Coronavirus & education

The government has announced plans for a gradual reopening of schools.  The aim is that by 1 June at the earliest, more children and young people in England will be able to return to education and childcare.  This is in addition to existing arrangements to offer some children with EHCPs and others a place in school (see below). Schools and childcare providers have been asked to plan on the basis of opening up more from June 1st, but have been told that it will only happen if and when the government’s five key tests justify the changes, including a reduction in the rate of infection. Some parents (and indeed schools and teachers) have expressed concern about whether it is safe and feasible to have so many children back in school. We are checking with the local authority in both Brighton & Hove and East Sussex about how this will work locally and how schools will support children with SEND to cope with this transition back to school. Note that if you decide not to send your child back you will not be penalised.

According to the government plan the timetable is:

From 1 June, and only if the rate of infection has decreased enough, mainstream primary schools may start to open for children in Nursery, Reception, Year 1 and Year 6 only.  Mainstream secondary schools and colleges may provide some face to face support for students in year 10 and year 12. Childcare providers can care for children again.

Later in June and again, only if the Covid risk continues to decrease, primary schools may reopen for children in year groups 2, 3 4 and 5. Early years settings like nurseries may reopen. Special schools, specialist colleges and hospital schools will have a phased return based on risk assessments of individual pupils.

Alternative provision settings such as Pupil Referral Units should prioritise the same year groups as mainstream schools.

It’s important to note that currently there are no firm dates for schools to fully reopen in England, and plans will be kept under review as the Covid-19 risk continues to be monitored. There are no plans to reopen secondary schools or colleges for the majority of pupils until September.

Until these plans move forward, schools, colleges and nurseries remain closed for most children but offering places for three priority groups of children. Firstly, the children of keyworkers who would otherwise be unable to carry out essential work . Look here to see who is identified as a keyworker.  Secondly, vulnerable children such as children with a child protection plan and children in care, and other children identified as vulnerable, some young carers for example. The third group is children with EHCPs. Having an EHCP does not necessarily mean your school will offer them a place in school, but it does mean your school should be considering them individually to identify if they need this. They should be deciding this by doing a risk assessment to identify any children with an EHC plan whose care needs or home situation mean that it is safer for them to attend school than not (more about these risk assessments below). The government also particularly asked that Alternative Provision e.g. PRUs stay open as pupils there are likely to be particularly vulnerable even if they do not yet an EHCP.

Schools had to act quickly at first to work out who they should be trying to provide for, but they should be checking this again and keeping it under review. The Government issued more detailed guidance on 19.4.20 for local authorities and schools about how to do this through a process of risk assessment. You can read the government’s SEND risk assessment guidance here.

If your child has an EHCP, your child’s school or education setting should have contacted you to do a risk assessment by now. If they have not done this, or if the assessment for your child was done early and you feel that circumstances have changed significantly, you should contact your child’s school. If you do not get a response you could contact your APO or the Children’s Services contact point cs.customerrelations@eastsussex.gov.uk 0345 60 80 192 (East Sussex) or your Casework Officer in the SEN Team (Brighton & Hove).

The risk assessment should have included getting your views and your child’s if appropriate. It should have considered the potential health risks to the individual from coronavirus. It should have checked how being out of school is affecting your child, for example the risk to them if some or all elements of their EHC plan cannot be delivered for the time being and the impact of not having their usual routine, and explored your ability to ensure their health and care needs can be met safely 24/7 for multiple weeks. The school should use all this information to decide whether to offer your child time in school. If the school offer a place, it is your choice whether or not to take this up. If you have not been offered a place in school and feel that this is wrong and your child would be safer going to school for at least part of each week, contact your school in the first instance. If you cannot reach an agreement contact your Casework Officer in the SEN Team (Brighton & Hove) or your APO or the Children’s Services contact point cs.customerrelations@eastsussex.gov.uk 0345 60 80 192 (East Sussex) The Amaze SENDIASS helpline can give advice and support.

Schools, colleges and local authorities have had to work out how to offer care/education for the children they identify as needing to still attend. Schools have faced challenges with staff being unavailable so what they are providing for children is not their normal provision. It can be with different teachers, in different classrooms or even at a different school and certainly not the normal timetable.

Parents need to be realistic about what schools can do at the moment, but your school or college should be offering some education for their pupils who are not coming in to school because they have not been offered time in school or because you have decided not to take up this offer. If your child is on SEN Support they should be making some attempt to differentiate the work they are sending home to all children. If your child has an EHCP they should be looking at how they can deliver some of the provision in their plan, even if this is in a very different way and is more limited than usual. See below for how the law has been changed temporarily to relax the obligation to deliver everything in an EHCP.

Brighton & Hove educational psychologists, specialist teaching staff and schools mental health workers at BHISS, (the Inclusion Support Service) are continuing to advise and support schools and their pupils with SEND or emotional and mental health issues. Their services are being provided remotely, by telephone or other platforms such as Skype and Zoom. For full details of how this is working and how to contact them, read the SEN interim arrangements information on the council’s website.

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. They are offering guidance to schools and if your child was already being supported by an ISEND service you can contact them direct.

If your child attends a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) or Alternative Provision, this setting may remain open to provide support for children in the ‘vulnerable’ category and/or children of key workers. If your child was not receiving any education, it is likely to be very difficult to enforce the LA’s duty to provide education while schools in general remain closed, simply because almost all children are now in the same situation.

East Sussex ISEND have confirmed that children who are between school placements or not placed are being included on the list of “vulnerable children” for consideration of a planned response. The Teaching and Learning Provision (TLP) which provides education packages for pupils not in school, or between placements are still offering face to face education through their centres, or online.

Exams have been cancelled for 2020 to give pupils, parents, and teachers certainty, and free up schools and colleges to focus on supporting vulnerable children and the children of key workers. You can find out more in this government publication about exams in 2020    For more information about planning ahead around education, employment and training for young people with SEND see our section on Young People and Coronavirus.

The guidance from the government does not mention exclusions. This means schools still have the legal power to exclude. Of course the usual rules around exclusions still apply so schools must have a lawful reason to exclude and any formal exclusion must be non-discriminatory, reasonable, fair and proportionate. In current circumstances it is hard to see how exclusion could be justified if the risk assessment process described above has identified that they are one of the few children that need to be in school. Seek advice from our SENDIASS helpline if it does happen to your child.

EHC needs assessments are still happening despite coronavirus. Your child’s school or you can still make a new request for assessment and if the EHCP process is already underway it should continue. On 30 April the government announced temporary regulations to relax the timescales that apply to EHC plan processes. If for a reason related to coronavirus it is not possible to meet one of the normal time limits, the local authority (or health or other body involved) will have to complete the process as soon as reasonably practicable instead. This change took effect on 1 May and lasts until 25 September. It is important to note that this change does not mean EHC plan processes are different from before. Nor does it mean that they are going to stop. All the usual elements of the process must happen, including involving you and your child. but at some stages things may take longer than usual. Both East Sussex and Brighton & Hove have said they will stick to the normal time limits as closely as possible, will let you know when they can’t do so and will give you an idea of what the new timescale will be if it has changed.

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 and do a risk assessment to see if they should offer them a place in school now or support their education at home for the time-being.

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 and contact by phone and video conferencing e.g. Skype. 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 will still complete EHC needs assessments and produce 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. 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.

The government passed the Coronavirus Act in response to the outbreak. This gave them the power to relax some of the law around EHCPs if they decided this was necessary. On 30 April they activated these powers. This temporarily relaxes the legal duty on local authorities or health commissioning bodies (CCGs) to secure or arrange the provision set out in an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan down to a duty to use ‘reasonable endeavours’ to do so. If they can’t maintain the usual provision despite these efforts, they will not be breaching their legal responsibilities. In simple terms this means you can’t insist on what it says in the EHC plan at the moment, but the school and LA should be trying to make sure your child gets some input, working together with you if they are at home. This reflects the reality of what has been happening already in practice. It is a temporary measure in force from 1 to 31 May, although it will be reviewed monthly and can be extended for another temporary period.

Any changes to provision are only temporary. The government guidance is clear that parents who consent to changes to, or reductions in, their child’s provision during this outbreak will not be considered to have agreed a permanent change to what their child needs in their EHC plan.

The Coronavirus Emergency legislation has given LAs and schools some flexibility on the deadlines for annual reviews. Summer term annual reviews may be postponed, although some schools are using telephone and video conferencing to carry out some reviews.

If you feel there is an urgent need to amend the provision or placement in the child or young person’s EHC plan, speak to the school and the LA about this to see what review mechanisms could be put in place.

Local authorities must continue to ensure children are supported to get to school safely, so your child should still get transport if they did so before. Of course you may prefer not to use transport to reduce the number of different people your child mixes with at this time. If you did not have transport before but your child has been moved to another school and this makes the journey more difficult, you should ask about transport.

All nurseries, private schools, sixth forms and FE Colleges have all been asked to follow the same guidance for attendance of children including those with EHCPs, whether they are private or state-funded. There is a lot of detail for them to work through about which children and young people they need to provide for and how to implement an offer to these children in practice. The government has said they will provide financial support for these settings as required. But we have heard that some have closed to all children and young people regardless. Check with the setting your child attends. If they are not making a plan for your child and you think your child is one of those that needs to be getting provision in school rather than being safer at home ask the SENDIASS helpline for advice.

Mediation is continuing but face to face meetings are being replaced by video conferencing. Global Mediation say they have robust plans to carry on but to expect them to be a bit slower in responding than usual. The law has been temporarily changed to relax the deadlines by which parents or young people must contact a mediation adviser, prior to bringing an appeal. Within 2 months after written notice of the local authority’s decision, the parent or young person should contact the mediation adviser to inform them they wish to appeal and whether they wish to pursue mediation. If this can’t be done because of a reason related to the incidence or transmission of coronavirus, then the parent or young person are required to give the written notice as soon as reasonably practicable.

Tribunals are going ahead during the coronavirus period. SEND Tribunal hearings are being carried out on paper (if all parties agree) or by telephone or video call. If you have a hearing coming up the tribunal service will contact you to make arrangements.  The Tribunal have asked parties not to call them until 2 days before hearings if they haven’t heard anything as, like every public service, they are affected by staff shortages as a result of COVID-19.

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 current emergency. 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.

You can find further guidance on how telephone and video hearings are being used during the COVID-19 outbreak here

IPSEA also have helpful information and tips

The LGO are not taking any new cases for the time being.

Appeals about admissions are still possible, for example about the primary school or secondary school your child has been allocated for September this year. The rules have been changed temporarily so that these appeals don’t have to take place in person. They can be by telephone, video conference or through a paper-based appeal where all parties can make representations in writing. Deadlines have been made more flexible, but appeals must be heard as soon as reasonably practicable.

Schools are preparing and sending learning resources home for children. Clearly, this may be much harder for some children with learning difficulties or additional needs, or if you have to work from home as well as look after the kids. There are lots of tips online from experienced home educators, but try not to put too much pressure on yourself as this is new for almost everyone. A bit of TV now and then will be fine! In fact the BBC are now offering BBC Bitesize with daily programmes that count as education. Don’t set yourself unrealistic goals or expect to match a school day. If you can build some routine into your child’s day it will help you both. Then if together you do a bit of learning along with some fun and exercise, you will be doing really well.  You might want to focus on life skills like cooking and find ways to learn through play as suggested by the educational psychology team in East Sussex. If you feel the material coming from your child’s school does not take into account their additional needs contact the SENCO.

See our page about surviving the lock down on the Compass Card website. This has a thorough list of resources and links for educational activities and fun for children with additional needs and is not only for families that have a Compass Card. It is regularly updated. There’s a separate guide for young people too. East Sussex Parent Carer Forum (ESPCF) have drawn up a great list too (Read ESPCF’s covid-19 guide here) so we are not putting other ideas and links here, but do look at the Government guidance for parents about supporting your child with education at home which has advice and links to resources to use. It includes a SEND section.

Nobody knows how this situation will play out and how long before all children will be able to go back to school. If you are worried about how you will continue to support your child at home then please talk to your child’s school in the first instance.

In Brighton & Hove, BHISS services are all still working but in different ways. If you or your child was getting advice and support from a BHISS team you can contact them and they may offer advice and support by phone, email or a video call. In East Sussex, ISEND services such as CLASS and CLASS+ are still working too and, again, you can look to them if you need help. 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.

The following resources have some helpful tips for coping with a lockdown:

https://amazesussex.org.uk/looking-after-your-familys-wellbeing-during-lock-down/

https://www.compasscard.org.uk/leisure-learning-and-lock-down/

East Sussex Local Offer also has some ideas

Also see our section on health and wellbeing.

If your child uses Makaton here’s a Makaton resource to explain why they aren’t going to school.

It may help to create a timetable for your child so they can have structure in their days at home, even if you keep it quite relaxed and simple. The ISEND educational psychology service have created a pack to help you with setting up a routine or timetable. And here’s another example of a visual timetable. Or visit Autism Train’s website. They have put together several useful resources about creating a routine and using a visual timetable.