Mediation Meetings – the meeting you really don’t want to have – are they worth considering, who should attend and what happens?
Mediation meetings are most successful for Refusal to Assess (RTA) – read more here
And on occasion Refusal to Issue (RTI) – read more here
We would not recommend that you use a Mediation meeting for a contents or contents and placement appeal, as this is highly unlikely to be successful. The changes for B, F & I or a B & F appeal are complex, costly and if the LA were going to agree these changes, they would have done so at draft check. For more information on why it’s essential to check your draft EHCP see our blog here
For RTA and RTI Mediation it’s critical that you have all of your evidence available. Yes, you will have presented this at EHC NA, but now you must collate this in summary form, and cross reference to SEND law. If you have been able to acquire any additional professional evidence since the application went in – and this applies significantly to Refusal to Issue, it’s essential that you make this available.
Bullet point all of your reasons, your evidence and cross reference all to SEND law – remember that LAs use unlawful “policy”, and you must be able to show where this is happening. Our EHC NA webinar will give you SEND law to support this and is available here
Make this document available to the LA and the Mediator prior to the meeting. You can email it as an attachment, and state that you wish this information to be used at the meeting. This will form the basis of your discussion and focus on the law and evidence.
Call or email the LA prior to the meeting and insist that they send a representative with decision making authority to the Mediation. It’s easy to assume that this is a given – it's not. Having an LA member of staff who can give a decision at the meeting saves time, stress and means that information is not having to be passed back – and lost in translation.
There will be at least one representative from the LA at Mediation, sometimes two, along with the mediator. There are many mediation agencies used, so don’t worry if yours is different to other peoples. You can also bring along someone to support you, a friend or relative, someone who knows your child in a professional capacity, or an advocate. Anna and Sarah at Empowering Families of Children with SEND Ltd provide bespoke Mediation meeting support, should you feel more able to undertake this with a professional legal SEND advocate.
The meeting will happen via Teams or Zoom, and you will be sent an invite for this. The mediator will introduce themselves, and each person involved with the meeting will do the same in turn. If you would rather not be visible – just turn your camara off.
Mediation is a ‘without prejudice’ meeting – what happens in mediation, stays in mediation – you cannot use this for your appeal or refer to the discussion after mediation has taken place.
The mediator will do a general ‘housekeeping’ and let you know about using the raised hand facility to ask questions, and to feel free to take a break if you need to. Then you will have your opportunity to use your evidence and refer back to it. Remember to always use SEND law over emotional responses – which is hard, because this is an exceptionally emotional time. If this will be, or becomes too difficult, ask the person supporting you to take over, or talk on your behalf. You can always answer direct questions about your child.
If you have a professional representing you, Local Authorities can be rattled. Don’t worry, we are used to this and will always be professional – but assertive. We are trained in SEND law, and as we always say, ‘law trumps policy, Every. Single. Time’.
Once the discussions have taken place, the LA representative may ask for ‘a few minutes’ to consider (or make a frantic phone call back to base!). If they have decision-making authority, they should be able to give you a decision on the day, if not they will take the mediators report back and put it to panel. If an agreement is made to assess or issue you will receive this in writing following the mediation meeting, along with the next steps. If the decision not to assess or issue is upheld, you'll be issued with a mediation certificate, and you must register your appeal as soon as possible. See our blog on appeal to tribunal for refusal to assess here and refusal to issue here.
Annual Review meetings what happens, and what do I need to do to prepare?
Annual Reviews happen at least once a year, or, in the case of a child under 5 years old, between 3 and 6 monthly. If your child is moving to the next phase of education, they will also have an additional Annual Review in the Autumn term in the year prior to their move to the next phase. We discuss everything you need to know about these in our dedicated webinar here, our Annual Review blog here and on our YouTube channel here
Coproduction Meetings
Not every LA will be enthusiastic about offering or providing Coproduction Meetings, but they are something that you should request. They are most effective following draft check, to go over the requested amendments.
Following a draft check, request that the LA provide you with Draft #2, and
that you have a Coproduction Meeting to discuss the amendments.
Coproduction Meetings give you the opportunity to push forward your amendments and to hear any reasons why the LA don’t agree. You will need to be assertive and have all of your evidence prepared. This will be in place already if we have undertaken your draft check. It’s imperative that you use SEND law, including the SEND Code of Practice 2015, and back this up. Case law can be very helpful here too.
Meetings can be via Teams or Zoom; the LA may have the EHCP writer and a caseworker in attendance. You can request that you have a supportive friend, relative and/or an advocate with you. Empowering Families of Children with SEND Ltd regularly attend Coproduction Meetings with the families they have supported for draft/EHCP checks. This is often the last opportunity to really push for the amendments and can be very effective at preventing appeal.
Team Around the Family (TAF)/Team around the Child (TAC) Meetings
A Team Around the Family/Child meeting gives families the opportunity to bring everyone involved ‘around the table’ to discuss how best to support the whole family together in a joined up and holistic way. The child is the central focus, but the engagement is with the whole family in a nonjudgemental way, seeking to carry support forward and bringing everyone together.
The TAF/TAC will have a ‘child champion’ – a representative who speaks for the child and ensures that the child is ‘held in mind’ throughout. This is a multidisciplinary meeting and attendees can include: key professionals working with and for the family, for example, education, social care, health, housing, police.
Information and updates on any previous actions to support the family will be discussed, along with how successful these have been, and any changes that are required to improve support or engagement.
TAF meetings provide a ‘say it once’ opportunity for families to be heard and feel listened to, for the bigger picture to be shown and considered by all involved. An Action Plan will be created and shared, with families giving their consent for this information to be shared, if appropriate. If you are offered a TAF/TAC meeting, this is a positive step forward and you should seriously consider this as such. It can be daunting, and this is where we at Empowering Families of Children with SEND Ltd can step in. We attend these meetings as additional supportive advocates for the whole family, and can advise on education and SEND, giving families a balance of professionals at the meeting.
Where do I go from here, and how can Empowering Families of Children with SEND Ltd help me?
The Webinar Events already signposted in this blog will provide a full package of support for families to support them in meetings about their child's EHCP. In the easy-to-follow webinars, Anna and Sarah talk you through, step by step, giving scenarios, examples and detailed explanations of each process.
The accompanying support packages give you timelines, example reports and resources, and ‘fill in the blank’ templates to make the process as uncomplicated as possible.
Find our full webinar library here.
This is part of our Event Department, which aims to provide affordable support for upskilling. We Empower Families to have knowledge and thereafter the confidence with SEND and EHCP issues to advocate for their own children and young people.
If you require additional support, Empowering Families of Children with SEND Ltd also provide fully bespoke 1:1 support for meetings with Anna & Sarah as part of their professional service, for details click here: Bespoke 1:1 support from Anna & Sarah
You can find testimonials to our bespoke service on our website and Facebook business page - here
Finally, you will find lots of useful video clips and free video and ‘podcast’ resources in our YouTube library here.
We are, and always will be Stronger Together.
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