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Carrera74

Help please - Tribunal appeal pack

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This might seem a really silly question but I will ask it anyway....

 

I've just noticed that the appeal pack is in word and pdf version. Am I okay to type out the appeal form or do I have to hand write it?

 

I've left my appeal til the last minute and my arm feels like it's going to drop off but I can type quickly and prefer that way of getting my thoughts down but don't want to type it all out, print it off and send it if they'll just knock it back?

 

Helpppp please :D x

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As far as I know you can print it and it will definitely look more 'official'. When my IPSEA rep filled in request for changes she typed them all. As long as they are printed off and signed I think it is better. The LA certainly type all their responses. :rolleyes:

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I think we hand wrote the appeal form, but presume it would be fine to type if you have word document. However, there is not usually enough space to write what you want on appeal form, so for the main bit we just wrote See Attached and then typed up our main appeal as a separate document -it is absolutely fine to do this.

 

Do you know what you need to write as far as the appeal goes? Have you had advice?

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Thanks for your comments. I decided to just go for it and I typed out the 'reasons for appeal' part and handwrote everything else. It came to 17 pages when I'd finished so glad I typed it! I have a feeling I may have overdone the form as the tribunal paperwork came through this morning and it asks for statements, reports etc etc to be sent before December (the appeal date is January) but I had already attached those!

 

Now just have to wait and see what the Edpsyc report says which I am hopeful has good news in it after the vibes we got but won't hold my breath!

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Sometimes there are sound reasons to delay submitting certain evidence until just before the deadline. Everything you send in to SEND you have to copy to the LA too. So if there is anything you do not want them to know yet - as that will give them time to find a counter argument etc - then make sure you send it in just inside the deadline.

 

Also don't send in any double sided documents, as SEND cannot double sided copy and you will find pages missing from the Bundle when it comes.

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Hi Sally, thanks for this - again :)

 

I think I had better phone the Tribunal helpline to ask them if I need to resend my paperwork as I only printed off the appeal form single sided (everything else was photocopied as it was and the statement is all double sided). I also need to find out what I am going to do with my son from September til the Tribunal date. The Head seems to think he has to stay where he is until there is an outcome but I have an awful feeling he has to go where the statement says (which is the 6th form mainstream). Not that he has a place there as I didn't officially apply for one as it would have just added to the stress and DS said he isn't going there either! His current school (where we want him to stay) has put a programme in place for him from September but I need to clarify if this is the right thing to do. I am still waiting for the EP report (took place 3 weeks ago) and the next moderating panel is next Tuesday. The LA are quiet at the moment. They are waiting on the outcome of that before advising me further about September.

 

I feel like I am annoying parent keeping on at them as they don't have any answers. Just keep telling me to wait to the 13th....

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I would not seek clarification on where he should go. If the school have put in place support for him, and that is the place you are asking for at appeal, and that is the place your son wants to go to - then don't ask anyone - play dumb and send him there. If you remind the LA and prompt them about this they may say he has to go where the Statement says. It just makes things more complicated.

 

If the LA do contact you and say he cannot go to the school that has prepared to take him from September and has to go to the one named in the Statement - which will be stressful and pointless. I would suggest that you consider getting a sick note, or at least something on record that your son is too stressed to consider this placement, which is not what either of you want, and which you have a tribunal about. And that it would be too stressful, and that you want to await the outcome of the tribunal as your son does not cope well with change due to his diagnosis.

 

Don't push the LA to do anything. You have the Tribunal. The Tribunal will be deciding what happens from September, not the LA. Leave the LA to put their case together. Give them no information. And you work on what your counter argument will be for every single argument you can think of that the LA will put forward that their named placement is the best use of resources.

 

Is your parental choice more expensive? Does it have expertise, therapy, staff with additional ASD qualifications, other ASD pupils, life skills etc that your son needs and which the LA named placement does not have.

 

Phone SEND and tell them that alot of the documentation sent to them was double sided copied and do you need to re-send it.

 

We also had alot of problems with evidence that was emailed to them. I used to scan correspondence, reports etc and email them to SEND with a copy for the LA. I found out that the SEND email system can only download one email per case number per day. So the second, third, fourth etc email I sent did not even get received by them!

 

But really don't bother about the LA. Concentrate on how you are going to deliver your case to the Tribunal. Remember that they can only go on the evidence that is presented to them so make sure that they have all the details because on the day the LA will lie and say they have x, y and z even if they don't because you won't have the evidence that they don't have it.

 

For example, my LA said that they were going to fund an occupational therapist to go into my sons former primary school. Sounds like they'd met that need. But I had found out that it was for 6 hours per term. That those 6 hours were for ALL the children in the school, not just my son. That the OT was not qualified to deliver a Sensory Integration Therapy programme because she had not completed any of the Sensory Modules required to be suitably qualified. They did not even have a name for this OT. Personally I think it was all just 'on paper'. As far as I know, once we had won the appeal, this OT placement at his former school never happened. I had also got on writing from the NHS OT service that they too did not provde Sensory Integration Therapy for Sensory Processing Disorder - and we had a private OT report that did detail exactly that therapy, along with other therapy for dyspraxia etc and how many hours 1:1 and group work he needed per term. So I could prove that my son would not have this educational need met in his former school, or via the NHS and the ONLY place that could deliver it was at the named placement we had requested. I managed to prove this on practically each and every SEN he had. That is the evidence you need.

 

Any help you give them, and that help can be just reminding them of what they need to do/prove to the Tribunal, is all working against you. So leave them alone. Just answer phone calls, emails etc. Be polite, but very very vague [afterall that is what the LA is doing with you, not giving information, being vague. This is not the first Tribunal they have handled. They do know what they are doing. They are playing a game]. And if they do state something about the placement I would put in writing to them that it would be sensible to await the outcome of the Tribunal regarding placement as your son is very stressed about the uncertainty and has refused to go to the placement named in the Statement.

 

It looks for good for your case if the LA do not have the answers. That is the whole point. They cannot meet his needs.

 

On the day they may look ridiculous, which is good for you. Or they may turn up with a complete plan that they will not have told you about at all, because they want you to be on the back foot and have no arguments for what they are proposing. So have you done your investigations of the placment named in the Statement and are you absolutely clear on why it cannot meet your son's needs?

Edited by Sally44

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Hi Sally, thanks always for your responses. You are so very helpful and I really appreciate your help.

 

 

 

I received the EP report on Saturday and it is quite a good report although the recommendations are quite vague the body of the report describes my DS to a tee and it is clear in that report that the current school meets his needs and that is why he is doing so well.

 

The Local Authority contacted me yesterday for an update following the moderating panel. They advised that the panel have agreed for my DS to go to my chosen sixth form from September (the new sixth form is connected to the independent school he has been going to for the last 3 years). It seems the EP report went in our favour that he needs a slow transition and needs a certain type of schooling but the panel want him to go to my chosen school from September with the plan being to move him to their chosen sixth form as part of a slow transition!

 

Apparently their chosen sixth form has put a plan in place to the panel (first I had heard of it!) for my son to stay at his current school for an extra 12 months and for him to have a slow transition to their school and to start there a year later to start his A levels.

 

This was our original request back in January at his transition review but we changed our mind once we visited the different colleges as they aren’t right for him and we felt they couldn’t meet his needs.

 

We want him to go to the sixth form connected to his school and they are planning for him to start his A levels from September.

 

The LA made it out like we had won. That this was the best plan for my DS and they also said that my DS needs to know that he can’t stay at his chosen school forever as a transition to University (if he goes) would be bigger than this but that has got my back up. Yes he can’t stay at his current school forever but he hasn’t been fixed overnight and he needs whatever support he needs for however long he needs it!

 

We are going into school next Thursday to collect my son’s GCSE results so I hope to be able to speak to the Head and voice this out with him. I still think I should go ahead with the Tribunal and get the statement watertight.

 

I am feeling very deflated today. Yesterday I was happy as he has a place from September but it does just feel that the LA are paying for an extra year for his school to put everything into him moving on to do his A levels when I wanted him to start his new 6th form journey concentrating on his A levels and life skills with his peers. He’ll know at the back of his mind that it’s just temporary and I know that that won’t work either!

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I would lodge an appeal. Make it clear that your parental choice of school is xxxxxx, and that you do not agree for him to move as that would not be for the benefit of your son and his needs and is only for the benefit of the LA and their budget.

 

If his current placement supports you, they should be able to send someone to Tribunal as expert witness that the Panel can ask questions of.

 

You need to have very clear arguments as to why this transition would not work.

 

Whether or not your son will go to university is in the future and is not part of any Tribunal Appeal. What you are looking at are his needs NOW and his likely future needs, which are not going to change overnight. I think a SEND Panel would not agree to him moving after a year. It would be a huge change and one he most likely would not cope with, and which would affect his academic results etc.

 

The LA seem to be suggesting that IF he goes to university that that would be harder than coping with their transition plan. But that is not written in concrete. Their transition could also mean he flunked out of school completely and became so anxious and disillusioned that he never went back into education of any kind again. It is also cruel and anxiety causing for an intelligent and self aware young adult with an ASD to be so uncertain of the future. Does he also want to remain where he is? If so include that too. Remember that the placement/Statement is about identifying and meeting needs - and not about the LA trying to balance their books.

 

So stick to your guns. You have visited this college and you know why it is not right for your son.

 

The LA must amend the Statement for you to appeal their changes. But let them know that you do not agree to their proposed amendments and that you will appeal as it will be contrary to your parental choice and will not meet your son's SEN. You are right to highlight that he needs to start and complete his A levels in one place, with suitable peers, with the team that have supported him to date and where he has made progress. His current placement is working. No professional has recommended these changes [say that in your appeal case statement]. This is the LA looking to save money.

Edited by Sally44

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