Supporting your child in educational settings

If you think your child may have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) they could be eligible for:

• SEN support
• an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan

Most children with SEND will get support through their nursery or school. This is called SEN support.

Some children need more help than this. 

If this is the case, an assessment may be required to see if an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan is needed. An EHC plan is a legal document which sets out exactly what extra support is needed.

It’s important that children with SEND are identified as early as possible so they can start receiving the SEND support they need.

Many children will have special educational needs at some time during their education. For most of them this will be a short-term need that can be met through the expertise and resources of their nursery, school or college, or with advice and support from outside professionals.

There may be occasions when your child seems to be having difficulty learning something or developing in a particular area.

You will want to know whether this is something you should be concerned about or whether this is because all children develop at different rates.

Brent is a borough that has high aspirations for all children and young people with special, educational needs and/or disabilities (SEN/D including pupils identified as SEN support ). We are needs-led and follow the ethos of early identification and early intervention. With that SEND is not a fixed or permanent characteristic and at a specific time a child might have additional learning needs that require tailored or additional support to fully participate in everything the school has to offer.

As such pupils’ development is not linear. As pupils age, the complexity of their needs will change. Some pupils might not have SEN to begin with but will develop SEN as they mature. Others who are considered to have SEN at the beginning of their lives may no longer have these needs later in life or may have lifelong SEND requirements.

‘A pupil has SEN where their learning difficulty or disability calls for special educational provision, namely provision different from or additional to that normally available to pupils of the same age. Making higher quality teaching normally available to the whole class is likely to mean that fewer pupils will require such support. Such improvements in whole-class provision tend to be more cost effective and sustainable.’ (SEND Code of Practice, 2015, pp 94-95.)

All teachers are teachers of SEN. They should be responsible for and accountable for the progress and development of pupils they teach. They should differentiate their curriculum and teaching resources to ensure all learners can access and engage with the learning. Teachers should be supported by the school’s or setting’s leadership team to gain skills and knowledge in areas that will improve their teaching or children with SEND and confidently allow them to undertake the assess, plan, do, review cycle effectively. 

Schools and education settings must use their best endeavours to ensure that such provision is made for all those who need it. ‘Best endeavours’ is a legal term and means doing everything possible to make something happen. Educational settings should know exactly where children & young people with SEND are in their learning and development. Decisions about whether special educational provision is needed for a child/young person will be informed by: 

• insights from parents/carers and children/young people
• setting high ambitions and stretching measurable targets, appropriate to their needs
• promoting high standards and the fulfilment of potential
• tracking of children/young people’s progress towards their goals
• keeping under review the impact of the additional or different provision that is made for them
• promoting positive outcomes in the wider areas of personal and social development
• ensuring the approaches used are based on the best possible evidence and that they are
• having the required impact on progress and development. 

Some children or young people will require support that is additional universal High Quality Teaching, as these approaches are not sufficient to meet some specific special educational needs. These pupils will require more intervention and support and these are referred to as targeted interventions. A few children or young people will also require specialist interventions in addition to targeted interventions and High Quality Teaching. Specialist interventions and/or diagnosis does not mean a child or young person requires an Education, Heath and Care Plan – their needs can still be met within the graduated approach alongside the specialist interventions.

Kinds of support offered 

There are many kinds of SEN support depending on your child’s needs and their age. It could include things like:

• a special learning programme
• extra help from a teacher or assistant
• working in a smaller group
• extra encouragement in their learning, for example to ask questions or to try something they find difficult
• support with physical or personal care difficulties, for example eating, getting around school safely or using the toilet.

The school, nursery or college may also ask for more specialist help. This could involve:

• educational psychology support
• behaviour support
• speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy
• Early Years inclusion support
• Brent Outreach Autism Team (BOAT)
• Brent Deaf and hearing Support Service (BDHSS) or
• Brent Visual Impaired Service (BVIS)
• SEND Support Team
• Inclusion Support Team
• Wellbeing and Emotional Support Team (WEST)
• Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS)

You should be fully involved in discussions about the support your child needs, how it will be delivered, and when it will be reviewed

A small number of children will have needs that are long-term or a disability or medical condition that significantly affects their learning. In these cases an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan may be needed.

If your child needs support over and above SEN support, their nursery, school, college, GP or health visitor may request an assessment for an EHC plan. As a parent, you can also request one of these assessments.

SEND support in Brent

To support people that support children and young people we have designed the Send Support in Brent Booklet to support their training to ensure consistent advise is provided to parents and carers.

Settings and schools should adopt a graduated approach to ensure that a child or young person’s needs are fully understood. It is known as the graduated approach or response because it may take several cycles of intervention and different strategies being tried, before it is possible to identify the ones that work. 

The Assess, Plan, Do and Review cycle 

A graduated approach is a four-part cycle (Assess, Plan, Do, Review) which allows decisions and actions to be reviewed and refined as the understanding of the learners needs and what supports them in making good progress and securing good outcomes grows. The graduated approach can encompass a number of strategies, which are underpinned by a number of central principles:

• all children or young people can learn and make progress
• all teachers are teachers of SEN/D
• a differentiated curriculum is not SEN provision
• differentiated learning opportunities should be given to all learners
• a provision for a child or young person with SEN/D should match their needs
• there should be regular recording of a child’s or young person’s SEND, of the planned outcomes, of the action that the setting is taking, and of impact of those actions and the outcomes achieved. 

High quality teaching ensures that the learning needs of all children are met by schools and settings.

Developed in partnership with Brent Parent Carer Forum, SEND specialist teams, School Effectiveness Service, Health, Youth Offending Services and Early Help Service, the Graduated Approach Framework is designed to be the blueprint for settings and schools when educating children and young people with Special Educational Needs.

The SEN Code of Practice 2014 defines a ‘Graduated Approach’ as: 

“a model of action and intervention in early education settings, schools and colleges to help children and young people who have special educational needs. The approach recognises that there is a continuum of special educational needs and that, where necessary, increasing specialist expertise should be brought to bear on the difficulties that a child or young person may be experiencing.”

We expect school and setting staff to recognise the many factors that can affect the way a child’s learning ability presents and be responsive to this. The emphasis is on outcomes and not on inputs. Any provision or support should be provided in line with the needs of the child or young person and is not dependent on any formal diagnosis.

The SEN Support Team works closely with schools to ensure a graduated approach is fully implemented in their setting or school.

Read the Brent graduated approach framework guidance to find out about strategies used to support children and young people with SEND against Universal, Targeted and Specialist Support.

An Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan, sometimes called an EHCP, is for children and young people (0-25) who need extra support above what is available in a mainstream, nursery, school or college.

This a legal document which sets out your child’s needs and the additional support needed. Plans are reviewed each year.

Before an EHC plan can be created, we must consider if one is needed. This is called an EHC needs assessment.

We may also decide not to start an assessment after consideration.

Our Special Educational Needs 0-25 Team is responsible for carrying out the assessment and drafting the plan.

This video explains more about what an EHC plan is.

In most cases, the school/nursery/college or other professional will make the referral for an EHC needs assessment.

Parents, carers, or the young person themselves if they are aged 16 to 25, can also ask for an assessment.

To request a needs assessment:

• parents - can complete a parents EHC needs assessment request form and gain your child’s views by completing either this child and young person’s views form or this alternative version of a child and young person’s views form
• a young person (16-25) - can complete a young persons EHC needs assessment request form
• professionals - can complete an EHC needs assessment referral form

If you need help completing a form, please contact our SEND team on 0208 937 3229 or by emailing sen.assessments@brent.gov.uk. The SEND Information and Advice Service (SENDIASS) can be also contacted on 0208 937 3434 for free, independent advice.

The assessment and creating a plan

By week 6: Brent’s SEND Advisory Panel decides whether the assessment should start or not based on information received. 

By week 16: If the decision was to assess, the local authority must by this point decide whether or not to issue an EHC plan. 

By week 20: If an EHC plan was agreed, the ‘Final EHC plan’ is issued after you have had a chance to comment on and agree it. 

Our assessment information document and timeline for an EHC needs assessment takes a more a detailed look at the whole process.

We are keen to hear your views and experience of Brent’s EHC assessment process. The month after the Final EHC plan is issued, our Inclusion Service will contact you to gain your feedback.

The EHC plan should be written in a way that makes it clear to parents, young people, schools, colleges and local authorities:

• who is required to do what
• when it has to happen
• how often it should be reviewed.

Very importantly, a ‘person centred’ approach should be taken to make sure that you and your child are at the centre of any planning and decisions.

A good EHC plan should be written in a way that is:

• easy to understand for everyone
• clear and detailed about the type of support and how it will help your child
• identifies strengths, skills, talents and needs

It should be a forward-looking document that helps raise aspirations and helps your child achieve their ambitions. It must be structured with sections labelled A to K.

Broadly these sections cover:

• special educational provision
• health care provision
• social care provision

You can view a template of an EHC plan to see for yourself how it is set out.

This short animation from the Council for Disabled Children has more on the person centred approach.

We may decide not to carry out a needs assessment. If we do carry out an assessment, it does not always lead to a child or young person receiving an EHC plan.

If this is the case, you may be offered a ‘way forward meeting’ (WFM) to discuss the decision.

Everyone is offered the opportunity to meet with the SEND case officer.

You also have a formal right to appeal against our decision.

The way forward meeting 

If you agree to a way forward meeting (WFM) it will be arranged within six weeks.

This meeting is the first informal stage in helping you to understand why your child has not been offered an EHC assessment or EHC plan.

It will:

• give you a chance to ask questions
• explain our decision not to start an assessment or issue an EHC plan
• explain the support your child will receive and how this will be monitored

Attending a WFM does not affect your right to appeal any decision you do not agree with.

What happens after the meeting?

If you agree to the meeting being recorded, the recording will be circulated to you and everyone who attended, as well as to Brent Council’s SEND Team.

One school term after the WFM, your school’s SENCO should be in touch to arrange another meeting with you, your child and, and if appropriate, other professionals to review support being provided.

If it is not possible to reach an agreement without a third party, we can provide an independent, free of charge, disagreement resolution and mediation service run by the nationwide charity KIDS.

Mediation is a quicker and less formal way to resolve disagreements than appealing to tribunal and involves an independent facilitator (the mediator).

Mediation can be used if you disagree with a decision such as not to:

• carry out at EHC assessment or to re-asses
• issue a EHC plan
• amend an EHC plan

Appeals to tribunal

You can formally appeal to the First-tier Tribunal if you disagree with a decision taken by the council. This is sometimes referred to as the SEND tribunal.

Before you can do this, you may need to have considered mediation first, depending on why you are appealing.

The First-tier Tribunal has powers including ordering local authorities to:

• carry out an EHC assessment
• make and maintain an EHC plan
• maintain a plan with amendments

Recently extended powers mean the tribunal can also make non-binding recommendations about the health and social care aspects of EHC plans.

The GOV.UK website has further information on the tribunal and making an appeal.

Extended tribunal powers

The First-tier Tribunal can now address health and social care aspects of EHC plans, provided those appeals also include education elements.

This means families can now raise all their concerns about an EHC plan in one place - a ‘single route of redress’.

Previously it was only possible to appeal the educational aspects.

These extended powers were tested during a national trial (April 2018 to August 2021).

The tribunal can make non-binding recommendations about the health and social care aspects of EHC plans.

Non-binding means there is no legal requirement for them to be followed but they should not be ignored or rejected without careful consideration.

Any reasons for not following them must be explained and set out in writing to the parent or young person.

The GOV.UK website has more information on these extended powers.

A personal budget is an amount of money we identify to deliver all or some of the provision set out in an education, health and care (EHC) plan.

Having a say in the way this budget is used gives more choice and control over the support your child receives.

What can personal budgets be used for

Personal budgets can be used to arrange and pay for support like:

• equipment
• transport
• respite
• assistance with accessing the community

You can request a personal budget as part of the assessment and planning process for the EHC plan, or at an annual review. We can offer help to guide you through the process of agreeing a budget.

How are they provided

There are three ways a personal budget can be provided:

• direct payments - you receive the money in your account to purchase services yourself
• notional arrangements - we retain the budget but you decide how it's spent
• third party arrangements - you choose an individual or organisation to manage the funds on your behalf.

View our personal budgets guide for parents and our personal budgets guide for professionals