EHCP stands for educational health care plan, at first I thought EHCPs were for children with significant disabilities to help them receive an education accommodating to their additional needs. I was so wrong!! An EHCP is for any child with additional needs to allow them to receive support in schooling or education. I did not feel my son qualified for any of this or needed it for that matter until he started pre school. This blog post will be our journey to getting an EHCP and actually how positive it is compared to a lot of stories I have seen online or in social media.
A’s Journey started with hearing loss resulting in speech delay, the nursery he was going to was great in starting a support plan for him and helped him and me on a daily basis whilst attending their setting. We had monthly meetings where we would update each other and he would also be put onto a developmental work sheet showing us where he had improved or where he needed to progress. This meant from around 18 months old A had evidence building up on where he needed support. Little did I know that this would be crucial for his EHCP in the future, I owe his first Nursery so much in making this journey so much easier!!
A then started pre school and myself and his previous nursery made them very aware of A’s additional needs and what he needs most support in. We were quickly put forward to the schools SENCO and had a few meetings. She was amazing and put a formal support plan in place straight away and then expressed that she had enough evidence to refer him to the autism assessment services as well as putting in documentation for his EHCP. This process started in February 2024.
In February I submitted my views on what was going well for A and what more support he needed. This was all sent collectively with other evidence from the school to the EHCNA (Education health care needs assessment) team for review in March 2024. We then had a call to attend an assessment with an educational psychologist in May 2024. In this assessment the psychologist had around an hours meeting with myself to talk about As characteristics, what he likes to do, what he doesn’t and what support he had been needing at school and at home. The psychologist was lovely and put me at ease. She then met with A without myself in his education setting and then wrote a report on her findings. Whilst this was happening his other health professionals contacted me to give evidence/reports for the EHCNA.
All of these reports were submitted and then a panel arrange for a review of this which then produces his draft EHCP. I was sent this draft in July 2024 to review and make any changes if needed. This document is very big and outlines all his needs, support that will be offered, speech therapy and his goals for the end of reception year. I was given 14 days to finalise this and then the completed copy was sent to myself on the end of July 2024. This EHCP will then be ready for when A starts school in September 2024 and I could not be happier.
I have read and heard many stories of the process of getting an EHCP or getting an EHCP that actually supports the needs of your child that are very negative, time consuming and stressful. I was therefore ready to be rejected or have to fight for As needs to be supported and recognised. Luckily we did not have to and I feel very supported by the process and the schools SENCO department. Maybe the moral of the story is we need to recognise children’s needs earlier on in their education/care settings as I feel the evidence that built up from when A was 18 months old made this whole process more plain sailing.
If your reading this thinking, oh your so luckily it worked out this way or your currently stressing and fighting for your child’s EHCP I hear you and see you and want to support you. Please share your stories with me in the comments so others can benefit and we can build a community.
If your just starting out the journey and worried about the process, or you simply feel your child will need extra support at school/education setting I sincerely hope this blog post empowers you to know it can be a smooth process and again I am here to support you, feel free to send me a DM on socials. Also please share your stories with me in the comments.
