SCN0347

Written evidence from Parental Submission 144

Evidence on [local authority] for treatment of [name]

1. With regard to your enquiry into Local Authority and SEN support I felt duty bound to inform of our experience.

2. [Name] is currently 10 years old and until last July was a pupil at a small private preparatory school until we encountered financial difficulties and he was forced to leave.

3. He is diagnosed with anxiety disorder, High functioning ASD and has serious processing difficulties not just educational but in standard tasks. He had been receiving highly differentiated work and had been in a class of just 12 pupils with a teacher and a LA, he had spent most of his day in a sub group of 2-3 with a member of staff supporting the group. We had also been paying for an additional 90 minutes a week for 1 -2 -1 support with a member of the SEN Team.

4. Despite this level of support, he was only just managing age related tasks and had a typically spiked learning profile. It was estimated to maintain this level of support which at times was not sufficient would in a state school setting cost in excess of £12,000 a year well above the £6,000 a year that [local authority] allocate to one planning.

5. Prior to this as we were also having to move 20+ miles from the only home he knew so we had decided to home school until we had moved and he was settled and with an EHCP in place he would get the support he needed.

6. We had identified a secondary school that could meet his needs with an EHCP in place and they had agreed it would be necessary for him to continue achieve in school at the rate he had been at previously as he would be in a class of 30 most of the time!

7. We applied to the local authority for an EHCP assessment in April last year and our initial application was refused, we went to a refusal to assess meeting where in no un certain terms we were told his cognitive ability was too high. No consideration was given to the daily anxieties he faces due to his ASD or his complex processing needs and how this as a barrier to learning were insufficient to assess. We were also told that they would not assess if he was being home schooled and once in a state school they would only consider doing an assessment once he had completed three cycles of one planning, by their own admission they agreed this was setting him up to fail and then put help in place.

8. Without the EHCP in place we were not prepared to put our child’s mental health at risk as he was already suffering from high levels of anxiety due to the leaving of school, potential house moves etc.

9. We have subsequently met with IPSEA who looked at his notes and original submission and they advised that firstly the local authority were in breach of the law by refusing to assess and secondly they should not have taken such a stance in a refusal to assess meeting as an EHCP should stand regardless of where a child in schooled or how and finally without any question it was obvious he would most likely need an EHCP to fully support him both educationally and emotionally, a view echoed by EWMHS.

10. With IPSEA support we are looking to reapply but have been warned to expect many appeals along the way when all we want is our son to attend school in an environment where he feels safe and with support available to him for him to achieve his full potential.

June 2018