SCN0282

Written evidence from Parental Submission 175

 

  1. Our son came out of school in Y5 (Jan 2017) when the mainstream setting said they could no longer cope with his behaviours – they failed to implement sufficiently robust support, however he is likely to have needed more support than they could provide at some point.

 

  1. He was out of school for 5 months during the application for funding which resulted in severe mental health issues for him and other family members. Effectively as the right support was not implemented early enough it became a crisis. Both myself & husband had months off work due to stress and anxiety and his younger sister had to have support for anxiety which impacted her significantly at school.

 

  1. The original needs assessment was declined! Following a meeting with the LA SEN Manager it was referred back to the next panel meeting and was thankfully approved at that point. A totally ridiculous delayed that added to the problems.

 

  1. I had to write daily emails, make daily phone calls, providing information about behaviours and reports, made numerous phone calls, effectively harassing anyone involved to literally push to achieve a successful needs assessment appeal and an adequate EHCP, which resulted in approval for a full time SEMH school. His return to school though was not prioritised as I was told the EHCP timeline would be complete to approve the SEMH school by the 13th July (to point out the obvious this was about 3 days before the 6 week summer holiday!) An ill thought through response. Thankfully the SEMH school offered him access part time from the May so at least he was beginning to be settled for the September. This has been a hugely successful placement for him – they are outstanding!

 

  1. Fortunately the school is just under 8 miles away for us and we take him as a taxi would not work for him.

 

  1. I think the Local Offers are confusing! Particularly when you are trying to sort out so much – I’m still not clear what it’s all about. That’s my next job now things are more settled.

 

  1. Level and distribution for funding SEND

 

  1. We have constantly been told funding provision is a ‘challenge’ and we certainly experienced this when making application for needs assessment. In particular we found CAMHS entirely unhelpful. When our son was threatening to harm himself we received an appointment for 3 months time (classed as 2nd highest in urgency!).  I was making regularly calls in despair that something awful might happen and was then given an appointment for 3 weeks! His self harming threats continued and I asked what to do if the worst cam in the next 3 weeks and was told to take him to A&E, no thought was given to how much worse in fact this would have made the situation. When we did get into CAMHS we were told it was behaviour related and they were unable to help – he shouted and kicked and walked out of the appointment anyway after we asked them not to mention him being kicked out of school and their first question was ‘So do you want to tell us what happened at school’!

 

  1. Thankfully, with public support being difficult to tap into and lack of services, I happened upon a charity [name]. They have been amazing! They provide parent support groups, play sessions, holiday activities, various therapies for both parents and children, legal support, a network of parents who can offer advise and support or a place to vent etc

 

  1. This is a summary of an experience I could write a book about. There is absolutely a case for enhanced services for these children as I strongly feel the correct early interventions will save significant public funds dealing with the outcome of things going wrong e.g.

 

  1. Providing the right schooling increases the possibility of maximising the child’s potential academically and greater independence

 

  1. Early intervention with mental health issues reduces the chance of long term and or future support and medication being needed. This would therefore reduce costs of these requirements too.

 

  1. Ensuring early intervention and support will reduce the likelihood of criminal activity and the negative outcomes associated with this and again the cost to the public of paying for programs and hospital care when things go wrong.

 

  1. Doing the right thing enhances the child’s well being and welfare, increasing the possibilities of a positive lifestyle for them as an adult.

 

 

June 2018