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Special Educational Needs help in East Sussex
Our SEN Solicitors in East Sussex have provided expert education law advice to secure special educational needs support for several children, young people and families. This can involve an appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
What are Special Educational Needs in East Sussex?
Special educational needs are any difficulty a child or young person has in accessing education. Special educational needs (SEN) affect how a person learns. The needs can affect everything from:
- ability to understand
- reading
- writing
- hearing and/or visual impairment
- behaviour
- physical ability
- concentration levels
- social skills.
If a child or young person has difficulties at school, beyond that of their peers, and need additional support, it is likely that they have special educational needs.
If you are not sure whether your child or young person has special educational needs, you should seek specific legal advice.
East Sussex SEN teams operate under their own policies, but also must comply with the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Code of Practice 2015. Whilst the law can be complicated, in our experience the policies can overly simplify the law and confuse quite complex rules. This can result in poor decision making. That is often why parents in East Sussex seek special educational needs advice from us.
If the special educational needs team in East Sussex relies on policies exclusively, rather than the law, this can lead to difficulties. We have extensive experience of providing special educational needs advice in East Sussex. We have helped several families successfully appeal to SENDIST against decisions taken by East Sussex SEN team.
East Sussex’s SEN policies and guidance can be found here:
https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/specialneeds/sen/
We would always advise parents to make sure that they focus on the Special Educational needs Code of Practice, rather than East Sussex’s SEN policies only. The SEN Code of Practice can be found here:
What is SEN Support in East Sussex?
East Sussex special educational needs webpage can be found here :
https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/specialneeds/sen/sen-support/identifying/
Each local authority is required to prepare a Local Offer, setting out the SEN Support that is available in the area. East Sussex special educational needs Local Offer can be found here:
https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/specialneeds/
Normally, school will identify that a child or young person has special educational needs. When this happens, the class teacher and Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo), will plan additional support. This follows a cycle called “Assess, Plan, Do, Review”.
If the school does not identify a pupil with special educational needs, it may be necessary to seek an EHC needs assessment of their special educational needs from the local authority.
The child, young person and their parents / guardian should be involved in discussions with the school about planning support for special educational needs. It is important to be aware that schools receive a specific amount of money – often called a Delegated Budget – to support children and young people with special educational needs. As the Delegated Budget is finite, this can often limit the amount of support that can be available unless the local authority makes an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP)
If the child or young person needs more support than the school can provide, an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) may be needed. The school should discuss with the child, young person and their parents / guardian requesting an EHC needs assessment. It is very important to note that there is no requirement to try to cycle of Assess, Plan, Do, Review before seeking an EHC needs assessment or an Education Health and Care Plan.
How can I get an EHCP in East Sussex?
The guidance for securing an EHC needs assessment and EHCP in East Sussex can be found here:
https://www.eastsussex.gov.uk/childrenandfamilies/specialneeds/sen/ehc-assessment/asking/
This can be a helpful guide to know how to qualify for an EHCP in East Sussex. However, it is important to know that the local authority must comply with legal duties, as well as operating its own policies.
Before an EHCP can be issued, the local authority must make an EHC needs assessment.
At the conclusion of the EHC needs assessment, the local authority will decide whether an EHCP is necessary,
The term “necessary” has been the focus of much litigation. It means that the local authority must consider the subjective needs of the child or young person, the special educational provision that they need and whether it is reasonably likely that a mainstream school can deliver that support.
If the local authority refuses to make an EHCP, you can appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
Where can I find SEN legal advice in East Sussex?
Our special education needs solicitors provide advice in East Sussex. To contact our specialist education lawyers, please call 02920 291 704
We have helped in the following ways:
- securing an EHC needs assessment in East Sussex
- securing an EHCP in East Sussex
- Successful appeals to Tribunal against East Sussex’s refusal to make an EHCP
- Successful appeals to Tribunal against East Sussex’s refusal to make an EHC needs assessment
- Successfully appealing to Tribunal against East Sussex for additional support
- Successfully appealing to Tribunal against East Sussex for specialist school places