Final statement EHCP. Confusion about terms.

outsidethebox1

Hi there.

Just received the final statement for EHCP for my 4 year old who started main stream

Primary 1 in September past. She was referred for this by nursery who noticed she was behind her peers and with further assessment from an Educational Psychologist who agreed. She has no official diagnosis but she is awaiting speech therapy from NHS, we have attended privately in mean time but the speech therapist did suggest she may have DLD (developmental language disorder). She struggles with her communication and not fully toilet trained yet she needs help with this. She did struggle in nursery but seems to be thriving now in mainstream! It seems the smaller class numbers and the more focused learning has really helped her. Her teacher did a IEP at the beginning stating how they will help her and set targets etc. Anyways my question is in her statement it reads she 'will have access to 17.5 hours classroom assistance per week to support the school in meeting (blanks) special educational needs etc. I've included the specific page.to show the full details. I know school can provide up to 15 hours I'm just wondering does that mean she will have a 1 to 1 as it doesn't specifically say that? I queried this at draft stage with the EA and was told it would be included in the main final statement after correspondence with her school when hours are discussed. She does need support as although she is doing brilliantly right now I worry as the school year progresses and gets more intense she will struggle. If the hours aren't 1 to 1 what was the point in pursing the EHCP in first place?

Also note her class is very small numbers and there is another child with SEN with greater needs than my child and has an assistant specific for them. I can't imagine they'd hire another TA or would they try and allocate my child to the one already present which doesn't seem fair.

Any advice would be great. Thank you

Mary_Scope

Hi @outsidethebox1

Based on the wording, the 17.5 hours doesn’t specify 1 to 1 support so the school isn’t legally required to provide a dedicated individual TA. It means they must provide 17.5 hours of additional support for her but how they how they use those hours is up to the school unless the EHCP explicitly states 1:1.

If you have concerns about this or believe that the EHCP does not fully meet your daughters needs then you can raise them at the annual review as this is an opportunity to discuss any matters related to your daughters progress and support😊

outsidethebox1

Hi Mary!

I did speak to somebody in EA a few days ago she did say that it meant a classroom assistant but she didn't say much, that was the height of the conversation so I just left it there feeling a bit silly for asking for what must have seemed a obvious question. I've since left it a few days to see if the principal would approach or call a meeting as I know they only received the statement I'm assuming same time as me (this day last week) but left it for the principal to read over it etc as obviously I've had all summer of receiving the info and back and forth of drafts & input etc as it's a lot of information. I will ask to see her today though to confirm. Surely they can't just be leaving things as they are with no conversation about the statement? That's confusing me about the 17.5 hours, what additional support could that mean? My little girl already has an IEP and I know the teacher takes a lot of time with her individually but surely there has to be something extra? Otherwise what is the point of pursuing the EHCP in the first place if the 'additional support' is in fact what she's already receiving. It seems pointless after such a long process of obtaining a statement. Annual review is a year away so I think I would be better to appeal it but what's making me fret a bit now is the more I read about 1:1/TA I have had people advising that's it's a bad idea and might isolate my daughter or make her too dependant. But I do feel she needs some extra assistance. Sorry for the long ramble I just find the whole situation frustrating. Could you advise what the 17.5 hours classroom assistance could be? And the lack of support is that on the school or the EA? Or any information would be great thank you so much!