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lilbec

Wording of proposed statement

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Hi all,

At long last all the reports are in and we have finally received a Proposed Statement. Our caseworker has also listened to my concerns about the length of time everything was taking and the delays that inevitably occur over school holidays and has managed to get the Panel review brought forward for 2 weeks time so that we can get something in place for Sept. Just barely gives us time to change anything if we need to but we may not need to. Just wanted to get an opinion from more experienced people regarding the wording for provision as it seems a little vague. There is no mention of precise hours for instance.

My son is AS and above average intelligence but also dyslexic and achieving only average level academically. He is currently in a Pupil Referral Unit following exclusion. We are aiming for a new mainstream school that has an AS unit attached and has a very good reputation for support for special needs generally and AS in particular. We are also aiming to repeat Year 10 as he is an end of August birthday and has essentially missed his first year of GCSE studies with his current placement only set up to teach basic English Math and Science.

Ideally what we would like is for him to be mainstream as he seems to flourish socially in this context, but with the necessary support to help him achieve. His Proposed Statement states in Part 3 for educational provision:
Access to a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum, with modifications which will ensure that tasks and activities are commensurate with his level of attainment and which take full account of his social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Staff should be fully aware of his difficulties and able to provide a classroom/learning environment which minimises confusion and maximises his independence within the classroom. Consideration will be given to the following:

 

An individualized program to develop his...........devised and monitored by the SENCo in conjunction with the Subject teacher and supported by a Teaching Assistant within small groups. This program will include......

 

At first this sounded really good to me giving us exactly what we had asked for. However, I am also a realist and know that if things are not spelled out clearly and precisely we may well not get what we need. Nothing in the proposed statement says anything about transport either but I am not clear if this is the time when we work that out.

 

Opinions?

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Hi all,

 

Access to a broad, balanced and differentiated curriculum, with modifications which will ensure that tasks and activities are commensurate with his level of attainment and which take full account of his social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

 

The end of this bit seems to spell out S E B D so I think I can see where this is headed...

 

mousy

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From what you post it sounds too woolly. Provision needs to be fully specified (hours per week and qualification of those involved) and fully resourced. You need to look in detail to find out where the statement it explicit that he gets dedicated resource. So "supported by a Teaching Assistant" means nothing, that could be done by the existing TA. You need "20 hours a week from a dedicated Level 3 TA with 2 years experience with AS/Dyslexia" or some equivalent specification that commits the LEA to funding an appropriate resource.

 

Any phrase starting with "Should" can be ignored as it has no force

 

As it is a proposed statement I presume part 4 is blank so they can't really say anything about transport

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There is nothing specific.

Wording like "access to" is unenforceable. All the LA has to say is that he has "access to it", but they often get out of it by saying the school do not feel he needs it. Or that he will get it if they feel he needs it.

 

Look at this document as it gives specific advice on getting the Statement right. http://www.ace-ed.org.uk/Resources/ACE/advice%20booklets/GettingTheStatementRight%20Mar2011.pdf

 

What you need is very specific wording such as:

 

"xxxx will receive xx hours per term of 1:1 specialist teaching from a teacher qualified to both teach and assess children with dyslexia. These weekly sessions will be detailed on his weekly timetable. The specialist teacher will set half yearly targets which will be reviewed via IEPs and the AR process. The specialist teacher will submit an updated report for the AR and will carry out yearly assessments to monitor outcomes and detail progress. XXXXX will have his own laptop and all class work will be uploaded onto the laptop. XXXX will be taught to type and will be provided with voice recognitiion software."

 

An individualized program to develop his...........devised and monitored by the SENCo in conjunction with the Subject teacher and supported by a Teaching Assistant within small groups. This program will include...

 

 

What will be his individualised programme? Who will devise it. Is the SENCO qualified to devise this programme - does she have any ASD specific additional qualification on top of teaching. What size small groups - 2, 4 6, 8 pupils. Is this in a separate room, or on a table within a class of 40 kids. Is this for all subjects, for all teaching. What are they trying to develop? This all means nothing. You would never know if it was being done, or if it was effective.

 

Firstly you need to know what the needs/difficulties are that need developing/supporting/therapy etc.

 

So, for example, it might say "XXXX will receive xx hours per term of 1:1 SALT therapy and xx hours per term of SALT Group therapy which equates to xx hours of SALT each week. The SALT will be setting termly targets and working on the following areas; word meanings, word similarities, comprehension, inference, narratives, expressive speech, social use of language. The SALT will joint plan lessons with the class teacher for literacy and core subjects so that the SALT programme is reinforced as part of the lesson. XXXXX will be supported by a dedicated TA throughout the school day for consistency. There will be no more than two dedicated TAs working with xxxxxx each year.[otherwise he could have a different person every lesson/every day, whoever is available etc. You need a relationship to be built between your son and his core team.] It should also say that the SALT will monitor progress using standardised assessments and will produce yearly targets which will be broken down and reviewed on a termly basis with an updated report for the AR, and at least one target for his IEP. The SALT should also laise with parents and train the TA in the delivery of the SALT targets which will be practised in school on a daily basis for 20 minutes as part of the lesson or in 1:1 discreet sessions.

 

That is how precise it has to be. No words like "Access to" "opportunities for" "as required" "when needed" "individualised" "as necessary" "significantly more" "should" "advice will be sought" "regular" "frequent" "often". All these words cannot be legally binding. If he needs 36 hours a week 1:1 support from a TA qualified to work with children with autism - then that is what the Statement must say. Just saying "support from a TA" can mean there is a TA in the class, or available in the school if and when needed. It does not mean your son will get that TA during all lessons or that she will be dedicated to him and him alone.

 

If your son needs to be taught in small group sizes eg. no more than 8 peers - how is the school going to deliver that? They cannot deliver that mainstream because the class sizes are 30+. Do they mean they will have to remove him for certain or all subjects? If so, where will he be taught, who with, what teacher, what will be their qualifications etc.

Edited by Sally44

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