[senco-forum] Fw: [SENco-forum] Advice Please- use of EP service

Dear Mary

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "E Olson" <elzo15ns at dsl.pipex.com>
To: "Mary Kelly" <mary.kelly4 at ntlworld.com>
Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 1:51 PM
Subject: Re: [senco-forum] [SENco-forum] Advice Please- use of EP service


> Dear Mary
>
> In our Scottish LA it was taken for granted that the children in private 
> schools had rate-paying parents like everybody else and as such they were 
> entitled to the advice of LA staff when needed.  This of course meant that 
> the private schools could call in EPs, and also ask for help from those 
> running services for VI, HI and for children who needed specialised ICT 
> equipment.  ( The only difference was that kids who needed ICT equipment 
> would have a trial of authority stuff if appropriate, but if it worked out 
> private-school parents were expected to buy a set for them.)
>
> Made sense to me.
>
> Elizabeth
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mary Kelly" <mary.kelly4 at ntlworld.com>
> To: <SEN at tringham.net>; "'Becta Senco'" <senco-forum at lists.becta.org.uk>
> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 9:23 AM
> Subject: Re: [senco-forum] [SENco-forum] Advice Please- use of EP service
>
>
> Dear All,
>
> I originally asked for advice about how to make best use if this service 
> and
> I am grateful to those of you who responded.
>
> As it now seems to have become a request for me to justify why I have 
> taken
> this route, I will respond as follows:-
>
> 1. I do have the training to understand the recommendations in an EP 
> report,
> that's not a problem for me/us.
> 2. I have already established a local mutual support group of SENCos and
> SLTs and others in the independent sector, who meet half-termly to share
> ideas and support each other.
> 3. All or most of these people share my wish to have access to an EP who
> will come into school, employed by the school, and work closely with us.
> None of them have achieved it, I don't know the detailed reasons why.
> 4. I expressed this wish to the LA EP who comes in to work with us in
> connection with a child with a statement. This person has a private EP
> practice but felt that if we obtained private services then there could
> potentially be a conflict of interest. A discussion was had with the LA 
> and
> my HT and an arrangement has just been made.
> 5. I am looking forward to being able to better support a greater number 
> of
> children at a lesser cost by this route.
>
> That's probably all I want to say on the subject for now.
>
> Mary
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk
> [mailto:senco-forum-bounces at lists.becta.org.uk] On Behalf Of
> SEN at tringham.net
> Sent: 07 April 2008 08:48
> To: Becta Senco
> Subject: Re: [senco-forum] [SENco-forum] Advice Please- use of EP service
>
> Perhaps we should approach the problem the other way round and ask EP's if
> they would be willing to spend 6 hours in school and write 3 reports for
> £600 a day and all could benefit.
>
> Currently around £400 per report if done independently by a parent and why
> it is not often done unless said parent is in pursuit of a statement.
>
> EP reports do not necessarily give all the detail one might hope for
> especially if you are hoping to get a simple list of all the support a 
> child
> needs to access education on a equal footing with peers.  Or they drop 
> hints
> such as 'handwriting is untidy and referral to OT ....or any other
> agency...could be appropriate'.  This ends up as being a multi agency task
> and why it is imperative that SENco's have better (and free) access to
> training on identification and assessment to rule out or support lesser
> problems.  This way few actually need the services of an EP.
>
> Even if the report is excellent with a plethora of test results and 
> encoded
> paragraphs of support needs I have found the schools do not know how to
> decode the report for detail or know how or what to implement unless it is
> spelled out in black & white - did I mention more access to training?
>
> If you are getting an EP in spread the cost and make it a SENco cluster
> training a day on EP report reading and then a 2nd one on assessment test
> application and interpretation.
>
> Sharon Tringham
>
>
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