School needs

[yaf_user681_15459]

Has anyone's little one got a statement at school on medical grounds?? Just wondering if it is a possibility with Asthma and anaphylaxis..and adrenal insufficiency!!

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I used to work in a special school, lots of children get statements for different reasons. If your child is falling behind at school due to health conditions then I would certainly see, or enquire anyway!!! The places I'd advise contacting:

The local education authority - all councils have a department which deal with SEN

Consultant (both respiratory and endocrinology) to see if they would be willing to write if they ask for it, that they are happy for medical notes to be accessed

GP for the same reason as consultant, but also assuming that the GP knows you on a more personal level?

Has there ever been any input from any care organisations/social workers? They are good people to have on side when applying for a statement

See if you can have a meeting with the schools SENCo (Special educational needs coordinator) - ALL schools are required to have one of these. They will be able to both advise and put the wheels in motion to go down the statementing route.

If this doesn't work, within mainstream schools, there is a list of children who are ""School Action"" or ""School Action Plus"" (I think Im right in what I'm going to say, but its been a while since I have worked in a mainstream school!), but school action plus allows a certain number of TA (teaching assistant) hours dedicated to them, whether it be to support the child within the classroom, or to help with medical or changing needs etc etc - the school action/plus doesn't have to have anything to do with home situation etc, but is to help children who require additional external input, such as social services - I am assuming that medical input also comes into this!

All the staff within the school should be aware of her health issues and what to do if there is a problem, they should have all been trained in the use of epipens, inhalers, what to do in am adrenal crisis etc - there should be a (very easily accessible - probably a copy you have and one in all the areas of school she goes to) healthcare plan that all staff have read and signed etc.

Another thing I would suggest, if its not in place already (speaking as an SEN teacher!) is having a home-school communication book, so that you can inform school of any problems, like if anything has happened the previous evening that morning that they may need to be aware of, crisies, asthma attacks, if there has been an unusually large need for reliever (I'm assuming the asthma is severe and the adrenal problems have been caused by steroids!! So also that there is often a need for lots of reliever!)

I hope that this is helpful!! I feel a little out of touch at the minute, can't work currently because of my asthma, but am only mid twenties, so hope ist not that out of touch!! LOL

Good Luck! x

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Hi,

I'm a SENCo (special needs coordinator) and I have had children with statements because of medical needs. However, they are not easy to get and, having recently moved, seem to vary from LEA to LEA.

Like Laura says I would advise talking to the SENCo and possibly having the school nurse involved. Considering your daughter's needs I assume that they have a care plan. Basically, in order for a statement to be given, the school will need to provide evidence that they have done everything they can to accommodate your daughter's needs and there is still a negative impact on either her education or health and safety.

If you went down the traditional statement route, her medical needs would need to be having a significant impact on her learning. I once got a statement for a child who had a rare illness which resulted in hearing loss and we could show over several years how she was not making progress deity being at school action plus (like Laura said this is the school putting in extra time with the child and other agencies are involved). This resulted in someone being with that child for a specified number of hours in the day.

Reading between the lines, it sounds as if you would be looking at applying for medical hours. This can be done as part of the care plan and isn't as such a statement (which would have clear educational outcomes/targets) but more of x needs support at this time in order to keep safe etc. Again, an example which would highlight this would be a diabetic child for who there was always an appropriately trained adult around but did not work on specific educational targets. They would have set times in the day for checking blood/injections but would then need to be around in case the child was unwell. I have had several children who have had this at lunchtime, playtime and PE because of a condition which is triggered by these things (which could be conditions of bones/joints or asthma/diabetes). While I have never put a child with asthma through this process, I know that it is included in our training/guidelines etc.

I would definitely recommend talking about your concerns with someone at school first and getting advice from cons etc. It is quite a hard process (from the school's point of view) and involves lots of coordinating reports/meetings with lots of agencies etc.

Sorry if this is a bit of waffle - having lack of sleep at the moment! Please ask if you need any more information/clarification.

[yaf_user681_15459]

Thanks for your replies.

I have a good relationship with the senco and school nurse and maddie is on school action plus at the moment. We are involved also with early support and have a TAC next week so hoping to get somewhere there too I think.

The school have applied for a statement on medical grounds due to her asthma and adrenal insufficiency (she has only recently been diagnosed with anaphylaxis) but it was turned down. This application was very soon after she started school. It has become apparent that she needs alot of support with regards to her asthma though. She also chokes and aspirates so they have a 1-1 support at lunchtime. They are fabulous and I can't thank them enough for what they do with her. I just wish they could get the support they so rightly deserve. At the moment maddies needs interfere with the class setup due to her needing time from staff.

I was just wondering if there are any tips as to what I can do as a parent to help the school with this process.

Thanks once again for taking the time to reply. Xx

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I normally just lurk on these forums but just wanted to say it is possible to get a statement, My son (now 7) has one on medical grounds and gets 30 hours 1 - 1 or small group support. He sounds similar to your daughter but without the adrenal insufficiency, as he has multiple allergies (anaphylaxis) and severe asthma. The main influence was his consultant who spelt out in no uncertain terms how serious and exceptional his allergies and asthma are. She wrote a supporting letter to school and we also supplied all of his medical history e.g. hosp admissions, medications and any letters. The main focus was to say that without this support then our son would not be able to attend school regularly. eg. we said how often our son was on his asthma plan and needing extra regular inhalers during the day and that without someone being able to keep a close eye on him then we would not be able to send him to school on these days.

Our son had his statement awarded in year 1 and we used all of the allergic reactions/asthma episodes etc that he had experienced in year R as evidence. His consultant also said in her letter that he wasn't able to recognise that he was needing his inhalers/antihistamines etc and that he relied on an adult who knew him well to be able to act promptly. Emphasise the need for a quick response! His hours will reduce as he gets older and is able to recognise symptoms better.

You need to really be clear how Maddie is different to another child with less severe asthma/allergies etc. and how serious (get your consultant to verify this) the consequences could be for her if she is not treated promptly.

Good luck with it! It is a long process and I think you just have to focus on the negative about Maddie's health which is very difficult to do!