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A guide to completing
Section A of the Education,
Health and Care Plan
Children’s Guide
Guiding your child through Section A of the Education, Health and Care
Plan
Activities and Tasks
DO NOT COPY
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Contents
1. How do I use this guide? How does it help me and my child?
(Page 3 – 4)
2. What does Section A of an Education, Health and Care Plan look
like? (Page 5)
3. One Page Profile (Page 6 – 7)
4. Good Day / Bad Day (Pages 8 – 9)
5. Relationship Circle (Pages 10 – 11)
6. Community Map (Pages 12 – 14)
7. Perfect Week (Pages 15 – 16)
8. Hopes and Dreams (Pages 17 – 18)
9. Bringing it all together in a plan. (Pages 19 – 22)
‘s Workbook
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1. How do I use this guide? How does it help me and my child?
Hello! We’re your guides through this booklet!
See if you can find us on some of the pages!
Throughout the Education, Health and Care Plan Assessment Process,
there are meetings, known as “Team Around the Family” meetings,
where people from many of our partners (Health, Social Care) meet with
your EHCP coordinator, head teacher and your Education Psychologist.
At this meeting, you and your child are placed at the heart of the
discussion in order to enable a “big picture” view around your child’s
needs. Put simply, it is about finding about what is important to your
child, and finding a way to allow them to fulfil their full potential.
The goal of the meeting is to understand how your child’s aspirations
and needs can be met. There may be discussions around what matters
to you and your child, from relationships, to activities they really enjoy or
the foods they like to eat the most. Both you and your child will play a
key role in outlining these to everyone at the meeting.
These are important as they help everyone in the meetings understand
your child fully, including, most importantly, what matters most to them.
In this guide, you can find all the tools that can help you in these
meetings.
The guide has been produced to help you work with your child in
undertaking these activities. There are plenty of visuals and tasks
throughout to help them.
The tools and activities provided in this booklet form an important part of
your child’s Education, Health and Care Plan assessment. Each activity
will guide you through the best way to use them, and how to use them to
help you prepare for these meetings.
When you see this logo, it represents a top tip! These
could also be fun variations on many of the tasks in
this booklet.
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Each page of this guidance booklet is laid out as follows:
[Name]’s story – play, health, schooling, independence, friends and relationships,
further education, future plans etc
1. The section of the Education, Health and Care Plan that the tool
could help you and your child complete. These are at the top of the
page.
2. The guidance page that could help you and your child complete
the activity, and how to feed this back into the Education, Health and
Care Plan Assessment / Plan.
3. A top tip that could help you complete the activity.
4. Finally, the tool / activity to undertake is on the following page.
The tools provided on these pages have been designed so that you and
your child can go through each of them and be as creative (and as
colourful!) as you like. Each tool in the booklet will come with guidance
documentation on how best to use them with your child.
There is also a “young persons” alternative guide available at
https://www.surreysendlo.co.uk/information/10-send-resources. Please
use the guide most appropriate to the age range and situation.
Remember, the different activities can be used for all
sections of the plan if you wish. Use what tools/activities
work best for you and your child.
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2. What does Section A of an Education, Health and Care Plan look
like?
[Name]’s story – play, health, schooling, independence, friends and relationships,
further education, future plans etc
This is where your child’s story is outlined. It is a
chance to ensure your child’s personality is
communicated to everyone. It also extends to their
aspirations for the future, their friends and
]education. A one page profile provides a summary
of these
[Name]’s family’s story
This section is a chance to outline your family’s
story. A Relationship Circle may help you
understand this section further.
Photo
How best to
support me
PH
OT
O
(Op
tion
al)
More information on how to support [Name] and [his/her] family
What makes your child happy? What’s needed for
them to have a “good day”? How can we avoid
“bad days”? The good day/bad day activity may
help you with this section, or a “Community Map”
[Name]’s aspirations
This section is all about the future. What does your
child want to be when they grow up? A nurse or
perhaps a doctor? The “Hopes & Dreams” tool
helps you explore these.
Name]’s family’s aspirations for me
Like the previous section, this is where you want to
see your child in the years to come.
How [Name] and [his/her] family have taken part in this plan
How have you and your child taken part in and
completed the plan?
Good
day
What
people
like about
me and
what I like
about
How
best to
support
me
myself
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3. A One Page Profile
[Name]’s story – play, health, schooling, independence, friends and
relationships, further education, future plans etc
What is a One Page Profile?
A one page profile is exactly that - a one page profile! It is a summary of
your child, including photos, aspirations, aspects of their personality and
what is important to them. It gives everyone involved with your child the
ability to understand what matters most to them and how best to support
them.
Questions to think about
Have a think about the things that best describe your child. Don’t be
afraid to bring along pictures, either of them or what they enjoy! All these
can be placed on the profile to make it as visual and as colourful as you
like.
Think about:
 What makes your child laugh or smile? What are they most
passionate about?
 What makes them happy or sad? What makes them anxious?
 What bores them? Similarly, what excites them?
It may be worth sitting down with your child and going through some
simple questions with them. For example, ask them:
 What would they never leave home without? Perhaps they have a
favourite toy, or a favourite book?
 What would your family and friends say they love most about
them?
 What do you they do on weekends, or in the evenings?
 What makes them feel better or happier after a stressful day? Do
they have a favourite routine?
You may find that the tools in this booklet help you
answer some of these questions. Have a go at filling in
a one page profile now, but you can also return to it to
add some more detail after you’ve completed some of
the other activities.
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What people like about me and what I
like about myself
PHOTO (Optional)
]
How best to support me
What is important to me
4. Good day / Bad Day
Date:
More information on how to support [Name] and [his/her] family
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4. Good day / Bad Day
More information on how to support [Name] and [his/her] family
What is this tool?
This tool can help you discover the best way to support your child,
through outlining what makes a “good day” and what makes a “bad day”.
It can be used to agree actions to help your child have more “good days”
and less “bad days”.
How do I use this tool?
Ask your child about what makes a really good, followed by a bad day.
You can break the day up into sections – e.g. Morning, Lunch, and
Evening.
It may be worth asking some of the following questions:
 What do they do on their favourite day of the week?
 What are the times where they’ve had the most fun?
 Who’s with them when they’re having a good day? Who’s with
them when they’re having a bad day?
 What’s their favourite food? What day do they most look forward to
for their favourite meal? Do they like to know what they’re having
for dinner or do they like a surprise?
 Do they like to have a busy day or a slow day? Does a change of
routine make them anxious?
 Think about what happens on a good day from the moment they
wake up to the moment they go to bed. This might include details
such as what they have for breakfast or the sequence of tasks
before leaving the house
Have a go at filling out the “good day / bad day” tool on the following
page.
You may find it helps if you talk about a good day,
followed by a bad day, followed by a good day so that
your child doesn’t relive “bad days”.
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Good day
Bad day
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5. Relationship Circle
[Name]’s family’s story
More information on how to support [Name] and [his/her] family
What is this tool?
Our family and friends are often the most important factor in our lives.
The relationship circle is a way of understanding who is in your child’s
life, and how close and important they are to them.
How do I use this tool?
The template on the next side is blank in the middle. Perhaps you’d like
to get your child to draw a picture of themselves, or take and place a
photo of them in the middle? You can also get them to write their name
in the middle if that’s easier.
It may be useful to use photo albums, school yearbooks, address books
or phone lists to help you with this exercise.
1. Start by placing the photo of the person on the relationship circle. If
they are close to your child, place them closer to the picture in the
middle.
2. Keep going until everyone important in your child’s life is placed on
the relationship circle.
If your child likes visual items, use plenty of photos and drawings.
It is also important to write as much as you can about the person placed
on the diagram. Write down the name of the person and state their
relationship to your child – are they an uncle, for example? It is important
to think about everyone that is involved in your child's life as it may be
the taxi escort who they look forward to seeing everyday or the dinner
lady.
You may want to split the circle into sections and create
a list – Friends, Family, School, People who are paid to
be in my child’s life, People my child sees in the
community. Once you’ve created a list, let your child
choose who is important to them.
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Remember to start by placing a photo or drawing in the
middle first.
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6. Community Map
More information on how to support [Name] and [his/her] family
What is this tool?
This tool allows for both you and your child to explore where they spend
their time outside of the home. This can be the park they play in with
their best friends, or the scout/guide group they participate in. This tool
can help you think about where your child can contribute to community
life, the opportunities to develop and extend relationships and what
works and doesn’t work for your child in these places.
How do I use this tool?
Start by writing down all the places your child currently goes to.
You can split these into the following:
Places where I feel good: Where does your child feel happiest? Is it in
the park or at the cinema? Are there places unique to where you live that
could help?
Places where I am a customer: Where is your child a customer? Do
they like to go shopping, or spend time at the local leisure centre?
Where are the best places to shop in your area?
Places where connections can be strengthened: Could you
encourage additional involvement at a club? Is there an activity they
would like to do more often to build up friendships? Where do people
normally hang out in your area? Does anything stop your child
participating in clubs or activities – what can be done to overcome this?
Places where new connections can be made: Are there any new
places your child would like to visit? What would they like to do more of,
or is there a skill they have that they could use in the community? Make
sure you write all of your ideas here!
Do you remember the “Relationship Circle”? You may
wish to use the picture of your child again in the middle
of this task. Feel free to create a new picture with your
child if you want to.
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Add as much detail as you can on here. There are also
some pictures to stick on this activity on the next page!
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This page has been left
intentionally blank
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You can use some of these cut-outs to help you with
task as well.
At the Park
Going Shopping!
At the library
Playing with my toys
Being with my
family
Playing with my
pets
Playing sport
Seeing my friends
On holiday
You can also use these pictures on all of the other activities
if you want!
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This page has been left
intentionally blank
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7. Perfect Week
More information on how to support [Name] and [his/her] family
What is this tool?
This tool helps both you and your child understand what is a “perfect”
week to them. This tool includes all the important places, interests and
people that matter to your child. A perfect week describes how your child
wants to live. It is important to make sure these suggestions are both
realistic and practical for both of you.
You may find its help to split each day into sections. So
on Monday, split it into “Morning, Afternoons and
Evenings”.
How do I use this tool?
You can use many of the previous activities to complete this exercise.
For example, have a look to see who’s close to your child through the
relationship circle, including days they see them. Have a look at the
community map – where do they spend their time on some days?
What’s needed on some days to help them achieve their hopes and
dreams?
It may be helpful to work through the activity in this order:
1. Start with Relationships. Show when and where your child wants to
keep in touch with the important people in their life.
2. Add the “what” and the “where” from the community map. What does
your child want to do, and where? They may like to go to church on a
Sunday, for example, or play down the park with their friends on a
Saturday Morning.
Pull all of these activities and factors into the perfect week. The activity
acts as your Childs own personal timetable. Try and read it back to them
(or show them) to see if they are happy with it.
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8. Hopes and Dreams
[Name]’s aspirations
What is this tool?
This tool finds ways to explore your child’s hopes and dreams for the
future. What does your child want to be when they grow up? Perhaps
they’d like to be a doctor, or maybe even an astronaut! Write down
anything – hopes and dreams can be as big or as small as your child
likes! They could even be as simple as wanting to spend more time
down the park, or at their favourite spot.
How do I use this tool?
Write down all your child’s hopes and dreams in the big star
You may want to think about the following with your child:
What have I learned? What has your child learned at school that may
help them? What’s inspired them recently? Write down as much as you
can!
Who needs to help me? Your relationship circle may help identify the
people in your child’s life who can help them meet their hopes and
dreams.
What do I need? What is needed to achieve these dreams? Does your
child require any extra tutoring, for example, to help them achieve a
goal?
What are my Next Steps? Put in place some simple steps to help your
child. Perhaps attending a club after school or attending a leisure centre
swimming session? Write everything down, no matter how big or small
the action is.
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9. Bringing it all together into a plan...
By now, you should have a collection of all the activities done
through this booklet.
You should have a:
1. Colourful one page profile,
2. A “Good Day/Bad Day”
3. Your perfect week!
4. Your relationship circle.
5. A community map.
6. Your Hopes and Dreams.
On the next page, we’re going to guide you through piecing together all
these tasks and activities into a “mock” Section A of the Education,
Health and Care Plan.
Don’t worry – we’ll guide you through it step-by-step. Be sure to have all
the tasks and activities completed by your child at your side.
Do you remember your “One Page Profile”? It may be a
good idea to re-visit it and add anything you’ve missed
after all the activities. Feel free to decorate it further!
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[Name]’s story – play, health, schooling, independence, friends and relationships,
further education, future plans etc
You can use the information from most of the activities to
complete this section. The community map will help you write
down the places your child likes to play and what they like to do.
The Relationship circle will allow you to write about relationships
and friends.
The One Page Profile is a really handy tool as well. It is a
“summary” on everything about your child. See if you can try
and write it like a story using all the tasks completed.
[Name]’s family’s story
This is a real chance to talk about you and your family. The
Relationship Circle is the best tool to see how family members
link with your child, and how close they are.
Be as personal as you want with this section. Family is often the
most important factor in anyone’s life, so give an honest
reflection of the story or journey.
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More information on how to support [Name] and [his/her] family
Activities like the community map, the “perfect week” and the
relationship circle can help you write this section. Remember
where your child likes to be on certain days, and what they like to
do.
[Name]’s aspirations
Remember the Hopes and Dreams tool? You can use that here to
outline all of your child’s hopes and dreams for the future.
You can also use the community map to write about the tasks
and activities your child would like to do more of, and what they
need to enable this to happen.
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Name]’s family’s aspirations for me
Reflect on all the activities undertaken with your child so far. The
activities should begin to give you an idea of where your child
see’s themselves – what they like, how they like to do it, what
makes them happy and what makes them sad.
Importantly, with all this information, start to think about what
you would like to see your child do. What support would be
needed to help these be realised? You can be as open and as
honest and you want in this box.
How [Name] and [his/her] family have taken part in this plan
This section allows you to write how you’ve completed this part
of the plan. Think about who’s helped you, how you’ve done it
(these activities are one way of completing and taking part in the
plan, for example)
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Remember to bring this completed work book along with you
to your next meeting!
If you would like an alternative version of this guidance
please see the “Young Persons” guidance at
https://www.surreysendlo.co.uk/information/10-sendresources
Contact us at surreypathfinder@surreycc.gov.uk
(c) Surrey CC
Tools (diagrams) provided by Helen Sanderson Associates.