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Noskcaj86

Are the school fobbing me off or doing there best??

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|Most recent e-mail from my sons head teacher regarding his toileting issues and EP assessment. He was referred 5 months ago ti see the EP...

 

"I was at an Additional Learning Needs meeting yesterday and there are no plans in place yet to cover ***** ****** maternity leave but I assure you that Jack will be the first to be seen when we are given a visit.

 

As regards the loose motion, unfortunately we do not have the expertise to say whether a one off lose motion is a bug or part of Jack’s medical / SEN needs. Obviously unless there is another loose motion / sickness later then we would not know. If we keep him in school to check then he may have passed any bug on to others by the time the second bout of diarrhea happens! This is a difficult situation and the advice that has been passed back to me from the Health and Safely department (it is from National Guidelines) is the same as we have previously passed on to you ,and it has been adopted as school policy for a number of years.

 

The statementing processs , which has not been started for Jack yet, is a long process so we need to sort this for the short term period. Even when a child is diagnosed and statmented it does not automatically mean that they will get extra funding!

 

I am out of the office all day today- I have just popped in before I go on a course, but I will contact ************* again on Monday and ask her to come and do another risk assessment. I have forwarded your concerns on to **************, head of AND. On Monday I will look at our provision for SEN and see if there is any way we can provide some one to one for Jack from our current delegated budget. This will not however help with your major concern, which I feel is a health and safety issue."

 

What do i reply to this e-mail, not sure what to think, are they doing there best of are they fobbing me off?

 

Thanx

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Firstly what is your major concern which she is saying is a health and safety issue?

 

What medical advice have professionals given you regarding your son's bowels?

 

Have you, or the school, put in a request for a Statutory Assessment for a Statement to the LA?

 

As part of the Statutory Assessment process the LA should ask the EP to assess anyway, so you may get it done quicker by requesting a Statutory Assessment for a Statement. When you write asking for the assessment ask the LA to gather evidence from anyone currently seeing your son as well as the EP, Speech Therapist, OT, any NHS professional. And ask the LA to let you know who they will contact for that advice as you would like to speak with them.

 

When you find out who they are you phone them and after talking to them, write a letter to them detailing everything discussed and agreed and ask them to carry out "standardised assessments" [make sure you word it exactly like that].

 

Re above and are you being fobbed off. Yes and no. What she is saying is half true, and yet not giving you all the information you need to know to get the support your child needs.

 

Regarding EP on maternity leave. You cover that by requesting a Statutory Assessment and then by law the LA MUST ask professionals to assess your child, which would include an EP.

 

Regarding loose bowels, you need advice from NHS about this, so get referal if you do not have anyone currently. What the school are saying is true, in that they will have their school policies [or even LA policies], however SEN law is law, and if he gets a Statement which details one of his needs as "help and support with toileting issues, specifically soiling and changing himself", then that gets included in the Statement in part 2 and part 3 would say something like "a dedicated TA, on advice from [not sure if SALT or OT], will train the TA in a programme to help xxxxx understand his toileting needs and will check he has not soiled himself and will change him if he has."

 

Afterall there are plenty of children with toileting issues. But these children are usually in types of schools that are equipped to deal with this. If he is mainstream, then no-one mainstream, currently, without a Statement, is able to do this and so he will be sent home as 'sick'. So start marking on the calender every occasion he is sent home [and I presume it is for 48 hours each time?]. I had the same thing with my son vomitting. It was due to anxiety, but they kept sending him home sick for 48 hours.

 

 

You need medical evidence, in a letter or report, which says his bowel problems and soiling is due to his ASD and not due to a bug. Then it becomes a Special Educational Need, which has to be met. And when you get the letter [and ask the consultant for one for your son's Statement], this is all evidence you submit towards his Statement.

 

A Statement is for a child who requires more than that which the school or NHS typically provides. School have 'delegated funding' from the LA to meet SEN. So what the SENCO is saying is not right. If all his needs could be met from delegated funding then he would not need a Statement. But to get a Statement it would receive extra funding for the SEN provision identified in it.

 

Do you work? Are you able to have him at home frequently for 48 hours because he has soiled himself?

 

Who is going to do a risk assessment and for what?

 

When you ask for a Statutory Assessment the LA may write back and refuse saying they do not think he needs one. You must appeal this as alot of LA automatically refuse Statements, and then when the parents lodge an appeal they agree to assess the child.

 

You need to push for the school to detail exactly how much delegated funding they have per child and how much they are spending on your son and in what way, because you don't want the LA to refuse a Statement on the grounds that the school are not even using their delegated funding.

 

Eventhough your son does not have a Statement, his SEN should be being met from delegated funding [to the extent that they use it all and need more funding, which is where a Statement comes in]. So definately push for his toiletting needs to be met and say that you cannot wait at home each and every day 'incase' the school need to send him home due to soiling. Soiling is common with ASD children and if the school cannot meet that need, they need to speak to the LA about how the LA can provide funding to meet it. And ask them to reply to that letter within 14 days. If they cannot meet his toiletting needs, ask them to confirm that by reply so that you can speak with the LA about finding a school that can. [That should get the school and LA moving].

 

You will need to project manage this process of getting a Statement and getting it legally binding, otherwise they will fob you off and have you running around in circles for years.

 

I would also advise that you phone www.ipsea.org.uk and get their advice on this. You can book telephone appointments now.

Edited by Sally44

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I dont have a MAJOR concern regarding health and safety, so not sure where that came from. I also think the e-mail was written in a way to try to put me off challenging it, as she has used ! instead of a full stop and i dont see why these ! were needed? Maybe im over analyzing it, but its the impression i got.

The risk assessment is for toileting, he had one in the past (after i phoned to arrange it as the school hadnt bothered) and it meant that they are now able to change him if needed and even shower him in school if needed, so not sure why the 3 loose stools have been such an issue, His 1st assessment by her was back in november so this will just be to update the rules around it. In have not had any medical advise about his bowel problems as they have never been a big issue at home, it only happens once every week or 2. School are over reacting about it but i understand they are following guidelines to keep everyone safe. Thanks for you help, its very usefull, there is so much to learn about all this SEN stuff and im just starting off learning it all...

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Yes she is trying to put you off, because she is not telling you what your/your child's rights are or what the SEN process is.

 

I've had very similar things in the past, and the school did get rather fed-up of me. But their being a shortage of EP's is not mine or my son's fault. There is an SEN process and a Statement is a legally binding document. But without a Statement your child has little right to anything. But asking for a statutory assessment from the LA automatically triggers them seeking advice from the EP service. What you need to do [and same applies for SALT and OT], is to make sure you put in writing to the EP that you want them to carry out standardised assessments of your child's cognitive ability and his emotional literacy. If you don't specify that you may not even get a report from them, just some vague observations, which will tell you nothing at all.

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