 

If you have little documental evidence, then it is not too late to start gathering it.

 

JsMumxx

 

 

[JsMum]

Your letter states this comment.

 

Thank you for your letter dated 28 April, stating that the Local Authority will not be assessing Son for a SEN Statement.

 

However you comment further into your post this sentence:

 

grrrrrrr! got a call from mediation today, saying that they had spoken to thecouncil, who said that they had agreed to wait for the EP report, then take it back to panel, so there was no refusal to assess as I would get a new letter with a new appeal timeline then.

 

I thought they had already refused to assess your son. so you should be able to appeal!

 

Get intouch with IPSEA.

 

JsMumx

 

[JsMum]

and I believe the safety of both son and the rest of the class may be at risk if suitable support is not available for him in the future.

 

I would change the Future with immediatly.

 

 

There is a lot of evidence there that there is significant Social, interaction, communication, emotional issues here, is there actually evidence to prove there is progess been made academically, if he is suffering to this extream, it would have a severe adverse effect on his academic progress, or it could be that he could progress a lot faster if the right support was available to him for his social, emotional, behavioural, needs.

 

I think you should appeal.

 

JsMUMXX

 

[JsMum]

She went back to her old mantra of "a statement will go on his permenant record and may cause him more difficulties in the future"

 

 

Crikey Ive not heard that one before, what is she referring to here, a statement is so that there is sufficent support in place for the now and the future because of their difficulties, its designed to support them, not make their lives more difficult!

 

JsMumx

 

Edited June 15, 2010 by JsMum

[Ria]

Hello to you,

I am nervous about giving advice incase I am wrong but will share our experiences.

After a lot of problems my ds saw NHS Autism Team who said he wasn't on the spectrum. Off we went and ds was put in an EBD. unit in a mainstream school. We continued seeing NHS psychologist. Everyone who had dealings with my ds said "Are you sure he isn't on the spectrum, he acts just like all the other children we know who are?" We were advised by an assistant head teacher to have a private assessment done. So we did, only for the LEA. to tell us that they didn't accept private assessments. Private assessment gave a diagnosis of Asperger's. NHS. psychologist was told repeatedly by psychiatrist to stop seeing us but she didn't, she knew all the problems we were having. Thankfully, when the EBD. unit "could no longer meet his needs" and psychologist kept asking psychiatrist to re-assess was it done and a diagnosis of Spectrum Disorder was made. That enabled ds to go to a specialist school which has been the best placement my ds has been to.

So, I just wanted to say that maybe it would be worth checking if LEA would accept a private diagnosis? Maybe different LEA's have different ways of working? Our LEA. is West Cheshire.

It is so frustrating fighting the system isn't it?! Don't forget," Mother knows best (and Father)" !

[JsMum]

Hello to you,

I am nervous about giving advice incase I am wrong but will share our experiences.

After a lot of problems my ds saw NHS Autism Team who said he wasn't on the spectrum. Off we went and ds was put in an EBD. unit in a mainstream school. We continued seeing NHS psychologist. Everyone who had dealings with my ds said "Are you sure he isn't on the spectrum, he acts just like all the other children we know who are?" We were advised by an assistant head teacher to have a private assessment done. So we did, only for the LEA. to tell us that they didn't accept private assessments. Private assessment gave a diagnosis of Asperger's. NHS. psychologist was told repeatedly by psychiatrist to stop seeing us but she didn't, she knew all the problems we were having. Thankfully, when the EBD. unit "could no longer meet his needs" and psychologist kept asking psychiatrist to re-assess was it done and a diagnosis of Spectrum Disorder was made. That enabled ds to go to a specialist school which has been the best placement my ds has been to.

So, I just wanted to say that maybe it would be worth checking if LEA would accept a private diagnosis? Maybe different LEA's have different ways of working? Our LEA. is West Cheshire.

It is so frustrating fighting the system isn't it?! Don't forget," Mother knows best (and Father)" !

Thought the LEA may not reguard private diagnosis, a tribunal at SENDIST will look at all the reports and evidence, also if you have a private diagnosis that can also be added to a statement where it will state SO AND SO has an Independant Diagnosis of THIS AND THIS. Ect. so they are still good for evidence.

 

Ria if your son has a private Diagnosis this still should be included in your sons STATEMENT and the fact he is now in a Specialist school shows he has ASD needs.

 

The SENDIST will read All reports

JsMumx

 

[KezT]

She went back to her old mantra of "a statement will go on his permenant record and may cause him more difficulties in the future"

 

 

Crikey Ive not heard that one before, what is she referring to here, a statement is so that there is sufficent support in place for the now and the future because of their difficulties, its designed to support them, not make their lives more difficult!

 

JsMumx

 

this is what she told us when we contacted her back when DS was first dx'd. asking forr advice as to procedures/rights etc.

 

 

Thanks for the advice Ria, but we have a dx, no doubt about his AS its why I'm surprised they can refuse to assess - to do an assessment & then say they can not offer anything to help is one thing, to refuse to even assess a dx'd child with a record of exclusions is another!