Is there a download (pdf) for the Nodi No-nonsense Guide to ALN law in Wales?

Can the LA amend section E outcomes without consulting parents?

We have tribunal against B, F and I in less than 2 weeks. The LA have sent in late evidence today (even though they are barred). They appear to have amended outcomes, without consultation. They also haven’t mentioned them in the email, just slipped them in.
My child is 16 (nearly 17) and at key phase transition. Lots of the outcomes refer to the end of post 16. Does this mean if they are achieved they will try to cease to maintain at 18?

Is it lawful to amend outcomes at this point? And without any input from parent?

Advice on how to approach LA

Urgent advice on how to approach this please. Tribunal appeal in less than 2 weeks. LA have been awful. Not sent case review form or WD. 2 orders from Tribunal which they ignored and are currently barred.

Today, less than 8 days before tribunal they have sent WD. Also snuck in some late evidence. And asked for a meeting with me next week to discuss what I am appealing. The appeal was lodged 5 months ago and they have not wanted to work with me at all until today.

I have been working on WD with some help from a charity but am not sure it is quite right yet. I also don’t trust the LA now. I’m not sure whether to meet them or just say I’ll have an email discussion with them, or just do via WD?

I’m tempted to write a timeline of when info submitted, and my emails to them and oppose them putting in late evidence. Is this worthwhile?

Section E Outcomes

I am going to tribunal shortly for B, F and I. I know section E outcomes are not appealable per se at tribunal, but is it possible to submit them and get them updated? If not when would this happen?
The AR is due about 3 weeks after tribunal, but I’m hoping just to roll the rulings of the tribunal over, rather than have a proper annual review and risk the LA trying to remove them!
Thank you!

What are the current legal hours of education provision from over 19 year old with an EHCP

My young person has been offered a provision of only two and half days. I am queuring whether this is legal and if there is a set number if hours that need to be provided.

Tribunal order- School now saying not appropriate provision for him citing - school structure, student cohorts, and his specific needs

Child is 13yrs old, attending special needs maintained school (yr9) diagnosis of severe learning disability.
I went to Tribunal earlier this year (April 2024) re appealing Sections B & F of the EHCP. LA professionals incl SLT, OT and Educational Physiologist reports were complied as part of the reassessment of his needs.
The EP report I felt was a fair representation of my son's needs, in particular (as example) citing his sensory needs related to the classroom environment, low arousal, to be in a classroom environment with peers with low sensory needs i.e ''no stimming'' as an example.
The LA SLT report recommended he needed 1:1 TA hours for core subjects, 15 hours, weekly for core subjects- English, Maths, Science, PSHE.

The Tribunal hearing was held in April 2024, with the Final EHCP issued by the LA in July 2024 (no amended Final draft EHCP issued, only Final).
An 'implementation' meeting was held with the school at the end of September, with a detailed plan given to me by the school of how they had started to implement the 1:1 hours TA hours weekly and an updated timetable was given to me. At the end of the meeting I checked whether the school had received the Final EHCP to which they responded they hadn't- they had only been working off the Tribunal order. At this meeting, there was no indication from the school that they wouldn't be able to meet my son's needs and the Tribunal order, it was a positive meeting.

On 14.10.24, I received an email from the school saying that after reviewing the Final EHCP, and discussions with the senior leadership team they felt that the

' School was not the most appropriate provision for Xxx. Given the structure of the School, and the nature of our student cohorts, many of the elements within our school are not compatible with the specific needs that have been identified in the updated EHCP''

School said they would be arranging an Emergency Annual Review meeting, I have yet to receive the date of this meeting.

My son is very happy and settled at school and a possible change in placement will have significant negative impact on him and us as a family (his Dad and I are separated).

Where do I stand legally and how do I best prepare for this meeting please, and also preparing for the worse case scenario? I am very worried.

Correct route of redress.

Section E - Outcome and Provision used to prevent full-time attendance. "Child will return to full time education by the end of Key stage one" Section F discusses slow transition but isn;t actually provision. The EHCP is under appeal with a hearing date of 13+ months now down to 12 months. The school named in Section I has placed the child on a reduced timetable. Parents disagree with this. A meeting was held, and the HT would not respond other than to state, "I am just going to repeat: we are following the EHCP". The following day, the child was suspended for 2 days. The following week, for a day. The child is in Key Stage One. We have submitted a request for change - An expedited hearing date. This is a friend I am trying to help. The EHCP is being used to prevent his legal entitlement to a full-time education. My question is, Is a PAP letter to the LA something that could work in this situation?

Is it permissable for the LA to ignore a private EP report (which they agreed to using) in the Draft EHCP? This is the only professional assesement report that has been made.

Due to national shortages and long waiting times the LA agreed to use the Private EP report for the Draft. I have received a copy today and they have ignored all the recommondations that have been made. They made no further assessements in the assessment period.

Recently attended formal mediation with my LA on the grounds they are refusing to conduct a EHC needs assessment. However during the meeting the LA representative advised they could not make a decision and that the new information shared, would need to be presented back to their send panel for reconsideration. Is this allowed? I thought the purpose of mediation was to resolve issues if able to do so? I.e make a decision.

Can my son's school mark his private speech and language therapy sessions as "unauthorised" absence?

1) My son was diagnosed postnatally with a rare neurological condition that affects fewer than one in a million children born in the UK each year. He is currently under the care of the Neurology department at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), where he will continue to have regular check-ups and MRI scans every six months throughout his childhood.

2) In 2022, his condition deteriorated, and after a series of urgent and invasive interventions at GOSH, his clinical team referred him for Speech and Language Therapy (SaLT) in January 2023.

3) We later discovered that the school (an Academy) had opted out of the NHS-provided SaLT services. Additionally, the school's SaLT, who was employed through a third-party provider, went on maternity leave, leaving the school without any SaLT cover.

4) By July 2023, we, as his parents, felt it was crucial to privately commission SaLT services to ensure our son received the necessary support. Given the complexity of his rare condition and significant developmental delays, we decided to continue weekly private SaLT sessions alongside the therapy he receives(only started in January 2024) through his Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) at school.

5) Since 2023, when my son began attending private SaLT sessions, his school attendance for these appointments have been marked as "authorised," as they were recognised as medical appointments.

6) However, as of this morning, we have been informed that moving forward, his attendance for these sessions will be marked as "unauthorised" and this will be reflected in his annual report.
The school's policy defines authorised absence as:
• When a child is absent, because of illness, and an acceptable explanation has been received
• Religious Observance (as defined in the exemptions list)
• Where a child has had a fixed term exclusion from school
• Medical/dental appointments. As above, appointments should be made outside of school hours.
wherever possible and the minimum amount of time should be taken.
• Exceptional circumstances (unavoidable absence)
• Any prolonged absence may trigger an unannounced home visit by the attendance/safeguarding team

7) Our son enjoys his private SaLT sessions. We have previously inquired about alternative time slots outside of school hours, but none were available.
The school is effectively forcing us to discontinue his private therapy, despite being the very reason we had to seek it in the first place.

8) As I understand, in Bromley v Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (1999), it was determined that where speech and language therapy is necessary for the child to access and benefit from education, it should be treated as an educational provision, even if the therapy is delivered by health professionals.
At the same time under the Children and Families Act 2014, SLT is recognised as both a medical provision and an educational provision.