Welcome

Has the SEN / EHCP system left you feeling:

At your wits end?
That you and your child have been failed?
That you don't have the time to deal with it all?

If so, I want you to know that:

You are not alone
I've been where you are
I can help you through this

If you are not at a crisis point, that's great and you've done well.

But, it's never too early to start thinking about the next stage and there's no such thing as being too prepared.

Don't leave it until it's all gone wrong. Talk to me now. I'm here to help and support you.

You will get my time, knowledge and experience.

All of which may save you thousands of £ if it means you don't need a lawyer later on

Two of my four children have EHCPs. I fought for both of these and I will fight for yours just as hard.

I have more than 25 years' experience of the SEN system in England and of helping children get Statements and Educational Health and Care Plans.

You can read more about me and the families and children I have helped.

The powers that be are well aware of the problems, but don't expect anything to change soon. The UK Parliament even published a damning report in October 2019, in which they said:

Parents and carers have to wade through a treacle of bureaucracy, full of conflict, missed appointments and despair

Many local authorities are struggling with the reforms, and in some cases this has led to unlawful practice

But don't just take my word for it; you can read the full report:

Read Report

My Core Services

These are fully detailed on the How I Help page

Where I Cover

I live in South East London. Inevitability most of my work to date has been in London. The Covid-19 lockdown taught us that people can work remotely and that it has benefits.

There is no reason why I would be unable to work for clients anywhere in England particularly if attendance at meetings is not required.

Education in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is devolved and separate laws apply. I therefore do not cover issues in these countries of the UK.

Client Feedback

Oliver has truly impressive knowledge, he guided us through the process and made us feel really confident. We would have given up without him.

I cannot tell you how stressful it is navigating the secondary transfer process with a child who has a plan and is visually impaired. Throw in the complication of access arrangements for 11+ and undelivered support and it will tip anyone over the edge. But more was to come. The council named a school that had clearly said it couldn't meet needs. Oliver advised me to try a mediation meeting. We discussed plans over telephone calls and meetings and at the mediation meeting the council agreed to the placement we wanted.

Oliver was brilliant and we would never have got it without him.

We were at a total loss of what to do. We thought that there was no hope. A mutual friend introduced us to Oliver and he quickly showed that he understood the situation, gave us plans for what to do next, came with us to meetings and resolved the problem.

We never disagreed with the fact that our son had done wrong, he fully admitted what he had done but there was no way that we agreed this merited exclusion. Oliver helped us persuade school that all that X had done was identify security failings in their systems and that there were material and serious failings in the way X was treated and handled. With Oliver's help we made it clear that if they excluded we would pursue complaints relating to safeguarding and unprofessional conduct. We reached a compromise solution which was vital in X's GCSE year.

When the lady from the council said at the mediation 'we understand X's needs well, enough already, he doesn't need an assessment', I thought it was game over. But then Oliver calmly said 'you told us that you've 30 years' experience advising schools on SEN', to which she replied 'yes'. Oliver moved in for what I now think of as "the kill". 'Tell me then,' he said, 'how many times have you advised on "xyz" syndrome?'. 'Never' was the answer. Followed by a swift agreement to assess. Simple but I would never have thought of it. Thank you Oliver.