Should Senco’s read echp/ know review dates !

[Waystobewicked]

As per title
If you are a senco are you obliged to read a child’s ehcp. Or know when review should be ?

Yes a senco should read EHCPs, so they know what support is supposed to be implemented.
Annual reviews are often arranged, coordinated and sometimes chaired by someone in a more administrative role, so the senco will not necessarily know off the top of their head when the review is due.

Thanks
Is that ‘should ‘ but no requirement/ responsibility
Context
Child receiving less support than ehcp stipulated
Senco stated unaware of ehcp as had not read ... missed annual review by many months as had delegated to TA (now no longer at school ) to check review dates...
Senco at primary school doesn’t have own class to teach
Around 12 ehcpd school of 300

Yes, of course you should read all the EHCPs, but I wouldn't expect them to remember when the review is due. They could look it up, if someone needed to know.
Are you the parent ? Don't you know ?

x posted, but post stands.

What do they do if they don’t have a class and don’t have responsibility for the EHCPs???

SENCO here. They absolutely should read them and they should be sent to them by the LA. How will they know if they are adhering to the statutory support if they don’t read it, let alone the type of support that should be in place. Surely they know all the hours children have because they have to plan for TA support?

That said, there is no way that I would know all the outcomes in all of the EHCPs I have. Too many of them. That I do expect teachers and TAs to monitor and plan for (though I do check the SEN plans against the outcomes on EHCP, I just don’t remember the precise detail once I’ve looked at them).

I couldn’t tell you the exact date of each review either but that’s why we plan them at the end of the school year, ready for the next academic year. I could give a rough guess at when each one was I guess. But I have a calendar to remind me a month before each one.

Were they unaware of the entire EHCP or just a change in funding?

That said, we’re only human and mistakes do get made sometimes. Perhaps it came when they were in the middle of applying for an EHCP or having to deal with a crisis and therefore just got overlooked?

Circumstances are that school were working from old ehcp ( put in place while at different school) so they did not apply correct hours to child.. although received correctl funding from local Authority.
Senco advised she delegated responsibility to find out review dates from local Authority. So ta phoned LA ( and so no Audit trail)
We put in complaint to school. Governors upheld, however as far as I’m aware this wouldn’t necessarily change the process so other families likely to be affected in the future, if there is no fixed requirement for senco to read ehcp / be aware of review dates

SENCO here and yes they absolutely should read them. I don’t know review dates off the top of my head but I have a year planner on my wall with them plotted in. The funding issue is difficult. I go by what is written in the ehcp, however I know how poor some local authorities are with updating their paperwork and I tend to trust the actual numbers side to the business manager.

In terms of the Must do side which I think you are trying to find out, the code of practice states:

6.88 The SENCO has day-to-day responsibility for the operation of SEN policy and co- ordination of specific provision made to support individual pupils with SEN, including those who have EHC plans.

Which I read to mean they need to know it and ensure it is happening. This does not sound like the case at your child’s school. This could be something to go to the governors with.

Thank you - that’s good to know! I had no idea there was a codes of practice! So helpful!
Problem is the governors have no real interest in this issue. The school governors obviously don’t want to create wave. During complaint hearing only governor who asked any questions of the head was a governor from another school as es fought to have someone independent.
I understand mistakes happen, it’s just frustrating that the school doesn’t need to make changes to ensure it doesn’t happen again

There should be an SEN governor who works with the SENCO so they should really be interested in this issue. The code of practice is a lengthy document but the part on SENCOs in education is on pg 108. Good luck, sounds like they really aren’t interested at all

Code of Practice

However, as a general rule, my advice would always be to keep your own paperwork file, and, when a child moves classes even, go and introduce yourself early on, and take them copies of relevant plans etc. when they move schools, even more so. Put reminders in your diary a month before the review dates and contact the school then to ask if you can arrange a date for the meeting, etc.

Yes, obviously the receiving school should have read the EHCP, but it sounds like thy might have read the EHCP that they were sent ? (if working from an old one).
SENAR in our LA is totally understaffed an overwhelmed by tring to ensure EHCARs get through in the timescale and then trying to find children school places, so sadly amendments on existing EHCPs don't always get formally updated by the LA and copied out to everyone.

Absolutely great advice re making own appointment to meet with senco to remind them.
Naively I had thought a sr teacher could be trusted complete a rather fundamental requirement of thr Senco job!
The ehcp wasn’t read at all, no dispute as Senco had owned up to mistake. I understand mistakes happen but I just hoped the school would consider putting something in place / is slight amendment to Send policy stating that Senco will read ehcps to ensure it doesn’t happen again

The school must provide the provision listed in section F of the EHCP in order to meet the outcomes which are listed in section E. They can't possibly do that if they haven't bothered to read it!
IPSEA is a useful website to look at and they also have a helpline.
If you continue to have concerns you could raise it with the LA, as they have a legal duty to deliver the provision in the EHCP.

I was also going to add that you should look at what redress exists to ensure the school adhere to the plan. I think you’ve covered the first point going to the governors. As mentioned above, IPSEA can advice and it will be detailed in the code of practice. You can take the school to tribunal, I believe - it would actually be the governing body you take to tribunal.

Naively I had thought a sr teacher could be trusted complete a rather fundamental requirement of the Senco job!

Not naive at all - I would have thought the same and am shocked that they didn't.

**Imip I guess there is no redress. The school made error by not reading and therefore applying full provision ( hrs) detailed in EHPc. We have asked that measures are taken to ensure this doesn’t happen to someone else. By measures we simply want it put into the SEN policy that Senco will read EHcps . Svhool currently has 12 children with Ehcp so not too onerous.
Yes I know we can bring it to local mp etc it’s just so time consuming. I can’t imagine why a school wouldn’t want to make that commitment!

Whilst I am in total agreement that the school were in the wrong and they have failed to provide statutory support for your child, I thought it fair to point out that whilst 12 doesn’t seem to onerous, in a school of 300 that’s above the national average for children with EHCPs in mainstream schools. If the SENCO is full time, with no other commitments then yes it’s fairly poor but I wasn’t sure if they were full or part time.

Additionally, I would say that about 60-70% of my time is taken up dealing with children who don’t have an EHCP.

As I said, not trying to excuse them as they absolutely should have read the EHCP. First thing you do when you have a child transfer over to you or you get sent a new document. Just trying to give a bit of balance

Hope they are able to give you some peace of mind going forward.

looks you’re right. I hate the narrow view of a SENCO just involving children with EHCPs. It does also count Sen support (and other issues besides). As both a parent Of disabled children and a professional working in primary school, I see this often. Good to point out.

To correct, I hate the narrow view of SEND just involving children with EHCPs. Today’s Sen support children are tomorrow’s EHC plans.

However, as a general rule, my advice would always be to keep your own paperwork file, and, when a child moves classes even, go and introduce yourself early on, and take them copies of relevant plans etc. when they move schools, even more so. Put reminders in your diary a month before the review dates and contact the school then to ask if you can arrange a date for the meeting, etc.

This. It's amazing the way an impressive looking paperwork file can suddenly ensure you're taken seriously by various professionals (not particularly school in our case, but the other myriad of health and child development professionals you end up getting passed between). They can go particularly white with terror if you have a print out of a spreadsheet detailing contact and when to chase anyone up on the promises they've made!

Our SENCO is bloody lovely though - one woman waging a war against departments of occupational and speech therapy that don't bloody return calls or complete paperwork on time! (Shame about the class teacher we have this year who is very much of the "in my day you just had to walk illterately uphill in the snow with no shoes and be grateful for it" ilk of sympathy toward any children with SEN - but we'll get there on that one - I try to be as nice and supportive as I can be but I'm prepared to tackle it head on when provision gets ignored completely)

Lots of helpful advice here. Too late for us but concur that unless you look/ act like you are prepared to push for correct provision etc easy for schools not to. I honestly feel for parents that struggle with English or literacy.

We have this issue at my school. I tried to find the latest targets/EHCP for a child in my class and the most recent one was from two years ago!

Asked the SENDCo and got "whoops!"

Oh yikes **meansbeanz
We had an amazing Senco at last school but that seems to be the exception.
My feeling is that to get to position of a Senco you are past ----caring having to prove yourself like a more junior teacher would and so it’s no big deal if you follow procedures or not .