Preparing for an annual review

Ahead of the meeting the school will ask you for your views and for the views of your child. They may provide you with a document/template to be completed before the review takes place.

You will also receive copies of the reports and advice from everyone else included in the review process, so that you can prepare for the discussion about the plan.

Giving your views 

You will be asked for your thoughts and views. This is how you can tell the local authority about anything that you would like to be added to or changed about the current plan.

When completing your thoughts and views you could think about:

• Is there any new or updated information about your child?

• Does section B have all of your child’s needs written clearly in it?

• Does section F have all of the support and provision needed to meet these needs?

• Is the support still needed, or does it need to change?

• Is the support clearly described and detailed enough? E.g. there should be no vague wording such as ‘access to’ and ‘could benefit from’

• Does section F contain everything in it that ‘educates’ or trains your child? E.g. specific therapies or travel training

• Will your child be moving classes, schools or setting? Does there need to be any specific planning for this? (transition planning)

• Is your child in year 9 or above? Is there planning to ‘prepare them for adulthood? (to prepare them for independence, life skills and participation in society)

• Are you wanting a change of placement?

• Are you wanting a re-assessment of need? If so why, what do you think may have changed?

• Is there anyone that you would like to invite to the review to discuss or provide this? Let school or SENA know

 Your child's Views 

If they are able, it is important for your child to share their views about their plan.

They can do this by completing their views or thoughts before the meeting or by going to all, or part of the review meeting.

There are many ways that they could provide their views, such as in writing, by drawing or even by recording a clip or video. They could comment on:

• How they think things have been over the last year

• If they think they have the right support

• Do they think anything needs to change?

• What would they like to achieve in the next year and in the future?

Preparing for setting new outcomes 

In the meeting the outcomes will be discussed, changed, extended or replaced with new ones. To prepare for this discussion you can think about:

• Has each outcome been met?

• If not, why do you think this was?

• Do any outcomes need changing or to be given more time?

• What progress or improvements has there been?

• Are any of the outcomes no longer needed?

• Has anything changed?

• What does your child want to work towards or achieve?

• Do there need to be any new health or social care related outcomes?

Outcomes should explain the goal itself, not the support needed to reach it and be SMART:

• S - specific, a clear and detailed description about what is wanted to be achieved

• M - measurable, it is clear how you will know the outcome has been reached

• A- achievable, the outcome should not be too hard or impossible to achieve

• R - realistic, they should help your child with their needs and help them move towards what they want to do when they are older

• T - timebound, there should be a clear date that the outcome is to be reached by

Prepare your evidence 

Make some notes about your concerns and the things you want to cover in the meeting and prepare to talk about and show why you think this. E.g. why any support doesn’t seem to be working, is your child not making progress, are there any issues with their classmates/peers? Is your child unhappy? 

Include as much evidence, dates and details of issues as you can. Take this to the meeting with you. 

Prepare your questions 

The meeting might have a lot of people or become quite intense, so it might be helpful to have a list of things you want to ask others in case you forget or perhaps you could ask someone to go along to support you.

Read all the paperwork 

You will receive copies of all the reports and advice from everyone else included in the review process, so that you can prepare for the discussion about the plan.

Read this paperwork carefully and make notes of any questions you have or points you want to make.

Have there been any private assessments or a new diagnosis? If so, say why you felt a private assessment was needed E.g. because more detail was needed or a different assessment was available. Have any new needs come out of this?

You should have at least two weeks to read over all the information. Ask school for copies if you haven’t had them. You could also ask for the meeting to be rescheduled if you don’t get the information in plenty of time.

The review meeting is usually held at the child/ young person’s education setting and usually last a minimum of an hour, but this will depend on how much there is to discuss and how many people are at the meeting.

Everyone should have a copy of the plan to help them with the discussions. Everyone will be given the chance to talk about their views. Take your notes with you or someone to support you if you feel you might get emotional.

The meeting will then focus on the progress made over the last year, setting some new outcomes, or changing/ extending the current ones and look at what support is needed to meet them.

There might also need to be some transition planning if your child is going to be changing placement, class, or approaching adulthood (year 9 and above).

The discussions will be recorded on an Annual Review document and is usually completed by the SENCO during the meeting.

During the meeting it might be helpful to: 

• Ask for introductions if you need them

• Ask for a break if you need one, especially if you are feeling tearful or angry

• Take some notes during the meeting, so you can refer back to them afterwards if needed. (You could take someone with you to support you and take notes for you)

• Ask for things to be explained properly if you are unsure of anything

• Talk about your concerns, if you are worried about speaking up about these, try to put the points in a factual and unemotional way, don’t criticise an individual and remember that you are speaking up to support your child

• Towards the end of the meeting, check that you have said what you wanted to say and try not to leave with any unanswered questions

Once the meeting has taken place then the SENCO/ head teacher or principal at your child’s school or setting has two weeks to send a report (the Annual Review form), containing any recommendations for any changes to the EHC plan to the Local Authority (SENA) department. 

You should also be sent a copy of this report. Read this report carefully and check that it contains what was agreed in the meeting.

The SENA team would then review your child’s plan, based on this report and make a decision as to the next action to be taken. There are 3 possible decisions: 

• Continuing the plan as it is

• Change the plan (amend)

• Stop the plan (cease it)

You should be notified of this decision within 4 weeks of the review meeting.

If the plan is being amended you will receive a draft copy of the proposed new plan and you will have 15 calendar days to let the SENA department at the local authority know if you wish to accept it or not.

The plan must be finalised within 8 weeks of the decision to amend it. If you are unhappy with the contents of the finalised plan you would have the right to appeal to the SEND tribunal.