Dyslexia and support available through EHCPs
I recently visited the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre in Surrey, a specialist centre offering assessments and services for children and adults with Specific Learning Difficulties, to provide training on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Helen Arkell is an impressive centre that can provide assessments, advice on access arrangements for exams, Dyscalculia screening assessments, Educational […]
Annual Reviews and the Loop
A reminder of parent and young person’s rights under Annual Reviews. What are the rights of appeal following Annual Review? Section 51 Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA) gives parents and young persons the right to appeal of the Local Authority’s decision following Annual Review. The appeal must be made within 2 months of the […]
Is a powered wheelchair a special educational provision?
The key issue in an appeal to Upper Tribunal in the case of East Sussex County Council V JC [2018} UKUT 81 (AAC) was whether a powered wheelchair is a special educational provision. In this case a young person was reliant on a powered wheelchair and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), otherwise known as IT support to control […]
A look at the specificity question in EHCPs, how small is small?
It is well known that any education provision in an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) “must be so specific and clear as to leave no room for doubt as to what has been decided ” (L v Clarke and Somerset CC 1998) The SEND Code of Practice also states that “Provision must be detailed and […]
The Quantification and Specification again…
‘Provision in Section F of an EHCP must be so specific and clear as to leave no room for doubt as to what has been decided’. This is well known SEN case law (L v Clarke and Somerset CC (1998)) that should be ingrained in the training of all professionals involved in the writing of […]
SEND in Wales – all change!
SEND law is changing is Wales. The changes were proposed back in April 2016. The Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Bill was eventually passed by the National Assembly for Wales on 12 December 2017 and became an Act on 24 January 2018 after receiving Royal Assent. The inspirational sounding ‘ALN (Additional Learning Needs) […]
Changing school and the 15 February deadline
If your child has special educational needs (SEN), then 15 February has significant meaning – this is the date by when the local authority (LA) must issue a new Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or Statement of SEN for children who are moving on to a new phase of education. What do we mean […]
DfE guidance on post-16 transport to education and training
The Department for Education (DfE) issued new post-16 transport guidance on 26 October for Local Authorities (LA). The guidance is, we suspect, as a response to problems that parents have voiced in recent months about problems with school/college transport for young people. It seems that LAs are increasingly asking parents to contribute towards funding transport. Parents […]
Can home/school transport be included in an Education, Health and Care Plan?
It is well established that home to school transport cannot be considered a special educational need or special educational provision and cannot, therefore, be included in an EHCP. The recent case of Staffordshire County Council v JM [2016] UKUT 0246 (AAC) appeared to have reaffirmed this. The issue was challenged in a recent Upper Tribunal […]
Local Authority’s duty to consult over the summer break
We had an interesting enquiry recently about the local authority’s (LA) duty to seek advice over the summer holidays when it is drafting an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The enquiry referred to the ‘4-week rule’. What is the 4-week rule? This is found under regulation 10(4) of The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) […]