Is there a benefit to EHCP for nursery?

[theyareonlynoodlesmichael]

DD is 3 and goes to nursery 5 days a week. She has some speech delay which has been attributed to ASD. The majority of her issues are outside of the home (she is non-verbal anywhere other than home) which is now starting to cause 'issues' as it were, because she cannot demonstrate or communicate her understanding, and as she has some noise sensitivity she often wonders off to play alone.
Is there any point of doing the EHCP now when she is still 2 years away from school? Does anything practically change for her at nursery with it? She has an IEP but tbh I have to constantly chase them for any sort of progress with it.

An EHCP can provide support in excess of what DC would otherwise receive. That applies to nursery age DC just as it does to school age DC. For example, it can include therapies such as SALT beyond what DC otherwise receive. Same for OT, including sensory OT. It could also provide 1:1 some or all of the time.

Also, many have to appeal, sometimes more than once, and the wait for Tribunal is long.

Thank you.

Its a private nursery, would that make a difference? Who would fund the additional support?

The LA are responsible for funding the provision in EHCPs.

The only difference with private nurseries is you need an offer of a place for them to be named in the EHCP. More often than not this isn’t an issue at nursery level if DC are already attending.

My daughter is going to a private nursery and got an EHP. My advice is that the nursery apply for a EHP as early as possible. Many kids apply for a EHP when they start school and the schools are a bit overwhelmed with this. The funding that we got will be use by the nursery to hire someone to do the 1:1 sessions with my daughter and for SALT Also if you have an EHP you will have priority to choose the school that you want.

I would say DEFINITELY go for it, as you’ll then have it in place for school.

I found it really helpful having it in place for my boy when he was at nursery.

@theyareonlynoodlesmichael

I just wanted to make you aware of an issue I’ve had with applying for my son’s EHCP. There is a statutory time frame to award, but I think many local authorities are not achieving this. My son finally got his just a couple of months before he was about to start reception. I wanted him in mainstream.

The admission process to schools is different once an EHCP has been allocated. It means the mainstream application no longer applies. I had to reapply.
I had two schools attempt to reject his placement in mainstream and had to fight to get him in.
With hindsight, I would have waited until he was in reception before finalising his EHCP.
I’m glad his got it, but I’m very unhappy with how the schools responded to his placement. It may just be an issue I had, but I think it’s worth being aware.

You can enforce the statutory timescales, via judicial review if necessary.

I wouldn’t wait to finalise until after DC start reception. That would mean the necessary provision isn’t in place at the beginning, which may well set DC up to fail. If you have to appeal that would be even longer without support. You would also be limited to the school(s) you would be admitted to via the normal admissions process, whereas having an EHCP enables DC to access schools they wouldn’t otherwise be offered a place at. There are very few reasons the LA can lawfully refuse to name parental preference (although you may have to appeal to enforce this), and schools can (and must unless one of the exceptions apply) be named against their will unless they are wholly independent. When some schools are reluctant to be named it isn’t always personal, sometimes it is political.

@OvertakenByLego

In my case, it was so close to the line with timings (EHCP finalised in June, then re admission) I thought I’d have no school place for September. All the cogs were in motion, but had I not pushed for his EHCP to be finalised - I feel this would have naturally happened early on in September when DS was already in school - and the mainstream school would have found it harder to try and not take him.

And then if I had appealed, I’d have him in school while I did this.

I was getting a lot of conflicting advice, with the LA telling me that if I appealed in June his placement would be ‘frozen’ and I’d not have a school place. I now believe this to be incorrect, but there are definitely stories In the news of children having no school placement because of delays. Even contacting my case worker sometimes took two weeks for a reply, or no response at all.

I realise there is a way things ‘should’ be done, but the communication is often very difficult and the conflicting advice is very confusing.

I thought I’d have no school place for September.

This wouldn’t happen. You would either have had a place via the normal admissions procedure or that would be overruled by the placement named in a finalised EHCP.

DS already starting school would have made no difference. What the LA told you is incorrect. Don’t believe what the LA tell you about EHCPs.

@OvertakenByLego

https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/surrey-sen-send-school-places-26594255.amp

The school wasn’t named initially. The EHCP simply said ‘a mainstream school’ and they ones that they asked to place him were rejecting him. It was only a few weeks before the summer holidays, and I really had to fight! Again there is what ‘should’ happen and what happens in reality where communication is difficult, and where you get mixed messages!

The process can be enforced via JR if necessary. That parent didn’t need to quit her job, she could have enforced her rights, which I appreciate she may not have known how to do, but that isn’t a problem with having an EHCP finalised before reception, it is as problem with parents not being advised correctly. Also, having the EHCNA requested well before starting (which it sounds like it should have been anyway) would have enabled her to appeal before the start of reception, especially as phase transfer appeals are prioritised.

@OvertakenByLego

It is about knowing your rights, but as a parent (and even though I have a bit of school experience) - you suddenly need to become an expert on wording, and the law. I expected someone? who? to know the answer and I’d just sign the right boxes.

Every agency involved seems to have a slightly different interpretation - hence I see the need for judicial review. But who is right and who is wrong? I guess it’s ultimately up to the judge to decide? But then what if you don’t agree with that decision and it all gets appealed and reviewed again! It all takes time.

Unfortunately, DC whose parents know the law and advocate for their DC get better support. It shouldn’t be like that, but it isn’t going to change any time soon.

Don’t listen to the school, LA, HCPs, SENDIASS about EHCPs. Look at IPSEA and SOSSEN. Ultimately it is the courts who decide (depending on the issue either via JR or appealing the EHCP to the FTT and then sometimes potentially the UT). However, where JR is the appropriate remedy for the vast majority of cases threatening the Director of Children’s Service with JR or a pre-action letter works. Very few get to a JR proceedings themselves.

That’s very good advice @OvertakenByLego and I’ve contacted SOSSEN before. It is about knowing who to listen to, contact and pursue things with. I’m going list SOSSEN and IPSEA as my first port of call if I get difficulties next school year. I think it was timings, knowing which school he was placed at, thinking I needed to (hopefully) get a uniform, attending induction days - knowing I’d still be able to do my job, enrolling in breakfast clubs etc that was cut so close to the line by a late EHCP with no mainstream school specifically named which was the worry. I feel I have time and at least place secured for now if I want to appeal or change anything.

I think if a school tried to reject your son because of the EHCP, it’s not a school that you want to send him to unfortunately. If they are starting with that level of unhelpfulness, things will only get worse.

@Ticktockk

Comparatively though, the other school that we applied for was a straight and outright ‘no’ and the LA suggested that I didn’t try and pursue an application there any further.