SENDcrisis

At our roundtable today we heard about the broad issues facing children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. @johnharris1969 recounts his experience of accessing support for his son below. Watch the session: goo.gl/8hixK1 #SENDInquiry

@sarahjsmillie @OrigGrumpyDad @TenaciousRk @gfreeman2012 If they are fortunate enough to access to the financial means. It’s an option not available to some.

@SDcrisis @OrigGrumpyDad @TenaciousRk @gfreeman2012 yep - hence why so many parents employ the private services of ethical EPs

Please, #SENCo aolleagues, can we try to move away from talking about ‘applying for an #EHCP’ and always say ‘requesting Statutory Assessment’? THAT is what we or parents are actually doing. AND the legal threshold 4 LA HAVING to assess is extremely low. Advocate, assert, insist!

I am deeply concerned over @WalsallCouncil proposals to cut school transport for young people aged 16 and over. #SEND #schooltransport @sentas6 @ipseacharity @JayneMcCubbinTV @SteveBroach @EHRC go.walsall.gov.uk/about_the_coun…

Looking forward to the response to our "letter before action" setting out the basis on which we argue the Secretary of State for Education and the Chancellor of the Exchequer are failing to discharge their legal duties relating to #SEND funding/provision. Due on 9th November.

I really feel that professionals really do not understand how anxiety and sensory issues really affect autistic people. As a parent it's starting to really annoy me. #AutismAwareness

@StarlightMcKenz @Butterflycolour @Claire_Ryan12 @DHT_INCL @NataliePacker @nhunt87 @Callum_SEND @TheKingsFund @whatworksCSC @AdamBoddison I think it can be clearly seen how "effectively" LA's have used the SEND reform funds. Ask the children who are not able to access their education, ask the parents who are told sch can meet needs without ehcp, ask the judges in ftt & utt & JR., ask the siblings who miss out too

Councils and CCGs will be shaping up budget proposals for 2019-20. This Rightsinreality guest blog from Mathieu Culverhouse @IMPublicLaw is an excellent beginner’s guide to challenging proposed cuts #SEND rightsinreality.wordpress.com/2018/02/14/gue…

If one more Local Authority try’s to claim Dyslexia “doesn’t exist” you are going to find yourself with a Judicial Review claim. You have been warned....

@haylez10 Ours seems to think dyslexia is just a strong dislike of text on white paper 🙄

@OrigGrumpyDad @TenaciousRk @gfreeman2012 Difficulty here is after the patents have had an assessment refused, appealedand then been granted an assessment, it is carried out by an LEA Ed Psych whose main agenda is budget led and who is often under qualified to assess.

@TenaciousRk @gfreeman2012 Indeed, and because it’s hard to prove ‘they may not have’ unless assessed by and Ed Psych, it should be standard practice to assess EVERY child who ‘may have’ additional needs so we stop failing kids and wasting their educations

@gfreeman2012 Yep, the legal test is "Has or MAY have SEN and MAY need the provision in a EHCP"! Thats it, no requirement to have been seen by an EP, or be 2 years behind or needing £6000 spent, just "Has or MAY have and MAY need" .

@Thelma_WalkerMP @DrAnneMurphy In 2017 alone, local authorities rejected 14,586 requests for an EHC needs assessment, despite the low legal threshold in place

17,942 schools face cuts, and the Chancellor has announced money for "little extras". Must try harder, @PhilipHammondUK #Budget2018 #Schoolcuts

@SenStormer @RenataBplus3 @scousemama1 @HarfordSean @AndrewCookHMI @educationgovuk @halfon4harlowMP @CaptainK77 @CommonsEd @seftoncouncil If they put a fraction of the effort into producing EHCPs as they do monitoring twitter, children and young people with SEND might stand a chance!

@SDcrisis @RenataBplus3 @scousemama1 @HarfordSean @AndrewCookHMI @educationgovuk @halfon4harlowMP @CaptainK77 @CommonsEd @seftoncouncil Now now, I’m sure they don’t want to ‘rush’ their improvements as per the WSOA. 🤦‍♀️

@HarfordSean @AndrewCookHMI @educationgovuk it appears parents are not receiving any response to their correspondences either. This situation is becoming critical for many children and families.

@nomorecutz @FamilySend Some of St Helen’s staff jumped ship from Sefton around the time of the Ofsted Inspection. One case worker in particular has a terrible reputation at the SEND tribunal.

@FamilySend This is where I’m from, there was so much they did wrong during the process, they knew JR was coming. As a group we lobbied our local cllrs, two members in particular really did a great job with an amazing complaint letter & media stories.

Good news. St Helens Council has overturned its decision to charge for #SEND transport. One of the reasons they cite is "the possibility of a legal challenge and the Council being subject to judicial review". It seems we're starting to make a difference.

Says it all when @seftoncouncil like a tweet in support of them not meeting statutory legal deadlines in the EHCP process! @SteveBroach @StarlightMcKenz @SEN_advice @CaptainK77 @Ofstednews

@RenataBplus3 @scousemama1 @SenStormer @HarfordSean @AndrewCookHMI @educationgovuk @halfon4harlowMP @CaptainK77 @CommonsEd @seftoncouncil @seftoncouncil really not impressed with you “liking” a comment suggesting an upside of you not meeting your statutory legal duties. Remind me again, how did Sefton’s SEND Ofsted Inspection go?

@SDcrisis @scousemama1 @SenStormer @HarfordSean @AndrewCookHMI @educationgovuk @halfon4harlowMP @CaptainK77 @CommonsEd @seftoncouncil This is better than rushing useless plans through to meet the deadline because of the same levels of incompetence coupled with a desire to try and cover them up #SENDcrisis

Central Bedfordshire is covering itself in glory at the moment Email from SEN Officer; "As per the SEND Code of Practice, an EHC Needs Assessment is a 20-week process" #sen #send

@RenataBplus3 @scousemama1 @SenStormer @HarfordSean @AndrewCookHMI @educationgovuk @halfon4harlowMP @CaptainK77 @CommonsEd @seftoncouncil They are still useless plans, even with the delay. I know parents who are currently awaiting final drafts 18 months on from the initial assessment, many have had drafts containing info on other children (copy & paste jobs) or missing vital medical info.