Reading and understanding an Education Health & Care Plan (EHCP)

Sections

1. Section A – All about me
2. Section B – Special Educational Needs
3. Section C – Health needs relating to SEND
4. Section D – Social care needs relating to SEND
5. Section E - Outcomes
6. Section F – Special Educational Provision
7. Section G - Health Provision
8. Section H1 - Social care provision for children covered by CSDPA
9. Section I – Named Setting
10. Section J - Personal Budget
11. Section K - Advice and Information
12. What to look for in an EHCP
13. To get ready to go through your EHCP and the reports you will need:
14. Going through the reports and the EHCP:
15. Bringing it all together
16. How can we help?

Section A – All about me

The child or YP’s views are in Section A, followed by the parents’ views. (For help in what to write here please see our booklet: Writing your Views for an Education, Health Care Plan (EHCP) Needs Assessment.) It is important it includes the child or the YP’s aspirations
– what they wish to do e.g. be a bus driver, vet, work in a supermarket, train horses etc.
Aspirations can change during childhood, and they don’t have to be realistic, but they can be used to encourage learning.  There is also a My Story So Far section for a brief summary of the relevant history.

Section B – Special Educational Needs

Section B must give details of your child/YP’s special educational needs found during the needs assessment. You should be able to read this part and recognise your child/YP. It should describe all the things your child/YP finds difficult.

All the special educational needs identified in the needs assessment must be included.

Section C – Health needs relating to SEND

Health needs which relate to the child/YP’s special educational needs must be recorded here plus long term conditions which may need managing in an educational setting.

Section D – Social care needs relating to SEND

Social care needs which relate to a child/YP’s special educational needs or which require provision under H1 or H2.

Section E - Outcomes

The plan should contain both medium and long term outcomes. Short term outcomes will still be covered under SEN Support. (See our SEN Support booklet for more information).

It can be helpful to think of the relationship between needs, provision and outcome as a maths sum – e.g. needs (Section B) + provision (Section F) = outcomes (Section E).

The SEND Code of Practice says,

9.66 - An outcome can be defined as the benefit or difference made to an individual as a result of an intervention.

9.68 – Outcomes underpin and inform the detail of the EHC plans. Outcomes will usually set out what needs to be achieved by the end of the phase or stage of education in order to enable the child or young person to progress successfully to the next phase or stage.

Section F – Special Educational Provision

The Special Educational Provision is a description of what support needs to be put in place to meet the Special Educational Needs listed in Section B.

The provision should help your child/YP achieve their outcomes (Section E). 

The SEND Code of Practice says,

Health or social care provision which educates or trains a child or young person must be treated as special educational provision and included in Section F of the EHC Plan.

Section G - Health Provision

Section G might include therapies for needs such as physiotherapy, mental health, medical treatments, and rehabilitation services. This section should include provision linked to the learning difficulties identified in Section B and can also include unrelated healthcare provision where it would be sensible to coordinate with other services described in the plan.

Section H1 - Social care provision for children covered by CSDPA

Section H1 must specify any service assessed as being needed for a disabled child/YP under 18 under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act (CSDPA), e.g. practical assistance at home, respite care, adaptations, and any special equipment. It should be clear how provision will help achieve outcomes, and if it will be secured by a Personal Budget.

Section H2 - Any other reasonable social care provision required that is related to their SEN or to a disability.

Section I – Named Setting

If all the previous sections are completed correctly then the plan will be able to identify an educational placement that will be best able to meet needs and deliver your child/YP’s educational plan. This can be a mainstream or complex needs school.

– e.g. needs (Section B) + provision (Section F) = named setting (Section I)

When you receive the draft EHCP it will not name an educational provision i.e. a school in Section I. This is because an EHCP must be written about the child/YP’s needs and not written to meet the needs of the school or setting.

The school or setting will be named in the final plan. If the named school or type of provision (i.e. mainstream) that you would like to see is not named in the final plan, you have the right to appeal to Tribunal.

Section J - Personal Budget

This is where information about any agreed personal budget would be recorded.

Section K - Advice and Information

A list of all the advice and information used to create the plan.

What to look for in an EHCP

it is important that the EHCP is correct and describes your child/ YP clearly. It must describe:

• What the special educational needs of your child/YP are
• What special educational provision they require to meet those needs
• What the agreed outcomes are for your child/YP

All special educational needs (SEN), provision and outcomes must be specified in an EHCP. The use of vague words and phrases such as “regular”, “access to”, “opportunities for” or “may benefit from” should be avoided.  It should be clear who must do what, when and how often (it will not name a specific person but should state the job role, the training needed etc.).

Check basic details such as correct spelling of names, and the right date of birth. Sometimes, spelling and typing errors slip in.  Make sure that it says everything you think is important about your child/YP – do you recognise your child/YP throughout the plan? There shouldn’t be any surprises.

The Local Authority will use the information and reports that they received as part of the EHC needs assessment to prepare and write the EHCP. You will receive all the reports collected during the assessment with the draft EHCP, the reports will be listed in section K of the plan so you can check that you have them all.

To get ready to go through your EHCP and the reports you will need:

• Time in a quiet place
• Space to lay out your documents
• A spare copy of all the reports and the EHCP (keep one clean copy)
• Two different coloured highlighter pens

Going through the reports and the EHCP:

Go through each report and in one colour, highlight all your child/YP’s special educational needs – ‘needs’ are the difficulties that your child has – not their diagnosis, but how the diagnosis affects their education. Look for the word ‘need’ or a description of what your child/YP finds difficult.

An example of a need: Pupil X has ADHD (diagnosis), - Pupil X finds it hard to stay focused in a noisy, busy classroom, and is easily distracted (special educational need).

Then go through all the reports again, in another colour, highlight all the provision that the professionals have identified they need (the support that is needed to support the SEN); 

An example of provision: Pupil X will have a separate desk with a screen to minimise the classroom distraction.

Provision must be detailed and specific and should normally be quantified, e.g:

• type of support
• amount of time
• how often
• delivered with what level of expertise/by who

Once you have gone through all the reports, repeat this process with the EHCP and check that:
• All the special educational needs that you have highlighted in the professional reports is included in Section B of the EHCP (in the way it is written in the reports)
• All the special educational provision that you have highlighted in the professional reports is included in Section F of the EHCP (in the way it is written in the reports)
• Every need identified in section B has provision in section F to meet that need – one type of provision can meet multiple needs.
• All identified health care needs are written into Section C
• Health care provision is written into Section G
• All identified social care needs are written into Section D
• Social care provision is written into Sections H1 and H2
• Any needs and provision that trains or educates your child/ YP counts as educational needs or provisions and must be in Section B and F

Bringing it all together

The key to a strong plan is:

• Accurate identification of need—Section B
• Specific and detailed support/provision—Section F
• Agreed outcomes
• Should then lead to an appropriate placement— Section I

How can we help?

You can contact us at Norfolk SEND Partnership for further advice and support or visit our website for other information booklets and resources.

All forms need to be returned to:

Norfolk County Council -
SEN Operational Support Team
Professional Development Centre - Room 16
144 Woodside Road
Norwich, NR7 9QL