More on the statement of special educational needs
Some children will have educational needs which cannot be met by the school at School Action or School Action Plus and will therefore need the additional help which can only be provided through a statement of special educational needs. If the Local Authority decide after a statutory assessment that your child needs a statement, they will send you a proposed statement, which is divided into six parts.
What is in the statement ?
Part 1 – Introduction
Personal details such as your child’s name and date of birth.
Part 2 - Special educational needs
This should clearly describe your child’s educational needs: what they can and cannot do and should include any diagnosis they have. It should draw on and refer to all the advice in the professional reports. For each need identified, there should be matching help in part three.
Part 3- Special educational provision
This sets out the help which will be given for each of your child’s difficulties listed in part two: for example, a number of hours one to one support from a learning support assistant, help from a speech and language therapist or specialist teachers. It is important that all the help, including staff, equipment and changes to the curriculum, is clearly specified so that everyone understands what your child is entitled to. All of the help listed in part three should match a need identified in part two.
Part 4 – Placement
This would normally state the type and name of school, or other education provision your child will attend. It is left blank in the proposed statement so that you can consider different options before the final statement is issued.
Part 5 – Non educational needs
These could be health needs, for example a medical condition such as asthma or epilepsy.
Part 6 – Non educational provision
This sets out the help that will be given to meet the needs in part five, for example, monitoring by the health service.
Some types of provision may be educational or non educational, and can be listed in both part three and part six. The local authority does not have to provide any help which is only listed in part six, so physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy provision should be in part three.
The statement should draw on all the advice in the reports provided as part of the statutory assessment by parents, school and other agencies. This advice forms part of the statement, so must be attached to it and listed on the first page of the statement.
How do I check the statement?**
When you receive the proposed statement, it is very important that you check it thoroughly and make sure you are happy with all parts, especially the description of your child’s needs in parts two and the provision in part three. It’s helpful to make a copy of the proposed statement and the advice reports so that you can write on them or highlight parts.
When you go through the statement:
- make a note of any differences between the professionals’ reports and the proposed statement. If professionals have recommended a particular kind of help, is this included in the statement in part three?
- highlight any words or phrases that you don’t understand
- make a note of anything you disagree with, or anything you think needs to be included. You can suggest the amended wording you would like to see in the statement.
When reading the proposed statement, ask yourself if part two describes your child clearly and accurately. If a new teacher read the statement, would they understand exactly what your child can and cannot do? Check that the help is described in detail in part three. This part should state who will provide this help, exactly how often and for how long.
Beware of vague phrases which do not specify exactly what help your child is going to receive. Examples include:
- Access to regular speech therapy. This does not state exactly how often the therapy will happen. “ Regular” can be once a day, once a year or anything in between.
- Opportunities for small group work. This does not state the maximum size of the group, exactly how often this will take place, or who will lead the group
- Up to 10 hours support from a LSA. It is not clear how much support will be provided: up to 10 hours can be anything from 0 to 10.
It may be helpful to ask someone else to help you check the statement: a fresh pair of eyes may pick up things you have missed. A friend, family member or someone from a local support group may be able to help. Your local Parent Partnership Service may also be able to provide or suggest someone.Check for more details.
What if I disagree with the proposed statement?
If you are not happy with the proposed statement, you have 15 days to ask for a meeting with a representative of the Local Authority to discuss your concerns. You can ask for further meetings if you need to, and you can also ask to meet with any of the professionals who provided the advice for the statement. Within eight weeks of drawing up the proposed statement, the local authority must make the final statement. However if you ask for further meetings in the meantime this will “stop the clock” and may delay the issue of the final statement.
What if I disagree with the final statement?
When you receive the final statement, you will also receive a letter telling you what you can do if you disagree with anything in the statement. You can:
- appeal to the First-tier Tribunal for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
- enter into mediation with the local authority. The local authority must give you details of an independent disagreement resolution service. Going to mediation is your decision - you do not have to do this.
You must appeal to SEND within two months of receiving the letter from your local authority. You can enter into mediation in the meantime, and this will not affect your right of appeal.
Remember, you can contact us free on 0808 808 3555, or post a query on Facebook or Twitter and one of our SEN advisers will get back to you. Alternatively drop us an email helpline@cafamily.org.uk
|
|
|
|
|
Cash Counts
Subscribe to 
