Last month we had our Annual Review of Boo's Statement of SEN. I was dreading it, to be honest, but it turned out to be a very valuable meeting for all who attended. I've been thinking about the things we did this year that made it a useful, meaningful experience, rather than a box-ticking paper exercise. How did we really make our meeting work for Boo this year? This is what we did; it might work for you too.
1. Find out in advance who will be attending the review meeting. Boo's support assistant wasn't initially asked to attend our review. I felt that, as the person assigned the task of carrying out much of Boo's IEP, that it was essential she was at the meeting. I requested that she be there, and both she and I were very pleased she was able to contribute her views and hear ours. Ask for the people you want to be there, giving plenty of notice so school can arrange cover if necessary.
2. Write a list of grumbles and complaints. What has not worked well for us since the last review? What have we been less than happy with? (Ideally these things will have been brought up with school as and when they became apparent, if you have good home-school communication, but if any concerns are still unaired or worse, ongoing, then they should be addressed at this review.)
3. Now write a happy list! What has been going well for us? What have we liked or found helpful? It's important to acknowledge the (hopefully!) successful stuff. It's only fair, right and proper to give credit where credit is due! And a little positivity can go a long way, helping to strengthen the home-school relationship and acting as a counter balance to any grumbles you may have. We Special Needs parents often need to be pushy, I know, but we are more easily forgiven for that if we also show our appreciation.
4. Ask your child to add to these lists, if possible. What have they liked and disliked about school this year? Liked and disliked about their support this year? What have they found tricky? Have they had enough help with the tricky things? Do they need help with anything else? Is anything bothering them about school? What changes, if any, would they like to make to their life at school? You could get them to draw a picture or do a short piece of writing if appropriate - whatever you think may get their views across. I tried to make a little video of the conversation I had with Boo around the above questions, but didn't use it because she got stressed out and couldn't answer (not knowing the 'right' answers, bless her!) So for me, trying to gather her views wasn't very successful, but I felt it was important to at least provide the opportunity for her to have a say in the process.
5. Carefully read through the existing Statement (or EHC plan if you have already changed over). Cross out any parts that no longer apply to your child, perhaps where significant progress has been made. (Make a note of any progress on your happy list!) Highlight the elements of the Statement/EHC which are most important to you and your child.
6. Add anything new that your child may need support with, not already in the Statement/EHC. Our kids grow and change and their needs don't necessarily all stay the same, although some may do. Over the years Boo's made great progress and we have been able to cross out many of the objectives in her original Statement. However, as she grows and matures, there are other issues that crop up, and it's important that these are acknowledged.
7. Enlist an Annual Review Buddy. I found it really helpful to have an extra brain on Team Boo, to prompt, to take notes, ask any questions I might have forgotten about, to clarify things, and just for moral support. It's easy for some of us to get beaten down by the majority when decisions have to be made (there were 3 staff members at our meeting), and it really helps me to stand my ground if I have some back-up. Brief your buddy prior to the meeting on all of the points you want to cover (2-6 above); if possible give them a copy, so they can cross things off for you. I took Boo's dad with me, because he's a rottweiler when it comes to getting his own way. Not a great quality in a marriage, but very useful in a meeting like this.
8. Attend the review meeting armed with your lists of positives and negatives, your notes or annotated Statement/EHC, copies of any reports you have from agencies outside school (eg. Occupational Therapy) and your Annual Review Buddy! Stay calm and listen first. Let the SENCo drive the meeting, but chip in often in order to get all of your points across. I think even if you have a lot of negatives to bring up, it won't do you any favours to steam in with a tirade of dissatisfaction! Your views are more likely to be heard and carefully considered if you deliver them calmly, in a way which demonstrates that you have your child's best interests at heart. We want to get everyone on board with us, working towards the goals that we think are the most important for our child. What we don't want is some kind of power struggle - the child rarely benefits when school and parents are at odds. If possible, ask questions rather than making assumptions or accusations. Make, or ask for some suggestions as to how things could be improved going forward. If you are told that your time has run out, then arrange to continue the meeting another time. Keep going until everything you wish to address is addressed! Our Annual Review lasted an hour and a half, but, with the help of my buddy, we covered all our concerns and shared all the information we wanted to share, with the people we wanted to share it with. Result!
I hope this is helpful to other parents out there with an Annual Review coming up. Please feel free to share with anyone who might find it useful! :-)
