Applying for Statement with unsupportive headteacher

[chocoholic]

Just had a really awful meeting at my little boys school. He has BJHS (beighton score 9/9) and Phonological Disorder. He started in reception in Sept and is struggling already. He's in pain, is exhausted and his concentration is very poor. His teacher suggested we ought to be going down the statementing route as he is having 1 to 1 TA support 80% of the time and is already falling behind his peers academically. Obviously the TA needs to be available to the whole group, not just him. I met with the headteacher and SENCo who basically said lets watch him over the next year or so and then if he is still struggling then we'll think about statementing! I said I wasn't happy with that as he is struggling already and needs help now. She said things like 'he won't get his own pot of money' 'it's a lot of paperwork' etc. She then (v patronisingly) grabbed a massive pile of papers, shoving them at me saying ' this is how much work we have to do to get a statement! Do you see now?!' I then burst into tears and managed to get out a 'So??'
In a nutshell I think she was trying to say they haven't got enough money and she can't be bothered.....so angry and feel so let down. This is our 3rd child in the school, we help with everything, support the school and are good parents. This is the first time we have asked for help and that's what we got.
Do any of you know much about applying for statement yourself? How much weight does the schools report hold or do they listen more to all the assessments? Just worried the headteacher won't make it out to be as bad as it is. His class teacher by the way is excellent and really suportive. Any advice really appreciated. Thanks x

[orchidmum]

Hi
How are you doing?
My heart went out to you when I read this.
I have two boys with hypermobility-one 9 and the other 5. The 5 year old has proable classical hypermobility EDS and is more affected than his brother.
I haven't any experience of the statementing procedure but I did have to battle for my oldest son. When he started reception it became clearer something was going on. I always had a feeling but not sure what. Then the issues with his younger brother became apparent and slowly but surely I connected the dots. We only got the diagnosis confirmed this past June....
My son has a health care plan and to get that was a battle.
What I would say to you is if you are concerned do not wait. If he is needing support he needs support. The system from my experience is much more concerned with their budgets and this becoming increasingly so with cuts etc.. Feels like an uphill battle to get help. David vs Goliath comes to mind.
As far as I know you can apply for a statement yourself. Don't know what is involved but if you feel he needs help then I would suggest looking into this. Is there a parents partnership group where you are/ They may be able to point you in the right direction and offer you support.
The statementing process can take time so the sooner it is started the better.
I pulled together a list of ideas of things we put in place for my son when he was youger let me know if you are interested and I can send it to you.
I looked at his school day and tried to find ways to conserve his energy for learning. How is his seating. Can he reach the floor both on the chair in the classroom and lunch bench. This was a big area for my son and we had a little plastic box under his feet both in the class and lunch room.
Chunky markers by crayola helped, chunky crayons and pencils. He also had a writing slope. He doesn't use it now but it helped him when he was learning to write.
easy to open lunch boxes and a variety of different things to try and give him as much energy for learning. How is his eating?
This is a big area in my house and can impact on them at school especially if they don't get much time to eat at school.
Another thing to consider is don't assume the SENCO is well trained in this area. this was a big eye opener for me. Some are good and caring and others it just happens to be the right job to fit with their life. Plus you don't necessarily need to be trained in special needs to be a SENCO.
Educate yourself as much as you can on what is required and what you are entitled to regarding statementing. The system hopes you won't know...
Best of luck

[chocoholic]

Hi
Thank you so much for your reply. Well things have moved forward quite a bit ( following a great deal of pushing and phone calls on my part!) ds is getting worse with regards to exhaustion and pain. He probably manages maybe 1 'good' day per week. We managed to get him seen at Hypermobility Clinic at GOSH 2 weeks ago which was amazing. They are sending us on the 2 week intensive Physio course in a few months. The school has now arranged for us to have a TAC meeting next week with school nurse, Specialist Teaching Service, OT etc to discuss the best way forward. Everyone in the same room....bit daunting but brilliant. I would LOVE to see your list if you don't mind. It's really hard for me to know exactly what he needs at school as I'm not there and am guessing. Your list might give me some pointers! The little step idea is great and his eating is dreadful so lots to think about there as well. Thank u so much. X

[orchidmum]

Hi
Have you had the meeting yet? I will try and post some more when I have a bit more time and my computer cooperates.
When my oldest was little and we were not clear on what we were dealing with I tried to look at his day to find ways to conserve his energy the most. So what available energy he had was available for learning.
Chunky pencils, chunky markers and crayons. Chunky plastic spoon from well known Swedish shop. Bowl with lip-available in various stores, not a specific medical one(more child friendly)
As far as eating I work on the premise of as healthy as I can based on what they will eat, little and often. Does he stay for school lunch? How does he do with that. Another area in my house is drinking enough fluid. My kids are actually like little plants, you can see them fading then give them a drink and snack they perk up considerably.
I also let my kids primarily finger feed at present as using utensils can be tiring for them This is not forever solution but I figure we can work on those skills without the pressures of the school day-summer hols etc..
If you email me i will send you the list I have.
Best of luck.

[Itigo]

As a former SENCO I was shocked to read your post. How unprofessional of the HT. It may be worth you reading the Code of Practice for SEN. I am not in the UK any more but this was the legal document we had to abide by 4 years ago. It might be useful for you to have a look to see what's expected of schools. https://www.education.gov.uk/publicatio ... 581%202001

I know that there have been HUGE cuts in education since I left - in fact my job has gone (was in a specialist centre) and a whole tier of support has gone from councils. Makes me very cross that money goes from these areas first where it's most needed.

It sounds as if your son'd school is trying to help more now. I hope your meeting goes well. The OT should be a big help.

[Superstottie]

I agree that the Head teacher was very rude, but I think that maybe she was also very bad at getting the point across. We have been told by a woman from Parent Partnership that to get a statement, or any assessment, their has to be a file containing several pieces of paperwork, such as IEP's, reviewed IEP's, details of help that has been given and the effect that has had. I think the head teacher was trying to make this point - but obviously has no people skills and didn't make herself clear!! It might be worth you getting in touch with your local parent partnership - you can find them through a search on the net, and you can then find your local contact. The woman who came out to see us was fantastic and supported us at a meeting with the head teacher, this made us feel less intimidated and she also took notes for us so that we could concentrate on getting our point across without having to worry about remembering every last detail. They can advise you on the legalities of SEN and what the school should and shouldn't be doing, and also what you can do as a parent. Unfortunately these things do take a long time to get anywhere, but hopefully the fact that you are getting some help now, will mean that they can give him the extra support he needs and he wont have too much to catch up on!

Good luck! x x