Andrew’s story

Andrew, 15, was living at home with his Mum and Dad. Andrew had been Electively Home Educated since half way through year 7 when his parents had removed him from his secondary school as they felt that the school was unable to meet his needs and he had a serious incident of bullying. Andrew had a diagnosis of autism, dyslexia and high anxiety.

Feeling unsupported

Andrew’s Mum, Stella, had contacted SENDIASS as Andrew wanted to start a woodworking course at his local college however neither Andrew nor Stella felt that he would be able to access or be successful on this course without additional support. Andrew is not comfortable with social interaction but adores woodwork. This has led to Alfie identifying the woodworking course which he wanted to complete.

Stella had applied for an EHC Needs Assessment but the application was turned down for assessment. She wanted to appeal the decision not to assess as she felt having an EHC plan was the only way that Andrew would be able to access college. Beyond identifying the course, Sarah had not had any contact with the college to discuss the support they could offer. A general discussion around support that can be offered in college, EHC plans and appealing decisions was discussed by phone. Stella decided after this discussion that she would arrange a meeting with the college to discuss the support they could offer. Stella asked if it was possible to have support at this meeting from the SENDIASS service.

Receiving the right support

The meeting was booked with the inclusion team from the college, however as Andrew was only interested in Woodwork, rather than attending college in general, it was decided that the Head of Technology would also attend. In the meeting the support that the college could offer was discussed and what support Andrew would require. A clear action plan was drawn up. The Inclusion Worker agreed and this was put together. It was suggested that at the end of the meeting Andrew and Stella would be taken to see the workshop.

Stella had decided that she did not want to pursue the mediation or appeal the decision not to assess as she was happy with the planned support that college were putting in place.

Stella kept in touch with the service over the next two years as Andrew completed his woodworking course, usually to ask questions about support or clarify things that were happening. Stella reported that Andrew had gone from strength to strength having passed his functional skills in the first year and creating beautiful pieces of work. He was talking about starting up a website to sell his work.