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For a child aged two or more or a young person, 'special educational provision'
is defined in the Children and Families Act 2014 as:
'…educational or training provision that is additional to, or different
from, that made generally for others of the same age in the following settings in
England: mainstream schools, mainstream post-16 institutions, maintained nursery schools
and other places that provide relevant early years education. In relation to a child
under that age, special educational provision means educational provision of any kind.'
The
0-25 SEND Code of Practice
From 1 September 2014, the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice (2014, 2015) has played
a vital role in the special educational needs/disabilty framework reform. Significantly,
it was jointly published by the Department for Education and the Department
of Health, indicating the inter-agency nature of the guidance. (The previous Special
Educational Needs Code of Practice (2001) was published solely by the Department of
Education and Skills.)
This Code of Practice relates to children and young people with special educational
needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. It applies to England and gives statutory guidance
on duties, policies and procedures relating to Part 3 of the Children and Families
Act 2014 and its associated regulations.
All the organisations who must take account of the 0-25 SEND
Code of Practice are listed in the 'Introduction'. This includes National Health Service
bodies. The Code of Practice sets out the processes and procedures that all these
organisations must or should follow to meet the
needs of children.
Find out more from the Department for Education guidance here.
0-25
SEND Code of Practice - priority areas
Significant areas within the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of
Practice (2015), include:
Application to all education/training phases between ages 0-25;
Coordinated assessment and Education, Health and Care (ECH) Plans;
Joint commissioning;
Involvement of children/young people and their parents;
The 'local offer';
Personal budgets;
Preparing for adulthood and post-16 provision;
Organisational change and workforce development.
(Leach, 2014)
The graduated approach to 'SEN support'
Children/young people with special educational needs/disabilities need different
levels of 'SEN support' according to their needs. Appropriate provision, based upon
individual needs, is achieved through a 'graduated approach' in which evidence-based
adaptations and interventions build on universal high-quality teaching approaches.
The initial decision to intervene, and the ongoing monitoring of intervention effectiveness
and adjustment is carried out using an 'assess, plan, do, review' approach.
The school's notional special educational needs budget covers the cost of interventions
up to 'a nationally prescribed threshold per pupil per year' (Department for Education,
2014); once the cost of interventions exceed this, educational settings can apply
to the responsible local authority for top-up funding. This may (although not necessarily
unless the young person is over 19 years) lead to an Education, Health and Care (EHC)
Needs Assessment, which can be generated by the local authority themselves or in response
to a request from the parents, young person or educational setting.
With reference to your school's Special Educational Needs and Disability Policy
and conversations with your school's SENCO, list the stages of enhancing provision
to address a child's/young person's emerging special educational needs starting with
'Quality first teaching' and ending with a referral for an 'Education, Health and
Care (EHC) Needs Assessment'.
Research and write a short description to explain each term to a teacher new
to special education.
Think in depth about how one of the stages applies to a child/young person you
work with. In what ways are the aims/objectives associated with the stage being (or
not being) addressed?
Referral
for a statutory needs assessment (1)
When a child/young person is referred for an Education, Health and Care (EHC)
Needs Assessment, the local authoritys decision to undertake one should rest on evidence
that the educational setting has taken 'relevant and purposeful action to identify,
assess and meet the special educational needs of the child or young person' (DfE,
2014).
Where, despite appropriate assessment and provision, the child or young person
is not progressing sufficiently well, the local authority should consider whether
an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan is required in the context of:
Any significant changes in the child's/young person's circumstances (eg
change of setting);
How long the special educational needs have been apparent;
The likely progression of a child's/young person's condition;
Whether the provision can reasonably be resourced by the educational setting
or if the local authority must prepare an EHC Plan.
'Where, in the light of an EHC assessment, it is necessary for special educational
provision to be made in accordance with an EHC plan, the local authority must
prepare a plan.'
(DfE, 2014)
Click here to view the 20-week statutory EHC Needs Assessment time
frame.
0-25 SEND Code of Practice (2015): statutory needs assessments
When carrying out an an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessment of a
child/young person, the authority must seek clear, accessible and specific advice
from:
The child's parent(s) or the young person;
The manager, headteacher or principal of the educational setting attended
by the child or young person (or an alternative suitable person);
Health care professionals;
An educational psychologist;
Social care services;
From Year 9 onwards, advice and information related to the child's/young
person's preparation for adulthood and independent living;
Any other person requested by the child's parent or young person, where
the local authority considers this reasonable;
Any other relevant specialist advice and information (eg reports from
specialist teachers, a designated teacher and/or a virtual head; Early Help assessments;
youth offending team; etc) that the local authority considers appropriate for a satisfactory
assessment.
The local authority must give to those providing advice copies of any representations
made by the child's parent or the young person, and any evidence submitted by or at
the request of the child's parent or the young person.
(DfE, 2014)
Education, Health and Care Plans: framework transition
As a result of a statutory assessment, a local authority will take a decision
on whether or not to issue an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan. In either event,
it must notify the child's parent or the young person and give the
reasons for its decision within the statutory timescale.
'The purpose of an EHC plan is to make special educational provision to meet the
special educational needs of the child or young person, to secure the best possible
outcomes for them across education, health and social care and, as they get older,
prepare them for adulthood.'
(DfE, 2014)
Before the implementation of the new special educational needs framework (1 September
2014), local authorities could have issued a Statement of Special Educational Needs
(primary and secondary settings) or a Learning Disability Assessment (further education
settings).
During the transitional period (September 2014 to March 2018) local authorities
must gradually transfer special educational provision made under the Education Act
1996 and the Learning and Skills Act 2000 to the new framework under the Children
and Families Act 2014.
See the Department for Education statutory guidance here.
The
Education, Health and Care Plan
An EHC Plan describes the educational, health and social care needs of a child/young
person under the age of 25 years. It identifies long term outcomes agreed with the
young person/their parents and the necessary provision for the child/young person
to work towards achieving them. Provided the young person remains in education or
training, EHC Plans can be maintained up to the age of 25.
The EHC Plan comes into force as soon as it is finalised by the local authority.
From that time, the local authority must ensure that any provision specified in the
plan is made available. The school's governors must do their best to make sure the
child gets the special educational help to achieve the outcomes set out in the EHC
Plan.
The EHC Plan is legally binding and enforceable, and can only be changed by agreement
by parties concerned through a formal review, or by appeal to a Special Educational
Needs and Disability Tribunal.
The Education, Health and Care Plan format
The format of an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan is not stipulated in law
and can be agreed locally, although it must include the following separately labelled
sections summarised below:
A: Child's/young person's/parents' views, interests and aspirations;
B: Child's/young person's special educational needs;
C: Health needs related to SEN;
D: Social care needs related to SEN/disability;
E: The outcomes sought for the child/young person, including outcomes for
adult life, and short-term target-setting;
F: The special educational provision required;
G: Any health provision reasonably required;
H1: Any social care provision under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons
Act 1970;
H2: Any other social care provision reasonably required;
I: The name (if required) and type of educational setting proposed;
J: Details of personal budget/direct payments;
K: List of EHC Needs Assessment advice and information (to be appended
in full).
More detailed information and guidance on section contents is given in the 0-25
SEND Code of Practice (2015) (sections 9.62-9.76).
An example of an EHC Plan can be seen here.
Note how these sections differ from those in the Statement of Special Educational
Needs issued under the 2001 special educational needs framework. An example of
a fictional statement can be seen here.
Reviewing the Education, Health and Care Plan
Local authorities must check each child’s progress and make sure that the statutory
assessment document (ie Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan or Statement of Special
Educational Needs) continues to meet their special educational needs. They must review
the document under the relevant 2014 or 2001 legislation/regulations/guidance at least
once a year, but they can do it more often if required.
The procedures for organising annual reviews are set out for:
The EHC Plan review process is set out by law in the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice
(2015) and Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations (2014). Within a statutory
time frame:
The LA must consult about the plan with parents,
the young person and the school about the EHC Plan.
Contributions from parents, the young people and
involved professionals must be gathered then circulated.
Following the meeting, a meeting report (including
recommendations on EHC Plan amendments) must be circulated for discussion to everyone
who contributed (in person, by proxy or in writing).
The LA reviews the EHC Plan after the meeting, and
must notify the parent/young person whether they intend to maintain it unchanged,
amend it or cease it. (Any decision concerning the educational contents of the plan
can be appealed through mediation and/or the Tier 1 (special educational needs/disability)
Tribunal.)
Return
Best practice
in reviewing Education, Health and Care Plans
Reviews should, in relation to the child's/young person's progress towards outcomes
and their access to teaching and learning:
Gather and assess information to increase the effectiveness of 'SEN support';
Review the effectiveness of their existing special educational needs provision;
Review the effectiveness of health and social care provision;
Consider, in the light of present circumstances, the continuing appropriateness
of, and possible changes to, the Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan (eg outcomes,
level of provision, educational establishment, plan continuation, etc);
Set new interim targets for the coming year and, where appropriate, agree
new outcomes;
Review any interim targets set by the early years
provider, school or college or other education provider.
Task: contributors to an annual review
The following video clips show contributions to an Annual Review of a Statement
of Special Educational Needs (SSEN) from children, parents and professionals. (SSENs
reviews may take place under the Education Act 1996 until the child's/young person’s
educational provision is transferred to the new special educational needs framework
before April 2018; those with Learning Disability Assessments must have transferred
before September 2016.)
The principles of contributions are similar to those in an Annual Review of an
EHC Plan, but what additional discussions might you expect to take place in the context
of what is being said in the following clips? Note down both the shared principles
and any additional EHC Plan discussion points.
Who
attends a review?
Watch these two video clips in which the headteacher opens meetings
to review the progress of two children, Marley and Sophia. Consider the range of
people involved, their respective roles and the variety of expertise they bring.
Review meeting 1 (Sophia)
8:11
Presentation from class teacher at her special school
placement.
Review meeting 1 (Marley)
0:30
Introduction
Who attends
a review? (2)
The parties who contribute to the review also contributed to the child's/young
person’s statutory assessment. If key professionals are unable to attend review meetings,
they send in reports. Watch this video clip in which Marley’s parents comment
on reports from the visual impairment service and the music therapist.
Task: Pupil's
voice (1)
Sophia joins her review meeting.
2:40
Sophia's teacher describes helping Sophia to participate
in her review.
3:51
Consider the ways in which you could present an honest and accurate
summary of a pupil’s views at a
review meeting.
Task: Pupil's
voice (2)
Marley
chose not to participate in his review. In this video clip Marley's teacher, Lesley,
presents his views. She uses photographs to support what Marley has said.
Special educational needs tribunals
Both of the reviews that you have seen led to agreed actions. What would happen
if they did not?
In the most serious cases, the parents may appeal to a tribunal. These are discussed
in more detail in the next section.
Leach, J. (2014) 'The Children and Families Act 2014: an overview of the
SEND reforms in relation to Short Breaks' (presentation). London: Enfield Council.
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Review meeting 1 (Sophia)8:11Presentation from class teacher at her special school placement.
Review meeting 1 (Marley)0:30Introduction
Sophia joins her review meeting.2:40
Sophia's teacher describes helping Sophia to participate in her review.3:51
