Questions to ask the school before considering a request for an EHC Needs Assessment, if you are trying to understand whether the SEN Support currently in place is sufficient, and whether an EHC Needs Assessment may be needed.
Questions about your child's needs
What specific special educational needs has the school identified?
What assessments have been carried out to identify these needs?
What are my child's main barriers to learning?
How do my child's needs affect their learning, communication, behaviour, social development, or emotional wellbeing?
Have any outside professionals been involved (e.g. Educational Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist, CAMHS)?
Questions about SEN Support
What SEN Support is my child currently receiving?
How often is this support provided?
Is the support delivered individually, in a small group, or in class?
Who provides the support and what training have they received?
What interventions have been tried so far?
How is support adapted when something is not working?
Questions about progress
What progress has my child made compared with their starting point?
Is the gap between peers growing each term?
Is my child making expected progress despite the support provided?
What evidence do you have of progress or lack of progress?
Are there areas where my child is falling further behind their peers?
How do you measure whether the support is effective?
Questions about the Graduated Approach
Schools should use an Assess, Plan, Do, Review cycle.
Ask:
Can I see the Assess, Plan, Do, Review records?
What targets have been set for my child?
Have the targets been achieved?
What changes have been made following reviews?
How often are reviews held and how can I contribute?
Questions about external involvement
Have referrals been made to specialist services?
If not, why not?
Are there recommendations from professionals that have not yet been implemented?
Do professionals believe my child needs more specialist provision?
Questions about an EHC Needs Assessment
You may wish to ask directly:
Does the school believe my child may require provision beyond what is ordinarily available through SEN Support?
Has the school considered requesting an EHC Needs Assessment?
If not, what further evidence would be needed?
Does the school have evidence that SEN Support alone is sufficient to meet my child's needs?
Are my child's needs severe, complex, or long-term enough to warrant an EHC Needs Assessment?
Would the school support a request for an EHC Needs Assessment if I made one?
You could ask whether the school agrees that:
Your child is making little or no progress despite sustained SEN Support.
Your child requires significant adult support to access learning.
Multiple interventions have been tried without sufficient improvement.
Specialist advice indicates more intensive or coordinated provision is required.
The support required is beyond the resources normally available to the school.
Remember that as a parent, you do not need the school's agreement to request an EHC Needs Assessment from your Local Authority, although school evidence can be very helpful.
