Unless EHCP & PB declined

[ChirpyLilacExpert]

My kid got his EHCP when he Left school so August 25 after tribunal ordering in in NOVEMBER 24! It is the most useless template document. The co-ordinator did not listen and cited the law to say she couldn’t put this in or that.

He already applied to college himself and was accepted pending GCSE grades WHICH HE ACHIEVED.

The la sent his EHCP to 3 colleges despite us saying he has already got his offer and enrolled into his preferred one himself! And his coordinator wants to change is EHCP what the hell can I do?

1. We don’t offer interventions for conversation skills at Post 16

1. Page 13 – The curriculum cannot be adapted at Level 3 but teaching will be differentiated to meet individual needs.

1. Page 17 – he could be offered a time slot in our Learners Assistance Base slot in his unstructured time but would not have 1-1 support in.

1. Page 19 – We don’t use ABC charts in a Post 16 college environment.

1. Page 21 – We don’t offer the following at College - Provision for physical exercise and development
2. Support for his development of life skills (e.g. cooking, cleaning)

I propose to remove points 1, 4 and 5, and amend points 2 and 3. Please can you confirm whether you are in agreement with this and I will then amend to name this setting his college.

also, I asked for the personal budget to pay for his gym membership and tennis lessons and they said no but his consultant said tennis lessons would continue to help him.

The process for naming a placement in an EHCP is separate from the normal admission process. Just because DS had an offer via the normal process doesn’t mean consultations don’t happen. Even if DS’s preferred placement is the one he holds an offer from, they still need to be formally consulted as part of the EHCP process.

1. Interventions for interaction can happen post 16. In college or otherwise.
2. This is difficult to comment on without knowing the course and what you/they mean by adapted curriculum. With qualifications, there is only so much the curriculum can be adapted before the qualifications can’t be delivered.
3. Offered doesn’t necessarily mean will receive. 1:1 can be provided but it would need to be detailed, specified and quantified in F and for that you would need evidence.
4. ABC charts are rarely used in MS post 16 placements. They can be, but they rarely are.
5. Provision for exercise can be provided, but you would need evidence.
6. Preparation for adulthood can be provided. Again, it would need to be detailed, specified and quantified. You would need evidence.

If gym membership and tennis lessons are not in F, it is highly unlikely you would receive a PB for them. “Continue to help him" isn’t detailed, specified and quantified enough. You need watertight evidence. For exercise in an EHCP, this often comes from a physio &/or OT.

For future reference, compliance with SENDIST Orders have statutory timescales. If the LA breach those timescales like they have in this case, you can take action to force their hand.

Thanks for your reply. The plan is finalised what I did not like is that they could change the plan just so he could go to that college. That seems council initiative to the whole plan.

In the personal budget side of things the coordinator said there is no way at all it comes from anything except for stuff in school. Even after indicating the holistic nature of the plan (there is a social / independent living and community section)
And coordinator says no to personal budget.

So if the EHCP has been finalised, what placement is named in section I?

Are the current proposed amendments following a review? If so, it is the correct process the send you the amendment notice with proposed amendments. You then get to comment on them and state your preferred placement.

There are some circumstances where the LA can amend without holding a review or reassessment but the Regs state if the proposes to amend an EHCP with review/reassessment, it shall proceed as if the proposed amendment were an amendment proposed after a review.

Provision can be provided away from the education setting, but the provision needs to be detailed, specified and quantified in F. (There may be a section but is the provision detailed, specified and quantified or is it vague and woolly?) The LA doesn’t have to provide a PB for things not in F. Even if it is in F, they don’t have to provide one if the funds are part of a larger budget and they can’t disaggregate the individual amount. Even if a PB is agreed, it may not be a direct payment.