It turns out that when you’re the parent of a child with SEN, that you really can’t afford to rest. Not for a minute. You’d be forgiven for assuming that I am referring to sleepless nights with a toddler that just can’t calm down enough to rest, or the endless driving around to different therapies and appointments, but I’m not. No, the fight to which I am referring is far simpler, and yet somehow ten times more elusive than any thing else I’ve come up against before. It’s the battle I now have with the Local Authority, trying to get them to provide all of the things they promised to deliver when they agreed Noah’s EHCP back in summer 2021.
In short, they agreed that Noah’s preschool would recieve Higher Needs funding, so that they could employ someone to work with Noah on all his special needs provisions on a 1:1 basis. The money was due to be released for the start of this academic year, so that Noah would have a full school year of support before starting his SEN Primary school placement in September 2022.
The money never came! And despite chasing it for months on end, it still hasnt arrived. Preschool have had their calls to the council blocked, and daily emails have gone unanswered and ignored. They have done their best in the mean time to provide everything that Noah’s EHCP states, but they don’t have the staff in place to implement it properly.
It’s now become my fight, as his parent, to chase this officially. I gave them a week to respond to something that should have been resolved months ago, and still heard nothing, so as of this morning I have filed an official complaint with the IPSEA charity (the Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) straight to the Director of Childrens Services for our area.
Let me just state that no official department made me aware that this was something I could do or where to find it, this information was passed to me by other parents in my position from support groups I found on my own, and I am so grateful to them.
I know I will probably come across like a pushy parent but that’s exactly what I need to be for Noah right now. He is legally entitled to these provisions and this funding and he is not getting it. Preschool have tried playing nice, now it’s time to roll up my sleeves and fight dirty to get the job done. Frankly the support is not good enough, and a vulnerable child is being denied his equal rights, because, and I mean this very literally, someone has a form on their desk that they need to tick, sign, and send back to Preschool to release that funding. That’s it. Seven long months for one piece of paper. It’s appalling.
The battle was supposed to be over when the EHCP was granted, but it’s clear that it was only ever just beginning. No one in the world will fight harder for Noah than myself and my husband, so, we shoulder the load, braced against the odds and carry on. A silent parent is an easy parent to ignore. By no means must you be rude, but don’t let them ignore you, your voice is your child’s voice… so shout it from the rooftops if you have to.
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