We are required by law to assess the educational needs of children to give them the best possible opportunities at school.

Most children make good progress at school. Some children need extra help and schools arrange this in different ways. It is important to identify any difficulty your child may have as early as possible.

What is a statutory assessment?

Staff from the education department collect information from you and the different services who work with your child and then write a report.

Who can request a statutory assesment of a child's special education needs?

Most requests for statutory assessment come from schools and are sent directly to the local education authority (LEA). The school is asked to provide information on:

• What your child is like now
• What has already been done to help your child

Sometimes other agencies, such as a pre-school group, request a statutory assessment of a child's special educational needs.

As a parent you can also request a statutory assessment. If you want to do this you should write to:

The SEN section
Broadway House
322 High Street
Stratford
London E15 1AJ

It will help us make the right decision if you send details of:

• Why you are requesting the assessment
• What help your child already receives in school*
• Your views about your child's progress at school
• Copies of individual education plans and other reports on your child*

* This information can be obtained from the school

What will the LEA do if I request statutory assessment of my child's special educational needs?

The LEA will:

• Investigate your concern
• Write to you and give details of the assessment process
• Give you details about what the law says on the process
• Inform you of the decision

If the LEA agrees to carry out a statutory assessment of your child's needs you will receive a letter telling you:

• When the assessment is to begin
• The timescales for completing the assessment
• The names of staff to contact if you wish to discuss the assessment process
  

If a statutory assessment is not agreed, the LEA will write to you and:

• Confirm the decision not to carry out an assessment
• Give the reasons for that decision
• Explain your right of appeal
  

How does LEA decide whether to make a statutory assessment?

A group of LEA officers, teachers and other professionals including an educational psychologist meet and look at:

• What has been done to help your child learn
• Whether the local authority needs to decide the provision for your child
• What funding your child's school has to give extra help to individual children
• How your child's school has worked with specialist's outside the school e.g. an educational psychologist or therapist

The group either recommend a statutory assessment or give advice on what can be done.

If the LEA decides to carry out a statutory assessment of my child how long will it take?

The LEA aim to complete assessments within 26 weeks.

This involves:

• Six weeks to give you a decision about whether an assessment will be done
• Ten weeks to collect information from you, your child's school and other services such as from the Speech and Language Therapy Service
• Two weeks to either make a proposed statement or a note in lieu
• Eight weeks to finalise the statement In a small number of cases transport is written in part six of a statement.

You are welcome to contact us to discuss how the assessment is going.

What does an assessment involve?

Information is collected about your child and his/her special educational needs. This information comes from you and other professionals who know your child well. You then receive a report which will either be a draft statement of special educational needs or a note in lieu.

What is a statement?

A statement is a six part legal document made up of:

• Part 1: Details of your child's name, address, date of birth etc.
• Part 2: A description of your child's special educational needs and what he/she can and cannot do
• Part 3: Long term targets for your child and details of the help your child will get at school
• Part 4: The recommended school placement. This is left blank when you are sent the draft of the statement as you may wish to discuss this with us
• Part 5: A description of any non-educational needs such as the need for a programme to develop physical skills
• Part 6: The provision to meet those non-educational needs such as access to physiotherapy

What happens after the statement has been issued?

Once you have read the draft of the statement you may wish to meet an officer from the education department to discuss what has been written. If you are not happy with the final version of the statement you can appeal.

There will be a meeting each year to look at your child's progress in school. This meeting is called an annual review and will:

• Check that your child is making progress
• Set targets for the coming year
• Check to see if the statement is still needed or whether changes need to be made

What is a note in lieu?

A note in lieu gives valuable guidance on how to meet your child's special educational needs. A note in lieu is issued when we believe that:

1. A school can meet a child's needs

If a note in lieu is issued we are happy to meet with you and explain what a note in lieu is.

If a note in lieu has been issued your child can still get support and advice from specialists outside the school, e.g. from an educational psychologist or a speech and language therapist.

If you are not happy with the decision to issue a note in lieu you can appeal.

What resources do schools have to meet the needs of a child with special educational needs?

All Newham schools have money to meet the needs of all children with special educational needs. Schools use this money in different ways and may employ specialist teachers or classroom assistants. Schools also have money to train staff.

Will my child's school get extra money if my child has a statement?

Schools in Newham no longer necessarily receive extra funding if a statement is issued. The funding given to schools is reviewed every year.

Extra money is given to schools in a very small number of cases. This money is allocated in a system called "Exceptional Resource Funding". It can be given to pupils with or without statements of special educational needs.

Schools apply for this funding if they believe a child has an exceptionally high level of need and the school requires some extra funding to help a child. A group of teachers meet each term to agree if extra funding should be given.

What happens at an annual review of a statement of special educational needs?

If your child has a statement of special educational needs, a meeting must be called each year to look at your child's progress in school.

This meeting is called an annual review and will:

• Check that your child is making progress
• Set targets for the coming year
• Check to see if the statement is still needed or whether changes need to be made

Who comes to the annual review meeting?

Your child's headteacher will invite:

• You, the parent or carer. You can bring along a friend or relative if you want to
• A teacher who knows your child well
• An officer from the local education authority (LEA)
• Any other professional who is closely involved with your child

Your child will be encouraged to attend all of the review or part of it.

How can I prepare for the review?

Everyone who is invited to the review will be asked to prepare a report. Reports should be sent out before the meeting.

In your report you can write down:

• What progress you think your child has made in the past year
• Whether there are any major changes that may have affected your child's progress
• What you hope your child will achieve in the coming year

What happens after the review?

The school prepares a report and sends it to the LEA. The school will make recommendations about:

• Any targets to be set for the next year
• Any suggested changes to the statement
• Whether the statement should continue

What happens then?

An officer from the LEA will review the statement and take any recommendations into account. The LEA may decide to change the statement and will write to you about this.

What happens when my child is going to change school?

When your child is in year five and year nine a special review is needed to plan for a change of school or placement. If a placement changes we will send you a new copy of the statement.

Will my child always need a statement?

Some children only need a statement for a limited period of time. An annual review may recommend that the statement ends. This is called ceasing a statement. If we plan to cease a statement we will discuss this with you.

If you are not happy with our decision you can appeal against this.

Who can I get advice from?

Teachers in your school will help with any queries you may have.

You can also seek advice from:

Supporting Parents: Inclusion Network Newham (SPINN)
743 Barking Road
London E13 9ER
Tel. 020 8470 9703.

Newham Education Department also officers independent mediation on a small number of cases if we disagree with you about how to best meet your child's special educational needs. This is organised through the London SEN Disagreement Resolution Service (tel. 0800 389 0695).