How Quickly Does Albendazole Work?

[ClaireG]

We moved here on 12th Jan. Before that we went to see the school that we wanted Adam to attend, we took his statment and spoke to the Head and Senco who said they could meet his needs. They told us he could start on 19th so we told his old school he would be leaving on the 16th. His new school rang us to say because he has a statement of educational needs he couldn't start on the 19th as the two LEAs had to meet and agree a transfer of funding.

 

They were to meet on the Wednesday and Adam should be able to start on 26th. I rang the school last week to check that he could start only to be told that the LEA had to write a new statement for him, it had to be approved by us and then a copy would be sent to the school to make sure they could meet his needs.

 

By this time i was I rang the parent partnership for our area (they help parents with children with SEN). I explained what was going on and they said they'd ring the LEA and ring me back. They rang back to say they'd spoken to the cheif education officer and that if the school agreed he could start on 26th. , i just had to email the LEA and say that i wanted Adam to start at that school.

 

I then received an email from the LEA stating that the school wern't happy to take him without the statment in place, incase they decide on seeing the new statement that they can't meet his needs and also untill funding was in place. I was told that we would receive the statement early this week and that i could approve it by email as could the school and that Adam could start 2nd Feb.

 

Yesterday, we had still not received the proposed statement ( still havn't), so i emailed the LEA asking when we would get it and stating i was concerned that it's fast approaching the holidays and if Adam can't start untill after them he will have been out of school for 5 weeks.

 

I've not received a reply to my email and can't get through on the phone I feel that he is being discriminated against as if he didn't have a statement of educational needs he would have been able to start school on the 19th Jan as planned.

 

Have any of you got any advice on what i should do?

Edited February 2, 2009 by Guest

[jess]

I don't have any advice but you must be feeling so frustrated at the whole thing I really do sympathise with you incredibly.

[Phoebe]

I think you are exactly right to sat that he is being discriminated against. The Disability Discrimination Act covers schools and I should explain firmly to your LEA that unless they get him in the school which you want, and which has room for him, by (?Tuesday of next week), you will be taking legal advice about their discriminatory treatment of your son.

 

Its not acceptable to take so long over this process when there is a statement available which the LEA/school could use on a provisional basis.

 

I share your wrath - changing schools is hard enough for kids without bureaucracy making it worse

[Yorkshire Pudding]

I'm a parent and an assistant SENCO and I share your frustration from both points of view!

 

In terms of the statement, why are the LEA insisting on re-writing it now? We take students from out of our LEA after an assessment of their needs based on their current out-of-area statement, so long as their previous school confirm it is still accurate.

 

The LEA then takes on the funding of that statement, but this has happened at our school after the child has been admitted, so long as the two LEAs have agreed it. We have a large pool of LSAs and 30+ statemented children, so we can usually timetable so that two students are supported together by the same LSAs.

 

It is essential to ensure we can meet their needs before we admit them, otherwise the child ends up without the appropriate support and will have to go through an emergency annual review to state that their needs cannot be met in our setting and that the LEA should seek an alternative placement for the child, which is another long and frustrating process. However that doesn't apply to Adam as the school has already said they can meet his needs - unless his needs have changed significantly since his last Annual Review.

 

I would contact Parent Partnership again urgently - explain that despite the assurances you received, the placement has still not started and you can't see any end in sight to the delay. Adam has been told he has a place, the LEA need to get their finger out!

 

However if there has been a change in his needs which necessitates a different level of provision (especially if the number of hours support has altered, and if the school will have to employ a support person especially for Adam), then there may be little you can do to hurry things. However, until he is on roll at his new school he remains on roll at his previous one, so they are still legally responsible for providing him with an education. If you can't have him attend that school for whatever reason, they can at least provide him with appropriate work, which you can return for marking. Not ideal, but it would at least prevent him from losing ground in his learning.

 

I hope you get a positive response soon. If his SEN is a disability under the DDA, you may be able to use disability discrimination legislation in your favour; as you rightly say, if there was an available place a non-statemented child would already have been admitted to school.

[ClaireG]

I'm a parent and an assistant SENCO and I share your frustration from both points of view!

 

In terms of the statement, why are the LEA insisting on re-writing it now? We take students from out of our LEA after an assessment of their needs based on their current out-of-area statement, so long as their previous school confirm it is still accurate.

 

As far as i'm aware its still accurate. They are insisting it needs to be in their format rather than the old counties format

 

 

 

The LEA then takes on the funding of that statement, but this has happened at our school after the child has been admitted, so long as the two LEAs have agreed it. We have a large pool of LSAs and 30+ statemented children, so we can usually timetable so that two students are supported together by the same LSAs.

 

It is essential to ensure we can meet their needs before we admit them, otherwise the child ends up without the appropriate support and will have to go through an emergency annual review to state that their needs cannot be met in our setting and that the LEA should seek an alternative placement for the child, which is another long and frustrating process. However that doesn't apply to Adam as the school has already said they can meet his needs - unless his needs have changed significantly since his last Annual Review.

 

I would contact Parent Partnership again urgently - explain that despite the assurances you received, the placement has still not started and you can't see any end in sight to the delay. Adam has been told he has a place, the LEA need to get their finger out!

 

They are now closed until Monday unfortunatly.

 

However if there has been a change in his needs which necessitates a different level of provision (especially if the number of hours support has altered, and if the school will have to employ a support person especially for Adam), then there may be little you can do to hurry things. However, until he is on roll at his new school he remains on roll at his previous one, so they are still legally responsible for providing him with an education. If you can't have him attend that school for whatever reason, they can at least provide him with appropriate work, which you can return for marking. Not ideal, but it would at least prevent him from losing ground in his learning.

 

Thanks i'll try and get some work for him from them

 

I hope you get a positive response soon. If his SEN is a disability under the DDA, you may be able to use disability discrimination legislation in your favour; as you rightly say, if there was an available place a non-statemented child would already have been admitted to school.

 

I'll check the DDA incase.

 

I've just had an email stating that the propsed stament will be posted tonight, i will believe it when i see it

[Yorkshire Pudding]

I think it's ridiculous to insist on the format being changed before he can be admitted. So long as the old county's format meets legal requirements, the content should be the same.

 

I hope you get some joy soon ClaireG - let us know the outcome please?

[bronze]

and yet they plan to fine you if you take your child out for a holiday...

[ClaireG]

I think it's ridiculous to insist on the format being changed before he can be admitted. So long as the old county's format meets legal requirements, the content should be the same.

 

I hope you get some joy soon ClaireG - let us know the outcome please?

 

I'll let you know when it arrives and if i can spot any major diffrences. An apology for not sending when they said they would last week wouldn't have gone amiss either. Not just an email saying it will be in the post tonight.

[ClaireG]

and yet they plan to fine you if you take your child out for a holiday...

 

maybe i should fine them.

[ClaireG]

We got the proposed statement in the post this morning. The main changes are that they are stating that Adam needs a higher level of help or more specialised arrangements than are usually available in schools in Northants. They are also providing 15 hours of funding for an LSA in addition to the help provided by school.

 

It's my understanding that this additional funding is what has caused the delay. Im just now that the school we want him to go to say they can meet this. My concern is that they wont have an LSA they can free up for 15 hours and that they might have to appoint. Meaning they may well say they can't meet his needs.

[Yorkshire Pudding]

We got the proposed statement in the post this morning. The main changes are that they are stating that Adam needs a higher level of help or more specialised arrangements than are usually available in schools in Northants. They are also providing 15 hours of funding for an LSA in addition to the help provided by school.

 

It's my understanding that this additional funding is what has caused the delay. Im just now that the school we want him to go to say they can meet this. My concern is that they wont have an LSA they can free up for 15 hours and that they might have to appoint. Meaning they may well say they can't meet his needs.

 

 

They might well need to appoint someone - 15 hours is a lot to free someone up unless they already have them on standby.

 

However if they decide to appoint at least they will be looking for someone suited to Adam's needs, which is an advantage for him.

 

This would explain the delay, though - 15 hours extra is a big difference. Your old and new counties must use very different funding structures!

[ClaireG]

Do you think they would take him and then appoint? Or would we have to wait untill they found someone? I know how long these things can take!

 

15 hours is a huge diffrence, i agree. It does mean Adam will be getting more help though which has to be a good thing.

[Janepie33]

I think it all depends on the nature of your son's SEN. If he will find it challenging to settle into a new environment, then the school might just be feeling extra cautious to ensure that they have everything in place before he starts, which can only benfit Adam, the staff and the other children.

I work in a reception class in a school and I know how difficult it can be for children to join the class part way through the year. I also work with pre school children with special needs and my understanding was that a child's Statement could follow them to each setting they attended as it is a legal and binding document.

 

The Parent Partnership officer is the best person to advise in this situation. I do hope you get it sorted out soon.

[ClaireG]

Once a child is given a statement they will always be statemented, it can be ammended though. The ammendment can be done following the annual review or, as in our case if you move districts.

 

Im a NNEB myself but havn't got SEN experience. I can understand the school wants everything in place etc but it's very frustrating as a parent! I just hope they hurry up and tell us if they can take him or if they think he would be better somewhere else so we can explore alternatives. The poor boy wants to be in school and is getting bored of me

[abwsco]

Hope it's sorted out for you soon as it must be very frustrating for you all.

[TAJ]

I know children who have been taken off statement, so I can see the schools point that they want an up-to-date statement and to ensure funding follows, otherwise if he was 'down graded' to 'school action plus' they would have to fund it out of their own budget.

 

It is all very frustrating and they should work faster to sort it out.

 

Tracy

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Once a child is given a statement they will always be statemented, it can be ammended though. The ammendment can be done following the annual review or, as in our case if you move districts.

 

Im a NNEB myself but havn't got SEN experience. I can understand the school wants everything in place etc but it's very frustrating as a parent! I just hope they hurry up and tell us if they can take him or if they think he would be better somewhere else so we can explore alternatives. The poor boy wants to be in school and is getting bored of me

 

 

Sorry, but that's not the case - we have ended three statements this year because the children's needs had changed and they simply no longer needed them. They aren't permanent. We amend ours at just about every review because as the children mature their needs and abilities can change drastically and the statement should reflect their current situation.

 

We do appreciate how frustrating it is as a parent to have to wait so long, and I agree things should move faster. As a school we experience the same frustration in trying to get all the info we need to make that decision as to whether we can meet needs (and sometimes, although we say we can't, we are directed to take the student anyway).

 

Consider though how damaging and difficult it would be if Adam were admitted and the school were then to find they couldn't meet his needs - it's essential that he is in the right school with the right support - but I'm not surprised he's getting bored at home.

 

I hope things get sorted out for you soon.

[ClaireG]

Thank you. I didn't realise a statement could be retracted but it makes sense.

 

I also agree that he needs to be in the right place and that the school needs to make sure they can provide the right support. I just wish it would/could happen a bit faster.

 

Do you think we should look at alternatives just incase? Or just wait and see what the school says?

[Yorkshire Pudding]

It would be worthwhile knowing what other options you would have, if the school have to retract their offer of a place.

 

 

It doesn't sound like Adam's needs would require a special school, nor that you would want that, so investigating other mainstream schools would not be a waste of time. Perhaps Parent partnership could help with that, or at least advise you on how long this process is likely to take. At least then if you have to look elsewhere you will be able to argue sensibly on the grounds of provision, travel etc.

[ClaireG]

I tried to contact them today but think they were having a snow day! Will try again tomorow and see what they advice.