Special educational needs and disabilities

Special educational needs acronyms

AR – Annual Review
ASC – Autistic Spectrum Condition
CAMHS – Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
CCG – Clinical Commissioning Groups
EHC / EHCP – Education Health and Care / Education Health and Care Plan
EP – Educational Psychologist
ESCO – Early Support Care Co-ordination / Co-ordinator
EWO – Education Welfare Office
HI – Hearing Impairment
LA – Local Authority
MLD – Moderate Learning Difficulty
MSI – Multi-Sensory Impairment
OT – Occupational Therapy / Therapist
PD – Physical Disability
PMLD – Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties
PR – Parental Responsibility
PT – Physiotherapy / Physiotherapist
SALT/SLT – Speech and Language Therapy / Therapist
SEN – Special Educational Needs
SENDCO / SENCO – Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator / Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
SLCN – Speech, Language and Communication Needs
SLD – Severe Learning Difficulties
SpLD – Specific Learning Difficulties
STAPS – Specialist Teacher and Psychology Service
TA – Teaching Assistant
VI – Visual Impairment

Educational query	No	Yes
Do you have the SENDCo details?	Request contact details from the school (if these are not available on the school website, the school admin staff will be able to provide you with the address)	Request information from the SENDCo in cases where SEND needs have been raised – Schools should be able to provide you with a chronology of interventions to date, referrals made and/or a copy of the young person’s EHCP.
Are there concerns that the child may be displaying SEND behaviours?	If you / the family believe that there are undiagnosed additional needs, having provided school with the relevant evidence / concerns, you may ask school if they are able to arrange for an assessment by the Educational Psychologist (EP) (please note there may be a significant wait time for an appointment)	What area of SEND have been observed? Communication and interaction Cognition and learning Social, emotional and mental difficulties (SEMH) Sensory and/or physical needs Who has observed the behaviours? Are the behaviours consistent inside and outside of the school setting?
Has there been liaison with external professionals?	Not applicable	Have the school assessed and monitored over at least 2 terms? The school should engage external, specialist professionals when appropriate. Does external tuition need to be considered?
Has the child got an Educational Healthcare Plan (EHCP)?	Discuss any / all interventions in place with school SENDCo – are there any concerns that have not been addressed? Is Statutory Assessment a consideration at this point? If so, has evidence been collated and an EP assessment arranged?	Have you ensured that a copy of the EHCP document is uploaded to Liquid Logic and the relevant disability acknowledged in the child’s recorded information? Is the provision described in the EHCP being implemented? Have regular EHCP review meetings taken place? These usually take place every 6 months for children aged up to 5yrs old and annually thereafter (‘Annual Reviews’). Does an Emergency Review need to take place? This would happen if: there has been a new change in the needs of the child there is need for a change in the provision there is a need for a change in placement Are you in contact with the designated SEND case officer from the Local Authority? – Ensure that they are invited to all professional meetings from this point onwards and their contact details included on Liquid Logic. Ensure the relevant Advisory Teacher is involved if relevant and support required.

Statutory assessment

‘Statutory assessment’ is the term used to refer to the process of referring a child for consideration for an EHCP based on their additional needs. See below for detailed explanation of the statutory assessment process.

EHCP timeline

Timeframe	Process outline
Decision to assess	A parent or school makes a request for an EHC Needs Assessment to the LA. This is a simple letter saying why they think their child has special educational needs and why their needs cannot be met at school without additional support. They should supply any additional information/ reports as evidence.
1 to 6 weeks	The local authority processes the application. Within 6 weeks of making the request, parents / school will receive a letter from the local authority with a decision about the request for an EHC Needs Assessment. If they feel that this is not necessary, the letter will explain why not. Parents / school can accept the decision or can appeal the decision to SENDIST. A meeting can also be requested with a LA officer to discuss the decision. There are 2 months to appeal to SENDIST from the date of the decision letter from the LA. If the EHCP needs assessment is submitted and accepted, the local authority will seek information from: the child’s parent/s the child or young person – their views, wishes and feelings the person who has submitted the request if not the parent, such as the school people in the child or young person’s current educational environment, usually the class teacher, SENDCo or headteacher a representative from social care, usually a social worker a health care representative, such as a paediatrician an educational psychologist any other professional involved with the child or young person that the LA thinks is appropriate any person the child’s parent or the young person reasonable requests Contacting each of these relevant parties and receiving their advice and information can take up to 6 weeks.
6 to 12 weeks Assessment and evidence gathering	Those who are contacted for information related to the EHC needs assessment, have 6 weeks to respond. This is a legal requirement regardless of waiting lists or a shortage of professionals to carry out the work. As the information from the above is received, the LA decide whether or not to issue an EHC Plan and reach this decision by week 12. By week 12 the Local Authority will decide if it will be able to start drafting the EHCP. This draft will be sent to the parents and all those who contributed advice and information to the EHC Needs Assessment.
13 to 16 weeks	If by week 12, the LA has decided to issue an EHC Plan then it must issue the draft version by week 14, sending a copy to parents and all those who contributed to the EHC Needs Assessment. The draft EHCP should be sent along with all of the information and advice received during the EHC Needs Assessment process. Once the draft EHCP has been issued, the parents have 15 days in which to respond to the draft with their comments and changes, to name the type of school (mainstream or special) and/or the specific school they want named in the EHCP and to request a meeting with the LA if they would like to discuss the EHCP. Once the LA has received the parent’s decision about school placement then they must consult with the school specified by the parents and the school must respond with its decision within 15 days. All responses from schools will be shared with the parents. The LA can refuse to specify the school of parental preference in the EHCP, but this is a decision that must be based on the specific legal principles. If by week 12 the LA decision was to not issue an EHCP then it must notify the parents of this decision and of their right of appeal; this must be done by week 16.
17 to 20 weeks Draft plan	Between week 17 and week 20 the LA should issue the final EHCP. A copy should be sent to the parents and to the school named in the EHCP, where the child or young person will be attending. The letter sent with the final EHCP should also set out details about the right of appeal if the parents are unhappy with the contents of the EHCP.
What comes next?	If an EHC Plan has been issued, parents should expect it to be reviewed yearly. For children under 5, the reviews are every 6 months. The annual review gives the parents, the child, the Local Authority, and the educational facility an opportunity to reflect on the last year and suggest changes. If issues arise before an annual review, then an early or emergency review of the EHCP can be requested; a request to be made to the LA. At any annual review, changes could be recommended to the LA; these could include the recommendation to move the child or young person to an alternative educational setting if they’re not making progress or if the facility is deemed unsuitable for their special educational needs; changes to the description of needs or the provision that the child or young person requires; further assessment or advice from professionals. In rare circumstances, there could be a request to cease the EHCP. Any changes accepted by the LA following an Annual Review of the EHCP must result in an amended EHCP, which would give parents a right of appeal to SENDIST if they do not agree with the changes or if no changes have been made when they wanted changes to the EHCP.

Contacts

Adolescent safeguarding teams (AST 1 and 2)

1 and 2 (allocated to CiN, CP consultations available upon request/caseload dependent).

Kazia Fulmyk (senior advisory teacher) – email kazia.fulmyk@enfield.gov.uk

LAC (CP and CiN)

Stuart Chatterton (Virtual School’s advisory teacher) – email stuart.chatterton@enfield.gov.uk

CP and CiN with Youth Justice Service

Seda Soylu (advisory teacher) – email seda.soylu@enfield.gov.uk