Most children and young people with SEND will not need an EHC plan and can have their needs met by the SEND provision in their school, college or education setting.
Talk to your child’s school or setting
If your child’s support doesn’t seem to be working and you are concerned about their development, you should meet with their teacher or special educational needs coordinator (SENDCo) to discuss their progress. Every nursery, school and college has a SENDCo.
They will be able to tell you more about your child’s areas of need and the extra support required to meet these and achieve the best outcomes.
You can talk to them about:
- what makes you think your child has SEND
- what you can do to help
- what they can do to help and what additional support they can put in place
- why you believe your child needs an EHC plan
Talking to the staff at your school is the best approach to getting some extra support for your child as quickly as possible. We’ve provided more advice about things to do before a meeting and the questions to ask.
Identifying your child’s needs
Once you have met, you and the setting should be able to agree what the next steps will be. Support for SEND will be offered gradually and reviewed at every step to see if improvements are being made.
Find out more about the SEND support that you can expect.
If, following a period of review, it is agreed that your child is still not achieving expected levels of progress, or that their needs are not being met, it may be decided that an EHC needs assessment would help them – and the setting can support you in submitting a request for assessment.
Talk to Devon’s information and advice service
Devon Information, Advice and Support (DiAS) provides information, advice and support on SEND. Use the DiAS website to get in touch with them.