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Original poster

To postpone annual review?

35 replies

MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 13/01/2026 10:33

Just found out that DGS has his annual review on Thursday. (We thought it was in November because his last one was.) My daughter has been contacted by school this morning to ask if she's attending.

We have not received any paperwork: no formal invite or any reports which I assumed had to be sent out two weeks before. We don't even have anything to fill in with our views/concerns.

We know that the tasks which were 'prescribed' on his last EHCP are not being done on a daily basis. We know that personal care is not being done. He is not even helped with regards to home time - he leaves the class carrying separate items with him: rucksack hanging wide open, water bottle, lunch box, book bag, coat dragging on the floor. All other children leave with their coats on and all items in their rucksacks which are on their backs. DGS comes out like a little waif and stray struggling to carry everything and dropping stuff on the floor. Most days there is something missing - lunch box, water bottle, shoes, socks, coat, fleece. When I ask where these items are the teacher shouts T... where did you leave xyz? Of course he doesn't know. It upsets me to see him at the back of the class struggling whilst everyone else skips out and strides off home whilst I'm dressing him and making sure he has everything with him.

I've no idea what to say at the review and feel rushed thinking that nothing will change anyway. I'm going to support my daughter who is autistic and struggles with face to face meetings and paperwork.

Should he have been seen by Ed Psych? Not that it mattered last time because her recommendations (which we thought were thorough and realistic) and prescriptive section F has been ignored.

DGS - global delay, speech delay, epilepsy, in reception class.

At parent's evening in December, the teacher told DD that she'd 'thrown in the towel' as far as phonics is concerned 'because he just wants to play'. She can't have even read the EHCP.

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Shinyandnew1 · 16/01/2026 09:17

MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 15/01/2026 17:43

Left message for LA caseworker. Not heard back

They're probably off sick-it seems to happen a lot in my LA. I would ring again and ask to speak to someone else.

Email as well-best to leave a paper trail.

Original poster
MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 15/01/2026 17:43

Left message for LA caseworker. Not heard back

OP posts:
Shinyandnew1 · 15/01/2026 14:46

Lots of people on here have suggested ringing or emailing the LA case worker...have you done this?

Youareyou96 · 15/01/2026 12:27

Do you know who your case coordinator is?
If so contact them in regards to your daughter not having the correct paperwork on time for the EHCP review.

If you search online you should be able to get a template of the Parental contribution for the review, take that filled in for the review.

Also look on IPSEA website, there very good at knowing there stuff regarding sen and EHCPs.

2x4greenbrick · 15/01/2026 12:27

DD needs to follow up the phone call with the LA with an email to create a paper trail.

Original poster
MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 15/01/2026 12:15

School cancelled the annual review at 8.50 am - we were in the school playground and just about to walk around to school reception to sign in for the meeting when dd got a phone call. They must have seen us walk past reception 5 minutes earlier. The receptionist told dd 'a professional' cancelled AR yesterday

we were told we could wait in reception and still speak to sendiass lady who was attending. We asked the deputy head if she or the HT could step in and chair the meeting and she said they knew nothing about the process which doesn't seem right. I know that headteachers step in to chair these meetings when SENCo off unexpectedly - they are invited to and must have previously attended many annual reviews.

at 9.30 we went home - sendiass lady didn't turn up

dd rang sendiass and she said school rang her and yesterday told her review was cancelled - they didn't tell me it was cancelled when I'd been in the school reception to ask for the forms and reports at 3.30.

deputy head had said that SENCo's daughter was ill and she couldn't arrange childcare at short notice so had informed her by text message at 5.30am and she gestured to her phone that was in her hand.

headteacher told us that SENCo was off today because she was ill and didn't ring in sick until 7am

dd asked to have the reports to read (they should be available if the meeting was taking place today) and was told they hadn't come in yet. I asked for the date that all involved with the review process received their invites/asked for their report/input and was told that they would look into it.

dd rang LA - she's left a message, answer machine says that they'll contact her within 10 working days. Dd can't arrange any more time off work and her next day off is in a month - she moved heaven and earth to be off this morning at late notice.

so the stories we've been told don't add up

this annual review will be more
than three months late

OP posts:
Shinyandnew1 · 15/01/2026 09:18

asked teacher if she was attending - she said she would if there was cover for her class - so that's not certain.

Sadly that is often the case due to school budgets not having any capacity for cover. I would expect the teacher views to be included though and comments against all of the outcome/targets.

When you say you have evidence of emailing the school 3 times to ask about the AR date, what replies did you get? Did you contact the LA?

If our school wasn't getting annual reviews back on time, the case worker would be banging at the door.

Original poster
MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 14/01/2026 18:37

We haven't seen any reports. We got two forms to fill in at 3.30pm today.

we are going to have the annual review tomorrow as a lady from sendiass is attending in person. She has asked school to delay for an hour so we can read through reports and have a chat beforehand.

Speech and language rang DD this afternoon to say that the request for a report was very late but she went in to school this morning to see DGS and will email report to DD as soon as it's completed. DD didn't have the report before I took DGD to gymnastics so we'll see when I take her home later.

asked teacher if she was attending - she said she would if there was cover for her class - so that's not certain.

it's all a bit of a mess

hope sendiass lady is on our side

OP posts:
Shinyandnew1 · 14/01/2026 14:53

@MyOtherCarIsAPorsche what has happened with this?

Offstroll · 14/01/2026 14:25

This reply has been deleted

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2x4greenbrick · 13/01/2026 15:13

Advice and information from the school should be circulated prior to the AR meeting. That is what the OP is meaning.

Sadly, it isn’t rare for ARs to be held late without reason.

Shinyandnew1 · 13/01/2026 15:05

Any ideas?

Yes, I would delay the review for two weeks starting from when you get all the paperwork.

It's so overdue now, that you might as well wait a couple of weeks and do it properly. Get sendiass there, read their report, speak to who you want to speak to.

You say you have three bits of evidence saying you contacted them asking when the AR would be...what were their replies to this?

There will be an assessment section on the AR paperwork which they will have to fill in.

Schools often don't write a report for an AR though-their bit goes in the review section for each Outcome.

Did you answer whether the SENCo has been ill/left, @MyOtherCarIsAPorsche ? Apologies if I missed that. It seems odd that an Annual Review is being done so late with no reason.

A school near me had their senco leave very suddenly after a period of awful illness and I know some of their ARs didn't get done in time. Yes, that should not have happened but there was a reason why it did.

2x4greenbrick · 13/01/2026 15:03

DD’s views should be taken into account as part of the AR process.

Being promised provision isn’t the same as provision being legally enforceable. DD needs to look at what is detailed, specified and quantified in F. She needs to pay close attention to the wording. Vague and woolly wording means it isn’t enforceable.

If DD wants to go ahead on Thursday and receives the updated advice and information tomorrow, would she have time to set side tomorrow or early Thursday to go through it, make notes, etc. or not?

DD should be careful with SENDIASS. Some are good but too many repeat the LA’s unlawful policies.

Original poster
MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 13/01/2026 14:53

they have absolutely not sent out any paperwork - no formal invite, no reports, no form template to fill in for our/dgs views

dd was unaware of review until she got a phone call from early years teacher this morning asking if she was attending

the office told me that they were unaware of an annual review this Thursday when I asked for what we should have already received. I'll see what they say when I go to collect DGC shortly. I would have liked to have filled in our views before now. Indeed, they are supposed to have been circulated with everyone concerned two weeks ago.

Dd has since had a call from head teacher to say that the teacher report hasn't been done and we will get it after school tomorrow. This probably happened because DD rang sendiass during her lunch break. Sendiass are trying to get someone to 'attend' remotely.

i wanted to go through reports with colleagues/friends beforehand. It doesn't give me any time to meet up with anyone.

OP posts:
Elsiebelsie · 13/01/2026 14:10

I rang school about missing paperwork after DD rang me. No one in the office knew anything about it and we're still non the wiser.

No one knew anything about the review?

Or do they confirm that they did send out paperwork but it’s not been received by your daughter?

I would proceed with the review. Why wait? You clearly know the issues you wish to raise and why do you need more time ?

Original poster
MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 13/01/2026 13:17

I have printed copies of the three times I've contacted school about the annual review. One copy is hopefully going with the AR bundle which will include our views/concerns.

Dd wants to go ahead with the meeting on Thursday because it's her day off this week and she doesn't want to 'mess anyone about'. Confused

I rang school about missing paperwork after DD rang me. No one in the office knew anything about it and we're still non the wiser.

I'm wondering if I write my views/concerns on a piece of paper they'll be taken into account or thrown in the bin.

Even if we get to see any reports tomorrow it's a bit late to consult and comment on them.

DGS was assessed as being two and a half years behind his chronological age but this was November 24. He was 4 years old. We don't have any further assessment information. Which is why we wanted a report from school.

at the end of nursery (in the school) we had nothing to say which level/age he was working at/towards: it was general comments.

when I asked to see what was being done with regards to following the EHCP they said it wasn't written down but a TA worked with him every day. When I asked to see any notes of tasks/work covered and evidence of progress I heard nothing further.

The pre and post teaching reinforcement we were promised more than a year ago is either not working or not happening. I was wanting to explore other possible strategies well in advance of the meeting.

Any ideas?

OP posts:
Shinyandnew1 · 13/01/2026 12:08

so when an AR wasn’t held on time, did DD, with your help if necessary, contact the LA?

This!

If I was the parents/grandparent and knew it had gone past the 12m date, I'd have been contacting everyone I could think of every day from November.

Class teacher, senco, head, CoG, LA, SaLT...

2x4greenbrick · 13/01/2026 11:51

Updated advice and information (although not necessarily full EP assessments. Most ARs do not include a full EP assessment in the same way that is undertaken during EHCNAs. DD can request that if it is necessary. Although the LA may not agree.) should have been circulated at least 2 weeks prior to the annual review. When this doesn’t happen, as long as there is sufficient time to read the information, some parents decide to still go ahead if there are pressing concerns on the basis of not wanting to waste time. If DD doesn’t want to, she/you can request to postpone.

If provision detailed, specified and quantified in F isn’t being provided, have DGS’s parents contacted the LA? They are the ones ultimately responsible for ensuring it is provided. If contacting the LA didn’t work, have they looked at a pre-action letter?

Similarly, the LA is ultimately responsible for ensuring the AR process is followed correctly, so when an AR wasn’t held on time, did DD, with your help if necessary, contact the LA?

RudolphTheReindeer · 13/01/2026 11:41

You must have the right notice and reports must be shared so tell them no, and to rearrange it and ensure the appropriate paperwork is completed and shared beforehand.

Shinyandnew1 · 13/01/2026 11:34

School would have given any paperwork to me anyway - they have done for the past 6 years.

Is the child in reception, did you say? I presume there are older siblings as well then if you've known them 6 years.

What did the SENCo say all those times when you have been requesting a date for this AR? That's bizarre, it's a statutory part of their job?!

I'd probably email the senco and Cc the head in-asking why you had been ignored, why the AR is now delayed (the meeting should be held, the paperwork returned to the LA and everything agreed within the 12 months, so the meeting is often held weeks before the 12m date) and say that you can't have the AR on Thursday without being given 2 weeks notice and without the paperwork.

I'd ring the LA now as well.

Has the SENCo been off sick/left suddenly or something?

Original poster
MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 13/01/2026 11:25

@Shinyandnew1

we asked for a date in September, before October half term, November and December. Last three requests were in writing - messages on classrooms and emails.

Heard nothing until today

OP posts:
SmittenApple · 13/01/2026 11:24

Pick up the phone to the school and liaise directly with them not via your daughter

Mulledjuice · 13/01/2026 11:24

SmittenApple · 13/01/2026 10:38

At parent's evening in December, the teacher told DD that she'd 'thrown in the towel' as far as phonics is concerned 'because he just wants to play'. She can't have even read the EHCP.

Did your daughter tell you this?

I imagine the teacher meant that phonics had been put on the back burner whilst more immediate issues relating to him were addressed.

That is not the meaning of "thrown in the towel". If a teacher had said that about my child i would be furious

Original poster
MyOtherCarIsAPorsche · 13/01/2026 11:22

SmittenApple · 13/01/2026 10:42

I'm going to support my daughter who is autistic and struggles with face to face meetings and paperwork.

So it is quite possible that advance notice was issued.

She hasn't been invited or received any reports. School would have given any paperwork to me anyway - they have done for the past 6 years.

the phone call she'd had this morning was the first she'd heard of it.

we have nothing to fill in, as we did have previously, to give our views. This information we want to provide should have been circulated to all involved two weeks ago.

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