Last year we were delighted to get some EHCP insights from a SENCO who previously worked at Enhance as an EHCP writer. Lucy shared how her experience of writing EHC plans has supported her SENCO role in the assessment process, as well as the challenges other SENCOs face with a lack of specific EHCP training. Here’s some highlights from our Q&A with Lucy, which you can read in full here.

Enhance EHC: What are the biggest challenges in your role as a SENCO, and what do you enjoy most?

Lucy: One of the biggest challenges and frustrations is definitely around the lack of specialist placements. I also have to chase the LA to return paperwork or decisions (which I don’t like doing as I know they’re struggling with the workload as well), but it is hard when you put so much work and effort into a submission and then time just drags on and you don’t hear anything back.

I love the sense of satisfaction I get when an EHCNA (Education Health and Care Needs Assessment) is accepted, or a child is more supported and happier due to something I’ve suggested or implemented. I have actually jumped up and down when I’ve submitted an Annual Review and it’s resulted in the child being given a specialist placement that they’ve been needing for ages!

Enhance EHC: How has your experience as an EHCP writer helped you in your SENCO role?

Lucy: Writing Education, Health and Care Needs Assessments has been a big part of this first year – and whereas it’s one of the things that other SENDCos I’ve spoken to really struggle with, it’s definitely something I feel really confident in, having written EHCPs for Enhance for 11 years! Several of the teachers I’ve worked with hadn’t ever seen an EHCP and suddenly they have a child in their class with one and are needing to understand and follow the Plan, so having a good understanding of what an EHCP is and where to find the information specifically needed as a teacher (as some Plans can be huge!) has been incredibly useful. As part of writing an EHCNA, you need to write the outcomes and provision, and I have a wealth of knowledge around this, whereas it’s not something that you receive training on as a new SENDCo, hence why a lot of people find this really difficult. A lot of being a new SENDCo is new and different and a very steep learning curve, so it’s a relief that there’s one aspect of the job that I’m already confident in!

Enhance EHC: What has your experience been of the EHCP process from the school’s perspective?

Lucy: The main thing that is completely different from what I did as a writer to actually now being involved in the assessment process is that the Educational Psychology report is not the one that I would go to first when writing a Plan! Yes, it’s the most recent report, BUT that’s only because having an EP assessment is a legal part of the process and there are so few EPs that there’s a huge waiting list, so schools (who know the child a lot better than the EP) write their report and submit it, and then months go past before an EP gets involved.

I submitted my first EHCNA in October and had so much information and evidence to put in it, including several very detailed medical reports, that the EHCP really could be written just from my submission (without meaning to sound braggy!), but we are STILL waiting for an EP to do the assessment. The whole ’20 weeks from start to finish’ thing just doesn’t happen! So yes, the EP report will be hugely more recent that any of the other reports sent to whichever writer gets to do the draft plan, but it will probably be a locum EP who does a 20-minute Zoom call with the parent and doesn’t contact the school for information or to observe the child, and will then produce a ‘one report fits all’ type set of provision, which is really frustrating. There are, of course, some brilliant EPs around, but it’s just so exasperating when you have a child who really should have had an EHCP years ago and is now having to go to a mainstream secondary school because the EHCP hasn’t come through yet and they therefore can’t apply to a specialist setting, but we have to wait months for an EP assessment as part of the process.

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So far, I’ve found that the LA are quite good at taking my advice when they’ve sent the draft EHCP if there are things I don’t agree with or have changed in the months and months since we submitted the EHCNA, so I still feel part of the assessment process at that end of it as well as the initial submission part. When I’m doing an Annual Review, I always submit an annotated amended EHCP – I don’t know whether this is used by the person writing the draft, but it’s really helpful when I compare my amended EHCP with the draft amended plan that is sent back as I can check that the draft one is accurate.

Enhance EHC: Do you think that SENCOs have enough specific training around the EHCP process?

Lucy: Definitely not! […] All the SENDCos I’ve spoken to have said that they didn’t get any training [in the EHCP process], with one SENDCo saying that the first 5 or 6 EHCNAs she submitted were all refused for assessment which she thinks is because she just didn’t know how to write them well enough and what evidence you need to put in. I’m hoping that the new NPQ SEN will include training in EHCPs and writing EHCNAs, as it’s such an important part of the job – I definitely feel very lucky to have my Enhance writing background which is such a help! There should also be training for new teachers as well as, like I said previously, sometimes teachers have never even seen a Plan before a child joins their class with one, and they therefore have no idea what to do with it.

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We hope you found Lucy's perspective insightful - you can read the full Q&A here. If you also feel that SENCOs (and other school staff) lack access to specific EHCP training, take a look at our CPD accredited online course EHC Needs Assessments: Requests and Education Advice.