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bjkmummy

dyslexia

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No professional can carry out the same assessments inside of 6 months. That is why it is important that you have your reports done so that you get your reports to submit to SEND just within the deadline for submissions. Your appeal is about getting the LA to assess for a Statement? In that case I would let the LA EP assess. But ask, in writing to the Head of the LA EP Service, that the EP carries out standardised assessments. And also tell them that your EP report is less than 6 months old and therefore they cannot carry out the same assessments. The LA may decide to agree to assess for a Statement without the Appeal. It should just speed up the process by a few months. But, as you know, the LA may still issue a Note in Lieu [however your other reports are evidence that she needs a Statement]. And you will end up appealing the finalised Statement in any case.

 

Although you do have an EP assessment the LA EP can come in and assess. And you do have to be seen as cooperating. So don't refuse the assessment as that looks bad. But it is very important that you ask the Head of the EP Service to carry out standardised assessments of her cognitive ability. Do you have any report that states she is around average cognitive ability? If the EP assesses, and you've requested, in writing, that he carries out full standardised assessments, then they are more likely to do those assessments and it is harder to fix the results.

 

Although the deadline for submissions is near, you or the LA can have additional information/reports etc that you can ask the SEND panel to admit on the day, and the Panel look at the information and decide whether to admit it or not. Both you and the LA can object to additional evidence being submitted, but the Panel has the final say.

 

We had a diagnosis of an Anxiety Disorder that arrived the day before the actual Tribunal. On the day we submitted it as late evidence. The LA objected to this submission. The Panel overruled the LA and also reprimended them for objecting to a medical diagnosis being added to the evidence. So it can work in your favour - but can also work in the LA's favour IF their EP assesses, and his findings are not as your other experts. But that would be hard to achieve if he is carrying out standardised assessments, and you do have her school results etc too.

 

Most likely the LA will invite the EP to attend anyway.

 

It is very important that she has not made progress in a class of 10 with additional teaching support. That means she needs MORE. Ie. smaller classes, specialist teaching, specialist school etc. Most independent schools have class sizes of around 8.

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Remember that it will look very strange if the LA EP assesses and finds the results are much better than your EP. And with standardised assessments it is hard to acheive that. Plus you also have the Dyslexia teacher saying no progress. So I would not worry and let this EP assess, and write to the Head of the EP service as i've said above.

 

Whatever this EP's findings are, your daughter has to make progress. So if he finds she is much better than your EP report, when you have another EP report for the appeal to the finalised statement, they will find that she is probably worse than the LA EP's report, in which case she will have gone backward on assessment results, which is even worse than not making progress. And if the LA EP finds similar results to your EP then that is good, and if he finds she is even worse, then that is even better. So the LA EP cannot win really when you see it like that.

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It's not my LA that want the EP to see her. My LA and school authority are different LA - the school have said the school will fund an EP to see her out of their budget but made it clear its not to help with statementing so I've said that's great but as she has had so many assessments, has 2 big hospital appointments coming up, Easter holidays and we are now so close to the hearing it can wait until after the tribunal as its only a few weeks wait and to be honest I want her to have a break from the constant assessments. If we win the refusal to assess it will be my LA EP that will go in not the school one so it would mean potentially 2 different EPs seeing her . School didn't say that she would be seen before tribunal anyway only that they would agree to her being referred now whereas before they wouldn't agree to it. In reality there are only 3 school weeks left now before the tribunal hearing and I don't want the added stress of this LA EP and what they may or may not write etc. if my LA come forward and say they want their EP to see then fair enough , will cross that bridge . Also by waiting until after the tribunal the 6 month limit lifts and the EP can have freedom to test her

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Sounds as if the LA may have decided that they are going to lose the appeal so aren't putting any effort into it. There is a chance they simply won't submit any evidence and will concede once the evidence deadline passes (this is what happened in our refusal to assess appeal).

 

I don't think it is a good idea to refuse permission to have her assessed by the EP - it is legitimate to ask what assessments (if any) will be carried out, and object to any that duplicate the work the independent EP has done. It gives the LA a good excuse for not having done their job properly.

 

Eventually the LA EP is going to play a very important part in the process. I would also suggest allowing the LA EP to see the independent report - he will spend a lot less time assessing than the independent EP did and it you are lucky he will borrow a lot from the independent report.

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i will happily let the LA EP see her but this offer from the school is not to have her assessed and my LA havent asked to send their EP in - we only now have a couple of school weeks left before the actual hearing so would be unlikely the ep would even have come in to see her in the short time frame before tribunal anyway - in my reply to the school i was careful to word it so i wasnt saying no. the school havent mentioned anything since and havent given me the paperwork for the referral either.

 

the problem i have is that her school is in a different LA to my home so the school EP is different to the one my LA would send in to assess her so if the school EP saw her and we won the assessment then a different EP would see her a few weeks later. if im officially asked for her to assessed by the LA EP then i will give permission

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Ah I see - I hadn't appreciated that there were 2 different areas. But I still think you should welcome the involvement of the school EP. If the school aren't coping then they need advice - and they get that from their EP. Also if you are out of authority then the school EP won't necessarily feel the same need to minimise costs and you may get a more open opinion from them.

 

In our case we have found it very productive to get a range of professionals involved with the school because they can educate and advise the school. Over time that has built up a consensus of opinion among the school and LA professionals that meant that the move to specialist provision was easy because we had built the support.

 

If you are worried (as you are right to be) about too many assessments you could ask for them to observe and then question staff rather than a direct assessment of her.

 

I don't know when it comes to assessment whether the LA would use their own EP or rely on the school's.

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Doesn't really make sense the school saying they will refer to their LA EP, but it is not to do with Statementing. Any issue the child has, that needs a referal to an EP for advice, should be included in any Statement.

 

So I would agree with you and say that for now it would be best to wait for the outcome of the Tribunal, as if SEND order that the LA must assess for a Statement, I presume that would be your LA, and not the LA the school is in?? And that might help somewhat as your LA EP would realise that anything they recommend would be paid for by another LA anyway.

 

Whoever is going to assess, make sure you write to them and ask that they carry out standardised assessments of her cognitive ability and emotional recognition in herself and others.

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since I responded back to the school saying I would prefer to wait to after the tribunal but send me the paperwork heard nothing more. today was the final evidence date -- I sent 300 pages including 5 professional reports - the LA have sent nothing! so if this goes to tribunal the LA don't have a single professional report to rely on - just the senco who today asked me what hypermobility was! a few weeks ago she admitted she had no idea what dyspraxia was but maintains she sees no issues with my daughter re hypermobility or dyspraxia when she doesn't even know what they are! so the waiting I guess goes on to see what the LA will do now they have my bundle - I have a feeling they may try and get an adjournment due to getting my reports which obviously I would oppose. its just odd they have sent nothing but then they could always have another card yet to play.

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It may well be that the LA don't really care about defending the appeal - after all it costs them nothing to make you appeal and even if they turn up that does not really cost them money as that is their job. I think it would be unusual for an LA to produce professional evidence at this stage - to do so they would have to do the assessment they are trying to avoid.

 

It may be that they don't intend to defend at all - or only make a token attempt. If they do defend they could try a few approaches

 

a) That there is no evidence of need - i.e. that she is fulfilling her potential in school.

B) That her needs are not "Educational"

c) That her needs can be met without a statement - e.g. that the resources delegated to the school for SAP should be sufficient.

 

It is important to be able to evidence the lack of achievement (this should be at least a year of IEPs, preferably more), and also provide a schedule indicating all the resources being dedicated to her at the moment - showing that it exceeds the delegated funding levels (in our area that is 12 hours a week - don't know if that is country wide)

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It is going to be hard for them to produce anything on the day, and the SEND Panel is not going to be happy.

 

I would type up a file note of your telephone conversation with the SENCO as it is relevant that she did not know what Dyspraxia or Hypermobility was, but then said her professional opinion was that your daughter has no issues. How could she possibly know? Also she is not the relevant professional who should even comment on these diagnosis. It is an Occupational Therapist for both and an Educational Psychologist for the Dyspraxia.

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I will do that sally. Interestingly my daughter made a comment yesterday. I know all the kids are being tested in her class to see what level/0progress they have made - typically after the deadline for the final evidence deadline.

 

On Friday she was given a reading test, I'm guessing it was comprehension as she was made to write her answers. Yesterday the teacher made her do it again as her score on the Friday was so poor. When she re did it she had this time a TA to scribe for her. The teacher told her her score would be a 2b. I'm disappointed the school keep doing this, make her resit tests if she doesn't score high enough to skew the figures, I think this is now the 3rd incident I know about - there other two i have proof they did it so placed it in the bundle for tribunal. The teacher is telling us nothing about this, we are finding it all out ourselves. If her level is 2b (she is now year 5) then this shows that she has gone down as she was last term a 2a/b.

 

I have heard nothing from the LA since my evidence bundle of 300 pages went in last week, the LA have served nothing more.

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I would be quite confident that they will either agree to assess before the Tribunal, or agree or be ordered to on the day.

 

As it is now quite close to the Tribunal date, I think it might be worth you still attending even if the LA does agree to assess. Because although the LA might agree, they could spin that out. The Panel will most likely order that the LA does assess and you could ask the Panel for a timescale within which the LA must have complied. It might be worth asking the Panel if they will be specific in asking for standardised assessments by all professionals, to include investigation of all her difficulties and needs [and list them - to also include dyslexia]. Also include the fact that the school is asking her to sit and re-sit assessments because her results are so poor - so her actual scores [which are very low themselves] are actually worse than the first test results.

 

Do you have any papers of a first and second sitting of the same test? If not I would hold on until you are about a month into your appeal against the Final Statement. And then do a Freedom of Information Act search and get all the paperwork [electronic and on file] from everyone who has had any dealings with your daughter. You will need to write to the school, LA and the NHS, but you might come up with some very useful information.

 

Or for this Tribunal, you could write into the school about this specific incident your daughter has told you about and ask them for the results of the first sitting of the assessment. Ask why she was required to sit the same assessment twice within a matter of days, and why the school decided on the second sitting of the assessment to provide her with a scribe [which I presume she does not have day to day in school?]. Was the scribe and reader and a writer?

Edited by Sally44

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I do indeed have evidence of the previous incidences where they made her resit tests as it was in her school file which I got a couple of weeks ago. I have submitted it as evidence to the tribunal. I also got her to redo the spelling test at home a month after she had been made to do it several times at school to get to the 90% - she didn't get 90% when she did it at home as this is the whole pint - she's not retaining anything. Although it was interesting to watch her do the test as she was talking herself through some of the words and kept mentioning what she had been taught by the dyslexia teacher rather than what she was taught at home.

 

I have asked this morning for her new levels and will see what they come back as. I have said that my daughter has told me one of the grades she got. The hearing is now 4 weeks away - she breaks up on Friday for 2 weeks so the. There will be one school week left u til the hearing so I'm against the clock now especially as her teacher doesn't work on Fridays and tends also not to be in on a Thursday - will see how helpful she is giving me the new levels. It was parents evening earlier this week but I couldn't go due to childcare so all the other parents will have been given the levels. I'm not sure what to expect - a sudden increase or as my daughter says a decline - will hopefully find out this evening

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