Gateshead’s Local Transition Plan
Transferring pupils from statements of SEN and LDAs to EHC Plans
Who was consulted?
The proposed transition plan was devised by the SEND Team in consultation with Parents in Power
(Gateshead’s Parent Carer Forum) and school SENCos at their network meeting.
The proposed transition plan was sent to all parents/carers whose children had a statement of special
educational needs or were going through statutory assessment and all Head Teachers in Gateshead for
comment.
Who will be transferred?
The table below shows when statements/LDAs will be transferred to EHC Plans and the number of
pupils involved.
School
Year Sept
2014
1st year
Nursery
2nd year
Nursery
Reception
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Transferring
in 2014
school year?
Number of
pupils
transferring
School
Year Sept
2015
Transferring
in 2015
school year?
Number of
pupils
transferring
School
Year Sept
2016
Transferring
in 2016
school year?
Number of
pupils
transferring
N
-
2nd year
Nursery
Y
1
Reception
N
-
Y
6
Reception
N
-
1
N
-
N
N
Y
N
N
N
Y
N
Y1
Y2
N
Y3
N
Y4
Y5
36
61
8
89
102
9
18
329
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Post 16
N
Y
N
N
N
Y
N
Y1
Y2
N
Y3
N
Y4
Y5
N
26
46
14
76
91
24
26
304
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Post 16
Y
N
N
Y
Y
N
N
Y
N
N
N
N
N
N
21
29
55
57
73
235
We hope to transfer the statements of all of those children who have a Disabled Children’s Team social
worker at an earlier date. SEND Team will contact you to let you know the timescale.
1
Only in secondary schools where GCSE option choices are made in Year 8 (Kingsmeadow, Thomas Hepburn, Whickham, Charles Thorp)
Mainstream secondary schools where GCSE option choices are made in Year 9 (Cardinal Hume, Lord Lawson, Heworth Grange, Joseph
Swan, St Thomas More) and special school students
3 Only pupils leaving secondary school to go to college/apprenticeship or those moving to 6th form at a different school.
4 Only mainstream pupils leaving 6th form who require support at college. Please note - Single Plans are not issued/continued for pupils
going to university.
5 Only special school pupils
2
The SEND Team has contacted the parents/carers of children who are starting Year 6 in September
2014 to confirm whether or not they want their child to transfer to a Single Plan.
Some pupils have a non-statutory Single Plan that was written when Gateshead was a Pathfinder for
the SEN reforms. These Plans will be converted to statutory Single Plans during the 2014 school year.
The provision in the non-statutory Single Plan will continue until it is transferred to a statutory Single
Plan.
How will parents be made aware of the transfer?
We will write to parents/carers two weeks before their child’s transfer review meeting is due to take
place. There will be a copy of an ‘outline’ Single Plan with the letter which contains information and
details that we already hold for your child. This is also an opportunity for you to check that all the
information is correct and see whether you believe we need any additional advice or information. It
will be helpful for you to take this to the meeting with you so that any changes can be recorded.
The transfer process
A diagram highlighting the 14 week transfer process can be found on the Gateshead Council website by
clicking here.
When your child transfers from a statement or LDA to a Single Plan, we carry out a ‘needs assessment’.
The school will invite you to an Action Planning meeting and during this meeting you, your child and
those who provide support will have the opportunity to give their views. An Action Plan will also be
completed which details the outcomes that your child hopes to achieve over the next few years and
how everyone will work together to achieve these. Your views are important and you should have
already been asked by the school to complete a views form which will be used when future plans are
being discussed at the meeting. If you have not received this form before the meeting, please contact
the school for a copy.
As part of the needs assessment, we will use advice from the practitioners who work with your child.
For some children and young people we have up to date advice and we do not need to ask practitioners
to provide new advice but, as part of the Action Planning meeting, they will be asked what outcomes
they feel are appropriate. However, if you think that there is additional advice, please contact your
Case Worker as soon as possible so that we can contact the relevant people for advice.
The school will send the meeting report and any information to this office no more than 2 weeks after
the meeting and we will then be able to use this to develop the Single Plan. We will then send you a
draft copy of the Single Plan and you will have 15 days to check that you are happy with the Plan before
it is finalised.
Learning Difficulties Assessments (LDAs)
From 1 September 2014, Gateshead will no longer issue new Learning Difficulties Assessments. Any
young person leaving school and transferring to an educational course or apprenticeship will now be
issued with a Single Plan.
The LA has to provide the support that is in the young person’s LDA until September 2016. If a young
person will be leaving education or an apprenticeship before this date, we will not convert the LDA to a
Single Plan. If they will be continuing in education or on an apprenticeship after September 2016, their
LDA will be converted to a Single Plan. We are working with Connexions Personal Advisers to identify
these students and will contact parents/carers or the young person with further details once their
progression route is known.
Help and Advice
You can contact your Case Worker them at any point during the needs assessment for information and
advice.
If you would like independent advice and information through the needs assessment process,
Independent Supporters are available. Independent Supporters offer free and impartial advice and
support to parents, carers and young people going through the transfer from a statement to a Single
Plan. In Gateshead, the service is provided by an organisation called Core Assets. You can contact Core
Assets on 0800 028 8455, which is a free number or complete a referral form online by clicking on the
contact button at www.coreassets.com/what-we-do/independent-support-service.
Free independent advice about special educational needs and disabilities is also available to parents,
carers and young people from Gateshead’s SEND Information Advice Service. This service is run by
Barnardo’s and can be contacted at:
Barnardo’s DAISS
20 Bewick Road
Gateshead
NE8 4DP
Tel: 0191 4784667
E-mail: DAISS@barnardos.org.uk
You can also contact Gateshead’s Parent Carer Forum, Parents in Power. This is a charity that supports
parents and carers whose children have special educational needs. You can contact Parents in Power by
e-mail at enquiries@parentsinpower.co.uk or text your name to 0772 4849017 and someone will call
you back. Please include alternative telephone number in your text if you prefer to be called back on a
different number.
Disagreements
Although we try to avoid any disagreements, there are times when you may not agree with certain
parts of the Single Plan. You can appeal against parts of the Single Plan to the First Tier Tribunal (Special
Educational Needs and Disability) once it has been finalised. The parts you can appeal against are:
a.
The description of your child’s special educational needs
b.
The special educational provision
c.
The school that is named or if no school is named
d.
decide not to maintain the Plan (i.e. decide to cancel the Plan);
In most cases, you will need to speak to a mediation adviser before you can lodge an appeal with the
Tribunal. We will let you know how to appeal in the covering letter with the final Single Plan but
information is available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/tribunals/send. You can also complain about the
health and social care parts of the Single Plan. Further information about this and more information
about
education
disagreements
is
available
in
Gateshead’s
Local
Offer
(www.gateshead.gov.uk/localoffer).
Who to contact
If you have any queries about the transfer process or if you/your child has not transferred to the new
system in the timescales that are set out above, please contact the SEND Team on 0191 4333626 or by
email to senteam@gateshead.gov.uk