I don’t want school to attend mediation. Refusal to issue. The school see no issues, whereas my daughter is in the verge of EBSA. They have never supported any referrals, despite my persistent requests since reception. I finally paid for a dyslexia assessment in Y3 which identified moderate dyslexia but recommended SALT & ASD assessment. The ASD referral was refused at triage as school information said she was fine. So I paid for those assessments too. She was diagnosed Autistic & SALT highlighted language difficulties, following instructions 0.4 percentile, her other scores were 2 percentile or below apart from 1 which was 40 percentile which is how SALT thought her lack of understanding was being missed. I have seen via SAR school stating my child has no issues & that it is me. The mediation company have invited the school and the Headteacher & SENDCO are attending. I really don’t want them there but the Mediation company said they have to. I also asked for just one decision maker from the LA attend but I have been told the manager & case worker have to attend. I have also been diagnosed Autistic & I feel intimidated. I thought it was up to the parties in the mediation to request who is invited, not the mediator.

Someone in my community has a child in reception with complex social issues and potentially ASD. She is classified as non-verbal although she does have some verbal communication now. Her school have been clear since September that they can't support her. Her mother has applied to 14 specialist schools, none of which are prepared to accept her unless she has some intervention which results in her presenting differently. She has a meeting with Lambeth on the 30th January to try and resolve things but understandably has low confidence in a successful outcome. She has been told that she can bring an expert with her to the meeting, who could she ask who would understand the process well enough and doesn't need to be paid? Are there charities who could offer support in this way?

We were issued an EHCP over the summer for my 7 yr old daughter which left out SALT and OT input, even though we supplied very detailed private assessments in both these areas - these are the two largest areas of need. The LA told us they would update the EHCP when the NHS OT/SALT had seen our daughter. As the time was running out for mediation or appeal to be triggered and we still had an EHCP that was not fit for purpose, we initiated mediation. Mediation is now December, the OT and SALT reports have just been done. Yesterday, through the mediator, the LA sent the NHS OT and SALT reports with a word version of the current EHCP, and asked us to mark up what changes we want. Are parents really expected to write the EHCP's with no qualifications, having no idea of what a good EHCP should look like? I'd like to know what should happen in the process, and what's the most practical thing for us to do now - if the best shot at getting what we need is to go back and pay a private EP to review and make changes, then I'll have to take it, but seems unbelievably unfair. Doubt they will do it in time of our December mediation date, in which case we will have to move the mediation date. Any advice would be really appreciated! Thank you.

My child, aged 14, is at private school, they have just been identified ASD and ADHD. Does an EHCP work in the same way in private schools?

LA has agreed to EOTAS (involving tutoring, educational provision at an equestrian centre, and clinical psychology support). I have asked for transport costs - my car mileage - in taking my 13 year old child to and from these places. She has severe SEMH needs and will not allow anyone else to transport her. Is there law to support me claiming my car mileage; and can this be written into her EHCP? Many thanks.

My daughter's EHCP is going through a Phrase Transfer (nursery to Reception) annual review. She is currently repeating nursery at an independent school who are supporting her brilliantly and where we want her to stay for Reception. She has Goldenhar Syndrome which results in a hearing loss and severe speech disorder plus various other things. The upshot is that she needs a full time LSA, SALT and OT provision plus Section F of her current EHCP specifies 'quiet listening conditions with low levels of background noise and reverberation'. The independent school which is our first choice has said they can meet needs conditional on her receiving full time LSA support (current EHCP specifies 30 hrs).

The LA say they have two state primary schools that can meet needs. Both schools have intakes of 60 children in Reception where all 60 children share the same classroom space. One of the schools has been described as unsuitable by the Teacher of the Deaf. We obtained the offers from each school and actually neither of the offer letters say they can meet all needs, they both say they can meet SOME of her needs but not all. Both also say they would need extra funding from the LA to make changes to the acoustic environment.

Are we now in a position where the LA do not have a suitable alternative school that can meet needs so they must place her at the independent school that we want and pay for the full package (including fees)? Does 'meeting needs' mean 'meeting all needs' or is there a grey area?

Can Section A only be amended at annual review? I have just successfully appealed Sections B, F and I of my child’s EHCP at Tribunal. The Tribunal has ordered the LA to amend Sections B and F. The LA is in the process of doing so. My question is whether the LA is precluded in law from making the amendments I have requested to Section A at the same time?

The LA has said it can only do what the Tribunal has ordered it do it and that I will have to wait a year for an annual review to ask for amendments to Section A. My understanding is that as Section A can’t be appealed and does not come within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, there is nothing in law to preclude the LA from making amendments to Section A now - when they are working on the EHCP to amend Sections B and F. Is this right?

I know I may be wasting my time arguing a point of principle here, but it feels an important one as the Draft EHCP was very poorly drafted and didn’t even include the full views my daughter had written out herself nor the full information she had given to the LA’s Ed Psych as part of a sentence completion activity. I therefore felt that in not including them in Section A her voice had been ignored, which was contrary to the whole principle of the Code of Practice. I have been asking for these amendments since the poorly written Draft was issued.

The LA ignored my requests to make the amendments during the exchange of working documents and has now come back with a ‘No’ and an email saying, ‘This can be amended following a future annual review. Legally [we] must stick to the working document and what the Tribunal have ordered us to amend.’ This feels unnecessarily unreasonable but is there anything in law to support their point?

Any advice gratefully received. Thank you.

We have Mediation on Monday for refusal to assess, for my 12 year old daughter who is in Y8 and really struggling. Parental request.

LA have clearly accepted she has SEN in their refusal letter, so that’s the first hurdle.

Refusal letter from LA:
-the evidence presented felt contradictory in that **** has shared she does not feel anxious about school but parents have shared that **** can mask
-limited evidence from school to support parents view that **** is struggling in school
-information from school reference academic information very limited
-panel felt that whilst **** clearly has some additional needs, there seems to be a breakdown in communication between home and school

The CAMHS report evidenced clearly states her level of anxieties reported many times from my daughter, however the LA felt it was contradictory despite a letter from CAMHS. Nonsense. The first sentence in her ADOS report states ‘**** was contradictory about high school, she said it’s better than primary school as it’s bigger however constantly having to move around for different lessons is very difficult. She denies she is anxious about going INTO school but she dislikes all the people in her form’…

My daughters CAMHS worker is attending the mediation meeting also.

I’ve printed every email I’ve sent to school, and 9 times out of 10 not had a response. They really do not care and have also not fed any of these issues to the LA when they have requested information from them.

Looking for any advice for Monday, I’m well aware it’ll most likely be a fail but I just try. I’ve got a tribunal in January for my other daughter, not quite sure I have it in me to go through to all again 😞

I am currently supporting a LA, piloting universal banded funding across Mainstream and Special Schools EHCP pupils. From feedback received from participating schools, we are considering revising the format of the EHCP documentation.

We would like to some clarity on the following proposals:
• Are there any legal implications for adding ‘Primary’ and ‘Secondary Need’ type into the front page of an EHCP?
• Are there any legal implications for adding the agreed ‘Banding Level’ into the front page of an EHCP?
• Alternative to the above, would there be any legal implications for adding ‘Banded Funding’ (and then listing the allocated banding, e.g. “Banded funding: SEMH – band 2”) onto the front page of an EHCP?
I hope this makes sense and am grateful for any advice on this.

I met someone in the doctor's surgery this morning who has a non-verbal 4 year old who has just started primary school. The school is unlikely to be able to support her daughter for much longer as she also has severe - but undiagnosed - ADHD. Lambeth referred her to the Mary Sheridan Centre for a diagnosis but they are expecting she will be waiting at least a year for an assessment. She has been asking for help via the GP for several years. If she gets a private diagnosis will this expedite the EHCP or will she waste her money?