The 20 week EHC needs assessment deadline
When carrying out an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment that will lead to an EHC plan the law is clear that the final plan must be issued within 20 weeks of the initial request. The law states in the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Regulations 2014 at: Regulation 13(2) – the local authority must finalise the EHC […]
Unlawful EHCPs (already)
I have recently received a Draft Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) which is as vague in Section F as we have all come to expect from the ‘old’ Part 3 of a Statement of Special Educational Needs. Multiple references to “access”, “opportunities” and “encourage” appear. So far so predictable, but this is not the end of it. […]
Education support for children with cancer
According to Cancer Research UK, an average of 1,574 children were diagnosed with cancer each year between 2009-2011. Naturally the focus of parents will be health, but additional education support is also available. Cancer and special educational needs It may not seem obvious that a child with cancer may have special educational needs. The phrase “special educational […]
How to get an independent school in your child’s EHCP
A new case, Essex County Council v TB, provides further clarification about what the Tribunal will look at when you are seeking an independent school in your child’s Statement or EHCP. The starting point is the law of s9 Education Act 1996. Although the Children and Families Act 2014 has come into force, this did not remove s9 […]
Compensation ruled out for ‘wrong school’ claims
On 29 October 2014 the Court of Appeal gave a decision in what started life as a Judicial Review application. The case is R(ER) v Local Government Ombudsman and Hillingdon LB. The very clearly written judgement can be found here. Who is this important for? Everyone who is unhappy about the school named in their child’s Statement […]
Bullying of SEN children – will the new law help?
Research has shown that children with disabilities are more likely to be subject to bullying with substantially higher levels of constant and occasional bullying than peers without any form of disability or special educational needs. The research highlights that at age 7, 12% of children with SEN said they were bullied ‘all of the time’ by other […]
Access to your child’s school records – maintained schools and academies
If you are the parent of a child at an academy and you want to access your child’s educational records you should first check whether the information required is already in the public domain. Unless mutually agreed otherwise, academies have to send parents an annual written report showing progress and attainment in the main subjects […]