-for those without an Education, Health & Care Plan
For those parents who are waiting to hear about school places for September 2020 (secondary, primary, infant or junior) the date is fast approaching, so we thought it might be helpful to have a reminder of the key dates.
Please note: if your child or young person has an EHC Plan then the process and dates here do not apply as a different process is used. Please contact us if you need advice or support with this.
Key dates for school places:
Secondary places
What Happens
Primary, Infant or Junior places
Monday 2nd March 2020
Offer Day. Online applicants (who applied on time) will be notified by email which school their child has been offered. Other applicants will be sent a letter by second class post.
Thursday 16th April 2020
Monday 30th March 2020 onwards
Late Applications received on or after the cut off day (30th November 2019 for secondary / 15th January 2020 for primary, infant or junior) are processed and offers made A Waiting list will be established and places offered if they become available.
Friday 22nd May 2020 onwards.
April to July 2020
Secondary – Independent appeal panel meetings held every Thursday. Primary, infant or junior – Independent appeal panel hear appeals lodged by parent/carers.
May to July 2020
If you would like a reminder about the criteria and process for allocating school places then please take a look at West Sussex’s advice on How school places are allocated.
Appealing a decision
You have the right to appeal against a decision not to offer your child a place at your preferred school and to place them on a waiting list. You can lodge your appeal online.
The admission authority for the school must allow you at least 20 school days to appeal from when they send the decision letter / email.
The admission authority will set a deadline for submitting information and evidence to support your appeal. If you submit anything after the deadline, it might not be considered and may result in delays to your hearing.
A note about appealing infant class places.
Because the law states that infant classes should not normally have more than thirty pupils, appeals for Infant class places (Reception, year 1 and year 2) are different than for other school places. The Independent Appeal Panel cannot increase the number of children in an infant class unless it is satisfied that the admission authority has acted wrongly. The powers of the Panel to admit extra children are extremely limited where the school is organised into classes of thirty or will be arranged in classes of 30 in future years. This therefore means that very few appeals for infant classes are successful. However, your appeal could be successful if:
giving your child a place will not increase the class size above the limit
the admission arrangements have not been properly followed
If your child has or may have SEN and you would like to talk through your situation with one of our advisers, then please contact us at SENDIAS: 0330 222 8555 or send.ias@westsussex.gov.uk
Jan blog – Part Time Timetables
Part-time timetables – what are they and when are they lawful?
Another issue we are often contacted about here at SENDIAS is the use by schools of part-time timetables (also referred to as reduced timetables). Here we are going to look at what children and young people are entitled to in terms of education, if and when part time timetables can and should be used, and how long these arrangements should go on for.
The right to a full-time education
All children of compulsory school age are entitled to a full-time education. A child must start education the term after their fifth birthday and can leave education on the last Friday in June if 16 years old by the end of the summer holidays. (this doesn’t mean they should necessarily be at school, as parents may opt to electively home educate, but they should be receiving a full-time education)
Once they are 16, they must then do one of the following until they’re 18:
stay in full-time education, for example at a college
“Can a school place a pupil on a part-time timetable? As a rule, no. All pupils of compulsory school age are entitled to a full-time education. In very exceptional circumstances there may be a need for a temporary part-time timetable to meet a pupil’s individual needs. For example, where a medical condition prevents a pupil from attending full-time education and a part-time timetable is considered as part of a re-integration package. A part-time timetable must not be treated as a long-term solution. Any pastoral support programme or other agreement must have a time limit by which point the pupil is expected to attend full-time or be provided with alternative provision. In agreeing to a part-time timetable, a school has agreed to a pupil being absent from school for part of the week or day and therefore must record it as authorised absence”.
2 things are indicated here – 1) it is only due to a child or parent’s request for part time attendance that this could be considered by the school NOT the school’s request to the parent for their child to attend part time. 2) Should part time attendance be felt to be in the child’s best interest, then this should be time limited after which the child either returns to full time education or alternative provision is provided.
Local Authority’s duties to secure full-time education
Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 places a duty on LAs to make suitable alternative education for children of statutory (compulsory) school age who cannot attend school because of illness, exclusion or any other reason. (This is an important but often overlooked phrase and would certainly apply to part time attendance).
A local authority (“LA”) is permitted, under section 19 Education Act 1996, to provide “education on such part-time basis as the authority consider to be in the child’s best interests”, where “for reasons which relate to the physical or mental health of the child, it would not be in the child’s best interests for full-time education to be provided”. (emphasis is mine)
The provision of suitable full-time education to those who would not otherwise receive it:
“While there is no statutory requirement as to when suitable full-time education should begin for pupils placed in alternative provision for reasons other than exclusion, local authorities should ensure that such pupils are placed as quickly as possible”.
“While ‘full-time’ is not defined in law, pupils in alternative provision should receive the same amount of education as they would receive in a maintained school. Full-time can be made up of two or more part-time provisions”. (in fact, an LGO ruling from 2019 stated that guidance suggests that full time is approx. 22- 25 hours per week, or may be less if receiving 1:1 face to face tuition).
Planning for alternative provision
“All pupils should be helped and encouraged to achieve or exceed the standards of a good education. Commissioners should recognise any issues or barriers, and hence a potential requirement for alternative provision, as early as possible, and carry out a thorough assessment of the pupil’s needs. Schools should look to have an increased focus on the early assessment and identification of a pupil’s needs before his or her behaviour has deteriorated to the extent that exclusion is the only option”. Or if not overt exclusion, then unlawful exclusion through incorrect use of a part time timetable.
Case Law
IPSEA have a very interesting case law summary regarding a child who despite having a Statement of SEN (equivalent of an EHC Plan prior to 2014) was placed on a part time timetable almost at the beginning of starting secondary school. Although the First Tier Tribunal sided with the school, the parents took it to the Upper Tribunal who disagreed with the original ruling.
The Upper Tribunal findings were:
Once the child had become a registered pupil, the school had been obliged, under s. 317(1)(a) Education Act 1996, to use its best endeavours to secure a full-time education.
The school had not made any provision for the hours where the child was not in school.
“The authority arguably owed an even stronger duty to secure for the child a full-time education given their duty to arrange the educational provision specified in the statement of SEN.
The conclusion from this then is that IF part time attendance at school is felt to be in the child’s best interests by the parent (or even by the school), and school are not going to arrange and fund suitable alternative provision themselves during this time, then the LA must be involved in that decision as it is they who have a duty to secure full time education under section 19. This is the same for those with SEN regardless of whether they have EHC Plan or not.
Without this discussion, consideration and agreement with all relevant and suitable ‘parties’ that it is in the child’s best interests; and if suitable education is not arranged, then ‘Part-time timetables’ are very likely to be unlawful exclusions. This is especially true in situations where school are suggesting these because they do not have enough resources to support a child’s behaviour or other needs.
A part-time timetable must not be used as a disciplinary measure. This would result in the child accruing day or half-day exclusions (depending on the circumstances) every time the child wasn’t in school, which if being recorded properly would trigger a different process.
For those with EHC Plans, if the support within the EHCP is not working, or the child’s needs have changed, then an emergency review is needed BEFORE a decision is made to reduce attendance / timetable. Only through a review can it be established that a reduced timetable is in the best interests of the child.
What if a part time timetable IS in the best interests of my child?
As mentioned above, in exceptional circumstances, part time attendance or a part time timetable may be in a child’s best interest for example:
where a medical condition prevents full-time attendance or
a child is transitioning back into school after a long-term absence.
If this is being discussed, then you should be able to reasonably expect the following:
It must be clear when the part-time timetable comes to an end and must not be a long-term measure.
The school must have your signed parental permission evidenced on the school file prior to the commencement of a part time timetable.
Where appropriate, your child must have an active involvement in the process of planning, reviewing and evaluating the provision.
A clear and evidenced rationale for the reduced hours, aimed at supporting the needs of your child as part of a detailed action plan. There should be a clear pathway to full integration within an agreed timeline of no more than a few weeks (usually 6-8 weeks is the maximum agreed). This should have LA agreement.
The absences from school as part of the part-time timetable will be treated as authorised absence.
A formal risk assessment of the impact that a reduced timetable would have on your child must be carried out and agreed. What happens at the end of the period?
There should be a review meeting midway through and towards the end of the proposed period with opportunity to discuss support and if the all objectives of the part time timetable are being met.
• What if the part time timetable has not achieved the results we hoped for? Before the end of the agreed period of the plan, if the objectives have not been achieved, a multi-agency meeting needs to be arranged urgently to plan the next steps for your child. This might well include specialist staff from outside agencies.
School Exclusions
Exclusions is a subject that we receive a lot of calls and emails about at SENDIASS and last week we presented a Webinar on the subject. We included information about the different types of exclusions, when exclusions should be used (and when not), what you should be able to lawfully expect if your child has been excluded and what to do if you do not agree with an exclusion. You can find the Webinar and the accompanying Legislation and Statutory guidance on our Videos and Webinars page of our website.
One of the things we mentioned in the Webinar was the School Exclusion Review by Edward Timpson (known as the ‘Timpson Review’).
Official statistics show that children with SEN represent 14% of the state-funded school population (DfE, 2018b) but account for almost half of permanent exclusions (DfE, 2018a). The same data show that pupils with SEN support are almost six times more likely to receive a permanent exclusion than pupils with no SEN and pupils with any type of SEN are around five times more likely to receive a fixed period exclusion.
Vulnerable groups of children are more likely to be excluded, with 78% of permanent exclusions issued to children who had special educational needs (SEN), or classified as in need or eligible for free school meals.
Edward Timpson made 30 ‘recommendations’ in his report and whilst the Government have accepted all of them ‘in principle’ there are 3 specific responses in the Government Response paper specifically relating to SEN which we wanted to highlight here:
Government response to recommendation 1: ………. We will also revise the SEND Code of Practice before the end of 2020.
Government response to recommendation 6: We welcome the additional evidence gathered by this report and recognise the need to ensure that SENCOs and Designated Senior Leads have access to specialist support to help them identify additional needs and put in place effective interventions. To support new SENCOs, we are funding the development of a SENCO induction pack and a guide for school leaders in the most effective deployment of SENCOs according to setting. We are also reviewing the learning outcomes for the Masters level National Award in SEN Coordination (NASENCO) that new SENCOs are required to achieve, to ensure that they reflect the changing needs of the educational system. We will support schools and colleges to train a Designated Senior Lead for Mental Health, free of charge. This training will enable senior leads to set up an effective whole school/college approach to mental health and wellbeing. This will include how to incorporate mental health and wellbeing in the design of behaviour policies, curriculum and pastoral support; how staff are supported with their own mental wellbeing; and how pupils and parents are engaged. The department published updated ‘Mental Health and Behaviour in Schools’ advice in November 2018. This advice helps schools to identify pupils whose behaviour may be a result of an underlying mental health difficulty, and how to support them, within an approach to behaviour that is based on clear expectations. The advice contains specific information about how schools can support pupils through Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and on whole school trauma and attachment awareness. This guidance will be revised in response to Edward Timpson’s review.
Government response to recommendation 18: We recognise the need for better signposting for parents and carers. We will update guidance for parents as recommended and will consider how to meet the recommendations on Local Offers and Information, Advice and Support Services.
We will continue to watch out for updates on this and will publish when we hear or see anything new.
Dec Blog – How to apply for an EHC Needs Assessment.
How to apply for an Education, Health & Care Needs Assessment and what to include.
Some children and young people with special educational needs may need more support than a mainstream education setting (schools, colleges, nurseries) can offer and may need to have an Education Health Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) to work out how much and what sort of help they need.
There may be several reasons why you as a young person or parent are looking to make a request yourself for an EHCNA (Education, Health & Care Needs Assessment). Ideally if there are still concerns despite ongoing support (see previous Blog) then we would hope to see the school making the request directly but this may not always be possible i.e.
Child or young person is not attending school / college
School say they do not have the time or staff to make a timely request
School do not think that your child / young person’s needs will meet the Local Authority’s (LA’s) criteria,
School have not collected the evidence required by the LA.
However, if you feel that your child’s needs (or your own needs as a young person) meet the criteria set out in law (Children & Families Act 2014 and the SEN Code of Practice 2015) then you have the right to request an EHC Needs Assessment from the Local Authority.
How to apply for an EHCNA:
The following people have a specific right to request for an EHC needs assessment:
A child’s parent1.
A young person themselves if over 16.2
A person acting on behalf of a school or post 16 institution
1For children under 16, the parent makes the request. This includes children from age 0 to 5, where parents should make a request if they believe that the child will need extra help at nursery or when they start school.
2Where a young person is between 16 and 25, they can make the request themselves. If the young person is not able to understand, remember or communicate decisions about the educational support they need, their parent or carer can make the request on a young person’s behalf.
Anyone else can bring a child or young person who has (or may have) SEN to the attention of the Local Authority, particularly where they think an EHC needs assessment may be necessary. For example; foster carers, health and social care professionals, early years practitioners, youth offending teams or probation services, those responsible for education in custody, school or college staff (other than the senco) or a family friend.
Bringing a child or young person to the attention of the local authority would be undertaken on an individual basis where there are specific concerns and should be done with the knowledge and, where possible, agreement of the child’s parent or the young person.
The process should be the same whether a formal request has been made or they have been brought to the LA’s attention i.e. The LA should be contacted through SENAT (Special Education Needs Assessment Team) and they will seek views and evidence to decide whether an EHCNA should be done. In practice the majority of concerns will likely be discussed with the parent or young person directly and they themselves will make the request (if school do not). Only where parental agreement cannot be sought and there are ongoing concerns around education or parents are not able to make the request themselves that this is likely to happen.
Children and young people under 19 in youth custodial establishments also have the right to request an assessment for an EHC plan themselves.
Lawfully speaking there should be no specific way to make a parental request (i.e. you should be able to call the LA and state over the phone that you are requesting one). However, it is important for the LA to see as much explanation and evidence as possible so it is helpful to put it in writing if possible.
What should I include in my request
As discussed in the previous blog, an EHCNA request should be accepted by the Local Authority where there is or may be SEN and it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan.
For a young person aged over 18, a local authority must consider whether he or she requires additional time, in comparison to the majority of others of the same age who do not have special educational needs, to complete his or her education or training [CAFA 36(10)]
At this point, to determine whether an EHCNA is necessary, only needs that affect a child or young person’s learning will be considered. Where there is only health or social care needs, an EHC Needs Assessment would not be considered (however, other assessments may be required instead i.e. social care assessment). Once an EHC Needs Assessment is agreed then all other health and social care needs will be included in that assessment. It is still worth recording all health & social care needs in your request but we would advise making those that affect learning clear.
A note about mental health
It is worth noting here that although it has ‘health’ in the name, Mental Health comes under the SEMH (Social, Emotional & Mental Health) category of SEN and should be treated the same as any of the other 3 categories. If a child or young person suffers with anxiety and provision is able to be met at school to meet this need then an EHCNA would not be required. However if their mental health difficulties mean that Special Educational Provision is needed and school or college are not able to resource that provision or a different kind of provision is required then they would be expected to provide, then an EHC Needs Assessment should be sought.
If you are writing as a parent, it is also important to record a child and young person’s views where at all possible. A helpful way to do this could be through a WIKI
We have put together a list of suggestions of things to include that may help you to write your request either as a parent or as a young person.
Some of these may be evidenced through professional reports; through ILPs or equivalent (individual learning plans), yearly reports or communications that demonstrate any barriers to learning.
What else to consider?
One you have sent your request The LA must reply within six weeks of receiving it (this is required by regulation 4(1) of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014). They should always reply to you as a parent or young person – even where the request was made by the school or college.
Within this 6 weeks, the LA (SENAT) will contact the school or college (if on roll) for their views and evidence which will be considered along with the information sent with your request. As mentioned previously, we would advise you to speak to the school or college to let them know that you will be making your own request for an Education, Health & Care Needs Assessment as they will need to get their evidence ready for the LA (and they only have a short amount of time to do this).
Before you make your request, you may want to see what evidence the school or college holds, in case they have something that may help or could prevent you both submitting the same evidence. However, if this is not forthcoming and you feel that it may be helpful for your EHCNA request, then you may be able to make a SAR (Subject Access Request) to obtain this information.
One of the pieces of evidence that the LA will expect from the school or college is a costed provision map. This is simply a timetable of support that the child / young person receives with related costs (i.e. 1:1 / small group staff time; cost of involving specialists, counselling or therapies; cost of specialised software or equipment etc). The LA will often use this to see whether the school or college could use more of their own resources so it is important that they include ALL the support being given, with correct costings).
Who can help?
SENDIAS can help if you feel you:
Need further advice on what to write in your request
Are not sure if you / your child meet the criteria for an EHCNA
Want some help or advice to communicate with the school about your concerns.
Nov Blog – When should I start thinking about an EHC Plan?
When should I start thinking about an EHC Plan?
Is your child struggling at school and you are wondering about asking for an EHC Plan (EHCP)? Perhaps you’ve heard people speaking about an EHC needs Assessment (EHCNA) and would like to know more? This month’s blog explains what these are and when you should consider requesting one.
Please note: quotes from the SEN Code of Practice 2015 or the Children and Families Act 2014 uplifted directly will be in blue.
What is an EHCNA and EHCP?
An EHCNA (Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment) is an assessment done by the Local Authority of the educational, health & social care needs of the child or young person (CYP). This is a legal process used to determine whether an EHCP is needed.
An EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) is a legal document that describes the aspirations, desired outcomes, the Special Educational Needs (as well as Health & Social Care needs) of the CYP and the support (Provision) required for them. It also names the education setting that the CYP will attend (and sets out any personal budgets that have been agreed).
The legal circumstance for considering an EHCP?
If a CYP has a learning difficulty or a disability which is holding them back at school or college, and the school or the parents of the CYP (or the young person themselves) believe that the school or college is not able to provide the help and support which is needed, then a request should be made to the Local Authority (LA) for an EHC needs assessment.
For the Local Authority to agree to undertake an EHCNA, 2 criteria must be met:
1) That the child has or may have SEN (Special Educational needs)and
2) That it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan.
The definition of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Special Educational Provision (SEP) are set out in the Children & Families Act 2014:
20 When a child or young person has special educational needs
(1) A child or young person has special educational needs if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special educational provision to be made for him or her.
(2) A child of compulsory school age or a young person has a learning difficulty or disability if he or she—
(a) has a significantly greater difficulty in learning than the majority of others of the same age, or
(b) has a disability which prevents or hinders him or her from making use of facilities of a kind generally provided for others of the same age in mainstream schools or mainstream post-16 institutions.
21 Special educational provision, health care provision and social care provision
(1) “Special educational provision”, for a child aged two or more or a young person, means educational or training provision that is additional to, or different from, that made generally for others of the same age
(2) “Special educational provision”, for a child aged under two, means educational provision of any kind.
(5) Health care provision or social care provision which educates or trains a child or young person is to be treated as special educational provision (instead of health care provision or social care provision).
What should happen before making an EHCNA request?
When looking at SEND, the main thing that is considered is a child or young person’s desired outcomes. These outcomes should be based on their needs. The provision required will then be decided upon, in order to meet those needs. Whilst diagnosis can be important and the process of diagnosing should offer insight into a CYP’s needs; SEN Support or an EHCP will not be given based on diagnosis alone.
Every school is required to identify and address the SEN of the pupils that they support. Mainstream schools (including academies etc.) must:
use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need – this means doing everything they can to meet children and young people’s SEN
ensure that children and young people with SEN engage in the activities of the school alongside pupils who do not have SEN (6.2)
(for more information on what ‘best endeavours’ means, follow link to IPSEA website)
Schools should make regular assessments of progress for all pupils and should be able to identify any pupils making less than expected progress given their age and individual circumstances. (This should include national data and expectations of progress to compare the results against). This can be characterized by progress which:
is significantly slower than that of their peers starting from the same baseline
fails to match or better the child’s previous rate of progress
fails to close the attainment gap between the child and their peers
widens the attainment gap
To note: It can include progress in areas, other than attainment – for instance where a pupil needs to make additional progress with wider development or social needs in order to make a successful transition to adult life.
Where a pupil is identified as having SEN, schools should take action to remove barriers to learning and put effective special educational provision in place. This SEN SUPPORT should take the form of a four-part cycle known as the graduated approach.
Note about school funding
Schools receive SEN funding in the form of notional SEN budget and it is expected that this should be used to make the special educational provision (support) (i.e. 1:1 support, small group work, specialist equipment, pay for needed therapies, consult with specialist services etc).
Note: Although the Government currently suggest that schools should provide up to the first £6,000 of this provision, there are many factors involved in this and not all schools will have the ability to spend this amount on your CYP’s needs (especially if they have a lot of children with complex needs etc). Whilst Local Authorities are allowed to develop criteria as guidelines, such as this, they must be prepared to depart from these criteria where there is a compelling reason to do so (SEND CoP 2015 9.16). Bottom line, a child should not miss out on needed support because the school does not have the resources and should not have an EHCNA request refused just because the school have not spent £6,000 on your CYP.
Reason for applying even if school are using best endeavours:
Lack of progress – If school have been giving support but expected progress in those areas of concern is not being made, then an EHC Needs Assessment request should be considered as more resources or more specialised resources may be needed to meet your CYP’s needs. School would be expected to make the request themselves but as parents, you also have the right to make this request directly (but please make sure the school are aware as they will still need to gather and upload evidence).
Moving to next level of education – A young person who was well supported … while at school may move to a further education (FE) college where the same range or level of support is not available. An EHC plan may then be needed to ensure that support is provided and co-ordinated effectively in the new environment (CoP 9.15). This could also apply to moving from primary to secondary.
If there is a concern then have a conversation with any colleges / secondary school you may be considering, to discuss how they may be able to support your CYP should they attend there. The college is then able to decide if an EHCP will be needed to make all the required provision. If they are stating that they would not be able to provide the right support without one, obtain that in writing as you will be able to use that as evidence when making your EHCNA request.
What if you feel that school are not using best endeavours?
If you feel that the school are not doing all they can and your child is still struggling, then further discussion with the school may be needed to explore this further. If all other avenues have been exhausted and you feel that their duty to make best endeavours to provide support is not being fulfilled, then you may consider making a complaint to the school (please follow your school’s complaint policy).
The LA would expect schools to fulfil their duties first before agreeing to do an EHCNA and therefore would likely refuse any request in these circumstances (although of course you would have a right to appeal to the SENDIST tribunal against a refusal).
If you still feel that an EHCNA is needed
In the meantime, keep any records of ILPS or equivalent (Individual learning plans), yearly reports or communications that demonstrate any barriers to his/her learning, what the school have done about these and whether the provision has worked / not worked (and the reasons why). These can then be used to evidence that support over and above what the school would be expected to provide is needed.
Coming up next – How to make a request for an Education, Health & Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA). Please sign up to our blog to receive automatically.
Welcome to our first mid-month blog. Every so often we will be posting ‘incidental’ blogs in addition to our main monthly ones . In these we may bring current news to your attention, or provide some tips and advice that we hope you will find useful.
Perhaps you have a meeting coming up to discuss your child / young person who is struggling and not sure how to approach it? Or you find yourself getting upset, anxious or even cross at the thought of the meeting? Here are a few tips taken from our own leaflet ‘Communicating with Professionals’ as well as a few helpful questions that you may want to ask.
Plan in advance
It is
helpful to plan ahead for any meeting. You could:
Make
sure you and those invited to the meeting are clear as to why the meeting is
happening including how much time is needed or being given
Think
about the outcome(s) you would like from the meeting and the questions you want
to ask or the points you want to raise. Make a note of these to take with you
to act as a reminder.
Think
about how you might raise any concerns without being confrontational – see some
examples below.
Take
your partner / friend / family member with you for moral support. They may also
be able to help you to keep track of your questions and may help you to write
down anything that is said in response to your questions. Do let the
professional who has organised the meeting that someone else will be attending
with you so there are no surprises.
Make
sure any paperwork that you need is sorted and easy to find.
Take
paper and pen so that you can refer to what you wanted to ask and write down
anything that will be done as an outcome or an action and who is going to carry
that out and when
During the meeting:
Ask
to be introduced to anyone at the meeting that you don’t know and their roles
at the meeting to be explained
Don’t
be afraid to ask for any jargon or abbreviations to be explained
Try
to stay calm and polite. If you feel that you are getting upset or angry: ask
if you could take a few minutes away from the meeting to collect your thoughts
and emotions or spend a couple of moments going through your notes.
Revisit
your outcomes to see whether these have been addressed.
At
the end of the meeting summarise (or ask for someone else to) what has been
agreed and what will happen next (with time frames)
After the meeting:
When
you get home, check and tidy up any notes you made, so that you can refer to them in the future if necessary
If
actions were agreed, try and leave until the time agreed to see if the actions
make any difference
Keep
a log of any incidents/ concerns that continue so that the actions/outcomes can
be revisited at an appropriate time
Helpful Questions to ask in a
meeting
Communication
can be a complicated process, with use of language, tone, non-verbal signals,
engaged listening, often all being used at the same time. When we add emotions
or conflict to the mix there is more chance of that communication not working
in the way we want or need it to.
When
communication is used effectively; teamwork, decision making and problem
solving are improved and even negative or difficult messages can be
communicated without creating conflict or destroying trust. The following type
of questions used in your meeting can help with this:
Positive
opening…
Tell me how well my child is doing in your
class…
What is my child good at?
What are my child’s positive points…?
What do you /others like about my child?
Showing
a willingness to work together….
How can we help my child with
improving on ______ together?
How can we_______?
What are your thoughts on______?
It has been suggested that ______ can be
helpful, can we try that?
How can I support you in supporting my
child?
I have found _______ particularly helpful
and I wanted to share this in case it’s helpful for you too. (you know your
child best, feel free to share that knowledge)
My child thinks __________ may help, would
it be worth a try? (your child’s view is very important, if they can vocalise
what might help this is very useful)
When
you are unsure about what has been said….
What do you mean when you say ______?
How does _____ relate to my child?
I am not sure what you mean, please could
you put that another way for me?
Let me see if I understand you; do you mean
_____ or _____?
I am not sure how _______relates to our
problem/discussion/issue, please can you explain that to me?
Could you give me an example of what you
mean / how that would look/ how that will work?
Would _____ be a good example of that?
If
things aren’t moving in the direction you wanted you could try:
Have you considered ______?( you can give an idea)
My understanding is _______ .( especially helpful if you are certain of a fact and want to put this forward in a way that won’t create ill feeling)
If you can’t do _________, what could you do instead?
Oct Blog – SENDIAS Support For EHC Appeals
At SENDIASS,
we are seeing a significant increase in the number of requests for support with
appeals against the Local Authority’s (LA) decisions concerning EHC Plans and
EHC Needs Assessments.
It is
probably worth mentioning here, that in West Sussex it is SENAT (Special
Educational Needs Assessment Team) who represent the LA in decisions around EHCNAs
and EHC Plans so where we talk about appealing against an LA decision, it is in
effect a decision made by SENAT but the LA is overall responsible.
What can I Appeal?
You are
able to appeal to the SEND Tribunal if the LA:
refuses
to carry out an EHC needs Assessment or a re-assessment
refuses
to issue an EHC Plan
issues
or amends an EHC Plan but you disagree with any or all of Section B (special
educational needs), Section F (special educational provision) or Section I
(placement)
decides not
to amend an EHC Plan after an annual review
decides
to cease to maintain the EHC Plan
Parents and
young people also currently have the right to appeal against the health and
social care sections of the plan (Sections C, D, G and H).
Please note
– Appeals resulting from amendments, re-assessments and the ceasing of an EHC
Plan will be considered in a separate blog.
How can SENDIASS help
We will be
able to explain the process to you and help you with the completion of forms
and preparation of your case. We can
help you think through what you want to get across during a mediation meeting
or tribunal hearing but we will not make recommendations or decisions for you.
We may be
able to accompany you to the mediation meeting or to the Tribunal hearing and support
you in ensuring your voice is being heard, and if asked any questions we would
answer from your perspective and not our own.
In order for the
support we offer to be as effective as possible with your appeal process, here
are some things to help you:
Timing
You have 2
months from the date of the letter (either stating that the Local Authority
(LA) are refusing to Assess or that accompanies the final EHC Plan), or 1 month
from the mediation certificate (whichever is the later) to submit your appeal
paperwork to the SEND Tribunal.
Although
this may seem a long time, there may be a lot of paperwork that needs to be
gathered and some conversations and appointments needed so it is worth starting
as soon as you can. Leaving it to the last minute may mean that your appeal is
not as effective as it could be as vital information may be missing.
Action: As soon as you start considering
that you may want to appeal you can give us a call and we can talk you through
the process to make sure you haven’t missed anything. In some circumstances you
may already know the LA’s decision before you receive the letter so do make
contact with us at this stage.
Tip: Mark the above dates in your diary
as soon as you know them with a reminder for at least 2 weeks before so that
you have time to make any last minute changes or additions to your appeal
before needing to submit it.
Initial process
Ideally by the
time you receive the formal decision letter from the LA, you will have already
had conversations with your planning coordinator about decisions being made and
will have a good understanding of why they do not agree with what you have
asked for. If you do not understand the
reasons or you have not been told, do not be afraid to ask them for more
clarity.
If despite these conversations, you still do not agree with the decisions then you will need to call Global Mediation to discuss whether to go to mediation or straight to appeal (you can read more about the differences in our leaflet – Lodging an appeal with the SEN & Disability Tribunal).
If you
chose to go straight to appeal then Global will issue you with a certificate
and you are then able to submit your appeal with the SEND Tribunal. In order to
do this you will need to complete an appeal form. There is one for Refusal to Assess (SEND35a) and a different one for
appealing sections of the Final EHC Plan (SEND35).
Once you
have completed the form and gathered all the required paperwork (checklist is
on the forms) you can then submit it to the SEND Tribunal. They prefer your
appeal and paperwork to be emailed (this is also quicker) but if you are not
able to do this then you can post hard (paper) copies instead. However, they do
ask for an email address or phone number in case they need to contact you.
Important: Even if we have agreed to attend
the tribunal hearing with you at this stage, please do not put the advisers
name on this appeal form (under representative). You will receive another form for
this to be done – see below.
Tip: As soon as you think you may
appeal, start to have a look at the form that applies to your appeal (you can
usually print a blank copy). You can then start jotting down notes for the
different sections. This will prevent you having to do it all at once and
perhaps forgetting something.
Appeal Accepted
You should
hear back from SEND Tribunal within 10 working days with a decision about
whether the appeal has been registered (if not, it is usually because some vital
paperwork is missing or you have missed the deadline). If registered, the
letter will set out a timetable including a list of deadlines for you and for
the LA.
You will
also receive an attendance form and a request for changes form.
Refusal to
Assess appeals are decided on the paperwork only but all other appeals will
need to be decided at a hearing. If we have agreed to attend the Tribunal
hearing with you then you can now add the advisors name to the attendance form.
This is an example of the Parental Attendance form:
Attendance form for parents
If you have
any witnesses, you will also need to complete their details on this form, so
please get their permission first.
The request
for changes form will need to be used if you make any changes or additions to
the initial appeal paperwork.
The hearing
or decision is usually held within approx. 12 weeks of accepting the appeal.
Action: As soon as you have the acceptance
letter get in touch with us if you have any questions or feel you may need
support – 0330 222 8555. If you can email through the letter with the
deadlines then this is even more helpful.
Tip: Mark these dates in your diary
(with reminders a couple of weeks or so beforehand in case you need to take any
action).
Is your child in the last year of infant, junior or primary school or will they be starting school for the very first time next year? If so, then you are likely to be getting ready to apply to West Sussex County Council Admissions for a school place.
This can be a daunting task trying to make the right decision for your child, so if you’re unsure about what options you have, then we aim to clear some of this up here.
In this blog we give a brief overview of the different schools, some things to consider if your child has SEND and some of the information that is available to help you make your decision.
Key dates
Starting school &
transferring to Junior school
Applications open Monday 7th
October 2019 and close Wednesday 15th Jan 2020. Offer date is Thursday
16th April 2020
Transferring to Secondary
school
Applications open 9th Sept 2019 and close Thursday 31st Oct 2019. Offer date is Monday 2nd March 2020
What schools can I apply for?
If your child does not have an *EHC Plan (even if they
are at *EYPARM stage, in the EHC Needs Assessment process or at SEN Support at
school) then at this point, you can only apply for admission to a mainstream
school. (Please note: if your child already has an EHC Plan then the process is
different so please refer to the information on our resources page)
The mainstream types of school are – Maintained
– schools maintained by the Local Authority and Academies, (including
church-aided, foundation and free schools) who are funded directly by the
Secretary of State. As well as applying through the Admissions system online,
some academies (especially church- aided) will also want you to complete their
own admissions form. You should be able to find details of this on the county
council’s admissions guidance or on the school’s own website.
A special
school is a school which is “specially
organised to make special educational provision for pupils with SEN” (section
337 of the Education Act 1996) and SSCs (Special support Centres attached to
mainstream schools) generally require a child to have an EHC Plan to be able to
access these and cannot be applied for through the admissions process.
If you live near the West Sussex border, you may be
considering a school either in-county (within West Sussex) or out-of-county
(outside of West Sussex). You can apply for an out-of-county school in the same
way (but select the county you require from the drop down option on the online
form and a list of their schools will appear).
How is the school selected?
Applications are made online. You are entitled to state 3 preferences on the admissions form (which should be listed in preferred order) and it is advisable to make one of them your catchment area school . There are several reasons for this but the main one is that applications are ranked against the school’s over-subscription criteria and not the preference order that they are listed on the application. If you chose an oversubscribed school, the further away you live the less likely you are to be offered a place.
You will also need to check to see whether a Supplementary Information Form (SIF) is needed. These are often required by church-aided , foundation schools and some academies.
What if my child has SEND?
All mainstream schools have a duty to support children with *SEND and are given resources to do this. In fact should you wish your child to be educated in a mainstream school, The SEN Code of Practice states that admissions authorities ” must not refuse to admit a child who has SEN but does not have an EHC plan because they do not feel able to cater for those needs ” (1.27).
There are several things you can do if you want to find
out how (not if) a school will be able to support your child:
Talk to the Senco (you can use the SENDIAS’s list of questions to help you )
Look at the school’s SEN Information Report (on the school’s website)
Look at the school’s Ofsted report
You may consider applying under the Exceptional and Compelling grounds
Exceptional and Compelling circumstances
Some schools have a criteria where priority will be given to applicants if there is a strong medical case or exceptional need for the child to attend the school named first on their application, known as the exceptional and compelling category. However it is quite rare for places to be given under these circumstances. Unfortunately, issues such as difficulties with childcare arrangements or the child’s ability/school performance are not covered by this category.
What if I don’t think my child is ready to start school?
In West Sussex your child may start either full or part-time in the September following their fourth birthday. The School Admissions Code states that parents of summer-born children and those who were born prematurely (who would have naturally fallen into a lower age group if they had been born full-term) can choose not to send their child to school until the September following their fifth birthday. This is known as delayed admission
If you feel this is appropriate for your child , a delayed entry application must be made. It is important to still continue to make an admissions application in the normal way to ensure a school place should the delayed application be refused.
What if I don’t get the school we wanted?
If you are not offered the school you wanted, you are entitled to appeal the decision.
You may also have the option of joining a waiting list for the school.
Keep talking with the Senco and school staff of the school your child has been offered both before and after they start to make the transition as positive as possible.
Glossary
*EHC Plan – Education health & care Plan
*EYPARM – Early Years Planning and Review Meeting
*SEND – Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities
Ofsted: Inspection reports, obtainable from the Ofsted website, also give a brief outline of the type and characteristics of educational institutions.
Blog starting September 2019
Watch this space for our new Blog, starting in September 2019
Welcome to our Blog
Hello and welcome! We are so glad you’ve joined us.
We are all aware that the world of SEND (Special Needs and Disabilities) Law has been changing over the last few years. We have seen the updated Children and Families Act 2014 along with the SEND Code of Practice 2015, Equality Act 2010, New Exclusions guidance and so on
Changes to benefits and Appeals, reduced resources in schools and Local Authority services have all contributed to confusion around provision – what SHOULD be provided according to Law and what IS being provided.
This monthly blog has been created to give opportunity to unpick some of these issues and keep you up to date with any further changes being made in the SEND world.
This blog will be coming in September 2019, so sign up and be ready!
