The statement/ EHC plan will require reviewing annually or more regularly if necessary. It is the responsibility of the school or setting to call a review every year, however if a child/young person’s needs change significantly a review can be called at any time.

What is a Person centred review?

A person centred review involves the child or young person but is facilitated by an adult within the school or setting rather than service led. It is essential that the child is part of the process and participates in the actual review.  Participants will be encouraged to give their views in a less formal way, for example, each member of the review will be asked what they like and admire about the child or young person.

The person centred way gives everyone the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate what is working and not working so well. This can then be addressed and results in jointly agreed actions. 

Local Authority Preparation

The Local Authority will remind schools of the need to hold reviews for children with statements or EHC Plans. They will remind schools and settings which reviews need to focus on transition and preparing for adulthood e.g. year 9 upwards.

Who Schools should invite

The school or setting must arrange the reviews and invite the appropriate agencies to attend:

Reviews for children aged 0-5 years old

Children with statements or EHC Plans aged 0-5 years old now have more regular reviews, generally every 3-6 months to ensure that the support remains appropriate and to plan the transition into school.  The full range of professionals may not need to attend.

Reviews for young people aged 13 upwards

Young people with statements or EHC Plans aged 13 upwards should have a Transition Advisor invited because this is when preparation for adulthood begins.

Changing statements/Learning Difficulties Assessments (LDAs) to EHC Plans

Waltham Forest had around 1,400 statements of special educational needs and around 90 LDAs.  We have published a policy on how we plan to change statements to EHC plans over a 3 year period. We will be focussing on priority year groups e.g. children and young people who are moving between phases or key stages. The Transition policy clearly explains which year groups will be prioritised.

In order to achieve the plan within the timescales the responsibility has been shared across the SEN Team and the Transition Team for the following age groups:

• Children aged 0-13 the SEN Team
• Young people aged 14-25 the Transition Team

The year groups for 0-13 age ranges are: Nursery to Reception, Year 2-3 and Year 6-7. The SEN Team has developed EHC Plans for all year 6 pupils and is currently working on Nursery to Reception and Year 2 to Year 3 age groups.

The year groups for 14-25 age ranges are: Year 9-10, Year 11-12 and aged 18+ who are remaining in education and training.  The Transition Team is focusing on the young people who are leaving school in July so they have pathways for adulthood, training and employment.

What will change for children and young people?

There are 2 documents that will be replaced by an EHC Plan:

• Statements of special educational needs (SEN) or
• Learning Difficulties Assessments (LDAs)

Timing

All children and young people with statements will be transferred to the new system by 1 April 2018.

Young people in further education and training who receive provision as a result of an LDA must be transferred to the new SEN system by 1 September 2016 if they are continuing in further education or training beyond that date.

How will this happen?

All current children and young people with statements will automatically have a person centred annual review of their statement in their education setting.

Before the review, the education setting will ask families to complete an ‘All about Me’ document which is a person centred document looking holistically at the child/young person, their aspirations and what matters to them and what support is needed for them.

How can parents be helped I be helped to do the ‘All about Me’?

Parents can be helped by an Independent Supporter (IS) to complete the ‘All about Me’ document and the Independent Supporter can also attend the review with them and support them in the meeting.

What will happen at the Person Centred Review?

At the person centred review everyone will look at what is important to and for the child or young person, what is working and not working for them and what their aspirations and outcomes are for the future.

A needs assessment should be carried out e.g. do we need an up to date report from a Paediatrician or speech and language therapist. This is where everyone decides whether to seek further up to date advice from professionals to help inform the EHC Plan.

Further advice will not be needed if there is up to date advice because much of the information within existing statements or LDA’s will, in many cases, be recent and remain relevant.

What teams will be involved?

The Local Authority will co-develop the EHC Plan with the family so that they are fully involved in the production of the plan.  If young people are preparing for adulthood they must be involved in developing their plan so that it is meaningful to them and helps them progress towards the outcomes.

• The SEN Team will support all families who have children aged 0-13
• The Transition Team will support families who have young people aged 14 to 25

What if parents do not agree with the plan?

Once the plan is final, parents have the right to appeal against some of the content of the plan. The Local Authority will work with the family to try and resolve the disagreement. There is a disagreement resolution service available to help mediate and resolve any issues they may have about the plan. Parents or young people can be supported by the Independent Supporter in this.

Transition Policy

The transition policy is published on the council website under Step 6.

Contacts

SEN Team
Wood Street Health Centre, 6 Linford Road, Walthamstow, E17 3LA
Telephone: 020 8496 6501/6500/6504

Transition Team
30 Coleridge Road, Walthamstow, E17 6QU
Telephone: 020 8430 8473