Preparing for an Annual Review

The SEND Code of Practice says:

9.169 Professionals across education, health and care must co-operate with local authorities

Parents, child or young person will be invited and given 2 weeks notice to attend the review meeting, usually held at the educational setting.      Think about anyone you would like to invite to either attend the review, or provide any updated information about your child.

The following people should be invited to attend an Annual Review:

– You and where appropriate your child or young person
– A representative of the school or setting
– A Local Authority SEN officer (SEND Operations)
– A health service representative
– A local authority social care representative
– Anyone else involved who you, your child or young person or the Head teacher think should be invited to contribute.

 Some or all of these people may go to the Annual Review. However the school or setting must seek advice and information about the child or young person from all of those invited to attend and circulate at least two weeks before the date of the meeting.

The The SEND Code of Practice says:

9.169 Reviews must be undertaken in partnership with the child and their parent or the young person, and must take account of their views, wishes and feelings, including their right to request a Personal Budget

Parent views

An annual review is not a decision-making meeting so you will not be asked to make any decisions before or during the meeting but you will share your views and these will form part of the annual review paperwork. It can only make recommendations to the Local Authority who will then make a final decision on the basis of the annual review paperwork. 

You will be invited to send in your views in advance of the meeting (you should be given a form to help you to capture your views).

There may be questions on your form from the school or setting which should guide your thinking but if there isn’t you might want to consider:
– Your general views about how things are going at the educational setting
– Are your child or young person’s needs being met? If not what needs to change?
– Have there been any changes since the last review regarding your child or young person’s health or social care needs?
– Are there emerging needs in a new area that are as yet unassessed?
– What do you want to happen over the next year?

Child Views

It is important that your child or young person is able to give their views about the EHC Plan.

They can do this by going with you to the meeting where appropriate, to take part in the discussions or the school or setting should seek to gather their views in advance of the meeting.

• It may be helpful for them to think about:
  – How they feel things have gone over the last year
  – If they think they have the right support and if not what are they struggling with?
  – What they hope to achieve next year and in the future
• If your child or young person is unable to express their views verbally you could discuss with the school or setting the best way for their views to be included in the review meeting.

A pupil views form may be given to your child to complete (may be similar to the one below) and these are some the questions which may be on the form:-

1. What do people like and admire about me?
2. What do I need to stay safe and healthy?
3. What is important to me now?
4. What do I find difficult?
5. What is currently working well in my placement? What am I proud of?
6. What is currently working well outside of my placement?
7. What is currently not working well in my placement?
8. What is currently not working well outside of my placement?
9. What is important to me in the future?
10. What will be important for me in the future?

 You can take a look at this example of a Pupils Views Sheet  

 The SEND Code of Practice says:

9.179 Children, parents and young people should be supported to engage fully in the review meeting

It may be helpful to go through your current EHC Plan section by section and make notes as you go along.

Remember the annual review must focus on reviewing outcomes (section E of your EHC Plan) so you may want to look at these and consider whether you feel your child or young person has met these outcomes, is on track to meet outcomes or if you feel they are not achievable.

Lets look at the sections of an EHC plan:-

Section A - Views, interests and aspirations - Aspirations should be checked to see if they remain the same. There may be additional aspirations to be included perhaps due to new experiences, interests or circumstances.

Section B Special educational needs (“SEN”) - New needs may have emerged or existing needs changed and/or are having an impact on other areas of their life (in or out of school).  You may not feel your child's needs are described accurately or be a true representation of who they are. An example may be where a need has been described in the EHCP as a behaviour issue when the underlying reason behind the behaviour has now been identified as being due to a communication disorder or learning difficulty.

Section C - Health Care Needs - There may be a new diagnosis or on going investigations. health conditions included may have stabilised or improved. Alternatively, what had previously been reported, as a relatively stable health condition may now be less so.

Section D Social Care Needs - Change of circumstances may have occurred or a more up to date assessment has been completed that should be included. Parent/YP may request an assessment of their Social Care needs.  

Section E Outcomes - Outcomes are expected to last for 2 to 3 years but they still need to be reviewed to check they are still relevant, Smartened up or changed.  (Short term targets will be reviewed and new targets set)

Section F Provision -There should be provision to match each need included in B. Perhaps some of the provision did not occur or hasn’t been as effective as expected or perhaps there’s an alternative approach that could be tried.

Section G Health care provision - Anything included here requires agreement by the local authority from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). Any health provision, such as Speech and Language Therapy, which educates or trains, must be included in Section F.

Sections H1 & 2 Social Care provision - Any provision included here will depend on what needs, if any have been included in Section D it must be reviewed and may have already changed since it was originally included.

Section I name of the school or other institution - the suitability of the school (or placement) may be discussed. You may want to ask for a different school or type of school if you believe it will provide a better match for your child's needs.

Section J Any Personal Budget (PB) already in place should be reviewed particularly where provision has been amended. This is also an opportunity to request a PB if the parent/YP would like one. 

The review meeting must focus on progress towards the outcomes laid out in the plan, whether they remain appropriate and what changes might be needed.

Interim targets should be reviewed and new targets set for the coming year. You will be able to propose any changes you would like to see made to the plan, for example with the support that is provided or with the outcomes themselves.

Make sure you are happy with the new targets.  Also make sure that a plan has been made for delivering the support e.g. who is doing it and how often. There should also be a way of reviewing the targets to ensure they are working.  

Targets should be SMART:-

Specific – The outcome should state exactly what is to be achieved within the timeframe

Measurable – It is clear how you will know when the outcome has been achieved

Achievable – The outcome should be challenging but not impossible to achieve within the timeframe.

Relevant – The outcome reflects the needs and aspirations of the child or young person

Time-bound – There should be a date by which it is expected the outcome will be achieved.

Make sure you understand how your child is performing academically compared to their peers.  Now this can be hard to hear, but you must understand if your child is catching up or if the gap is getting wider. 

This will help inform your decision making about schools and support that your child might need.   Whatever system your school is using to track progress, make sure you understand it.  You can ask:-

• Ask if there are any other agencies that might be able to offer help or guidance.  This can vary depending on where you live, but it is worth asking.  Many Special Schools offer outreach to local mainstream schools – would this help?  Equally, if your child is in a Special School would up to date information from an Education Psychologist or Speech Therapist be useful?
• Ask school how they feel things are going?  Do they have enough support? Would a higher level of adult supervision help? Are they getting reports/ targets from outside agencies?  Do they feel this is the right place for your child?  Is there anything you could be doing at home to help?  You want to work in partnership with the school and as parents you can help chase appointments/ reports/ case officers etc
• You don’t just have to talk about academic progress or difficulties.  If something is happening at home you can talk about this too.  It fills in the whole picture of your child and school maybe able to suggest something to help.  Equally, you may well be able to give the school support or ideas to try with things they are finding tricky.  This is about sharing ideas.
• Many annual review meetings are only an hour.  It can be hard to fit in everything you want to say.  If you feel you have lots of questions, or would like to spend more time discussing issues you can always ask for a longer appointment or ask if you could book another meeting.  You must be happy with the information you have been given and have enough time to ask any questions.
• Lastly, but really importantly, remember to celebrate the progress and success of the last year.  There is so much paperwork and information to go through, it can easily get forgotten that you are also there to look at all the great things that have happened, not just the bits you feel aren’t working!

The The SEND Code of Practice  says

9.66 Outcomes should be personal and not expressed from a service perspective; it should be something that those involved have control and influence over, and while it does not always have to be formal or accredited, it should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (SMART).

At the review everyone present should consider, in line with any reports that have also been received, the level of progress made towards achieving the outcomes and whether the provision set out in Section F is adequate in enabling the child or young person to achieve their outcomes.

Where everyone agrees that an outcome has been achieved the setting should record this.

After hearing everyone’s views and reviewing any reports received, new outcomes may be agreed for the coming year.

Outcomes should always enable children and young people to move towards the long-term aspirations of employment or higher education, independent living and community participation. They should be person centred and consider both what is important to the child or young person and what is important for them.

An outcome is not the same as an aspiration. The outcomes are the benefit made to an individual as a result of an intervention. They should be specific enough to measure whether it has been successfully achieved for example “James can add and subtract 2 single digit number 8/10 times”.

Any recommendations for new outcomes should be considered with the parents and/or young person along with any actions taken by the setting. These recommendations should be submitted to the Local Authority (if they are not conducting the meeting) along with their report of the meeting and must include any difference of opinion between the school or other institution’s recommendations and those of others attending the meeting, including parents and young people.

You can read more  Outcomes Explained and from the Council for Disabled Children  What are ‘outcomes’ and why do they matter?

The SEND Code of practice says

9.171 When reviewing an EHC plan for a young person aged over 18, the local authority must have regard to whether the educational or training outcomes specified in the EHC plan have been achieved.

Following the meeting the review paperwork will be circulated to you, the local authority and anybody else that attended the meeting,  within two weeks.  This report must include recommendations on any amendments required to the plan and highlight any areas of disagreement. If you note any discrepancies or anything missing from the report circulated, or if you have additional information you would like them to consider you can contact the SEND Operations Service (local authority)

The Local Authority then reviews the EHC Plan in light of the report and will make one of three decisions. They decide whether to either:- 

1. to leave the plan unchanged
2. to amend the plan
3. to cease the plan

The Local Authority must write to you with that decision within four weeks of the review meeting. They must also inform you of your right to appeal through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) First Tier Tribunal.

If the Local Authority agrees to make amendments to the plan it must be done straight away. You will be sent a draft copy of the EHC plan with notice of the proposed amendments, including any evidence supporting the amendments.  You can ask to meet with the Local Authority to discuss any changes or to discuss a particular school. You must check through the draft EHCP to ensure that it correctly reflects the needs and contains everything it should.  The Local Authority will give you 15 calendar days to raise any comments about the draft EHCP, request a meeting and name a preference school or school type. 

If you disagree with the changes they are suggesting you could first discuss this with your SEND Operations Caseworker and suggest alternative wording. We can help with this but if you cannot reach agreement you have the right to appeal through the SEND First Tier Tribunal. We can provide you with further information, advice and support about mediation and the tribunal process.

Sometimes the review report may make recommendations for the EHC plan to be amended but the Local Authority decide not to make these changes. In this case the Local Authority must inform you of your right to appeal through the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) First Tier Tribunal

Following an Annual Review (and only following a review) the Local Authority could decide to cease to maintain the EHC plan and they must notify you or your right to appeal that decision (following consideration of mediation) and the timescales in which to apply.

Generally a plan will only be ceased where the Special educational provision specified is no longer relevant, for example when a young person leaves education or training or if their outcomes have been fully achieved. Any decision to cease a plan should have been discussed during the Annual Review with you and/or your young person.

Within 8 weeks of sending the proposed amendments, the local authority must issue an amended plan, or let you know they have decided not to amend the plan after all.

For information on Appealing following an Annual Review