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Coronavirus - support with education for children and young people with SEND
Coronavirus has meant a series of changes around education. These have led to a lot of concerns and questions for families with children and young people with SEND about what is happening with their child’s education and even though things are meant to be back to normal now the impact of Covid on children and young people’s education is stiill being felt.
Being at school
All types of school and educational settings have had to work out how to organise teaching, the curriculum, classrooms and the school day to offer the best education they can but whilst managing any risk of transmission of coronavirus. The government’s guidance about how they should do this has been updated again ready for the start of the autumn term 2021 and is set out for each type of education setting:
In this section we try to cover the questions and issues you will have about all this and where to get further support or advice if you need this. The government’s overall guide for parents is also worth a look.
From 20 January 2022 face masks are no longer compulsory for secondary school or college pupils, staff and visitors in classrooms, corridors or communal areas. But schools and colleges can ask they are worn in response to local circumstances such as an outbreak in school.
The guidance for schools about how to work safely during Covid includes information about how to deal with aerosol generating procedures in school.
Secondary schools, FE colleges, special schools and alternative provision have access to coronavirus tests (rapid lateral flow device tests or LFTs) for use by staff and pupils of secondary age and above, but routine twice weekly testing for pupils and staff without symptoms has stopped for mainstream schools. Staff and pupils in specialist SEND settings, Alternative Provision, and SEND units in mainstream schools are advised to continue regular twice weekly testing. Tests are usually to be carried out at home not in school or college. There is specific guidance for special schools . Testing is also covered in the government’s guide for parents.
If your child has symptoms they should do an LFT before going in to school or college. If this is positive you can book a PCR test through the NHS online system and keep them off school. If they have a positive result on an LFT they should self-isolate but it is no longer required to confirm the result with a PCR if they do not have symptoms, for example if you have done a LFT because you know they have been with someone who is infected. For more about PCR and LFT testing see out Health and Wellbeing section.
School transport continues with the changes made to reduce the risk of coronavirus, for example, more cleaning of vehicles or seating pupils differently (more on transport below). After school activities and clubs can restart.
Some children who do not need to stay away from school for their own safety have faced a barrier because they need care that involves aerosol generating procedures but there is guidance about how schools can accommodate this safely and avoid excluding a child for this reason.
Children and young people who live in a household with someone who is clinically extremely vulnerable can continue to go to school.
The law on school transport has not changed and so your child’s eligibility for transport is the same as in any other year. Some families agreed to a personal travel budget or mileage allowance instead of a seat on dedicated transport. This is a temporary measure to help make best use of the transport there is when measures like additional distancing are needed. It may be a positive if you are concerned about safety in the short term. It will not affect your child’s eligibility for dedicated transport in the future. You shouldn’t be asked to commit to accepting a personal payment or mileage allowance for a specified period of time, but the local authority would need reasonable notice to reinstate home to school transport for your child when you decide to stop.
For children who travel to and from school on dedicated school transport, there are control measures to reduce the risk of transmission of infection. These are not identical to those on public transport because they are usually travelling with the same group of young people on a regular basis and not with members of the public. But the measures should include a combination of stable groups or ‘bubbles’, social distancing, keeping windows open, use of masks for over 11s if they are able to tolerate these, hand washing before and after the journey and extra cleaning of the vehicle.
Brighton & Hove produced a letter for parents and a simple social story to help your child be ready for the new arrangements. You may want to look at this story with them again as they return to school in September.
If getting your child back to school is difficult, speak to their school and plan how to work together. You can also ask SENDIASS for advice if this is not working well.
The government have amended the arrangements for governing board and independent review panel meetings in relation to exclusions during the period of the coronavirus pandemic. The guidance was updated again in March 2021. For exclusions from 25 September 2020 until September 2021 the normal timescales apply, other than the time limit to apply for an independent review when a governing body has decided not to reinstate a permanently excluded child. This is extended to 25 days . The guidance also sets out that meetings of governing boards or independent review panels can be held via remote access (e.g. a video call) if necessary and if certain conditions are met (check guidance for details).
The guidance for schools about reopening fully back in March noted the impact that coronavirus and a second lockdown had on children and young people, such that extra support will be needed around mental and emotional well being. It also notes a risk of more poor behaviour because children have not had the routine of school. Last September schools wrote temporary changes into their behaviour policy to set out the new rules needed to keep the school Covid-safe and what will happen if pupils break those rules. These will apply again now. It is important to remember that pupils can only be excluded for disciplinary reasons: they cannot be excluded because a school cannot meet their needs or as the result of a Covid-19 risk assessment.
Any amendments to a school’s behaviour policy, made in light of Covid-19, must fit with the setting’s duties under the Equality Act 2010 and not discriminate against children who are disabled. Exclusion should only ever be a last resort for children with SEND. Again our local authorities (East Sussex and Brighton & Hove) are asking schools to take a supportive approach and services like BHISS and ESBAS are offering schools help and advice to do so. The SENDIASS helpline can give advice if your child is excluded formally or informally.
East Sussex: The ISEND helpline for parent carers of children with SEND run by educational psychologists reopened on 18 January in response to the new lockdown. Any parent of a child or young person with SEND can call the ISEND telephone number 01273 481967 at any time and leave a message saying that you would like to talk to an EP. Your child does not need to have an EHCP. You can also turn to your school and to ISEND services currently working with your child.
There is an ESCC contact point for all queries relating to Children’s Services and provision in the current difficult situation. Email cs.customerrelations@eastsussex.gov.uk or call 0345 60 80 192 (10am-3pm). If you haven’t been able to resolve the problem about your child’s SEND provision, contact this number as they can direct your issue to the right service.
Families with health concerns over how safe it is for their child to attend school, can call the CITES Therapy One Point (TOP) for advice and support on 0300 123 2652.
The School Health team (school nurses) offer a ChatHealth confidential texting service for young people aged 11-19. Young people can text about any concerns or health issues on 07507 332473. Or contact 0300 123 4062, email kentchft.esschoolhealthservice@nhs.net or use their online referral form.
Brighton and Hove: Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS) are running an open email for parent carers; if you are concerned about your child’s development and emotional wellbeing, please email your enquiry to BHISS@Brighton-hove.gov.uk. They also have a central phone number linked to a duty Educational Psychologist 01273 293481
Schools Wellbeing Service have a consultation line for parent carers who may be concerned about emotional wellbeing and mental health issues. If you would like to speak to a BHISS mental health worker, then please email your enquiry to SWSConsultationLine@brighton-hove.gov.uk
School nurses can offer confidential advice and support on a wide range of issues (including health issues) about the return to school. You can text them on 07480 635423. Young people aged 11 to 19 can also use this number to use the ChatHealth service about any concerns or health issues.
You can always contact the Amaze SENDIASS helpline for additional support and to hear about online drop ins and groups. You can seek peer support from other parents/carers on the Amaze Facebook Group or other local parent-led SEND groups in your area.
Brighton & Hove parent carer support groups include mASCot and Brighton Pebbles.
East Sussex parent carer support groups include iContact, Impact and Embrace.
See below for national links including the new support service for Black, Asian and minority ethnic children, young people and their families affected by Covid-19. And see our section on health and wellbeing.
Support with learning for children with SEND
Schools will be juggling many priorities around how they use this funding and when you work out how much it is per school, it is clear it won’t be enough for everything they want to do. You should feel able to say clearly what you think your child needs, but be realistic in your expectations.
This remote learning should take into account your child’s SEND needs. If the learning your child is offered does not work for them, speak to their class teacher or tutor first and then the SENCO if necessary. If they are on SEN Support this is matter for negotiation, but you can remind them that the law about using their “best endeavours” to meet a child’s needs still applies. If your child has an EHCP they are now entitled to receive the provision in their plan, even if this is in a different way to usual. Realistically, schools will face challenges in achieving this, but if you do not feel they are doing enough and talking to the SENCO does not resolve things, you should contact your CWO or APO. You can also ask SENDIASS for advice.
East Sussex ISEND services such as educational psychology, ESBAS and CLASS are working in different ways but as close as possible to business as usual including making visits to schools in a Covid-safe way. They are offering guidance to schools and if your child was already being supported by an ISEND service you can contact them direct. The ISEND helpline for parent carers of children with SEND run by educational psychologists relaunched on 18 January 2021. You can find lots of information on the Local Offer
If any of this leaves you or your young person uncertain what to do next after school and college, Amaze’s Amazing Futures Careers Support team may be able to help you think about this. For more information about planning ahead around education, employment and training for young people with SEND see our section on Young People and Coronavirus.
EHCP processes during coronavirus
If a different school is named in an EHC plan during the coronavirus period, that school must still admit your child by adding them to the school roll. They should then consider them in the same way as existing pupils. As they don’t know your child and school arrangements are unusual due to coronavirus safety measures, you and the school may agree a phased start. In some cases you may have agreed to this school or college without being able to visit beforehand. You will need to give a bit of time to see how it is working out, but if after this you really feel it is the wrong placement for your child, contact your CWO/APO in the SEN team. You can ask SENDIASS for advice too.
Brighton & Hove
The SEN Team at Brighton and Hove City Council are working from home and prioritising essential work including completing EHC needs assessments and producing EHC plans. They are having to work differently in these difficult times. Read more about about how the Brighton & Hove SEN Team are working currently.
Reports by professionals will be done based on existing knowledge of a child, contact by phone and video conferencing e.g. Skype and where possible face to face assessment. Educational Psychologists will use a consultation approach, talking to parents, school and in some cases the child or young person. It will be noted that the reports were written during the coronavirus period and where necessary they may be amended later. There will not be a co-production meeting. The casework officer will prepare a draft plan based on all the advices which will go to SEN Panel and then be sent to you, the school and professionals who wrote the advices. You will then get a call to talk it through and you will be able to comment and ask for changes as you would have done at a co-production meeting. You and your child should still be actively involved in the process.
The SEN Panel is till meeting with the usual multi-agency membership including a parent representative.
East Sussex
ISEND services at East Sussex County Council are all still operating. Obviously they will be having to work differently in these difficult times, but the Assessment and Planning Team is still completing EHC needs assessments and producing EHC plans, keeping to normal timescales as far as possible.
Your APO should let you know if there are any delays and keep you updated. Reports by professionals may have to be done based on existing knowledge of a child, perhaps with some assessment by phone or video link or face to face assessment if possible. You and your child should still be actively involved in the process.
Educational Psychologists and Children’s Integrated Therapy and Equipment Service (CITES) therapists are continuing to assess children, where possible seeing children directly, either in their home, in schools (if they are attending) by pre-arrangement or in clinics. Where this is not been possible, assessment is being carried out from a range of sources such as phone calls and evidence from the school. Reports, statutory assessments and EHCPs being drawn up during Covid-19 are annotated to document that this was the case. This will be helpful once life returns to normal if you realise you want to review advice and provision in EHCPs written in the current situation.
The Inclusion Multi-Agency Resource Panel (IMARP) is following its usual timetable.
Realistically, things have been challenging for schools and colleges during the pandemic. The changes schools are having to make to be Covid-safe will affect how they support your child. For example, schools may need to use their staff (including teaching assistants) differently from usual and there will be more issues when staff are sick or have to self-isolate. But the usual law and guidance about meeting the needs of children with SEND (on SEN Support or with EHC plans) all apply, so you can expect your child to get extra support in some form that matches their needs. Specialist teachers, therapists, clinicians and other support staff for pupils with SEND should be able to provide advice and some interventions.
Our advice is to ask how all this will work for your child. Be flexible, but if your child has an EHC plan, the provision set out in that should be delivered in some form. Any changes to provision you agree are only temporary. The government guidance was clear that parents who consented to changes to, or reductions in, their child’s provision during the coronavirus outbreak will not be considered to have agreed a permanent change to what their child needs in their EHC plan.
In both East Sussex and Brighton and Hove there have been some delays in getting fully up to date with completing annual reviews after the annual review meeting but both LAs are working on this.
Appeals and mediation
Since 30 March 2020, appeals and claims have been prioritised by the judiciary and consideration given to the use of additional approaches including triaging of cases to ensure that decisions are made proportionately. With these measures, it is expected that there should be no need to adjourn hearings if the parties are ready to go ahead, even though they may not be able to take place in person. For new appeals, timescales and priorities have changed in the light of the pandemic. Any new appeals are now going to be listed on a 20-week timetable, unless it is about a phase transfer, which will be 12-14 weeks. And timescales to comply with tribunal decisions have also been relaxed.
The National Trial, which extends the power of the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) to look at health and social care within an EHCP, is continuing and has recently been extended indefinitely. The trial allows the tribunal to make non-binding recommendations on the health and social care aspects of EHC plans as part of a special educational appeal, . These recommendations need to be considered in the usual way by the responsible health and social care bodies and, where agreed, included in the final EHC plan.
IPSEA also have helpful information and tips
Home schooling
If your child has an EHC plan and, for whatever reason, you feel they could be better off remaining at home for the longer term, you have two options and it is important to understand the difference between them. Choosing to educate your child yourself at home is known as elective home education (EHE). The other is education otherwise than in a setting (EOTAS). This can be home tuition because they are too ill to attend school at the moment or a bespoke package because school provision is not appropriate for them.
If you choose to electively home educate a child with an EHC plan, your LA is likely to say that you are making your own arrangements for the child’s education, and so will no longer be obliged to make any of the provision in your child’s EHC plan. The alternative is asking for your child’s EHC plan to be amended to set out EOTAS rather than naming a school. If you want this, you can ask for the EHC plan to be amended through the annual review process. If the LA does not agree, you could appeal to the SEND Tribunal. However, EOTAS can only be set out in an EHC plan where it can be demonstrated that it would be “inappropriate” for the provision to be made in a school so this is not a quick and easy option to pursue.
If your child doesn’t have an EHC plan it is likely that the only option would be elective home education. But if your child is too ill to attend, and this can apply to some children who are school refusing due to severe anxiety, they may be covered by the legal duty on local authorities to “secure suitable, full-time alternative education for those children of compulsory school age who, by reason of illness, exclusion or otherwise, may not for any period receive suitable education unless such arrangements are made for them”. Speak to your school and ask SENDIASS for advice if you are in this position.
If you are thinking about home educating this you might start by reading the information on home education from SENDIASS.
If your child is missing school because the school says they can’t meet their needs, contact SENDIASS for advice and (if they have an EHCP) their APO or Casework Officer.
Further information on education issues and COVID-19
Brighton & Hove
Brighton & Hove City Council have information about how their services are being affected on their website. Visit https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19
There is more information specifically about SEND services in Brighton & Hove here.
Or read the the coronavirus help directory for Brighton & Hove.
East Sussex
If you use Facebook, go to https://www.facebook.com/ISENDEastSussex/ and “like” it to get useful updates from ISEND. They are sharing lots of ideas and resources on the East Sussex Local Offer too.
There is a central ESCC contact point for all queries relating to Children’s Services and provision in the current difficult situation. Email cs.customerrelations@eastsussex.gov.uk or call 0345 60 80 192 (10am-3pm) and they will try to get back to you or pass it on to the right service to do so.
East Sussex County Council also have information about how council services are being affected on their website.
National
If you can’t get find out what you need to know locally, the Department for Education has set up a helpline to answer questions about COVID-19 related to education. Staff, parents and young people can contact the helpline as follows:
Phone: 0800 046 8687
Email: DfE.coronavirushelpline@education.gov.uk
Opening hours: 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday
There is a support service for Black, Asian and minority ethnic children, young people and their families affected by Covid-19.
- This is a UK-wide helpline which is focussed on issues specifically affecting children, young people and families from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities who have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
- There is a free telephone helpline 0800 1512 605 and web chat facility for children, young people and families from these communities who are suffering the long-lasting and wide-ranging impact of Covid-19.
- Barnardo’s specialist advisors will aim to provide on-going support on a complex range of issues including mental health, bereavement, family break-down, neglect, back to school, parenting advice, counselling, family stress, discrimination, barriers to services and more.
- You can find out more about the helpline here.