How can an EHC Plan improve a young person’s outcomes?’
On the 10th of November, I was invited to present my first ever webinar at the Talentino! Festival. It was the most incredible experience and earning opportunity, with over 600 delegates attending (virtually).
Certainly one of my proudest achievements to date, is that out of over 50 sessions across the 3 days, my webinar was voted by attendees as the most popular webinar - what an honour!
As it was so popular, I figured I would share it with you all via my blog, in bitesize weekly chunks. This week, an introduction to the topics I covered.
The question I was tasked to answer at the festival was 'how can an EHC Plan improve a young person's outcomes?' At first, I found this question a little challenging. In my time as an SEN Officer, we were always taught that EHCPs are not 'magic wands' and cannot 'fix problems'. But this question did make me start to pause and reflect and made me realise that there are benefits that can be taken advantage of by those who have an EHC Plan, and that it is important for these benefits to be shared.
What is an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)? According to the gov.uk website:
‘An education, health and care (EHC) plan is for children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is available through special educational needs support. EHC plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.’ (www.gov.uk, 27.10.2020)
So who has an EHCP in the age bracket of 16-25? Perhaps the easiest way to think about it is who doesn’t have an EHCP:
– A young person who has taken up paid employment (excluding apprenticeships)
– A young person who has started higher education (university)
– A young person aged 18 or over who has left education and no longer wishes to engage in further learning
– A young person who has turned 25
– A young person who no longer needs the provision set out in the EHC plan (because their needs have changed).
(www.ipsea.org.uk, 27.10.20)
So someone has an EHCP if they are under 25, they want to be in education, and they need provision over and above what can be provided through general SEN Support.
The four main ways in which I believe an EHC Plan can improve a young person’s outcomes are through:
– Goal setting and aspiration checking
– Access to courses
– Personal budgets and 5 day provision
– Support for NEETs
Keep an eye out next week, when we will go through the first point – Goal Setting and Aspiration Checking (dubious Bake Off analogy included).