New to this site ! - Help ?
My daughter has just started reception and currently receives 3 hrs support a day. But without a statement.... even though as she has general developmental delay, emotional, physical,feeding problems is hearing impaired and has low motor tone etc all due to a genetic condition. I actually contacted the local education authority to start off this entire process thought well in advance getting on for 18 months ago.... only to find out that they hadn't actually formally assessed for a statement ....AAAAAAAAAAhhhhh !!!!! so I am now going back to what feels like the beginning ... is it all about cost cutting - or should I just be grateful that she has some help - though I have questioned whether whether this is just for educatinal reasons - what about over lunch and play/breaks - as she is also prone to imbalance as well as feeding problems .......

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smile smile smile !

(10-20-2009 12:57 PM)ionag Wrote:  New to this site ! - Help ?
My daughter has just started reception and currently receives 3 hrs support a day. But without a statement.... even though as she has general developmental delay, emotional, physical,feeding problems is hearing impaired and has low motor tone etc all due to a genetic condition. I actually contacted the local education authority to start off this entire process thought well in advance getting on for 18 months ago.... only to find out that they hadn't actually formally assessed for a statement ....AAAAAAAAAAhhhhh !!!!! so I am now going back to what feels like the beginning ... is it all about cost cutting - or should I just be grateful that she has some help - though I have questioned whether whether this is just for educatinal reasons - what about over lunch and play/breaks - as she is also prone to imbalance as well as feeding problems .......

Hi and welcome to the site.
Although your daughter has not been formally assessed under a statement do the words school action plans mean anthing to you as this can be a first step and also school action plus which is also a second step with more help and then the third step is the statement.
They say they try to use the statement as the last resort so to speak.

Have they ever set out in writing any agreement for your daughters care?

Hi there, as my daughter has had recognised 'extra' needs from birth we have had the experience of lots of medical specialists etc and when she attended a private nursery she had an IEP there. So, talking to other parents knew that the education system was a nightmare, so contacted the LA 18 months prior to her starting reception at Primary school. I have had various meetings etc and only now have found that she hasn't ever been formally assessed for a statement - but on starting school, she receives 3 hours help per day - and have this in a letter from the LA. But nowwhere does it mention Action Plus/ School plus etc
So I am now preparing my letter requesting a formal SEN statement - though I thought I had asked for this a long time ago.....

All adds to the excitement doesn't it.........

School action and action plus tend to kick in when a child reaches year 1 ( or later, in which case school needs a kick to get going). Statements are long and time consuming so there is a move to resist doing them till the child is atleast 3 ( they would prefer much later or not at all).
Request a statement now. If they turn you down, they have to give a FULL reason for doing so ( and it might be age related).
If they agree, they have a legal requirement to do so within 15 months. ( Start to finish time).
Think about what you want in it, and see what you could ask.
For example, do you want this school? Do you need O/T imput and Physio?
It is better to ask for the moon and only get half, than to only ask for a slice and regret it later.

We got the school of our choice by default, they said no originally so we said we would not only fight it, but would use the fact that they took 2 years to complete the statement. ( And son was settled in our chosen school on a pre-statement basis).

Did you draft your letter requesting they provide a statement?