To find out more about what provision is expected for children with SEND in mainstream schools, and where to find additional support, please visit Inclusive Practice Toolkit.
The service is responsible for writing Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) if a statutory assessment is agreed, and will commission the identified provision to meet identified needs. The service can provide advice and guidance to families as well as educational settings around statutory duties.
SEND Support Plan
A school may choose to use the below templates to help assess, plan and review a child’s needs. These plans are written by the school to help see the full picture and plan how to help a child. SEND Support plans should be written with input from the child and parent or carer. They do not have a legal status
Providing for the needs of children and young people with SEND
The following guidance documents can help a school identify what they can do to meet a child’s needs and when it may be appropriate to ask for an assessment:
SEN Intervention Funding
Additional funding is available to support pupils with SEN in mainstream schools. This was previously known as ‘Top-up Funding’ but is now called SEN Intervention Funding (SENIF). Where pupils have an additional need that is not considered to be a long-term need, SENIF funding can be applied for over an academic year. To apply for this type of funding, complete the Request for SEND Intervention Funding form.
Due to the pressures on the EHC Needs Assessment process, some flexibility has been applied to the SENIF process. Therefore, if an EHC needs Assessment is underway, SENIF can be applied for to support pupils during the EHC needs assessment process. If this is the need for SENIF, please complete the SEND Intervention Interim Application form.
Requesting statutory assessment for an Education, Health and Care Plan
To request a statutory assessment for an EHCP, schools should use the online form below, along with a completed SEND Support Plan and other evidence (uploaded during the application stage) ie:
- Advice from a relevant service (eg. educational psychology) which should be no more than 18 months old.
- Evidence that the child or young person requires an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment in line with the SEND Code of Practice
- Evidence of an assess-plan-do-review process
- Information on how the school has made use of the delegated funding and how an EHCP would enable the school to meet the child or young person’s needs
Request an Educational Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHCNA) - school or setting application
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EHCP Podcasts
A series of podcasts have been developed by the Council for Disabled Children (CDC) and members of staff across education, health and care in the Leicestershire Partnership (recorded December 2023), for those staff that provide advice as part of the EHC needs assessment process. These guides will also help staff in school involved in the Annual Review process, but have not been written with this process in mind.
It is recommended that all staff listen to podcasts 1 and 2 and then dependent on their profession, select from podcast 3 (health); podcast 4 (social care and family help) and podcast 5 (education) to find out more about expectations from different advice givers.
Listen to the podcasts
Multi-Agency training for the EHC needs assessment process
Building on the podcasts that provide an overview of the different stages within the EHC needs assessment process, the Multi-agency Training document can be used across teams to gain a basic understanding of the process and how to write good advice:
Capturing views
Taking a person-centred approach during the Annual Review process puts children and young people at the centre of the Annual Review meeting and the decisions taken about how best to meet their needs. To help children and young people prepare for the Annual Review meeting, the Specialist Teaching Service have gathered together different ways to capture voice.
Annual Review of EHCP
A suite of documents is now available to support schools in carrying out the review of the EHCP. The document to be used at the Annual Review meeting is the Annual Review checklist / template. These are available for Nursery to Year 6 and for Year 7+.
Guidance documents have been developed to sit alongside the template / checklist containing links to useful resources.
Nursery to Year 6
Year 7+
Fair Processing Notice
Within Targeted and Specialist Education and Early Help Services, to be able to provide you with the required services and meet any regulatory requirements, information will be collected and shared with the appropriate services.
The reasons for sharing information will include:
- Statutory and Regulatory requirements including monitoring and reporting
- Assessment of need and provision of service (e.g. Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).
- Service improvement and planning
- Research including consultations
- Compliance with the law regarding data sharing