The Statement is nearly finalised

The Statement is Max’s Statement of Educational Needs (SEN). Children with more severe Special Needs are entitled to have a SEN but as these actually have money attached to them we hear that the state is trying hard to avoid statementing children wherever possible. There has however, never been a question about Max having a statement and we began the process nearly a year ago. These things certainly take a long time as all the professionals concerned write a report and it is all collated, then the LEA (Local Education Authority) Special Needs Department people write a summary and the draft Statement is sent out for approval. This all happened ages ago. Since then we have been waiting to hear from them and also we have been trying to make our choice for a school for Max. This started off being Bedelsford School in Kingston, then Paddock School, then we discovered they were both full and we were offered a place at Greenmede School. At this point we decided to look at mainstream nurseries and chose Red Balloon Nursery.

We informed the LEA that this is what we wanted and they did not seem very pleased. Just before Christmas I had a call from a lady whose primary role is arbitration where parents and don’t agree with their child’s statement for whatever reason and she persuaded me to accept putting both Paddock and Red Balloon Nursery as joint named schools on his statement and she also said that as the LEA could not offer us an appropriate place for Max in a Special Needs School, it would be fair that they should consider paying some of the fees for his nursery. She asked how much the fees were and I said that until I said Max would be going, we would not know how much they would charge us. So she said I should confirm Max was going, find out how much the fees were and get back to them. So I duly said that Max would start in January and discovered what the fees for two afternoons a week would be. This is slightly more than the norm as Max would be getting a one-to-one teacher. When a few weeks had passed and I heard nothing from the LEA Special Needs Team I contacted them to find out what was going on. A few days later they told me that Max was entitled to got to Red Balloon Nursery up to 12.5 hours a week from next term. As this was what we wanted we accepted this happily. Also once the statement is finalised then the “banding” money (the money the school gets to support him at school which is dependent on his level of care) should start. So basically we need the statement finalised so that Jemma’s time accompanying Max to school can be paid for by the banding money rather than by the Social Services hours that we currently get. Since that conversation I have discovered that Max is entitled to go to Red Balloon Nursery because it is one of the Wandsworth nurseries which are in the Early Years Scheme which is funded by the LEA to provide up to 12.5 hours nursery time per week for ALL children in the Wandsworth area from the term after they become 3. So although it originally sounded like a concession or an agreement of sorts, now I realise that it is a bit of a cop out for them. It works very well for them that the nursery we have chosen is in the Early Years Scheme, but having said that they would pay some of the fees for this term, they are now not discussing this at all. If this had all been explained properly to us we would have waited an extra term to send Max to nursery.

Max and Luca are both growing fast and well. Luca is cruising around the house exploring the world and has a few pet pastimes: emptying the dogs’ water bowl over himself and the kitchen floor; dunking anything but preferably a remote control or a telephone into the nearest glass of water or cup of tea (my mobile doesn’t work any more due to this!) and getting into the fireplace (when not lit) and emptying the ash all over himself. None of these are particularly great pastimes and quite frustrating when he manages to do them in quick succession!

Max on the other hand has mastered sitting up on his own. He learnt to do it some time ago but he always seemed to need our prompting. Now however any input from us is unwelcome and unnecessary. He is so proud of his new skill that he is doing it at every possible opportunity! This causes some problems when putting him to bed or down for a nap as rather than going to sleep he practises lying down, getting up, scooting all over the bed, throwing out all his toys then lying down again just so that he can get up again! The biggest problem is that for some reason this is also coupled with a recent unwillingness to sleep in in the morning. The result is a very tired but very proud little boy!

Max is doing very well at nursery and seems to enjoy going. He now has a walker to help him learn to walk and his legs are getting stronger every day. He had become really far too thin lately so we have upped his milk intake and he seems to be putting on weight gradually which should help him bulk up a bit and maybe get some muscles on his stick-like legs.

We have all had a bout of the current flu that is going around. Max luckily seems to have suffered very little due to the flu jab he had at the beginning of winter. Luca and I on the other hand, have been passing coughs and colds to each other over the last 2 months or so and are both rather tired of the not feeling on top form. We were all really unwell over half term and the week after half term, but other than that it has just been a niggling constant cough and cold rather than anything more serious. Justin had a niggly cough for a while, but other than that he seems to have been immune to the virus.

Other than the usual trips to Christopher’s, visits from Portage, physiotherapy etc life has been rather mundane. Justin went to Berlin for three days for work and Jemma and I took refuge at Christopher’s for a day and a night, then we popped in to see Grandpa for lunch before coming back home on the Saturday night. Max and Luca went to a birthday party where true to form Max thought the entertainer hugely funny and Luca fell on the food like manna from heaven. I am now 18 weeks pregnant and my last check-up yesterday revealed nothing of note. My next appointment is a the end of the month and it is a scan. Hopefully they will be able to tell us the sex of the baby then.