For Parents & Carers

We offer a cost effective means for parents to negotiate with their child's school or Local Authority over the provision of educational or social care services

We specialise in Special Educational Needs

School Action and School Action Plus

Statutory Assessment and Reassessment

Statement of Special Educational Needs

Annual Reviews

Choice of School

Home / Education Otherwise Than at School

Ceasing to maintain a Statement

Post 16 and Post 19 provision

Non attendance at school

Transport to and from school

Tribunals

Exclusions

Disability Discrimination

Complaints to the Secretary of State & Ombudsman

Bullying

Social Care

Child Protection or Care Proceedings

Support with obtaining respite packages for disabled children and Children in need

How do we provide support and representation?

Telephone and Email Advice Line for Special Educational Needs, Exclusions, Disability Discrimination and Social Care

For an annual subscription parents can call or email a dedicated advocate and receive responses within 3 working days

For an Annual Subscription parents of children living within London Boroughs can access an initial face to face consultation with their named advocate in addition to the service outlined above. Visits will be arranged within 3 weeks of initial enquiry at a venue convenient to the family’s home.

Fair usage policy applies.

Surgery for Education or Social Care advice

Parents can access a consultation visit with their named advocate . The advocate will advise on paperwork and produce a written summary and action plan.

Paperwork  for children with Special Educational Needs

A named advocate will provide a written response to paperwork within 2 working weeks. Many situations could be resolved to the parent’s satisfaction if correct evidence and information was produced and set out in a formal manner to the school and Local Authority. For example; the advocate can prepare a written request for Statutory Assessment , Parental Advice for Statutory Assessment/ Reassessment  , Response to a Draft  / Proposed Statement of Special Educational Needs , Advice for Annual Review , Request for a change of school ,Request for Education Otherwise ,Request for transport , Request for assessment / reassessment of respite services , Enforcement of provision in Part 3 of a Statement, Report for a Child Protection Conference

Not all of our clients will require access to the paperwork service; model letters will be provided as part of the Email and Telephone Advice Service enabling parents to draft their own response to schools and LAs.

Attendance at meetings with Schools or Local Authorities

Sometimes difficult issues or situations can be resolved via a face to face meeting enabling the situation to be sorted swiftly and without the need to go through protracted written correspondence, complaints procedures or Tribunal and Appeal processes. A named advocate will go through the paperwork, meet with the client prior to the meeting and support the client in a meeting with a School or Local Authority, Parents can feel intimidated, not listened to, not taken seriously or outnumbered at meetings and the support of an advocate can be invaluable in enabling their views to be heard and the situation to be resolved.

The named advocate will require the parents to send all relevant paperwork a week prior to the meeting and arrange to meet the parents before the meeting. Subsequently a written summary and action plan will be produced. 

Tribunal Paperwork and Representation

The consultants  in the Advocacy and Mediation Consultants Ltd  have extensive experience in supporting and representing parents at SEND Tribunals in both SEN appeals and Disability Discrimination Claims .We have successfully obtained Statutory Assessments, Statements of Special Educational Needs, parents preferred school placements, Independent and Residential Special school placements and apologies and training in response to breaches of the Disability Discrimination legislation.

We offer fixed fee prices for each appeal; thus enabling parents to budget at the beginning of the process. The only additional costs may be expert reports, if required, and photocopying, postage and travel

The fixed fee is divided into 4 parts thus allowing clients’ flexibility:

1. From Week 0 - 16: i.e. meeting with the client, reading through the paperwork, Registering the Appeal, preparing the Reasons for Appeal and a response to the LA ‘s response, SO1 form, Case Management Hearing, preparation of additional evidence and selection of witnesses, submitting of final evidence
2. From Week 16 - 22: i.e. meeting with the client, preparation of working document and final summary arguments, preparation for Hearing, representation at the Hearing, consideration of the decision
3. From Week 16 – 22 for clients for whom we have not compiled the initial paperwork
4. Representation at Hearing for clients funded by Legal Aid

Exclusion paperwork and representation

The consultants  at the Advocacy & Mediation Consultants Ltd  have extensive experience is supporting and representing parents at exclusion hearings. We are able to offer representation for both fixed term and permanent exclusion hearings, including representation at the stage two Independent Appeal Panel (IAP) hearings. We offer fixed fee prices for each appeal; thus enabling parents to budget at the beginning of the process. The only additional costs may be expert reports, if required, and photocopying, postage and travel.

For a first stage governors hearing and Independent Appeal Panel Hearing

We will meet with the client before the hearing, read through exclusion paperwork, prepare the documentation and represent at the hearing. Should the client require further meetings they will be charged at the standard meeting rate.

 Some exclusion cases can be managed by virtue of negotiating with the school and local authority that may result in a resolution without a formal hearing being convened. This option will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

• Disability Discrimination
• Child Protection and Care Proceedings Advocacy
• Training