LKS Report post Posted June 12, 2005 Hi I am new to this forum, but it came highly recommended by a poster on the TES website. I have 2 statemented children, a boy in year 6 with Aspergers and a daughter in year 3 with mld speech aphaysia and epilepsy, she is also on the autistic spectrum. My son receives 15 hours of learning support assistance per week in addition to what the school is expected to provide at school action plus. (it has always been impossible to tie the school down to what they are providing at SAP) When I asked the LEA they told me it was up to individual schools to decide what they provide at SAP. I have found out in the last 6 months that my son has not been receiving this support. I'm not talking about the school encouraging independence and the L.S.A. keeping a low profile, I'm talking the L.S.A. working in completely different year groups in completely different parts of the school.When I queried this with the head he said 'You will realise that the 15 hours of support stated in**** statement does not mean he should receive 15 hours per week' My son recently is also the only person in his class that was very behind in history and science. The teacher handed back his books and left it up to him to decide when he would complete this work. As you can imagine he found that an almost impossible choice. The school have said he needs very little 1:1 support now, but howcome he had been allowed to get so far behind, and as he is due for his annual review soon and about to transfer to secondary school I am confused and worried. Sorry to ramble but I won't even start on my daughters problems! I keep them at this school because there are some wonderful staff there but also because there is very little alternative Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darky Report post Posted June 12, 2005 there is only one response to this: arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! i dont know for definate, but i am sure that the school are actualy acting illegaly. i think a statement is a legal document that the schools HAVE to stick too. as for your sons lsa working in other parts of your school, that is terribble! im sure that others here will be able to give you more valuble advice, but sufaice to say, i am not surprised, i am currently fighting to get both my childs needs met without statement and am realising just how difficult that is, but am sure the school, with a statement have a legal requirement to make sure that all is on the statement is carried out. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Suze Report post Posted June 12, 2005 LKS.....pretty shocked by your post I agree with Darky and I,m sure others who follow will agree.The school are acting ....!!!! out of line.Your sons 15hrs are paid directly to your Lsa the school does,nt fund this.From reading your post it seems they think your sons doing O.K....so lets use the LSA somewhere else.They can,t do this I suggest you get some advice...(Nellie is the one for this and I,m sure she,ll post) and speak to the school ASAP.You have a review meeting coming up and a transition to prepare for the school need a kick up the ....! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nellie Report post Posted June 12, 2005 Hi LKS, welcome to the forum, I hope you find it useful. Regarding your son's statement. Your local education authority has a binding duty to ?arrange? that the special educational provision set out in your child?s statement (under part 3) is made. This link to IPSEA will answer your question. Complaining when your child is not getting the special educational provision on their statement http://www.ipsea.org.uk/sevenfixes.htm#NonImplementation If you have any problems give IPSEA a call. If you haven't already contacted Parent Partnership then I suggest you do. The following information tells you about PP and gives their website with contact details. Parent Partnership Services: provide advice and information to parents whose children have special educational needs. They provide neutral and factual support on all aspects of the SEN framework to help parents play an active and informed role in their child's education. Although funded by the local education authority they provide a service to parents and are often either run at arms length from the authority or by a voluntary organisation to ensure parents have confidence in them. http://www.parentpartnership.org.uk/imagemap.html#head I would also speak to Parent Partnership about your forth coming Annual Review. Good luck, hope this has helped. Nellie xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
annie Report post Posted June 12, 2005 Welcome to the forum LKS. You'll find lots of support here. arghhhhhhhhhhhh from me too. A statement is a legal document and if, in part 3 it states that your son should be getting 15 hours 1 : 1, then that is what he should be getting. I would get in trouble if I wrote on here what I thought of your head's comments. And as for his teacher letting your son decide when he will finish his work As you have a review coming up shortly, you could write to your LEA asking for an emergency review to speed things up a bit as your son will be starting secondary school soon. If you check out IPSEA and scroll down the page to 'complaining when your child is not getting the education provision on their statement' it explains how to go about complaining and even gives you a model letter. A piece of advice, whenever you write a letter always keep a copy and make a note of conversations ie who with, date, time who said what. You never know when you are going to need them. Annie <'> Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nellie Report post Posted June 12, 2005 LKS, That link to Parent Partnership doesn't appear to be working, I'll investigate. You will be able to get a contact number for them from the school or the LEA. Nellie xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nellie Report post Posted June 12, 2005 New Parent Partnership website - http://www.parentpartnership.org.uk/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nellie Report post Posted June 12, 2005 LKS, The following links have useful information about transferring to secondary school. Amending statements on year of transfer., Transfer to secondary school. http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...t=0entry15984 Terrified of secondary transfer, That's me not him!!! http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...t=0entry21185 Advice needed on transfer to comprehensive., Options available in secondary ED. http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...t=0entry18196 Nellie xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Helen Report post Posted June 12, 2005 (edited) LKS, hello and welcome When you have your review, you must say how dissatisfied you are with how the LSA is deployed in the school - the LSA is there to support your son. Your comments/ concerns must be noted whilst the minutes of the meeting are being taken. The school should later provide you with a copy of the minutes. When you receive a copy of the minutes you must check over the minutes to make sure that they are accurate, if they are not then you can disagree with the relevant points and provide your own interpretation of the minutes where they'll be kept in the school's file and in your son's LEA SEN file. You'd then be able to take your concerns further with the LEA, if you wish to do so. A Statement can be interpreted in many different ways if it is not specific. You need to be careful, as the school could decide to keep the LSA in your son's class to appease you, but the LSA could then be used as a classroom assistant instead of being a 1:1. Try to get the words "dedicated support" written into your son's Statement as this would mean that the LSA support would be solely for your son and for no other child. Apologies if I have given you information that you already know, good luck. Edited June 12, 2005 by Helen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted June 12, 2005 Hi LKS. Some thoughts on transfer. Picked these ideas up mid-week from a confrence I attended. Get new school to take (or allow you to take) photos of new: Classroom (3/4 different views) Class Teacher Class or own TA (if applicable) Playground Dinner hall Important staff and so on. Combine these with information about school layout and times of the school day. Build this into a book about the school and use this for your son to gain information at his own pace. Ask him what he would like to have included (things he might think are important you might not put in otherwise). I saw an example of this and thought 'How ###### obvious - it such a simple idea but it's so effective'. This advice may be here already I don't know, but thought i'd pass it on. Could be useful for some. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nellie Report post Posted June 12, 2005 Hi LKS, I'm not sure if this is the workbook that phasmid has mentioned. Autism Apectrum Disorder Transition Toolkit, Pupil transition workbook. http://www.autismtoolkit.com/downloads.htm I had trouble downloading this, it took three attempts. You may have to log in. Alternatively you can right click and Select save target and send to desktop or whatever. Nellie xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LKS Report post Posted June 13, 2005 thanks so much everyone, being able to 'talk' to you all has made me feel so much better. Isn't it amazing that schools and Lea's never bother to provide you with info that helps. I have to be very careful how I deal with the school as my daughter is still there if she wasn't ! I shall spend a very happy afternoon checking out all these suggestions. Thanks again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darky Report post Posted June 13, 2005 i reckon the lea's are trained in keeping their gobs shut! its only when under serious interrogation that the information becomes available, and even then its full of holes! the words "service" "informative" and "helpful" are banned from their vocablary, and things like "cause confusion, frustration and make no attempt to explain yourself" are etched on their minds! its such a good job we have sites like this, that can give great advice from parents who have already endured the situation. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mossgrove Report post Posted June 13, 2005 (edited) LKS Sadly your problem is more common than you might think. Our son (7, Aspergers) is in mainstream with a full time LSA. At his statement review the LEA statementing officer asked why his LSA was not present. One of the teachers there said - "She runs the reading group in the Library on Wednesday afternoons". We were not happy! You can help the situation a little by making sure that the resources referred to in the statement are dedicated to your child, the first draft of his statement simply referred to additional financial resources being made available to the school. I know of one case where the headmaster of another school in the area didn't agree the child needed the extra provsion in his statement and it was only last minute intervention by the LEA that stopped him spending the financial resources allocated in the statement on playground equipment! Our son will be attending Special school from September. Simon Edited June 13, 2005 by mossgrove Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted June 13, 2005 Nellie, The book I mentioned was very similar. The layout was a bit different to the one on your link, but the idea is the same. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LKS Report post Posted June 13, 2005 Wow thanks everyone. The pupil transitition workbook is great have downloaded it and will take it into son's class teacher v. soon. Needed to mention one other thing. When it got to the 15th feb. this year I had not received my son's proposed ammended statement. I rang the LEA who told me we would be notified the same as everyone else on the 1st March, otherwise it wouldn't be fair to other children! When I told them about the cop and the fact it was law that we should be notified by the 15th feb they said we can assure you we follow the cop. I was on that b****y phone all day. Finally got a call from the Dof E's secretary at 5 to say the statements were being sent out that day and that they had always intended to send them out then I am just trying to give you an impression on how clued up and helpful my LEA are. Anyway when I managed to get a copy of my son's sen records from the LEA there was a letter to the headmaster of his prospective secondary school. It said all the usual things about offering him a place blah blah THEN it went on to say that as ***** is considered to have a high incidence statement , funding to meet the provisions of his statement will come from funding already allocated to the school through its sen formula. This formula is based on something stupid like how many kids receive free school meals and the average reading age of the new intake. lReally not much to do with my son's needs. I think for something as important as this the LEA could have mentioned it to me. I know what this means ,the secondary school are going to have to meet his needs from insufficient funds, they probably wont' do so I shall be contacting the LEA again and so it goes on and on. I'm sick of it Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LKS Report post Posted June 14, 2005 Have finally got through to IPSEA The lady confirmed what you have all said that it is the LEA's responsibility to ensure that the provision in the statement is carried out. Suggested I download that letter on their website and get it off to the LEA pronto, recorded delivery. She also suggested I remove myself from the game of postal tennis that the head seems to insist on playing with me. I am sending a copy of statement to them as we have an annual review 28th June. Can anyone advise if there is anything they wished they would have asked for on their children's statement prior to transfer. Thanks all. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Helen Report post Posted June 14, 2005 Can anyone advise if there is anything they wished they would have asked for on their children's statement prior to transfer. Thanks all. *"Dedicated support". *All staff who come into contact with your son be made aware of his diagnosis. *A modified curriculum(?) *The LEA's advisory teacher for Autism to write up your son's IEP in consultation with the Senco *A buddy system(?) *Disapplication from any subjects that your son has tremendous difficulty with(?). *Extra time in internal and external exam conditions/the use of specialist equipment?/scribe?/prompter? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hectorshouse Report post Posted June 14, 2005 Can anyone advise if there is anything they wished they would have asked for on their children's statement prior to transfer. Thanks all. *"Dedicated support". *All staff who come into contact with your son be made aware of his diagnosis. *A modified curriculum(?) *The LEA's advisory teacher for Autism to write up your son's IEP in consultation with the Senco *A buddy system(?) *Disapplication from any subjects that your son has tremendous difficulty with(?). *Extra time in internal and external exam conditions/the use of specialist equipment?/scribe?/prompter? Totally agree with this, just wish I had known earlier what I do now, then maybe the transition to highschool would've gone better with the correct provision in place, instead of the 'suck this and see' approach, which has only allowed for T to fail, be excluded, go to school p/t etc .. etc .. HHxx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Helen Report post Posted June 14, 2005 (edited) ... I forgot about: *Extra LSA hours. *Time out area for your son when certain situations are too much for him to deal with. *The LEA's advisory teacher for Autism to visit the school to monitor your son's progress on a termly basis and report back to you via a home visit (with their report) to provide you with some feedback. Edited June 14, 2005 by Helen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nellie Report post Posted June 14, 2005 LKS, Glad you finally managed to get through to IPSEA. A couple of links with useful information. Transition plan http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=303&a=4412 Statementing (ths covers provision on the statement). http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=303&a=3230 Nellie xx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zemanski Report post Posted June 19, 2005 LKS some of the details you mention sound very familiar (particularly the bit about dates) are you in Leeds? Zemanski Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LKS Report post Posted June 19, 2005 Hi everyone have been busy checking out all of the information! Zemanski not in Leeds, in the south,but speaking to several friends they have had exactly the same problem with their LEAs countrywide. Don't know whether I've already mentioned this (I find myself becoming very confused lately!) but the head of son's primary school is recommending that son receives 10 hours of support (not the 15 he currently gets) at secondary school. How bad an idea is that when transition is a time when everything can go pear-shaped. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jan Report post Posted June 23, 2005 Hi LKS, My son is also about to move to secondary school so I understand how you are feeling! We were advised to try and get the LEA to up the hours on his statement for the first six to twelve months after the move. Not an easy task I know, but worth a try. The general idea being that this is when they may need most support to help them settle ( settle! she says with everything crossed!) So contact your chosen secondary and the SENCO there and see what they think, then contact the LEA, with your reasons why you think the hours should be upped and get the school to do the same! I would be nervous about a reduction in support during a transition phase! They may need all the help they can get! We have just heard, via the school our son is due to transfer to, that the LEA have upped his statmented hours for the first 12 months following transfer. So we await, with baited breath, the new statement which will confirm this! Good luck jan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LKS Report post Posted June 24, 2005 Hi Jan do you mind me asking how many hours your son will be getting. Do the secondary school say how they will use these hours Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jan Report post Posted June 28, 2005 Hi LKS, Sorry have not been on line for a bit, hence the late reply. He is going to have .8 which is nearly full time! Amazing eh? At the moment I am still talking with school, and no firm plans have been made on how it will be used, but I shall let you know what happens. Still waiting conformation of this from the LEA! I shall keep you informed. Jan Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
