EHCP support thread no. 6

So final EHCP has been issued...... it says mainstream attendance has collapsed, she experiences the school environment as overwhelming and feels unsafe and remains hypervigilant............ her own views on the EHCP state she cannot consistently attend her current mainstream.
Provision includes things like one hour small group teaching every day. Another 30 minute small group teaching every day, multiple small group interventions. Check ins from key staff at beginning of every lesson, before every new task, during all transitions during the day. Flexible eating and drinking times, an agreed low arousal safe space available throughout the day. Key staff to be available throughout the day. These are just some examples of section f.
And they have named the current mainstream 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I might try the monitoring office as they are based in the legal department as apart from the timescales there are many other unlawful practices happening but I suspect they already know all about this and just ignore it

If the LA is in breach of the AR timescales and chasing hasn’t worked, you can look for someone with the capacity to write a pre-action letter.

When you have chased the LA have you emailed the Director of Children’s Services? If not, try that. If you haven’t already emailed the Monitoring Officer, you could try that too.

So school starts next week annual review decision with legal deadline of months ago is still unresolved. Significant changes to support were requested and we have been fobbed off for months with various excuses. To cut a long story short we submitted private report-LA stated they needed their service to check but a SAR has shown this service hasn’t been responsive to e-mails sent requesting this advice and SEN team don’t appear to have proactively chased this in any timely fashion despite my complaints. What can I do? MP is already involved but nothing has moved just empty promises of we are prioritising this, this week and then absolutely nothing has happened on issuing the amended plan (this is after parental consultation on the first draft)

If the provision is detailed, specified and quantified but not being provided, you can enforce it if you want.

If you don’t want it provided because it is out of date, you could request an early review. On their website, IPSEA has a model letter you can use.

It’s detailed and specific, but just more suitable for a child in KS3 than a child who
will have completed GCSEs this time next year.

While you can ask for updated EP advice and information as part of the AR process, it is unlikely this will be a proper full report.

To give you all the information in order to be able to make a decision, you could, in theory, request a reassessment of needs, but personally I wouldn’t.

Is the provision in F not being provided detailed, specified and quantified or is it vague and woolly?

Thanks so much, super helpful. We don’t yet know the placement - we have some ideas but not sure yet (and potential for it to depend on the GCSE results which is tricky in terms of timings).

The last EP assessment was over two years ago at the end of year 8 - it took so long to get the EHCP in place. Would it be normal / reasonable to have another assessment at this point? Could we request the LA do one? Quite a lot of stuff from the EHCP is yet to be implemented so I’m not sure there will be masses to review. But at the moment the results from the mocks and exam scripts speak for themselves in terms of performance in the absence of the right support and the SEN team at the school are well placed to comment on social and emotional support required.

@BananaPie a phase transfer review should be held in the autumn term of Y11 (or at the very, very beginning of January, although I wouldn’t recommend this).

The AR process should be as follows:

1. Updated advice and information must be circulated at least 2 weeks prior to the AR meeting.
2. Then you have the AR meeting.
3. Within 2 weeks of the AR meeting, a report must be circulated.
4. Within 4 weeks of the AR meeting, the LA must send you the amendment notice/draft/notice of amendment/proposed amendments (whatever the LA/you want to call it) and you must be given at least 15 days to comment on the amendments and state your preferred placement.
5. Then the LA must finalise within 8 weeks of sending the proposed amendments.
6. For post 16 phase transfer, they must also finalise the 31st March 2027.

Hello, sorry if this has already been asked. My DC got their EHCP in January 2026 (after a long fight). They are now going into year 11 and we are starting to think ahead to post 16 options. Bitter experience suggests that the LA won’t be proactive. When do I need to get them to do the phase transfer review and what shall I expect? We haven’t even had an annual review yet but I think it might need doing in advance of that? Thanks

@WhatNextImScared I would make the request ASAP. I wouldn’t wait to meet the new teacher and SENCO. This is especially important since DD is in Y5. You need every day you can get.

Joining the thread now. Daughter just diagnosed with ASD before the summer break. I will be starting the EHCP process once I've met her new teacher and the newly promoted sendco. She’s 9, Y5.

Thank you

It wasn’t a criticism of you. Your post made it sound like you didn’t know an early review was possible. I was simply saying it was and could be requested.

And I mentioned requesting AP and AP not having to be traditional because while DD may not be able to engage in traditional AP, AP can come in many forms, including, for example, not having any direct provision. &/or it could be more hours of the Mindjam you mention has been funded until now.

Maybe I’m being a bit sensitive here but I’m already feeling like I fail her continually. I wanted to do it earlier. There’s a long back story so please believe that I have done everything possible for her. She wanted to make her last school work but just wasn’t able to and I had to had to wait until she accepted that.

They could have held an early AR. You could have requested one. You would have had a strong case for one if DD wasn’t in school, although there’s no guarantee the LA would have agreed one.

I would request AP. It can come in many forms. It doesn’t have to be traditional provision.

I don’t think they should do ARs in July (I know there’s not much choice but in cases like this it isn’t great). I’ve never pushed AP before as she hasn’t been willing to engage. But I think she might do now.

If the AR meeting was in early July, it was always unlikely you would have a finalised EHCP naming another placement by the beginning of the 26/27 academic year.

If DD isn’t able (rather than you just disagreeing with it being named) to attend the school named in the EHCP, the LA has a duty to provide a suitable full-time education and anything in F. If you haven’t already requested AP from the LA, do this now.

Yes the AR was early July. No AP in place, since she is still on roll at previous school I need them or the LA to confirm what will happen next week, will they do tutoring, continue the Mindjam they pay for etc.

@CatBusStop if DD is not in school, is alternative provision in place?

Is this following an AR? If so, the LA should have informed you if they were going to amend or not within 4 weeks of the AR meeting. They should have sent the amendment notice/notice of amendment/draft/whatever you/the LA want to call it at the same time and finalised within a further 8 weeks. As this hasn’t happened and chasing hasn’t worked, you might want to start looking for someone with capacity for a pre-action letter.

You could also try emailing the Monitoring Officer.

Just so you know, LAs don’t always wait until they send you the amendment notice before consulting.

My LA agreed to amend DD’s ehcp in early August but only sent an email saying this, no amended plan, no proposed amendments, nothing.

DD is ready to move from her current specialist school into an ARP in the new term. But the school haven’t been consulted with yet, and there’s no plan to do so with anyway. I’m really anxious about what happens next week if this still isn’t sorted.

I escalated it to the Director last week and to councillors today, but there’s been no movement at all. And because the amended plan hasn’t been issued, I can’t appeal either.

Not much anyone can do, just want to moan. She’s been out of school for so long and is so excited to try a new setting and it’s so hard to manage her expectations.

Another one here who has a draft EHCP with some massive holes. No mention of the EOTAS packages recommended in the EP report.
I have put in my comments that this should be added, but based on all the experiences here, I expect we'll be going to tribunal.

You can if you want but it doesn’t really matter because the LA must give you at least 15 days to comment.

@KeepItSpinning Thank you. It literally needs scrapping and writing again. I won't have time today, so is it worth sending a follow-up email now to say that is what I will do?

I was expecting the usual complaints (eg some missing provision or woolly language), but was not expecting diagnoses and needs to be completely missed off! The C&L section is completely empty. In the email itself, the caseworker states: "This is an important opportunity to make sure the plan fully reflects your child/ young person’s needs and the support required to meet those needs."(!)

@Namechange857 in some cases it is normal for the draft to essentially need a complete overhaul. You are still proposing amendments. It isn’t any different to if only a smaller number of amendments need proposing.

Yes, you need to propose amendments now.

The LA doesn’t not have to send you a rewritten version just because you have said it is needed.

Even once you have proposed amendments, the LA doesn’t have to send you a revised draft before finalising if they aren't going to make any amendments or the amendments made are a result of your representations. (And to add the placement/type of placement.) They can finalise without consulting you again. Based on Reg 14 and SENCOP 9.125. They only need to issue a revised draft if they propose other amendments.