School Action/Plus without SEN?

[Joa]

I was wondering whether the school has to have a child statemented before implementing School Action/Plus? Can there be a SA/P without SEN?

[poppynurse]

SA and SA plus can definately be done before statementing I think they are normally implemented to help a child who is struggling in some way, but I seem to recall I had to agree when they did this for my child.

[Joa]

Thanks poppy. I am at the Local Government Ombudsman's stage with my complaint against my LEA.

LEA says; well, Ms X has never asked for her child to be assssed for SEN.

Correct- I didn't, because I was told that the school can take action without SEN statement .

So I am happy to have it confirmed.

[Bookworm]

On the contrary, SA/SA+ are usually the precursor to a Statutory Assessment, which itself may or may not lead to a Statement of Needs. Besides, whilst you may indeed request Stat Assessment for your child, SA/SA+ are usually actioned by the school, sometimes without the parent's knowledge or prior discussion, so I think your LA are trying to throw a smokescreen or confusing what terms mean what.

[Joa]

I think your LA are trying to throw a smokescreen or confusing what terms mean what.

 

Oh really, do you think so?

 

Well, thanks very much for this. You probably can imagine how obstinate they are, now that I have decided to kick butt.

My daughter had less then 40% attendance throughout the High School due to severe ME; school knew it, LEA knew it. Nobody did anything, despite my letters; begging, threatening, explaining, demanding. No extra help, no SA/+, no Ed Welf involvement. And we re talking here about Roman Catholic school which is in top 10% of all school in the country result-wise. League tables have replaced God. Pastoral care is a nuisance which interferes with prepping for exams and disabled students lower the score. Right?

[Bookworm]

Yep. ;-)

[tiredandangry]

That's awful. Hope your daughter is feeling better, ME is such a crappy condition to live with.

 

I've been through the LGO route and it can be quite tricky. I stopped it before my "investigator" passed her decision on to the officer in charge. She wanted to make a deal with the council I complained about. I wanted it to go to report stage so that their incompetence would be on public record.

 

In the end I took the evidence found during the investigation to a solicitor to achieve a more satisfactory result.

 

As for schools, there are some really good schools that support disabled children. Leas like to keep them secret, after all one size is supposed to fit all!

[PriorityOne]

School Action + refers to children who are also supported/linked with outside agencies in some way.

 

School Action refers to children who the school have concerns about.... whether academic and/or attendance... but where there is no involvement with outside agencies.

 

As advised, a child definitely does not have to be Statemented to be on the school's SEN register.... you were talking to a numpty ! SEN support does differ between schools though and some schools are much more organised/supportive than others. I am currently working in a school where a 16-year old lad has somehow managed to make his way through the school system with a reading age of 4... and he leaves in approx. 3 months.

 

Apparently, it was never picked up.... Unbelievable !!

[tiredandangry]

Very shocking. If you are allowed to pass it on, Dyslexia Action provide very good dyslexia training. My youngest has gone from illiterate to 11 yr reading age in 2 years. They have a bursary for families on benefits.

[PriorityOne]

Very shocking. If you are allowed to pass it on, Dyslexia Action provide very good dyslexia training. My youngest has gone from illiterate to 11 yr reading age in 2 years. They have a bursary for families on benefits.

 

Dyslexia is far more common than we realise. This lad is dyslexic, but he has very little support at home.... and he's switched off from school now anyway. I've only been in this job for a couple of months and he is one of a few who've slipped through the net. On the plus side though, I've managed to drag one young lad kicking and screaming towards his Bronze ASDAN Award in 6 weeks !!... and I'll be d*mn sure he gets the Silver before he goes.

 

SEN is a lottery sometimes.... depending on the school, it's staff, parental support and so on. A Statemented child will be entitled to additional suuport according to the band of his/her particular statement..... some of the "behaviour" kids are virtually 1:1, but others have to share support with other students in the class.

 

SA + will provide a child with less support (can't remember how many hours off the top of my head), but not usually 1:1.... whereas SA kids have very little support and in a lot of cases, it amounts to no more than the school "keeping an eye" on performance/attendance and so on.

 

Going on what Joa describes, SA will be pretty useless.... especially in senior school, where the level of support is not as intense as with primary schools anyway. This one needs fighting, for sure.