@MinnieTruck an initial draft is highly unlikely to be perfect. Go through all the reports with highlighters. Highlight all DD’s special educational needs in one colour and all the provision to meet needs in another colour. It can help to break needs and provision down into communication & interaction, cognition & learning, social and emotional, sensory and physical. It can also help to put them into a table to ensure all needs have corresponding provision.
Then go through the draft and make sure all the highlighted needs are in B and the highlighted provision is in F. Make a note of anything the LA have omitted from the draft, any needs without corresponding provision, any woolly and vague wording, and anything the reports have failed to include.
Check F for vague and woolly wording such as “access to”, “as appropriate”, “would benefit from”, “or equivalent”, “opportunities for”, “as required”, “as advised”, “regular”, “up to”, “would be useful/helpful”, “such as”, “e.g.”, “etc.”, “key adult(s)”, “small group”. If provision isn’t detailed, specified and quantified, the EHCP isn’t worth the paper it is written on and cannot be enforced.
When you come across vague and woolly wording, check the reports to see if they are woolly and vague or if the LA has watered down provision. If the reports are vague and woolly, ask the LA to go back to the report writer(s) to make the reports detailed, specified and quantified. Provision in EHCPs is taken from the reports, so if the reports are vague and woolly, the EHCP will be too. If the LA has watered down provision, make sure to request the LA sticks to the wording in the reports.
Make sure any health or social care provision that educates or trains is in F. LAs often don’t do this. This includes things like SALT and OT. LAs like to put them in G when they belong in F.
Once you have looked at B&F, also look at C&G (health needs and provision) and D&H (social care needs and provision).
If it is something you are interested in, SOSSEN has a draft checking service.
For those with finalised EHCPs, a phase transfer review will be held in the autumn term in the academic year prior to starting reception. So, for DD, the upcoming autumn term. As part of the review process, you will get the chance to state your preferred placement for reception. You do not have to apply by the end of September, state more than one preference, complete a preference form or include a mainstream preference if your preference for SS.
If you have a finalised EHCP by the normal admissions deadline (which you should) you don’t need to make a normal application. If you don’t have a finalised EHCP by the deadline, you should make a request via the normal admission process just in case.
Don’t worry about personal budgets. A personal budget is the overall notional budget necessary to deliver the provision in the EHCP that can be delivered in different ways. You can read more in the SENCOP 9.95 onwards, but from your posts on MN I don’t think you are going to need to worry about PBs at the moment. There’s no one set answer on who provides SALT. It may be the NHS, LA, or an independent provider. If it is detailed, specified and quantified in F as it should be, the LA is ultimately responsible for ensuring it is provided.
@Wednesdayy123 don’t withdraw! Even if you don’t want to continue with the appeal for B&F, the LA should concede rather than you withdraw. If there is still outstanding content you disagree with, I would continue with the appeal.
@mollyminniemo more than 2/3rds of appeals were decided by a hearing in 22/23 (the most recent annual data). You can see the statistic here. LAs can concede at any time, including on the day of the hearing.