See our glossary page for an explanation of some of the terms used here.
If you think your child may have a Special Educational Need that has not been identified by the school or early education setting, you should talk to your child’s class teacher, to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) or to the Head Teacher. If your child is not yet at school or not yet attending an early education setting, you can talk to your doctor or health visitor who will be able to give you advice about the next steps to take.
An EHCP is a legal document written by the Local Authority (LA) that describes your child’s/young person’s needs are and what help is going to be put in place to meet those needs, access the curriculum and progress in school or college.
Every child with special educational needs should have SEN support. This means help that is additional to, or different from the support generally given to other children of the same age. The purpose of SEN Support is to help children achieve the outcomes or learning objectives set for them by the school.
Yes. It doesn’t matter if your child doesn’t have a diagnosis, if they have a Special Educational Need/Disability (SEND) then they may need an EHCP.
If your child has an EHC Plan then an Annual Review of the plan must take place every 12 months. It involves looking at the plan, with the school SENCo to review your child’s progress and to determine if the outcomes set out in the plan are still appropriate.