Need some advice re: adult/child ratio in class and SEN

[Anne]

[QUOTE=redhed;3416480]Creeeeeaaaaaaakkkk

[I]


Bleary eyes peer around, taking in the circle of salt, the black candles and the (frankly) rather badly-drawn pentacle, and come to rest upon the small figure of Chickenlips, arms folded and foot tapping, thus...


priceless!

[Peridot]

Yay reds back
whilst you're here red, where do I stand with the fact that Thomas has salt on his statement yet hasn't received ANY this year.
SALT have said it is the change between early year and key stage 1, with the change of therapists etc and the need to reassess him but I can't believe we've got to June and still nothing

[Chickenlips]

Red you're absolutely amazing - Martin and I are going to go through the statement point by point tonight so no doubt I'll be back with lots more questions.

The issue with Camille's needs are that her learning ability will deteriorate over the next few years (as a result of radiotherapy) any Oncology doctor will confirm this, so even though she is keeping up with her classmates, she almost needs to be exceeding that standard because once the deterioration starts, she will forever be struggling. She is also far too tired at the end of the school day to do homework, again, as a result of r/t........

I will be back to this later, have just smelt a Jude poo.

Thanks you so much for taking the time to reply in such a comprehensive way x

[redhed]

Am feeding DD1 breakfast atm (keyboard now covered in honey) - will get back to you in a sec, Peri. But I meant to add for Chickenlips, that another consideration is the NFF (National Funding Formula).

I said previously that SEN funding is hideously complex, and the amount given "outside" the statement varied from LA to LA. The Government proposes to change this in 2015 by standardising the calculations. This is great in some ways: it should address the postcode lottery and make it more transparent where it's cheaper to send a child private than state but the internal accounting complexities have made this impossible. But hidden in it all (of course) are more cuts. The govt has already issued the draft calculations and Local Authorities all over the country have hurriedly keyed them into spreadsheets and worked out how this changes funding. Our LA has worked out that the kids who will be hardest hit by the new formula are kids with high need in small mainstream schools. Ie Camille. Her off-statement funding is due to take a serious hit in 2012. So this would be my opening to a conversation with school about funding: what are we getting now, what are we due to get under the NFF (our LA are talking about a 15% cut...) and how do we make up the difference? Are there things we are covering from the general SEN budget that ought to be on her individual statement, and shouldn't the school be supporting us to get the Statement amended now, so it's comfortably in place before the NFF comes in?

Peri: re SALT on the statement: I imagine the problem is that school are claiming it's nothing to do with them (not strictly true) and SALT are impossible to control because the legal obligation to provide therapy actually isn't on them, so it's no skin off their nose.

How much of this have you got in writing, or is it all "unofficial" conversations?

The important thing is that the legal obligation to provide therapy rests with the LA, not the NHS. The statement is binding on the LEA and if the NHS fails to provide the statemented therapy, the LEA is legally obliged to hire a private SALT and send them into school. They won't, of course, it's all LA funding and they presumably have big internal meetings where lots of horse-trading goes on working out who covers what from whose budget. So in practice if you haul the LEA to court, the NHS will be the ones turning up to provide the therapy the court orders. But that's your route, through the LEA not the NHS.

I think my tack would be to make sure everything is documented: at least write a letter to the SENCO, copy the Head, the SEN governor and your SEN case officer at the LEA (this last is the person most concerned, they will be the one you drag to court). Do it very nicely and politely, but document exactly what you have been told, when, and make a very clear statement of how long he has been without his statemented, legally binding therapy, and how many hours he has now missed in total. If you can chuck in something about the effect on him and if that effect is in terms of failing to meet his measurable IEP targets, that would be the icing on the cake. I'd ask for a reply within 1 week, stating how they are going to resolve this, otherwise you'll take legal advice about enforcing provision via <insert legal process here> I'm not sure if it's Tribunal or if it's Judicial Review for Failure To Provide - there will be a whole section on the IPSEA website, though, so have a look on there.

If school are saying it's none of their business: well, it's true the SALT doesn't work for them. But that's an admin thing and is not your problem and they shouldn't be making it your problem. Legally, this is an education issue, not a health issue, and the buck stops with education. Also, every SENCO in the country by September should have gone on a course which includes a section on "working with professionals from other agencies". The SENCO should now be specifically trained to kick SALT arse, and (s)he needs to Man Up.

[Velvet Chain]

Redhead

[redhed]

Oh Lord, there's more... More for Peri I think, than CL.

Feedback from the pathfinders for the new SEN Green Paper hasn't been good. In particular, there are issues with statemented therapy. It seems that the EHCPs being trialled do not have the same binding legal obligation for therapy that Statements do. So one of the key issues that the EHCP was meant to fix will actually be made worse under the new plans.

What I think this means in practice is you need to get this sorted ASAP. Part of the reason for SALT's uselessness may be that they are expecting to have less obligations so are already getting slack. There are some pathfinder feedback meetings coming up - one at the Cobham Hilton. Are you signed up for it? I have emailed but haven't had a response yet.

[Damsella]

CL

Red!

Chickenlips, have you considered what will happen in the summer holidays? It sounds like every day is important for Camille right now, and six weeks is a lot of time to lose. How about applying to Camille's Appeal for some money for her to have tutoring during the holidays? Because that would be rehabilitation, wouldn't it?

[Chickenlips]

Just had a chat with M about extra tuition Damz and he's agreed we can try to get someone one afternoon a week, we'll fund it ourselves, but thank you, great idea that I hadn't considered xx

I will be back with more questions Red!!

[Chickenlips]

Soooooo vaguey vagueson indeed.......

Part4 - Camille requires the type of provision available in mainstream school able to meet requirements outlined in part 3.

Part 3 - Camille requires 30 hours access support per week from a Learning Support Assistant. This support should be provided to her individually, within a small group and within whole class activities.

So.....clear as mud? But I am hoping I can now request a certain amount of hours per week on an individual basis....

[Adelelee]

Red you are amazing, lovely to see you back

xx