To ask what sort of provision your child/children you teach gets in an ehcp

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I'm trying to work out what support DD would get from an ehcp that it is over an above reasonable adjustments the school can already provide.

I think autistic DC needs more support in school academically and emotionally. But don't think she would want or qualify for a 1:1. I'd be interested to know what sorts of provision can be offered through an ehcp.

GD has an EHCP and goes to a special school as part of it.

Sorry - school only has 40 pupils. 3 in class for GCSE Maths, 1:1 for music. Loads of counselling and pastoral care. No homework and she got 6 good GCSEs.

@mdh2020 thanks for your reply. That is great your GD has done so well. DD will be struggling to do that well academically unless things change dramatically.

You need specifics about what your DD is struggling with; would she benefit from a Now & Next board so she doesn’t feel overwhelmed with her tasks? Does she struggle to stay focused so a timer might help? Does she struggle to keep still in which case Movement Breaks would be helpful? You need to break it down so she gets help exactly where she needs it.

@Motheranddaughtertotwo this seems very sensible. The difficulty is I know she sits in lessons and doesn't understand understand what she is being taught and struggles with the work. But I have no dea how she can be helped with that as obviously I can't see what is actually happening in the classroom and DD wouldn't be able to know/articulate what would help support her.

With an EHCp I think you get to name which school you’d like your DC to go to, it has to be able to meet their needs though.

It also then outlines what provisions should be put in place to help them.

As part of the EHCP application process you don't have to specify what her support needs are or even prove that she has them, all you need to do is demonstrate that she might have support needs - because she has a diagnosis, this has already been done for you.

There are some good guides on the IPSEA website including template letters. When applying for my DC I used these and in the free-foem section of the letter I briefly outlined their diagnosis, what support they were currently getting, and what issues/problems we were currently having both with that support and their needs - essentially school were not giving enough support and then as soon as DC made progress they removed the support as it was "no longer needed", DC would then backslide so support would be reinstated, repeat and repeat. I explained that I wanted an assessment of their needs to determine exactly what support was needed, who would provide it, etc and an EHCP so that everyone involved in supporting DC knew exactly what they had to do.

DC has had theirs for several years now. In their most up to date version they have:

• a named TA in every lesson
• access to the SEND block, a specific area of school just for SEND pupils where they can access chill out spaces, have sensory breaks, do interventions, take exams with adjustments, etc. They can work in there too if they don't want to be in the main part of school for whatever reason
• daily sensory circuit
• no homework, all work is done in school time
• specialist intervention work around social skills
• no PE
• specified responsibilities for all staff relating to emotional support, appropriate supervision, and reasonable expectations
• Lego therapy
• fine motor skills exercises
• physiotherapy exercises
• open referral to primary mental health support
• adjustments to uniform
• timetable adjustments (leaves the lesson a few minutes ahead of the crowd)

25 hours 1:1 in a mainstream school for 18 months now.

Recent mocks now predicting As for her GCSEs where she was failing 2 years ago. The right support makes a world of difference.

In my school, current financial pressures mean you don't get nearly as much as you used to, unfortunately. I don't know what your child's specific needs are, but things I would be looking to have named in Section F (provision) would be:

• Attention Autism if she struggles with attention, focus, turn taking or independent work (someone at school needs proper training in all 4 stages, not just the 'Bucket Time' that some mainstream schools seem to think is AA).
• Visual structure e.g. schedule for the week/day/lesson, change system for schedule, activity planner with steps to tick off, sand/digital timers, reward system.
• Social skills intervention to teach specific skills (e.g. we currently have running one for playing alongside another child, one for asking for a turn, one for playground games, one on working out what other people might be thinking, one on having conversations that both people are interested in, two Lego therapy groups and an older girls' group on thinking vs saying out loud).
• Daily check-in with an adult to go through schedule, check emotional/sensory regulation, etc.
• Access to a safe space at playtimes and/or access to lunchtime clubs, if the playground is tricky.
• I am Special programme or something similar to teach her about her autism when she is old enough (Y5/6 ish, maybe Y4 for a bright child).
• Sensory diet setting out what she needs to be well-regulated and ready to learn, including access to sensory circuits, sensory breaks, tools such as wobble cushions, weighted blankets, ear defenders, fidget toys.
• Accommodations around eating e.g. allowed to bring own packed lunch free from rules about 'healthy' food, quiet space to eat, access to snacks in the morning/afternoon if she struggles to eat enough at lunchtime, sensory programme to increase tolerance of different foods.
• Whatever communication support she needs e.g. PECS, communication boards, sentence starters, Colourful Semantics.
• Reading comprehension intervention specifically aimed at autistic children.
• Whole word reading scheme if Phonics doesn't work for her.
• Emotional regulation support e.g. Zones of Regulation, 5 Point Scale.

@bluechameleon the financial pressures at the school shouldn’t make any difference to an EHCP as they are based on need.

My DS has OT, speech therapy, social skills, literacy support, typing and hand writing skills among others in his EHCP.

His first few EHCPs were not well specified. When DS reached secondary he was struggling more so we made sure his EHCP was very clear.

This is all useful input and I’ll be following with interest as we are just about to find out whether our DD (similar) will be granted an EHCP - we had to take the LA to tribunal to get an assessment though.

However! important to bear in mind that the whole purpose of the EHC needs assessment stage is for trained professionals to establish your DD’s needs and what support she might need. Granted, the LA professionals might not be able to do as thorough an assessment as private ones (although the LA EP actually got a much better grasp of DD’s difficulties than the acclaimed private one we commissioned) but just to reassure you that it isn’t just down to you to come up with solutions (although you will have the opportunity to make suggestions/requests).

Good luck, it’s really hard to get the right support in place when it’s needed but the need isn’t clear-cut.

Thanks for these responses it is so useful to get a grasp of the kind of things that can be done.
@Kta7 thanks for pointing out it is for the professionals to assess need. That is a really useful thing to bear in mind, as all I know is she is struggling and really don't know the best way for her to be supported. Now she is in secondary with proper exams etc that is steadily becoming more apparent.

How old is she? Ehcp can be particularly useful to have during transition from juniors to secondary as the school environment is so different. Basically having one gives your child a legal requirement for the council to provide the things she needs to access school in the same way as anyone else does. Once it is in place the provision is not fixed and is changed once a year depending on her changing needs (theoretically).