Tag Archives: EHCP

EHCP Phase Transfer Review Year 10

September 14, 2022EducationEHCP, phase transfer, post 16, reviewSensory Seeker

Throughout their education there are several points in time where an EHCP Phase Transfer Review is held. These are when the child or young person generally changes provision. They can be points where the EHCP is looked back at too. Year 10 is an important EHCP phase transfer review as it is when post 16 provision is named.

The following information I have written from my experience with a SENDIASS information session. A lot more was said and the below many not be an accurate account. It is however, correct to the best of my belief, and I wished to share what I discovered with people who were unable to attend. Please ensure you are fully informed before making decisions relating to your child or young person’s EHCP.

Considering Post 16 with an EHCP

Did you know that at Post-16 there is no legal obligation to provide an education in the UK! Also that in Year 9 there is a legal requirement to incorporate a discussion about preparation to adulthood. That the phase transfer review for post 16 is ideally done in the middle of year 10. That ideally you want it to take place before the November in year 11.

Section I of the EHCP

Section I is where the name of the school or other institution to be attended by the young person is named. It will be where the needs in the EHCP can be met. So in order to get the place that you believe is best suited for your child then it needs to be proved that other places cannot meet need as set out in the EHCP. For post 16 this should be in place on the final EHCP by March 31^st of Year 11.

Common Problems

Unfortunately it appears there are some common problems – such as:

not knowing which setting the young person will attend (why the process needs to be started in Year 10 ideally)
the new setting not offering what the young person needs (again ensuring research and that it is in the EHCP)
problems with transport not being sorted (making sure it is known how they will get there, it will not automatically be sorted)

assuming that they would be able to move up to post 16 in their current setting (especially in a special school)
being told that they would not get a special post 16 setting as they are currently in mainstream (obviously not true)
settings refusing the child based on academic grades. They can’t once they’ve been named in I without a really good reason)

What this Means as a Parent

You need to be proactive. This means making sure the EHCP is watertight; finding evidence to support that provision is or isn’t suitable in terms of meeting their needs. It also means discovering what options are available.

Post 16 Options

Some schools/institutions are better than others at informing parents but it cannot be left to them. You may find that there are “What’s Next?” meetings. Ask around and see if anywhere local offers support, or if there are other parents you could ask.

If there are places that you want, or even ones you definitely don’t, invite them to the Year 10 EHCP Phase Transfer Review – to either help ensure they are able to meet the young person’s needs, or put them off if you do not want them.

Problems with the EHCP Annual Review

Annual reviews can end up being a bit of a time for a catch up, as opposed to ensuring that the EHCP is up to date. They are usually time limited and a lot of time can be wasted. Or parents may feel overwhelmed, uncomfortable or rushed for time. They may be told that there is plenty of time to discuss things or what usually happens for a child with an EHCP in that setting.

But each EHCP is individual and you need to start getting things in place to ensure that the needs are recorded for the right provision. The latter of which can still be changed with further annual reviews (including an emergency one whilst at post 16 if the young person changes their mind).

Tackling the EHCP Annual Review

The really important sections to discuss are B, E and F. In fact Section A (which is about the views, interests and aspirations of the young person and their parents) can actually be left and added in at a later date. Make sure they are just the needs – writing any problems you feel have not been dealt with in a separate note.

Section B

Section B of the EHCP is the young person’s special educational needs. All of them should be set out here. If they are set out in B then provision must be provided in F. The LEA must ensure provision is made for everything in F. This needs to be what their barriers are to education. This should not state who reported/said anything just stating facts.

If needs be ask for their needs to be reassessed – like from an educational psychologist if it has been a while. Even if it is unlikely that they will provide this. If they have been discharged from services, such as Teaching Advisory, they can be asked for a report or letter to support the young person in their phase transfer review.

Section E

Section E is the outcomes for the young person. Here you need to think about the targets for the next step. All current provision should be specified and quantified in this section.

Is there anything else you feel a parent or carer needs to know about the Phase Transfer Review moving onto Post 16? What have your experiences been like?

We are all on the Sensory Spectrum: The My Plan Review

February 7, 2018Education, Personal Postsall have sensory, EHCP, My Plan, reviewSensory Seeker

If you are looking for a perfectly well formed blog post about a My Plan review then you’ve come to the wrong place as I am fuming, and writing this from a VERY emotional place. You see the thing is this is not the first child I have had to fight for and well I got subdued into a false sense of security as his last school was really good – this one is rubbish and so is the SENCO.

boy reading to cure sensory processing — Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

So why I am I so annoyed about the My Plan meeting that myself and my child got invited to – well there really was no point us being there – apart from to talk at us and tell us we are wrong. The Sensory Seeker’s My Plan for this term targets three areas of what he should be achieving for his year group (whether he still needs to be able to accomplish things from previous years is neither here nor there and there was even a comment about worrying about SATs in Year 6!!!). Anyway back to these 3 targets: They all overlap into basically the same thing – reading and understanding, being able to communicate in a way that’s understood and being able to write in a way that’s understood. Each one with a target date that has passed!!!

I was told that the reason for the new deadline (which it wasn’t clear when that was) is because that is what the class are working on currently – so it made sense to move it. I asked what help The Sensory Seeker was getting to reach these goals: Of course the answer is NOTHING. Of course I wasn’t fed that information but instead was told how the whole class are being taught – how it is being explained, modelled, blah, blah, blah; but not a single thing as to how my son, who clearly isn’t getting it, is being helped further. On looking at the sheet it says an adult at home (and at school) will read and ask questions about the reading; that an adult will correct him when he doesn’t speak grammatically correct and that he will say a sentence before writing it out. The latter of which already becomes apparent is a problem as he misses words out when talking (hence the target before about communication).

Then it happens. The incident where The Sensory Seeker missed lunch time play to finish work (because the rest of the class had) is brought up. The TA is proudly showing how much better he did than in the class. So I take breath and DARE to mention again my concerns that his SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER is being IGNORED!!!!! I do it in a polite way and suggest that there’s a possibility that the classroom was different when everyone is out playing than when full of children. I suggest it may be noisy, more visually distracting – I don’t know I am not there and I am not the SENCO. Of course the first thing that is mentioned is that it ISN’T noisy – even when The Sensory Seeker tells them that it is! And THEN they tell me that ALL kids are distracted! All they did do was joke to my son about wearing headphones (which would have been a good call if they weren’t laughing when they said it, besides WE have tried them and they do not adjust the sound right for him). How I did not just get up and walk out I do not know. If my son hadn’t have been there I may have done. In fact now I wish I had grabbed my son and said this is a waste of time and I am taking him out!!!

So there we have it all my son’s problems will be solved if he just reads more! These Sensory Issues I am just making an issue of because we ALL HAVE THEM! Our other son is on a school trip until the end of half term, I may see if I have calmed down any more by then as to what I wish to do next.

Is it down to Parents to Make sure their Children get a Fair Education?

August 4, 2017Personal PostsEHCP, fair, parents, sencoSensory Seeker

Honestly whose responsibility is it for making sure that every child receives a fair education? As it seems to me that the quality of education falls down to the parents. Of course this could be a whole topic of private vs public and grammar schools but I am in this instance talking about the rights of the child with additional needs.

From the off there seems to be a divide for children between parents who recognise and fight for their children’s educational rights (and get them an EHCP) and those who do not know what they are doing, or are less willing or capable to fight.

Shouldn’t training be provided to ensure that early identification is made for all children who need to access the additional help? Too many hoops have to be jumped through to prove it isn’t just bad parenting before actually getting anywhere when you are prepared to fight – so no wonder people give in – is it fair on those other children?

Children who may eventually be caught by the system – but how late and at what cost to their education? But even after identification the battle does not end there. With meetings and appointments which usually relies on the parent educating those being paid to help on their child’s condition. Having to read up every piece of information they can and fight to have the right support in place.

Maybe this doesn’t happen as often as I think – perhaps we are the unlucky ones. Personally I feel The Sensory Seeker is very lucky in that I am able to best support him – but what about children who don’t have that? My renewed annoyance comes from the annual EHCP review.

From the off I felt patronised as the SENCO kindly explained how it was the first EHCP annual review (because let’s be honest it was SO different from a statement review right?). Then I had to go through and correct any errors – you know like making sure they had identified the right child which includes the right date of birth!

Okay I am being harsh now that was such a little slip right. But then we came to the part about the family’s views – the work I had put in before the meeting – and the SENCO had no idea what I meant when describing the sensory needs. In fact she was quite sure that he didn’t have any!!!!

Deciding that I would just deal with his meltdowns at home as he apparently was coping in school I almost just let her remove them from the EHCP – I mean what would I know about Sensory Processing Disorder compared to the trained SENCO?

But as luck would have it his class teacher popped in and agreed that yes he did have sensory needs and straight away was able to give an example (you can read more about that meeting in the post about them not wanting him to be different).

I was advised that the SENCO would send me a draft copy to approve before she sent it off. But that never materialised. What did come was a letter saying that it had been received and that my draft copy would arrive shortly.

Of course that arrived giving me 15 days from when the letter was written and not received to make any changes. IN THE SUMMER HOLIDAYS! I kid you not – I have no-one to go to for advice, I am pretty sure the SENCO is not in school and I have 4 children (3 of whom have additional needs) at home with changes they don’t adjust to and now I need time for this!

But surely you think I just need to read it through and agree with it – because I already sat through the meeting and discussed and agreed things – right? Wrong big fat wrong. There are so many unbelievable errors in this draft it is untrue. Including matters such as who his key worker is and even what school he goes to!

Never mind moving on through the report. Somehow I am going to have to find some time to go through it all. And then what – do they just accept my corrections? Doesn’t the SENCO actually have to do that? Or does she get a draft copy of my amendments and have to approve them – meaning that it isn’t actually all sorted for September? I am sure in The Sensory Seeker’s case it doesn’t matter as he already has one but what about those children sorting out one for the first time?

I know I may come across as angry at the SENCO but I am not. She is a lovely lady and am sure she is trying her best. It is the system that is letting these children down and parents who are already under a lot of pressure are just further feeling the strain.

Inclusion means not being Different

July 11, 2017Personal Postsdifferent, EHCP, inclusion, independent, SensorySensory Seeker

Inclusion what do schools think that means? I recently went to The Sensory Seeker’s annual review of his EHCP to find out that his school means that they don’t want him to be different. I guess it is a feeling of once again coming back to rubbish parenting really, as it sounded like that the only thing causing any problems is him being treated in a way not like the others! They said that even with a one-to-one teacher he hasn’t made “extra” progress (just in-line with his peers) and that actually he needs to be encouraged to be more “independent.”

They did not seem to even understand Sensory Processing Disorder (which unfortunately is not a diagnosed condition in the UK) so it is no wonder that they don’t “get” that his one-to-one helps The Sensory Seeker deal with sensory input that may distract him and need his focus brought back. In fact the SENCO and his teaching assistant didn’t seem to think he had ANY sensory needs at school – which I found really surprising. They were thinking about just taking that section out of his EHCP all together. I thought that there was no point in arguing with them after I tried to explain some of his difficulties, because they just said it did not happen. Or well, that time he was hugging someone else all the time was okay because that person wanted him to do it. Of course the good old social stories came up – as obviously if he understood that he couldn’t just go around touching people then that tactile need will just disappear!

His EHCP actually has good guidance in it about his Sensory Issues from the Occupational Therapist, but because they discharged us they no longer come to the meetings. I can’t even really get her involved whilst the school are saying there aren’t any issues either! Luckily his class teacher was able to quickly pop in to the meeting at the time we were just about to move on to the next bit of the EHCP. She was then asked about The Sensory Seeker’s sensory issues (in a tone that he did not have any). But, thankfully, straight away she said that yes he clearly did and came up with an example straight away. In fact, ironically, it was to do with their sensory time where a few children go off to practice writing. She said that music was played to help them feel calm – but actually it stopped The Sensory Seeker from concentrating. That he was able to let her know it was a problem. The SENCO again was immediately in the frame of mind of not wanting him to be “different” so asked what the teacher did to resolve it. The teacher explained that they just turned the music off! That they didn’t *need* it. It is a shame that next year not only isn’t she his class teacher but she is leaving to go on to another school.

party planning sensory processing disorder

We will have to see how things go in year 4 because I am concerned that they are just knocking his confidence by ignoring his sensory needs and treating him no differently – such as setting him the same homework as the others for example. And then when it is not complete (because he has struggled with it so much, or not in the right sensory frame when he has come home) he is then punished (like the other children) by missing break times. I fear that this will then further impact his social skills and relations with his peers -especially as he becomes more aware of things such as being the only child not invited to parties. They have also mixed up the children in his year group and this change has already upset him. Unfortunately he was sick and missed move up day too – so we shall have to see how it goes. It isn’t all bad however, and I am not blaming the school it is because the knowledge just isn’t there. Things I mentioned (such as his inability to use a dictionary as he does not know the alphabet) they tried to help straight away. He seems to have a good relationship with his TA and in our opinion has helped him come on leaps and bounds.

Changing from a Statement to an EHCP

June 22, 2016Personal PostsEHCP, StatementSensory Seeker

Experience of EHCP Paperwork

The hardest thing for me during the whole process of switching from a Statement to an EHCP was time – and the fact that I had to think so much about the answers to the questions I had to keep answering what seemed like over and over and over again. I was glad to have a degree when filling in the Family Contribution form and cannot imagine how difficult it must be for some families to do. Luckily I opted to type mine on the computer ,which meant I could just add to it, or draw out relevant bits when asked for the information again by someone new. Also I completely forgot to ask to be referred back to Occupational Therapy in time and so they have not been part of the process.

Experience of The EHCP Meeting

Well I have to say that the meeting itself was not as hard as I thought it would be and I guess it is because no-one mentioned any levels and I already knew that he was behind his peers – so that was not a big shock. I feel that I did not really know or understand what was going on and had to just trust the professionals. In attendance I had the current school SENCo/Head, the new school SENCo, his new TA, The Speech and Language Therapist, The School Advisory Teacher, and the lady from the council.

Adding Sensory Issues to the EHCP

When I asked about adding in his Sensory Issues it became a little awkward as here in the UK there isn’t an official diagnosis for Sensory Processing Disorder. I hadn’t included information from the Occupational Therapist or Paediatrician as their reports were longer than the date – but the lady from the council said she would see if she could include them. In my opinion the other people in the room were a little under-educate in sensory issues. They seemed to think everything could be sorted with some tactile toys (least it is a start I guess). I suppose the problem also lies in the fact that I did not really know what to say as how to include it into the EHCP either.

His Progress

It was good to hear his progress and that he has a good work ethic. He just wants to be like everyone else and tries so hard to obtain it. Fingers crossed he even may have passed his phonics screening this year! There was a lot of emphasis on making sure his transition to his new school goes well and I met his new TA. His old TA will also be moving schools and working as a classroom assistant. It was hard to hear how much me going away affected him and his behaviour – but was good in a way as it highlighted how he needs extra support to deal with changes. It was good to hear that the schools were liaising on the best ways to help him.

I now have to wait for the draft EHCP and then I have a very short period of time to read through it, making any changes needed and send it back. I am feeling hopeful -fingers crossed now.