Where did you get your info. on SEN procedures?

[nellie]

I would be interested to hear how parents received information about SEN procedures. It would be great to hear of your experiences good and bad.

 

Who gave you the information?

Was the information offered or did you have to seek it out?

At what stage did you get the information?

Was the information explained to you?

Did you receive copies of DfES documents on SEN, such as SEN Code of Practice, SEN toolkit, Special Educational Needs: A guide for Parents and Carers?

Were you given details of Parent Partnership?

Did Parent Partnership or an independent parental supporter from Parent Partnership give you adequate information and support?

Were you given information on SEN law, disability discrimination and tribunals?

Were you given information on independent education advocacy services?

 

 

(Just to remind members of the forum policy not to name schools, LEA's etc. )

[annie]

Hi Nellie,

 

All of the information that we have received has been from spending hours either on internet search engines or of course from everybody on this brilliant forum.

 

ACE sent us copies of SEN:A guide for parents and carer after calling them when things first started to go wrong on the education front. Either ACE or NAS sent us copies of Disability Discrimination and SEN law bits and pieces. The SEN toolkit and SEN Code of Practice I found on the internet and have them saved in 'favourites'.

 

I can't quite remember who, but I believe somebody at our LEA mentioned Parent Partnership. I called them myself. PP on the whole have been very helpful, but as you know it was IPSEA that got things REALLY moving in our case. My belief is that because they are TOTALLY independent from LEAs they don't have to be careful of whose toes they are treading on, whereas to a certain extent PP do.

 

 

Annie

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[nellie]

Thanks Annie,

 

I am concerned that parents are not being given access to information and support. The education Act states the LEA have a duty to provide this.

 

A local education authority must arrange for the parent of any child in their area with special educational needs to be provided with advice and information about matters relating to those needs.

Local education authorities must take whatever steps they consider appropriate to make parent partnership services known to parents, head teachers, schools and others they consider appropriate. Section 332A Education Act 1996

[annie]

This is only reference I have to PP or anybody else for that matter. It's probably standard stuff because I've just checked other paperwork and it says the same thing on everything (Assessments, Statement etc).

 

'If you have any concerns or question about the Final Statement you may wish to contact the local Parent Partnership Services on **** *******, or write to them at ********** ***********

 

If you disagree with Parts 2, 3 or 4 you can appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. If you wish to appeal, you must do so within 2 months of the date of this letter. You contact the Tribunal Office directly by writing to SENDIST, ******** etc etc. or you can contact me (Casework Support Officer) on the above number for information concerning the Tribunal.

 

If there is misunderstanding or disagreemnt, the Parent Partnership Service can offer mediation as an informal service to help resolve or prevent any dispute that may arise between parents and the Local Education Authority. Using the mediation service does not affect your right of appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. An appeal to the tribunal can run at the same time as the disagreement resolution.

 

END

 

Annie

X

[helenl53]

Annie, yours is probably a bit more honest - it describes the PPS as a mediation service our was not promoted using the same words and it has led to a lot of disenchantment amongst parents - myself included.

 

Nellie,

 

I only became aware of PPS at the inaugral evening for the support group. Prior to this, despite difficulties, school did not point me in any direction. The bulk of my information has come via this forum and in particular 'Nellie the Wide One'

 

I have recently taken issue with the lea about the lack of information about the support group being passed on to parents in schools and been told, that they are not able to do anything other than provide the leaflets - PPS say they can not isnist that SENCO's hand them out to parents.

 

Nellie, I think that it is Durham University who are currently undertaking a study into PPS - they are doing this for the Dfes and I have had my say along with a few other parents. I think I got the original link here - but then -it is a bad week - I may have dreamed that one us as well. I will go and look at my old emails just to satisfy myself that I am not losing the plot.

 

Back later

 

Love

 

HelenL

[nellie]

ok. Helen, who has been giving you inside information on me?!!!! I know I have never met you but yet you refer to me as the wide one. Who's been telling tales then?

 

Could this be the survey you mentioned?

 

Evaluation of Parent Partnership Service, Your chance to take part.

http://www.asd-forum.org.uk/forum/index.ph...t=0entry28419

 

Nellie xx 'the wide one'.

[nellie]

I posted this information on another topic, I think it might help to post it here too.

 

You can find details of Parent Partnership and how it should be run here.

 

SEN toolkit, Section 2 - Parent Partnership

 

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=4607

[Canopus]

Do statemented children have the right to see their statement and amend it as appropriate? I NEVER got to see my statement and my parents refused to show it me.

[nellie]

I am not aware of any law that gives a child a right to alter their statement, but children do have rights to be involved. Parents have the right to tribunal but not children, although their views can be put forward.

 

Children, who are capable of forming views, have a right to receive and make known information, to express an opinion, and to have that opinion taken into account in any matters affecting them. The views of the child should be given due weight according to the age, maturity and capability of the child.

See Articles 12 and 13, The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

 

The following is from the latest Code of Practice, sorry I don't have a copy of the old Code of Practice and I'm afraid I can't remember what it says about pupil participation.

 

Chapter Three covers pupil participation it is about the right of children with special educational needs to be involved in making choices and decisions and exercising choices

 

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/_doc/3724/SENCodeOfPractice.pdf

[helenl53]

Oh Nellie

 

What a faux pax

 

I am not worty

 

Actually, my typing fingers have gone mad that should have said 'worthy'

 

I am losing it :

 

It was indeed the link - I did contribute and just to make sure, spoke to Dr Sasha to make sure that she included my input

 

Apolgies Nellie

 

Love

 

HelenL

[nellie]

 

It must be your age Helen!!

[call me jaded]

Canopus

 

The obligation to seek pupils views (where appropriate) only came in with the 'new' code of practice - January 2000 if I recall right.

 

Before that there was definitely no 'right' for children to see or even know about their statement. The Children Act did a lot to empower children.

[call me jaded]

Nellie

 

I have always found information on the net or through other parents. Our parent partnership service is dire. I have asked the education scrutiny panel what they intend to do about this. I am about to meet with the lead councillor for lifelong learning to put the case that they do not even begin to meet the minimum standard set down in the CoP.

[helenl53]

Hi Jaded,

 

I too have the same problem and it seems that we are given the absolute minium. Having seen the Section 52 information on spend for the PPS, I am wondering what is included, but no time to question at the moment - but I will.

 

I asked for help from my PPS and with a few days deadline, I was referred back to the LEA without help and support - I now appreciate that what I asked for was not in accordance with the remit for the job - but how was I to know - I was a parent requesting assistance -I did not know that unlike the ad that tells us "it does what it says on the tin..............................."

 

I think that these type of services need to be independent and bought in and not be a person employed by the LEA.

 

I have not been happy with my experience at all and although I thought perhaps I was just a little unlucky with my experience, having now heard the experience of other parents, I realise that I have no trust in the service and would never ever use it.

 

Best wishes

 

HelenL

[oracle]

Well for what it was worth I was Chair of Governors and SEN Governor at my sons School at the time of his dx - so that should of made a HUGE difference in theory. Had I not been then I would of been clueless as no one bothered to tell us anything, and most of the people dealing with us had no idea that I did already know.

 

Carole

Edited September 13, 2005 by carole

[Kathryn]

Hi Nellie,

 

95% of the information I have received has been directly off the internet - and my starting point was this very forum - I spent weeks lurking here even before I joined and read all the threads in Education and relevant links. I found that they contained everything I needed to know about SEN, and as a complete novice there was a lot to absorb. What people do without the net I have no idea.

 

The LEA never gave me anything - apart from grief. I ordered my own COP and Toolkit directly from the relevant sites.

 

I said what I think about the PPS in the thread started by annie. To repeat - I did not feel I could trust them at all. When they operate out of the same building (as ours does) - who will they give ear to: an anonymous parent or those they have lunch with and send Christmas cards to?

 

The only help I got from this service, in a perverse kind of way, was that it was a useful indication of the likely stance of the LEA - when I asked for objective help all I got was LEA policy parroted back at me. I soon gave up on them as phoning them just depressed me.

 

I feel that the PPS is nothing more than a sop to parents to lull them into the false belief that their views and wishes count as far as their child's education is concerned. It should be scrapped in its present form and replaced by an orgainisation which is completely independent.

[smallworld]

I have to agree,

I began to think that PPS were sharing desks with the LEA lot.

In our area, it wouldn't surprise me. We've had to make economies to pay for our very expensive mayor !!

How can they possibily be at 'arms length' ? when their jobs come down to council funding ?,cos that's the bottom line in all of this, MONEY.

Sorry, bit of a rant,

wac

Sorry, I have neglected to answer the original question.

I found our about PPS when we applied for a statement, everything else I've learned has come from here , or teachers that I know personally.

Edited September 14, 2005 by waccoe

[Zemanski]

I am a teacher with an interest in SEN so I had a lot of professional sources not open to other parents and I use them. I also had easy access to the COP and policies.

 

When Com was turned down for assessment we got pretty much what Annie got and no more.

If I hadn't known what I was doing to some extent I think I would have missed the reference to PP completely. I wasn't given any information about any other support sources and as he didn't have a diagnosis then I didn't even think about NAS or other groups. I have found most of them (ipsea, etc) by word of mouth or internet over the years. I was given the SEN tribunal guide but only after asking to apeal - I do feel that perhaps a briefer pamphlet with information about what appealing entails should be given with the PP pamphlet.

I didn't even know there was a specific advisor for high schools until we hit our current crisis - that's 4 years on and I never managed to make contact, even as a teacher, with the primary level advisor. She died last year and as far as I know has not been replaced.

 

My independent parental supporter was brilliant but my PP aren't particularly good - I'm an IPS now so I know!

There have been some improvements though - they now include a separate pamphlet in with the letter from the LEA as well as that little insignificant paragraph so you can't miss them as easily (also available in 8 other languages). and I am beginning to see the pamphlet in school foyers and on notice boards.

one of our officers specifically asked me why parents don't contact them and I told her that they get told only at one stage and that is often not the point at which they are lookng for help - they need to get the pamphlet at all levels and with every communication, eg at every review, when they first see a senco about their child's needs, if they go in to see the head about an issue, etc, etc.

At least they are thinking about how to get the message out.

 

Another thing that I hadn't come across before that happened last year was I had a PP referral direct from a responsible officer - this was because the parent had a poor level of education and understanding and the RO didn't think she could make the contact herself, lucky kid to have a good RO - Com's doesn't even bother to answer letters and turn up to tribunals never mind think about actually supporting him!

 

I think these changes may have something to do with a damning audit on PP services here

 

Zemanski