Completing the Annual Review of an Education, Health and Care Plan
Practical guidance for Early Years Settings, Schools and Further Education Colleges
Contents
Annual Review process 2
Preparing and Running an Annual review 3
Confidentiality and Safeguarding 6
Advocacy 6
Early years 6
Transitions 7
Preparing for Adulthood 7
Health and Social Care 8
Reviewing Thresholds and outcomes 8
Personal Budgets 9
Re-issuing the EHCP 10
Final EHCP Review 11
Ceasing an Education, Health and Care Plan 12
Useful links 13
Appendix One - Sources of help 14
Appendix Two – Tips on filling in the form 15
Appendix Three - MOMO 16
Appendix Four – Learning Disability Health Checks 17
Appendix Five - Prompt Sheets for transitions Yrs 9 onwards 18
Appendix Six – Reports sheets for parents, professionals & young people and the EHCP review form 25
EHCP Annual Review Meeting - Forms 32
Annual Review process
Preparing and Running an Annual review
It is normally the setting’s responsibility to convene and hold the review meeting. The purpose of the annual review meeting is to consider:
· Any changes to personal details and significant changes to information in Section A
· The progress made towards outcomes / interim targets and whether these need to be amended – Section F
· The effectiveness of support (what will help me get there?) and any suggested changes
· Whether the needs of the child or young person have changed (this must be evidence-based)
· Any additional considerations associated with transition to the next stage of education, employment or training
The views of the young person and family should be central to the discussion and every endeavour should be made to encourage participation. The views of school staff and any involved professionals are equally important. As far as possible the meeting should work towards a consensus of these views. There will be times when there are differences of opinion. These will need to be clearly recorded.
Additionally, the possibility, scope or effectiveness of the use of a personal budget to secure aspects of specified support will need to be discussed and reviewed.
Step one – How to engage the child or young person in the review
The first step is to think about how the child or young person is going to be able to contribute and remain at the centre of this review. There is a form for you to fill in with the child/young person which gives a guide to questions or areas of discussion. You will need to think through how the child or young person:
· Is best able to communicate their views. Choices might be:
o Having a pre-meeting with you or someone else they feel they can trust
o Sharing their thoughts with a friend
o Drawing you a picture
o Making a video clip or series of photos
o The child/young person writing something down for you
o You or a colleague spending some time observing the child/young person
o The child/young person making up a mood board or collage
o Making a questionnaire with yes/no or multiple choices answers
o Use of SEAL materials
o Use of sorting activities (happy face/sad face)
o Feelings thermometers
o Using a tool such as MOMO https://app.mindofmyown.org.uk/#/ an app based approach[1].
o Using alternative methods of communication such as Makaton or PECS
· How the child/young person wants to use the meeting:
o Attending themselves
o Coming for part of the meeting
o Having an advocate with them or instead of them
o Having a video or auditory link
o Having a special space aside from the main group, maybe to listen or to play or to write down their thoughts
· Would like the meeting to be located and arranged:
o At home
o At school
o A youth centre or social place
o In a particular sort of space, e.g. soft comfy chairs or a table and chairs
o With particular things available e.g. ear defenders, soft toys or stim objects etc.
· Who do they want to come:
o Friends and or advocates
o Particular professionals
o Family members
o Teachers
Step two - Inviting attendees and requesting reports
The following people must be invited to the meeting and given at least two weeks’ notice, preferably 6 weeks. Getting the reports back early will enable you to prepare well for the meeting. It is recommended that you set out the schedule for all children/young people in your setting/school at the start of the academic year and send this to the SEND team. If the child or young person has particularly asked that certain people do or don’t attend you will need to think through how you get their views;
· The child’s parents and/or young person
· A setting representative
· A local authority officer (this may be a SEND Lead Worker or an Education Officer)
· A health service and social care representative (if relevant to the Plan)
· Other individuals important to the review of the EHC Plan (e.g. advisory teacher, job coach, therapists, YOT, Children and Young People’s Disability Team (CYPDT) Social Worker) as agreed with the young person or parents/carers.
There are standard forms on the local offer site[2] which you can send out via email or post to gain people’s views and request reports. If you have requested reports or updates from those invited to the meeting then these need to be circulated to the attendees at least two weeks before the meeting. It is not essential that all these possible representatives attend if they are able to send a report instead or refer you to previous reports. They should none the less be invited.
Step three – Preparing the paper work
If you are the Child/young person lead worker in a school, setting or college you will need to fill out one of the Professional report forms as well as the relevant sections in the main review document. This includes the review of progress. You may be able to do this yourself, or you may also need to ask views from colleagues. This will be particularly important in setting where a child/young person is supported or taught by a number of people. A request for comments and or a report could include:
· Professionals who have assessed or worked with the child/young person during the years
· Subject teachers
· Teaching Assistants
· Professionals who you need an assessment or intervention advice from in order to progress the achievement of My plan outcomes
· The attendees listed above
Once you have received all the reports in you will need to review the information and understand how to use this in the meeting. If you are unsure do contact your SEND lead worker.
You may need to discuss the content with the child/young person and sometimes the parents if you are unsure if they can be easily interpreted or understood. You may also need to go back to the report writer for clarification.
Step four - Suggested meeting format
1. Welcome - Introductions and explanations of roles
2. Apologies
3. Discussion of reports: setting, parents, young person, any outside agency updates/reports. Professionals may either write their own reports or use the My Views as a Professional report
4. Review the current statement / EHCP (Please ensure you have a copy of the EHC Plan with you at the meeting).
5.
ü Check accuracy of personal details and any changes to Section A
ü Consider whether any special educational needs have changed – if so ensure that suggested amendments are evidence-based and referenced in reports. Record any differences of opinion.
ü Consider whether there are changes to social care or health needs
ü Consider progress towards each outcome and steps, including longer term planning for the next stage of education or training, or preparation for adulthood
ü Consider what has helped you get there
6. Significant recommended changes to the EHCP need to be recorded on the My EHCP Annual Review Meeting form. Minor changes do not need to be changes to the EHCP, but the review form should be seen as part of the updating and realisation of the plan. It is recommended that you make notes about any significant changes that need to be forwarded to the SEND team
7. After the meeting within 10 working days or by the end of term (which ever is soonest) send the Annual Review form, the child and parental views, and professional contributions to the SEND Service at County Hall, Trowbridge, and where appropriate, a copy of a clearly annotated EHC Plan detailing the requested amendments.
8. The length of an annual review should not normally exceed 1½ hours.
Step five – after the meeting
After the meeting, you need to send the review information including reports to the SEND team and to the child/young person and/or their parent/carer.
Any significant changes to the EHCP should be annotated on the copy of the EHC plan (in black ink) and sent to the SEND team with any new supporting evidence.
SEND Team
Wiltshire Council
Bythesea Rd
Trowbridge
BA14 8JN
If there are any significant changes to wording or review of banding considered or a change of placement to be considered, you will need to discuss how to progress this with the SEND lead worker.
Confidentiality and Safeguarding
Please ensure that the annual review documentation only relates to the child/young person concerned and that all the reports are signed and dated. Other pupils must not be named in any of the paperwork.
The annual review reports should be sent in a sealed envelope or e-mailed using a secure e-mail network such as GCSX. If you have access to secure e-mail, the review documentation can be sent to the SEND team at . It is generally not advisable to e-mail reports to a non-secure e-mail address, however, if there is no alternative, each report should be password protected and a telephone call made to the recipient to inform them of the password.
If any serious safeguarding concerns are raised at the review (i.e. a child is at risk of significant harm or neglect) please contact the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) on 0300 456 0108 (0845 6070 888 out of hours, 999 in an emergency).
Advocacy
In order to ensure that the child/young person’s voice is heard it may be appropriate to consider if the child or young person could benefit from the support of an advocate. The provision of advocacy services for children in care, care leavers and those wishing to make a complaint under the Children Act 1989 section 24 D and 26 is a statutory requirement. The responsibilities of Local Authorities for the provision of advocacy are further outlined in the Adoption and Children Act 2002. The role of an advocate is to:
· Understand the child or young person’s circumstances and help them to clarify their view of the situation.
· Help the child or young person to understand their rights.
· Assist the young person in expressing their views and to ensure that they have been heard and taken into account in decisions which may affect them.
· Understand the decisions that have been made about them.
If you think the child may benefit from an advocate please encourage them to contact: https://www.ccp.org.uk/childrens-advocacy-wilts. This service is particularly for; (but may also be available if you contact the service about the child/young person’s particular needs/issues)
· Children/young people who need to make their views heard at a Child Protection Conference
· Children/young people who are looked-after
· Children/young people who are a care leavers
· Children/young people who are in private foster care
· Children/young people who have a disability and in particular are accessing overnight short breaks in Wiltshire
· Children/young people who are in receipt of social care services or health services and wish to make a complaint or a representation.
Early years
For children aged 0 – 5 years, the Foundation Stage setting should hold an interim review of the EHC Plan every 6 months as good practice to ensure their provision remains appropriate. Such reviews would complement the duty to carry out a review at least annually but may be streamlined and not necessarily require the attendance of the full range of professionals, depending on the needs of the child. Following the full annual review, the child’s parent must be fully consulted on any proposed changes to the EHC plan and made aware of their right to appeal to the Tribunal.
Transitions
· For children attending Early Years Setting who are due to start school, the SEND Lead Worker will contact parents, the setting and receiving school to arrange a TISM (Transition into School Meeting) to go through the strategies that have successfully supported the child in the pre-school setting so that these can be implemented in the school environment. See Appendix A for more information regarding good practice at transition.
· Transfer from Infant School to Junior School - Year 1 pupils with EHCPs will need to have a phase transfer review. The school will need to arrange for this to take place during Term 5 or Term 6. The child’s SEND Lead Worker must be invited to this review along with the SENCO from the parent/pupil’s preferred choice of junior school.
· Transition from Junior/Primary School to Secondary School - Year 5 pupils with EHCPs will need to have a phase transfer review. The school will need to arrange for this to take place during Term 5 or Term 6. The child’s SEND Lead Worker must be invited to this review along with the SENCO from the parent/pupil’s preferred choice of secondary school.
· Transition from Secondary School to 6th Form, College or other Educational/Training Setting - Year 11 pupils with EHCPs will need to have a phase transfer review. The school will need to arrange for this to take place during Term 1 or Term 2. The young person’s SEND Lead Worker must be invited to this review along with the SENCO from the /pupil’s preferred choice of sixth form or the Additional Learning Support Manager from the college.