SCN0138

 

Written evidence from Parental Submission 60

 

 

Executive Summary

  1. I am the mother of a 13-year-old son who was diagnosed with ADHD in August 2017.

 

Main Submission

  1. The assessment of and support for children and young people with SEND

2.1.                      My son was diagnosed only because our GP listened when we went to her because of my husband’s chest pains (actually caused by stress resulting from my son’s behaviour).

2.2.                      There is a lack of internal consultation and awareness within schools: at his Y7 parents’ evening every teacher complained about his inattention – clearly they had not liaised and identified a concern, which would have been immensely helpful to us (we have two children, whereas teachers see a broad spectrum of children and are better placed to highlight issues and concerns.

2.3.                      We are not happy with the support received at school. The recommendations in his CAMHS report have still not been carried out an academic year after they were given to the school. Teachers still comment in his report that he should ‘focus/concentrate’. Work is not prepared with his needs in mind. He left primary school having good academic results but was below expectations for 1/3 of subjects by the end of Y8.

  1. The transition from statements of special educational needs and learning disability assessments to education, health and care plans

3.1.                      Not/relevant

  1. The level and distribution of funding for SEND provision

4.1.                        I have been told that the school does not have enough funding to meet all the recommendations of his CAMHS report, e.g. educational psychologist assessment, laptop for use in lessons.

  1. The roles of and co-operation between education, health and social care sectors

5.1.                      CAMHS should be helping to educate teachers about various special needs such as ADHD. My experience is that teachers don’t know what ADHD is or how best to teach a child with ADHD. It is exhausting as a parent trying to find out and educate them (then face their polite scepticism).

5.2.                      Provision for 19-25-year olds including support for independent living; transition to adult services; and access to education, apprenticeships and work

5.3.                      Not relevant

 

Recommendations

  1. CAMHS recommendations to be compulsory, funded and time-limited
  2. Each child with ADHD to have a named person in school responsible for their wellbeing and achievement
  3. Sample reasonable adjustments provided by DfE for each special need, parents to have the right to influence discipline procedures for their SEN child
  4. Termly meeting concerning progress for each SEN child
  5. Duty on schools to prepare a plan to keep each SEN child’s progress as expected in all subjects
  6. Ongoing family support and counselling from CAMHS on request: SEN puts an enormous strain on family life
  7. Clear SEN budget for each child and parents to have a big say in what it is spent on
  8. Each school to have an online SEN parents’ forum
  9. Overall schools need much more funding for SEN
  10. CAMHS follow-up in schools post-diagnosis
  11. Ofsted to check what strategies are being used for each SEN child and their effectiveness
  12. SEN to be part of all teacher training

 

 

June 2018