I have exciting news - I am to be a keynote speaker at the forthcoming SEN Conference, Towards a Positive Future that is to take place in Newbury in June. I will be talking about being a parent of two sons with autism and how parents-carer forums such as Family Voice Surrey, of which I am a committee member, are helping to shape SEN services with the SEN Green paper pathfinders. Surrey will be trialing, among other areas, the proposed Education Health and Care Plan for which I attended a day-long meeting yesterday.
Apparently, children with existing SEN statements will not automatically be moved to an EHCP although their parents can request it. They may be moved at a transition point if appropriate, however.
It is clear from the meeting that there is much work to be done and in a relatively short time as it is expected the new procedures will be brought in by 2013/14. There are some positive proposals and still a lot of detail to be worked out, but the general principle is that the child and family should be at the centre of the process. It's not very clear to me why this isn't already the case.
The whole system at the moment is adversarial and there is much distrust on both sides, so to make the new process succeed there needs to be a major cultural shift towards working together for the benefit of the child. At the moment LEAs are (rightly or wrongly) seen as penny-pinching, budget-not-child focused parent-haters who are determined to give as little as they can get away with. LEA staff, meanwhile see some parents as just trying to bag a statement to get their children into the best schools that cost the council hundreds of thousands of pounds a year when (the LEA feels) local provision would do just as well. There are many parents left vastly out-of-pocket by legal fees as they pursue the most appropriate option for their child.
Personally, I can't understand why any parent would head into the stressful, potentially expensive jungle of statementing unless their child has significant needs that are not being met within current school resources - I mean, why would you put yourself through that? Every parent I have encountered who is seeking a statement has experienced their child going through years of difficulties, under-achievement and unhappiness before they become convinced that this is the only route. I'm sure there are exceptions, but they must be just that - exceptions.
Anyway, by the conference in June I expect some parents will have been recruited for the trials and we will have more detail of how the final system will look. Other speakers include the National Autistic Society president, Jane Asher, Janet O'Keefe, editor of "Towards a Positive Future", Educational Lawyer, Clive Rawlings and Kevin Geeson of Dyslexia Action among others.
Below is a link to a booking form that you can use with all the details on.
Towards_a_Positive_Future_Conference_2012_flyer
Tania is an experienced broadcast and print journalist & author. She also runs a PR, web & social media consultancy, SocialOro Media.
Tania is a rare disease & chronic pain patient advocate with Ehlers Danlos syndrome.
- How well is the Government respecting children with SEND’s right to education? - May 16, 2023
- SNJ in Conversation with Carrie Grant: Supporting children at the intersection of SEND, Race and Gender Identity - May 12, 2023
- SNJ WEBINAR: SEND Minister Claire Coutinho discusses the SEND Improvement Plan. Register now! - April 19, 2023
Fantastic. Happy for you!
good luck with the conference