A partial success

[lil_me]

As some of you may have read we've been struggling to get support in school for Mikey, but we've had some success

 

 

Last week we had a visit in school by the ASD Team, I mentioned in the meeting that I would be applying for a statement for my son but currently the school were getting financial support and doing nothing with it so they would have to provide evidence of how the funding was being spent when I applied

 

The headmaster looked concerned, so I asked him to go and sit in with my sons lesson and view what exactly was going on and see what he thought

 

3 days later he stopped me, said 'I've sat in for half an hour in Mikey's lesson and can see he needs further support as the teacher and teaching assistant (who is there to help with the younger children) are having to deal with him when they are needed to help the whole class, we also have a problem with another child xxxxxx who needs additional support. I have reviewed my budget to see what I can afford and starting TOMORROW Mikey and xxxxxx will have an LSA to help them 4 mornings per week. We will see how this goes and review it in 4 weeks time. '

 

Its only a small success but I am over the moon as this will be in the literacy time when he needs the most support, and before this he was getting no additional support and his work was suffering.

Edited September 20, 2005 by lil_me

[oracle]

Yes brilliant news. At least it is a step in the right direction.

 

Carole

[Brook]

Hope this is the start of all the support he needs

 

Well done

 

Brook

[lil_me]

Thanks peeps, it is a step in the right direction and hoping a sign that they are actually starting to notice he needs more help

 

Downside is although I am happy for her, his new teacher is due to have a baby in December, so he'll have a temp teacher for a while which means yet another change. Good thing is being a governor I'm going to be able to sit in on the interview process

[Helen]

Last week we had a visit in school by the ASD Team, I mentioned in the meeting that I would be applying for a statement for my son but currently the school were getting financial support and doing nothing with it so they would have to provide evidence of how the funding was being spent when I applied

Hello Lil_me,

 

I'm very pleased for you that your son is finally getting the support he needs

 

I am also concerned about how the headteacher conducts himself professionally.

 

When a headteacher requests funding from the LEA to support a particular child then that funding should be used for that child, it is bad practice for the funding to be used elsewhere. It is unacceptable, the misplacement of SEN funds is a serious matter which can lead to disciplinary action. You have the right to make a formal complaint against the headteacher to the school's governing body.

 

I haven?t read up on the relevant sections within the Education Act for quite a while so I?m not sure if the next bit of information has been modified over the past few years but Section 317 use to state that governing bodies use their best their endeavours to see that appropriate provision is made to any pupil who has SEN.

 

Section 317-(1)(a) and © state that the governing body must:

a)do its best to secure the necessary provision is made for any pupil who has SEN.

b)secure that, where the ?responsible person? ? the headteacher or an appropriate governor ? has been informed by the LEA that the pupil has SEN, those needs are made known to all who are likely to teach him, or her, and

c) secure that the teachers in the school are aware of the importance of identifying, and providing for, those registered pupils who have special educational needs.

 

...So what's happened to the funding that was meant to be used to support your son?

The headmaster looked concerned, so I asked him to go and sit in with my sons lesson and view what exactly was going on and see what he thought

 

3 days later he stopped me, said 'I've sat in for half an hour in Mikey's lesson and can see he needs further support as the teacher and teaching assistant (who is there to help with the younger children) are having to deal with him when they are needed to help the whole class, we also have a problem with another child xxxxxx who needs additional support. I have reviewed my budget to see what I can afford and starting TOMORROW Mikey and xxxxxx will have an LSA to help them 4 mornings per week.We will see how this goes and review it in 4 weeks time.

I suggest that you go ahead with your original intention of making a request for a statutory assessment regardless of this 'new' support, I've an uneasy feeling that the support your son is about to receive will be short lived. The headteacher has given your son a 4 week time frame to experience quite a moderate level of support, but the cynical side of me makes me think that what he's also done is allowed himself enough time to 'rig up' some evidence to cover his own back should you decide to make a complaint against him.

 

Have you thought about making a written request to the headteacher to see the information within your son's school/SEN file? You could photocopy this information for your own records.

 

Good luck with everything.

[Helen]

Good thing is being a governor I'm going to be able to sit in on the interview process

OMG you are a governor at your son's school!!! What a brilliant position for you to be in - from a parent's POV.

 

No wonder the headteacher has reviewed his budget to accommodate your son!

[lil_me]

Will look into what you have said, I started as governor earlier this year, he actually asked me to be a school governor he is a new head and a new SENCO, which I will be bringing up at the next meeting as I think it is wrong to expect him to take on this role. He asked me as he said that I know a lot about the SEN side of things, no expert of course, and he said he could do with the help. He seems keen to learn but has no experience in either role.

 

I'm going on a SEN governor course next week, armed with a pen and large notebook. I do however want to try to keep a step back from my own sons case as a governor as I believe too much personal involement would be a problem. I am doing the governors post to benefit the whole school which has currently 11 SEN children with various needs.

[E=mc2]

Well done , I read your post and found it is fantastic that you told him to sit in the class and see for himself.This is an area that the man/lady who is head of the school forgets to go to ,a level at which the children have to understand from.

I have only just joined and I feel that the heads of the schools never really go in to the classroom to see how the chilren are being taught but often sit in their offices and judge what is really happening .

[Guest flutter]

well done

[lil_me]

He's doing as he's told so far to a point which is a good thing, I've been helping out at the school and working with family learning groups etc for the last year since he started and we've won awards county wide and adult learners award so I think he's trying to keep me sweet.

 

I think a good 'gate' relationship as I call it is always good with the school and if it can be developed further by volunteering with the school etc it doesn't hurt, especially if you have children with special needs.

Edited September 21, 2005 by lil_me