The Naïve SENDCo Series
Past the valley of forgotten purpose lies the Land of Mediation, where confused struggles dwell a plenty.
Before the dawn of a post-covid era, a mere 271,2001 students of the total pupil population had won the battle for an EHCP. Yet as the setting sun languished in late summer of 2023, the numbers swelled to 389,1712. A staggering 44% rise during the five years of great unrest. I equip you with these figures, not to banish your pre-battle confidence but to illuminate the writing on the wall, giving you and your students every chance to succeed in acquiring the evasive EHCP.
Before we get to the bloody business (not literally, hopefully) of the melee of mediation, the prelude requires our attention first – more commonly referred to as the EHCNA (Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment) application.
We are fortunate in that there is a system in place to complete such requests but unfortunate in that the process is laborious, confusing and in some respects unreasonable. Whilst it is rightly assumed that these applications would be completed by the educational setting, the standard for the burden of proof is much higher for professionals. Whereas, if a parent submits the initial application that burden is lessened meaning that lower expectations around evidencing a need is required to be submitted to begin with to receive acknowledgement from the local authority.
This is why many educational settings will support parents in making the initial application. However, given the 44% increase in students with an EHCP and a lack of synchronous funding, more and more locl authorities are rejecting the applications before they even get chance to be a megabyte on the computer hard drive. This is even more common with parental applications, often stating that there was not sufficient evidence to indicate a need and are often signposted to other agencies or publications.
This is where my tale begins…
As a peaceful breeze descended upon the camp and discarded armour lay contentedly amongst the battle-worn soldiers (also known as teachers in the final term), a distant battle horn went unheard (also known as a parent applying for help from the council).
As the adventures of motherhood descended upon my home, a parent, desperately seeking support for her child, faced the treacherous path of the EHCNA alone. Without guidance and without knowledge of the system. Upon my return to the fields of education, the scroll of rejection was bestowed upon us, draped in the excuse of ‘limited evidence’ and the misdirection of seeking other agency support. The contents of which may as well have been written in an archaic tongue. Whoever had the wise idea of communicating with parents in acronyms and legal jargon was either hideously ill-informed or disastrously cunning; expertly evading parental appeal due to lack of understanding.
With whispers of tribunals and HM courts, the parent was left defenceless against the dark magic of the EHCNA process. Having never been through the process myself, as a naïve SENDCo, I was perplexed as to where to even begin. It was obvious that we needed to strategize for the war of all wars, as we would not go down without a fight. So, I met with my advisors and we consider the best course of action for our kingdom… appeal.
The first arrow was sent (electronically) and the target was hit – mediation was set and the terms of battle agreed. The only thing left to do was to ensure our army of evidence was able to withstand the heat from the dragon’s deathly jaws. Simple.
To begin with, we needed to know the battlefield inside out, a tapestry woven in fine detail within the The Children and Families Act, with a little help from The Lone SENDCo himself. Specifically, we needed to know the parameters of the fight, the legal test; a local authority must accept a request for an EHCNA, if it is of the opinion that:
(a) the child or young person has or may have special educational needs, and
(b) it may be necessary for special educational provision to be made for the child or young person in accordance with an EHC plan.
(CAFA, 2014, Part 3, Section 36, 8)
Read that again, more carefully this time. The legal framework itself uses the conditional modal verbs here: must and may. But how do we make this work for us? Simple really… the local authority MUST accept the request for assessment if the conditions of the application are appropriate, i.e. a child MAY (not for definite) have SEN and it MAY be necessary for appropriate provision to be made for them.
From melee to sorcery, my time as a SEN enchantress was near. I had to use the words of the legal kingdom to capture them in the spell of overturning their decision. But this alone would not be enough to win the battle that drew closer as the days descended into darkness.
But alas, the work was not yet complete, the spells not yet perfected. It was time to collate the evidence and overwhelm them with mountainous paperwork; paperwork that would unearth Tolkien’s Ents. A bundle of evidence that was a force to be reckoned with; a 126 page reason to say yes to assess.
Having previous experience with mediation and court documentation, I went about setting out a bundle that was meticulously detailed, leaving no stone unturned. I divided it into five sections:
1. EHCNA Application & Response
1.1 EHCNA Application
1.2 Authority Response to EHCNA Request
2. Academic and Pastoral Reports
2.1 CAT4 Individual Student Report
2.2 NGTR Individual Report
2.3 Assessment Point Report Cards
2.4 Attendance Report
2.5 Annual Behaviour Report
3. Additional Needs Assessments and Reports
3.1 STAR Map (our version of an IEP)
3.2 Boxall Assessment
3.3 GL Assessment: Dyslexia Screening
3.4 Progression Tool: SLCN Assessment
3.5 Prestation of Need: Staff Referrals
4. Action Taken
5. Additional Information
Whilst the above subheadings are examples of the type of paperwork I included, it is not exhaustive and not inclusive of everything I presented to the local authority.
The foundations of our battle plan were laid and now it was time to strategize the fight to end all fights… or so we thought. Mediation itself turned out to be less of a battle and more of a scuffle. Every participant, starting with the parent, gave their views on why an EHCNA should go ahead. Armed with 126 pages of evidence made for an easy argument, so much so it was more of a discussion and plan to move forward (as mediation should be).
But here is where the Naïve SENCo in me blindsided my overly optimistic outlook on how soon the draft plan would be written – in just 20 weeks, we would have it in writing, the provision that should be implemented to provide maximum support and achieve those desired outcomes. Or so we thought.
Let’s put this in to perspective. Here are the timelines as they currently stand:
EHCNA Application Submitted: Friday 2nd June 2023
Refuse to Assess Letter: Tuesday 11th July 2023
Mediation: Monday 2nd October 2023
Agree to Assess Letter: Tuesday 24th October 2023
Issue EHC Plan: [Outstanding]
Let me be clear here, I’m not talking Outstanding as in Ofsted speak, I’m talking Outstanding as in still waiting. Once a request is submitted the LA must comply with a statutory 20 week timescale as per the SEND Code of Practice (2015). This is providing that all information is readily available and if there is no disagreement or undue complexities. Without a disagreement the EHCP should have been issued by Friday 20th October 2024. To be fair to the LA, let’s for hypothetical purposes stop the clock at the refuse to assess letter (received within the 6 week window) and restart the clock from the point of agreement to assess from the LA, which would be the mediation session, this would therefore take us to Monday 8th January 2024 for the EHCP to be issued.
We are now 13 weeks past this deadline. A deadline, I will remind you that by law, a final EHCP must be issued no later than 20 weeks after the initial receipt of the EHCNA request.
So, what now? A feud to end all feuds? A melee that will transcend generations?
This is a tale that I cannot close with a happily ever after, or even a harmonious promise of better days. However, what I do know is that the troops must continue forward until that plan is in our hands and our student has the support from the LA that they need.
Now that the Melee of Mediation tale has come to it’s unfinished end, what tips can I leave my fellow Naïve SENDCos with?
- Painstaking preparation is key;
- Strong relationships with the LA are useful;
- Strategize with your parent beforehand so you are on the same page, and saying the same buzzwords.
A Scouser's Guide to Education 