Information & Advice

Appeals & Mediation

IPSEA have a huge amount of resources for parents who are considering lodging an appeal. Please click here to visit their site.

Click on the following links for further information:

• • What can I appeal? 
  • What can the SEND tribunal do?
  • Deadline for lodging an appeal
  • Mediation

How to lodge an appeal and what happens next

• • Please click here for IPSEA’s comprehensive guide to lodging an appeal. This covers all types of appeals, what forms to use, what to expect after you’ve lodged etc.

While you wait…

It can sometimes be many months between an appeal being lodged and the hearing taking place. We strongly recommend that you keep working closely with the LA and school/education setting to try to resolve disagreements ahead of the hearing, and to ensure that your/your child’s needs are met in the interim.

Attendance/Not in full time education

Where parents decide to have their child registered at school, they have a legal duty to ensure their child attends that school regularly.

Schools are expected to discuss non-attendance with pupils and parents to listen to and understand barriers to attendance and agree how all partners can work together to resolve them.

Where absence persists, and voluntary support is not working or not being engaged with, schools should explain the consequences clearly to parents and ensure that support is in place to enable families to respond. Depending on the circumstances this may include formalising support through an attendance contract or education supervision order.

Where all other avenues have been exhausted and support is not working or not being engaged with, attendance can be enforced through statutory intervention: a penalty notice in line with the National Framework or prosecution to protect the pupil’s right to an education.

The Child Law Advice website is an excellent source of legal advice about school attendance. Click here to visit the website.

Click here to read the government guidance for schools. “Working together to improve school attendance”.

Complaints

Can you resolve the issue without making a formal complaint?

Before making a formal complaint, try to resolve any problems by talking to the person most closely linked to the issue, this might be a SEN caseworker, class teacher or keyworker.

Before you approach them, think about the following:

• How are you feeling? Do you need time to calm down or put your thoughts in order so that you can get the best outcome for your child?
• Is this a good time for the person you’re talking to? They’re more likely to be able to help if they have time to process what you’re saying. Making an appointment rather than trying to catch them in passing.
• What are the main things that need to be addressed? If you’re experiencing a complex situation caused by multiple issues, try to break things down into individual problems. Solutions usually come in steps so think about what needs to change first to start making things better for your child.
• Be solution focussed – While it might be necessary to discuss other people’s actions, framing your comments in terms of what needs to change, or what should happen next time, is much more positive and likely to help maintain your relationship with the service.
• Ask – what can you do to help? Show that you’re willing to help resolve the issues. What this looks like will be unique to your situation but might involve things like:
  • Explaining to your child what school are going to do to help.
  • Providing copies of private reports or assessments.
  • Keeping a log of your child’s sleep or mood at home so that together you can identify patterns in behaviour across all settings.
  • Arranging a follow-up meeting to review progress.

Putting your complaint in writing

IPSEA provide a range of model letters for a wide variety of different issues click here. These can help you to structure your complaint. In the first instance, we advise you to address your complaint to the person in charge of your child’s care e.g. head teacher or SEN caseworker.

Complaints about the education providers (e.g. nurseries, schools, colleges)

All education providers should have complaints policy on their website. You need to exhaust this process and work with the provider as closely as possible before escalating your complaints to a body like OFSTED or the Secretary of State for Education.

Complaints about the Local Authority

Click here for the local authority complaint process.

If you have completed the LA’s complaints process and are not satisfied with the response, or if you have complained but not had a response within a reasonable time, you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). Click here for more information about complaints to the LGSCO.

If you are complaining because you think that the LA have not followed the law or have acted unfairly or unreasonably, you may wish to consider requesting a Judicial Review. In a judicial review, the court does not look at whether it agrees with the LA’s decision, but looks at the way the decision was taken. If it finds that the way the decision was taken was unlawful, unfair or unreasonable, it can order the public body to re-make its decision, or order the public body to take a particular action. Click here  to read more about judicial reviews.

Complaints about other organisations

Check the organisations website for their specific complaints policy or call us for further advice.

Disability Discrimination

What is disability discrimination?

All early years settings, schools, colleges and local authorities (“LA”) must make sure that they:

• do not treat children and young people worse than others, or badly, because of their disability, and
• change what they do (or were planning to do) to make sure a disabled child or young person is not disadvantaged. The type of changes they have to make are called reasonable adjustments. What is reasonable for them to do will depend on the facts.

What should you do if you think discrimination is taking place?

If you believe your child is being treated unfairly by an education provider due to their disability then you should discuss this with them first. Maintaining communication, being solution-focussed and giving the setting time to respond and make changes is key to making things better.

If communication with school does not resolve the issue, then you can make a formal complaint using the school’s complaints procedure.

If the complaint does not resolve matters, you could choose to escalate the complaint to The Department of Education and Ofsted, or you could bring a disability discrimination claim to the SEND Tribunal.

However, it is worth considering whether a disability discrimination claim is the best path of action in your individual circumstances. Discrimination claims are ‘backward looking’, because they focus on a past event of discrimination rather than looking forward to what support is needed. A discrimination claim is likely to have a negative impact on your relationship with the school.

You can read more about disability discrimination and claims to the SEND tribunal here.

Education, Health and Care Plans

What is an EHC Plan?

An EHC Plan is a legal document written by the local authority (LA). It is intended to ensure that children and young people with an EHC plan receive the support they need.

An EHC plan describes your child’s special educational needs (SEN) and the help they will get to meet them.

An EHC plan also includes any health and care support that is needed.

Education other than in school/college

Education other than at School (EOTAS) also known as Education other than in school or college (EOTISC)

 EOTAS in an EHCP

Most children and young people who hold an EHCP attend an education setting. In rare circumstances, where despite the best endeavours of everyone involved, it is determined that it would be inappropriate for provision to be made in any educational setting, a local authority may arrange for special educational provision to be made otherwise than in a school. This is called EOTAS and is intended to be a long-term arrangement for a child.

EOTAS is a form of special educational provision, and therefore should be specified in Section F on an EHC Plan. The specification should state the type of provision to meet need e.g. “2hrs animal therapy per week” but must not name a specific provider e.g. “2hrs at ‘fluffy friends’”.

EOTAS is not an educational setting and therefore cannot be named in section I. Where provision is made through EOTAS, section I should remain blank.

It is the local authority’s duty to identify and secure the provision detailed in a child’s EHCP. They must do this in partnership with parents. However they cannot require parents to take on the responsibility for identifying, arranging or managing EOTAS unless this is done in accordance with a parents wishes and through a personal budget.

EHCPs must still be reviewed annually. For children in receipt of EOTAS, this review should be co-ordinated by their local authority SEN case worker.

Alternative Provision/EOTAS for children who are unable to attend school

Sometimes the abbreviation EOTAS is used to describe a alternative provision (AP) that is made for a child with SEND when they cannot attend school due to exclusion, medical needs or otherwise.

In this instance EOTAS or AP is only a short-term arrangement.

The local authority is responsible for securing suitable alternative provision under these circumstances. Although in many cases, it is actually the school that organises the AP.

Alternative provision must be suitable to the child’s age, ability and aptitude, and any special educational needs they have and it must be full-time unless a pupil’s medical condition makes full-time provision inappropriate.

The law does not define full-time and in the case where alternative provision in one-to-one, the hours could be fewer than in school as the education may be more intensive.

Alternative provision made under these circumstances is short-term. Professionals must work with parents to review the child’s needs and put a long-term solution in place. Depending on the circumstance, this may involve carrying out an EHC Needs Assessment, or reviewing an existing EHC Plan to identify the changes that are required to meet the child’s needs.

Exclusions

There are only 2 types of exclusions that are lawful:

1. Suspension – where a pupil is excluded for a fixed period of time.
2. Permanent Exclusion – where a pupil is unable to return to that school.

All exclusions must be formally recorded.

Informal or unofficial exclusions, including sending pupils home to calm down or because a school does not have resources to meet their needs, are unlawful, even if they occur with the agreement of the parents.

Part-time timetables should never be used to manage a child’s behaviour.

Everything possible should be done to avoid excluding. For children with SEND this includes considering whether their behaviour arises from unmet needs and whether it would be appropriate to reassess their needs and/or review their support.

For children with SEND, schools must consider whether it is appropriate to apply general behaviour policies or whether an adjustment to the policy is necessary to meet the child’s needs.

• For the first 5 days after a permanent exclusion, the school is responsible for setting work.
• From the 6^th day, the local authority is responsible for arranging the child’s education.

If you disagree with a suspension of exclusion, you can ‘make representations’ to the school’s board of governors.

• For suspensions of 1-5 days, governors are unable to change the exclusions but can record their response on your child’s file.
• For suspensions of 6-15 days, the governors must hold a meeting if you request one.
• For suspensions of 15+ days the governors must hold a ‘Discipline Committee’ review meeting and invite the parents and child. The committee can uphold the exclusion, or reinstate the child immediately or on an agreed date.
• For permanent exclusions the governors must hold a Disciple Committee review meeting and invite the parents and child. The committee can uphold the exclusion, or reinstate the child immediately or on an agreed date.
• For permanent exclusions, if you disagree with the outcome of the Governor’s Disciplinary Committee, you can request that the decision is reviewed by an Independent Review Panel.

For more detailed information, please see the school exclusions factsheet.

You can also find free advice on the School Exclusions Hub of the Child Law Advice service.

You can also find free advice on the IPSEA exclusion pages.

Health

Pupils at school with medical conditions should be properly supported so that they have full access to education, including school trips and physical education.

Schools must ensure that arrangements are in place to support pupils with medical conditions. They should ensure that school leaders consult health and social care professionals, pupils and parents to ensure that the needs of children with medical conditions are properly understood and effectively supported.

Absence due to medical needs

Schools must record absences as authorised where pupils cannot attend due to illness (both physical and mental health related). There is no need to routinely ask for medical evidence to support recording an absence as authorised for mental health reasons.

In instances of long-term or repeated absences for the same reason, however, seeking medical evidence may be appropriate to assist in assessing whether the child requires additional support to help them to attend more regularly, and whether the illness is likely to prevent the child from attending for extended periods. If a parent proactively seeks out a note from a GP, it does not imply a need for absence unless this is explicit in their letter.

Once a parent / carer has provided evidence from a medical practitioner, local authorities should not demand continuing evidence without good reason, even where a child has long-term health problems.

Resources for further information

Government guidance for schools: Supporting pupils in school with medical conditions

Government guidance for schools: Promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing

Child Law Advice service: Mental health support in schools

Resources for parents of children who are struggling to attend: Not fine in school

Youth counselling services on the: Local offer

How should the Local Authority help?

Your local authority (LA) has certain legal duties to help children and young people.

All LAs must identify and assess the special educational needs (SEN) of children and young people in their area when they become aware that they have or may have SEN.

If your child has SEN and goes to an educational setting (nursey, school or college) then that setting needs to provide support. This is called SEN Support.

If your child needs more support than the setting provides through SEN Support then the LA must carry out an education, health and care needs assessment (EHCNA). This can lead to an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) being made for your child. Once your child has an EHCP, the LA have a duty to provide all of the support detailed in the plan.

In the Isle of Wight the LA have:

• The Isle of Wight Local Offer Click here. The Local Offer should contain information about all the services and support that the LA expects to be available, including services in Hampshire and surrounding areas including independent schools or colleges, therapy services and care placements.
• Isle of Wight SEN webpages click here
• A telephone number: 01983826470 and a contact form

If you struggle to make contact with the Isle of Wight SEN Service. You should try the telephone number and contact form (above). If this is not successful, you can find information about complaint here.

Neurodiversity

Coming soon

We’re currently collating this information, in the mean time you can contact us directly for support on 0808 164 5492, info@iowsendiass.org.uk or using the contact form here.

Personal Budgets

A personal budget for SEN is money identified to pay for support specified in an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.

There are four ways you can use a personal budget:

1. Sometimes the local authority, school or college will look after the personal budget for you. This is called an arrangement or a notional budget.
2. Sometimes you can receive money directly to manage all or part of the personal budget yourself. This is called a direct payment.
3. Sometimes you can opt to have someone else to manage the personal budget for you. This is called a third party arrangement.
4. Sometimes you can have a mixture of some or all of these arrangements.

Parents of a child with an EHC plan, or a young person with an EHC plan, can request a personal budget either during the drafting of an EHC plan or once the plan has been issued and is under review.

Personal budgets can be used only to fund the support set out in an EHC plan.

Local authorities must provide information on personal budgets as part of the Local Offer.

Sometimes the local authority or the health authority may not agree to a personal budget. If the local authority refuses a personal budget for special educational provision it must tell you why. You cannot appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal over this refusal.

For more detailed information, please see:

Our personal budgets factsheet

IPSEA advice about personal budgets

Information about personal budgets on the Local Offer

SEN Support in nurseries, schools and colleges

A child has Special Educational Needs (SEN) if he or she has a learning difficulty or disability which calls for special education provision to be made for him or her. (Click here to read about this in more detail including exploring the definitions in italics).

Nurseries, schools and colleges should identify and support children and young people with SEND.

Children and young people in mainstream settings may be supported from within the school or other setting’s own resources.

When your child is identified has having SEND, the school should use a “graduated approach” to support them and should make a record of each stage of the cycle. Parents should be involved and consulted at every stage:

Assess:              
Record the SEN they have identified your child as having through their observations and assessments. Sometimes other professionals will be involved in assessments.

Plan:                  
Plan the outcomes they expect to be achieved by your child, and what provision they will put in place to reach those outcomes,

Do:                     
Implement the plans

Review:            
Review the child’s progress toward outcomes and the difference the support has made. Undertake new assessments and update outcomes and plans as required.

One of the key duties is for the nursery, school or college to use their ‘best endeavours’ to support children and young people with SEN. This means doing everything that could reasonably be expected of them.

All mainstream schools have money for SEN support and resources. Schools can decide how they spend this money, also known as delegated funding.

If your child’s mainstream school or college cannot meet their needs through the ‘graduated approach, then they should request an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment.

In the Isle of Wight the LA have:

• Produced SEN Support Guidance for Schools that details how mainstream settings are expected to support children with SEND. Click here to read.

Service Families

Coming soon

We’re currently collating this information, in the mean time you can contact us directly for support on 0808 164 5492, info@iowsendiass.org.uk or using the contact form here.

Social Care

It is important to seek support in providing children with care if you feel that you need it.

• Every ‘local offer’ must include information as to any eligibility criteria governing access to social care services for disabled children and young people; (click here for your local offer).
• Explain in plain/clear language how services are allocated based on need;

Assessments and services provided by social care

Local authorities have a duty to safeguard and protect children in need, and to promote their upbringing by their families by providing a range and level of services appropriate to those children’s needs. This duty can be broken into 3 main areas:

1. To Assess

A local authority must assess all children that are identified as children in need. All disabled children are classed as ‘children in need’ and are therefore entitled to an assessment. The assessment of disabled children must consider their needs in relation to:

• • practical assistance,
  • activities at home,
  • recreational activities outside the home (this could be short breaks),
  • assistance to the child in taking advantage of available educational facilities (you can use this duty to argue for home to school transport)
  • (the primary duty for making adaptations to homes are in the Housing Act)
  • additional facilities (this might be safe spaces)
  • holidays (this can include the basic cost of the holiday, not just the costs associated with disability).
  • Meals,
  • Telephone or special equipment

Local authorities must also assess the needs of parent/carers of disabled children. They have the power to combine assessments where it is reasonable to do so.

2. To Decide

After assessment, the local authority must decide whether it is necessary to meet the child’s needs. A local authority is entitled to take account of the resources available to it when making this decision.

3. To Provide

Where a local authority decides that it is necessary to make provision in any of the areas listed above, they must do so. There must be a support plan setting out what services will be delivered, and what actions undertaken, by who and for what reason.

Further information

Click here for information about Disability Living Allowance

If you are concerned about a child, please contact the Multi-agency safeguarding hub.

Click here for the IOW Safeguarding Children’s Partnership website which includes safeguarding thresholds.

Transport

Under 5’s

Are not automatically entitled to transport to an early years setting or school.

If your child attends an early years settings, your local authority can use its discretion to provide transport for your child.

If your LA refuses to provide transport and you feel that it is necessary then you could appeal against its decision.

5-16yr olds

Local authorities are required to arrange free, suitable, home to school transport for children of who are ‘eligible’, to their nearest suitable qualifying school.

If your child has special educational needs (SEN), a disability or mobility problems which means they cannot walk to school, then they are an ‘eligible child’ as long as the local authority has not made suitable arrangements for your child to go to a nearer school.

Children are also ‘eligible’ if:

• They go to a school beyond the statutory walking distance from their home (2miles for under 8yrs, 3miles for 8yrs+ and,
• Their local authority has not made suitable arrangements for your child to go to a nearer school

The local authority must also make provide transport for a child to children who are eligible for certain benefits.

16-19yr olds

There is no legal duty requiring a local authority (LA) to provide free school or college transport to a young person.

However, where a young person is of ‘sixth form age’ and attends school or college, the law does require LAs to have a ‘Transport Policy Statement’. You should be able to find your LA’s Transport Policy Statement on its website and/or in its Local Offer.

Over 19yrs

Local authorities have certain duties to provide transport to ‘adult learners’ where it considers it ‘necessary’. The local authority must publish its post 16 transport policy which will detail its approach to providing transport for adult learners. If you are an adult learner with an EHC plan, then this could well strengthen the argument that travel arrangements are ‘necessary’ for you. Your LA has a duty to secure the special educational provision set out in Section F of your EHC plan and will have real difficulty doing so if you can’t get to college to access that provision.

Click here for more information on home to school transport from The Isle of Wight Council.

Year 6 Transition

Transitioning from primary school to secondary school can be an exciting, but also daunting time for many children.  For children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) receiving SEN Support, the change may be particularly challenging.

Mainstream schools have a duty to use their “best endeavours” to ensure that they are doing everything that could be reasonably expected to meet the SEND of its pupils. For children receiving SEN support at primary school, this duty continues into secondary school. The SEND Code of Practice also refers to schools supporting children through transition phases so that they are included in social groups and develop friendships.

Therefore a successful transition from primary to secondary school involves both schools working together. It’s important that your child’s primary school shares as much information as possible with their new school. This will help the secondary school plan how it’ll meet your child’s needs. Both schools should also offer support to children during the transition period to ensure that they feel comfortable with the change. There are also lots of ways parents and carers can help prepare their child for the transition, and help them settle into their new school when they start Year 7.

Young People’s Page

What is SENDIASS 

• • Click here for a  short video looking at what IAS services are, what they can do, and how they can help.

My EHCP

• • Click here for an easy to follow short animation to learn about person centred planning and the aims to put children and young people at the centre of planning and decisions that affect you.

Help at School/College

• • Bullying
  • Help in exams
  • How your school/college should help

Mental Health Support

• • East Hants & Havant MIND (supporting the Isle of Wight)
  • IOW Youth Trust
  • KOOTH
  • No Limits

Life Choices and Support in Adulthood

• • Access to work
  • Easy to read guide on supported internships
  • Employment Guide
  • Post 16 Checklist
  • SEND Local Offer – Growing up 16-25 
  • Year 9 – Annual Review Guide