When should a teacher read a child’s EHCP?

[endoftether89]

I am particularly interested to hear from teachers on this, or other parents of SEN children.

I have a 4 year old with significant SEN who’s started reception at a mainstream school this September. The EHCP was in place from early 2026. The reception class is very small.

When is it realistic to expect the teacher to have read an EHCP?

This is my eldest child, so I have no idea what’s normal for schools. I’m trying to gauge how I feel about my child’s school and the experience we’ve had so far, and it’s tricky without a frame of reference. We are currently on a reduced timetable. There have been two instances where she’s admitted she’s not read the EHCP, the latest one was about four weeks in.

My assumption is that she should ideally have read it before term started - however I am conscious that real life isn’t always ideal. So therefore, I’m curious what other people, especially teachers, would regard as being normal in practice.

thanks in advance! X

Erm as a SENCO I would expect my teachers to have a full understanding of section b and f in any EHCPs in their group before the summer holidays.

Ex teacher

I never read the full EHCP. Large parts of it are not relevant for teaching.

in most cases the full EHCP was available but I read the parts that were relevant.

there is often a lot of jargon in them and as a relatively new teacher you don’t always know the jargon. Senco advises usually.

Family Support here. I would expect my teachers have attended transition meetings with previous setting before the summer where they would have gone through the EHCP. If possible we like to attend EHCP reviews that happen once our school has been named.
There is absolutely no reason why the teacher is not familiar with the EHCP.

That's really disappointing but not surprising. Unfortunately you've just got to keep going back at them, don't worry about being a nuisance. Reading the ECHP is the very least they can do, it's not a favour to you.

Yes sorry to be clear I’m specifically talking about sections B and F, I don’t mind if she hasn’t read the full thing

The teacher should have read the EHCP long before now.

You say you are on a reduced timetable, is that your decision as DC is not CSA or is this being forced upon you as an unlawful informal exclusion?

Did you have a meeting with the class teacher before DC started as part of the transition?

If the EHCP was finalised early 2026, have you had a review since? While the law requires LA to hold an annual review of the EHCP at least every 12 months, for those under 5, they should consider reviewing every 3-6 months.

The teacher should have read the relevant sections by now (ideally before the child starts school to help support with transition).

As a secondary school teacher I was livid that I didn’t have EHCPs before my year 7s started, fundamentally I can’t meet their needs if I don’t know what they are. In a primary school I absolutely would expect the teacher to read it and action it as soon as they had it.

My child’s reception teacher was fully familiar with his EHCP by the first day of term.

Someone from the school should have readd it before the transition meetings started.
Feasibly, the class teacher might be working from the Support plans - particularly if there are multiple dc with additional needs.

EHCPs are copied and pasted from phrases written in the application process, and they have to be worded to tick the right boxes to get the LA to actually issue one in the first place. So, on learning there is a child with an EHCP due to start, the best way to learn about them is to meet the child, the parents, and the previous providers to gain the best knowledge of the individual child and their needs, and things that have (or haven't) helped them on their journey so far. Reading the legal document doesn't do that anywhere near so well as a good transition process.

Thank you all for the responses. I was rather hoping you’d all say it’s not ideal but in reality normal… I like all the staff such a lot whenever I speak to them. But there are lots of mostly little things going on that are adding up to a big picture, and this is one of them I think. But it’s good to know that it’s not normal - thank you

As a parent of a child with SEN, I would expect the teacher to be familiar with the salient and most significant aspects of his EHCP before beginning to teach him.

My 12 year experience of my child's educators suggests they agree with this and have all done so.

Where did the EHCP come from? If done through the school (nursery) then I would expect the key points from it were passed on between staff or even for the sendco to have spoken to the teacher to highlight the key points. (I do think it should have been looked at in the first week so that the teacher knew key points about the child which is why I am wondering if this info has been shared in a different way and therefore the teacher thinks they know the main points).

The reduced timetable was my idea, though I didn’t feel I had much choice at the time. Not because of things the school were saying, but because there was an issue that they didn’t seem able to resolve and I was worried it was causing physical illness to my child. They seem conscious that when he turns 5, which is soon, there will be paperwork re the reduced timetable so do want him back, but no firm plan on this yet. I’ve asked for a date to trial a full day at pick up today so we will see what comes of that.

We did have a meeting before the summer holidays where I walked her through my child’s issues and what I anticipated to be a problem. We didn’t discuss much of the contents of the EHCP at this meeting other than the fact that he has 1:1 support - he has largely been receiving this, especially in the last few weeks.

We actually just last week had an early annual review meeting that the school called for. They asked for 2:1 funding. I am not sure the LA will agree to this, so I’m not sure what will happen next.I think it’s now a matter of waiting for the LA to come back to us.

I really do like the staff a great deal whenever I speak with them, they always come across as being very caring, which is partly why I’m finding this really difficult.

Have you resolved the issue you were worried about causing physical illness? You have the right to send DS part-time until the term after he is 5, but this is your choice. If you want him to attend full time, or part-time but more than he is now, you can. Once DS is CSA, if he can’t attend full time, alternative provision should be provided.

he has 1:1 support - he has largely been receiving this, especially in the last few weeks.

This makes it sound like 1:1 isn’t always being provided? Is 1:1 detailed, specified and quantified in F of the EHCP? If so, it must be provided. If it isn’t being provided all the time, speak to the school and the LA. It is ultimately the LA who is responsible for ensuring it is provided.

Is MS your preference?

As a class teacher I'd definitely had read it but I wonder if in this case the SENCO has read it and is liaising with the TAs directly. It sounds like your child has quite complex needs and is perhaps more with the TA than the rest of the class? Their progress and wellbeing is the responsibility of the class teacher so I'm not saying it's right but I wonder if that's what's happening here. Do you know the SENCO has read it? For a child with an EHCP, I'd liaise mostly with them. The class teacher will likely have very little influence over things like part time timetables.

They aren't long and reading the whole thing gives background.

What's the point in a child having one if the teacher can't be arsed to read the relevant bits of it?

They should read it before they start teaching your child otherwise how do they know what support to out in place?

There should have been an Individual Learning Plan along side the ECHP. It’s a much more useful document and pin points exact points to work on taken from the ECHP. If the teacher is using that as their working document they are covered. Can you really expect a teacher to read and digest numerous ECHP’s ! Of course not, it’s totally unreasonable and unrealistic.

Can you really expect a teacher to read and digest numerous ECHP’s ! Of course not, it’s totally unreasonable and unrealistic.

Yes, a parent can. No, it is not unreasonable or unrealistic to expect the reception teacher to have read and understood the EHCP of any child in their class.

Often the Ehcp gets put into a school wide format eg pupil passport or iep or similar - so the teacher may never read the full thing but they should be aware of needs and suggested / required adaptations. I read all my send info before the start of term and we get emailed to be notified of updates we need to read

They should absolutely read the relevant sections, but in my experience, many don’t bother.

By what points to work on do you mean targets/outcomes?

I’m a 1-1. I had a draft come through prior to the summer holidays and I read that then and then again before we went back. I’ve had the finalised version today and I’ll read it tomorrow evening. Changes will be highlighted and I’ll concentrate mainly on them because I have a good understanding of the needs of the child. I would have expected the teacher to have read the relevant sections by now.