Page 21 - Issue 112 May-June 2021

EHCP About the author Phil Stock, Director of Invision and Principal Educational Psychologist innovateinvision.com @PhilipStock7 Innovate Invision “Targeted focus to improve the quality and consistency of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)” EHCP with regards to content for children and young people (C/YP) with SEND? The demand for efficiency in time-frames at the cost of quality of the content? Effective provision Ensuring effective provision and outcomes for children and young people with additional needs that require an EHCP is central to a local area’s SEND offer. The purpose of an EHCP, as set out in the SEND Code of Practice, is to: • Secure the special educational provision assessed as being necessary to meet the SEN of the child or young person • Secure the best possible outcomes for them across education, health and social care support preparation for adulthood • Establish outcomes across education, health and social care, based on the child or young person’s needs and aspirations • Set out the provision required and how education, health and care services will work together to meet the child or young person’s needs and support the achievement of the agreed outcomes • Confirm sources of funding for all aspects of required support, which may be through a personal budget or other resources. The quality and consistency of EHCPs is one area which continues to be identified in many local area Ofsted and CQC inspections. On December 1st 2020, The Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills 2019/20 was published and further illustrated the need for targeted focus to improve the quality and consistency of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). ■ Outcomes based on the child’s needs and aspirations. ■ Further work is needed to improve standards. The report looked at numerous areas across children’s services, including SEND, with a specific focus on the Ofsted and CQC SEND inspections of local areas. Consistency and quality Since 2016, Ofsted and CQC have carried out joint inspections of services for children and young people with SEND in local areas. To date, 116 inspections have been undertaken and over half (59 out of 116) of the areas inspected have been required to produce and submit a written statement of action (WSoA), which is an indication of significant weaknesses in the areas SEND arrangements. During the 2019/20 academic year, Ofsted and CQC jointly completed 16 inspections. Over half (9 areas) required a WSoA due to significant weaknesses identified in each case, ranging from two weaknesses in two areas to nine in another. The weaknesses varied across areas, however limitations regarding the consistency and/or quality of EHCPs were cited in all nine inspection reports 21 senmagazine.co.uk SEN112