dysTalk Statement Of Special Educational Needs In The Uk - Talks - dysTalk

About the speaker: Alastair Coomes is a dyslexia specialist teacher based in London. He works as a SENCO and inclusion coordinator and a lot of Alastair's time is spent on statement applications.

Further information about this Talk

Helpful Websites:

Parent Partnership
www.direct.gov.uk

Key Points Covered in This Talk:

• What are educational statements?: Educational statements are a way of funding children with special educational needs (SEN) in a mainstream school in order to help them access the curriculum. There are many different types of statement and many different reasons for getting a statement. This talk is looking at learning cognition: children who are not reading or writing at a level that they should be for their age.
• Dyslexia and educational statements: In terms of dyslexia it's quite rare to get a statement of educational needs. However, this does not mean you can't get a statement if your child is dyslexic.
• Why statements exist: In 1981 special schools were phased out as it was felt that children were not achieving their potential in these schools and that they were being side-lined in education. Educational statements were introduced as a way of keeping children (who normally would have gone to special schools) in mainstream schools.
• The current situation: The situation now is that Local Education Authorities (LEAs) have a finite amount of resources and therefore statements are not handed out very easily. LEAs go through a code of practice that was set up in 2001 after the Warnock report. This stipulates the different hurdles you have to overcome for your child to get an educational statement. The process can take up to 26 weeks / 6 months and there is a significant amount of evidence that schools have to gather and paperwork to undertake.
• The importance of standardized scores / percentiles: These often come up when looking at special needs and continually come up when looking at statementing and considering whether people meet the criteria for an educational statement. On the standardized score 68% of the population is average, with scores ranging from 85 to 115. 100 is in the middle; above 115 is above average; and below 85 is below average. If you are applying for a statement your child needs to be in the first or second percentile (i.e. the bottom 1-2%) depending what borough you are in. This is a very low score. In different boroughs they have different criteria whereby some give educational statements to those in the first and second percentile (i.e. the bottom 2%) and other boroughs only give statements to those in the 0.5 percentile (i.e. the bottom 0.5%).
• Getting the school involved: If you think your child falls into the requisite percentile (see above) or you have evidence (either from and educational psychologist (EP); from a speech and language therapist; or from a specialist teacher) then it is worthwhile looking at getting a statement and talking to your school via the SENCO (special education needs coordinator) about the possibility of a statement. You need to ask them whether the school would support an application for a statement of special educational needs. You can do this by yourself and it can be done under parental prerogative, however it is much easier if you have the school on side because they will have a lot of evidence to support your case.
   
• The steps to getting a statement:

1. Your child needs to fall into the percentile required by your borough to get a statement.
2. If your child is in that percentile then you have to make sure that your child is on the special needs register and that they are at a level called school action plus. School action plus means that the child will have outside agencies working for them. If you have had an educational psychologist working with your child then you should be on school action plus. It could also mean an occupational therapist or speech and language therapist as well.
3. The school (in conjunction with parents) then have to put in place a program of remediation to see if the child can be moved forward from where they are at, towards a more average mark. If after six months or two terms in school of having this help your child has not made the progress required, this is evidence to show that their need is long term, severe and complex. In other words it is not a high incidence special need which a school should be able to cope with. If a child is severely dyslexic or severely dyspraxic this can be classified as a complex need as they are are lifelong conditions. Once this evidence has been compiled you can apply for a statement.
4.  The school will fill in an application for a statement - this is an initial asking form called an Essay 1.  This is quite a long form (about 15-20 pages) where all the evidence is put together. It will include reports from people such as educational psychologists or speech and language therapists detailing whereabouts the difficulties lie with the child. The form will also have things like IEPs (individual education plans) - these are vital to show the work has been done to try and help the child out of their difficulties. Your views and the child's views will also be included. This form can take a long time and can be a significant burden on teachers. It is important to persist and keep going with it.
5. Within three weeks a pre-panel will look at the evidence and see if it meets their criteria. You can get hold of that criteria if you ring the SEN department in your LEA. They may not be forthcoming but persist in asking for it because it is very important that the criteria fits with the LEA's.
6. That will go to panel. After panel they'll decide whether the child should receive a statement or how big that statement should be. Quite often if you are notified that you will go to panel it is a very good indication that you may well get a statement. However, you can go to panel and not get a statement and the LEA can decide the criteria are not met.
7. After panel there is another period of collecting evidence where evidence is collected to make the statement of need. This can take a bit of time and involves another form: An Essay 2 (sometimes known as an appendix B). The evidence will include medical evidence and evidence from social services if they have been involved as well as evidence from speech and language therapists, educational psychologists and the school. Once collated a draft statement can be put together which will be sent out to you and the school. Quite often the draft statement may not offer very much money and you might want to negotiate. This will slow the process down and it can take a considerable time to get the level of support that you or the school think is appropriate for the need of the child.
8. If you are happy with what the LEA are offering a full statement will be produced. This will show the amount of money that the school will be funded. Once that is ratified and signed a statement is issued and a funding stream is given (through the school). Some LEAs will ask the school to support the statement (i.e. make a contribution through the school's budget). Other LEA's provide full statements. This will continue for the child until they are 16. Every year there will be a review and if the child has made enough progress the statement will be withdrawn. It is important to remain involved with the reviews to ensure you get what is right for your child.

• Alternative approaches for getting a statement: If everything goes well then perhaps within three months from beginning the application a statement will be issued. It is often not this straightforward. Quite often there may be a problem with the school. They might not have the evidence needed to put forward in a statement. Another problem can be that you can't get an educational psychologist from the LEA to assess your child because often there are not enough educational psychologists to go round. In such instances you can get an independent educational psychologist report and you don't have to go through the school to apply for a statement, you can do it as a parent. This has been successful but you will need a lot of help with it and it is harder without the school's report. The Parent Partnership should be involved. Each LEA has a Parent Partnership and they are very helpful and are independent, working for parents (not the LEA). If you have got the school's report and the requisite evidence but still the LEA are refusing a statement at panel you can reapply after six months saying there is still a problem. If there is a problem before that 6 months you can appeal against the decision of the panel and there is a tribunal you can go through. Unfortunately this might involve getting a solicitor involved and sometimes you have to play quite hard.