ANNUAL REVIEW - SEN Code of Practice 2001

Parents should be encouraged to share their views, attend the meeting, and contribute to discussions about any proposals for new targets for the child's progress. Parents can get help and support in attending reviews and help in writing advice from Parent Partnership Services. If a parent does not respond to invitations to contribute in writing to the review, or to attend the meeting, this should be recorded in the review report together with any reasons given.

Where possible, pupils should also be actively involved in the review process, and attend all or part of the meeting. They should be encouraged to give their views on their progress, discuss any difficulties they have and share their hopes and aspirations for the future.

If it's appropriate the LEA should tell the head teacher of any representatives of the health services, social services or any other professionals closely involved with the child must be invited to contribute to the review and the meeting. Likewise the head teacher can do the same. In some cases the professional's may themselves suggest that it could be appropriate for them to attend, or find it necessary to provide a report on their involvement with the child over the past year.

If for any reason a professional cannot attend the meeting and the parent would like to discuss further matters of concern with them, they should first approach the Named LEA Officer. This fact should be explained to the parents at the review meeting.

If the child or their family has English as an additional language, the timescale for planning the review, should take into account the need to:

1. Translate any relevant documentation
2. Ensure that interpreters are available to the child and family, both in the preparation stages and the meeting
3. Ensure that any professionals from the child's community have similar interpretation and translation facilities in order that they can contribute as fully as possible
4. Ensure that, if possible, a bilingual teacher or teacher of English as an additional language is available to the child and family.

If a child or their family have a communication difficulty due to a visual impairment, sensory or physical impairment, similar attention should be given to ensure that information is available to them and to representation at the review meeting through interpreters, Braille etc.

Children looked after by the local authority

If the child with the statement is subject to a care order, the local authority share parental responsibility with the child's birth parents, whether the child is in a residential or foster placement, or living at home. The extent of the contribution to be made by the child's parents, the residential care worker, foster parents and social worker. If both the parents and the care worker or foster parents and the social worker should be determined be the head teacher in consultation with the social services department. If both the parents and the residential care worker or foster parents are attending the review meeting, the head teacher should consider involving the social worker in preparing parents or carers for the review and provide support before and after the review itself. Where the local authority accommodates the child with a statement the parents retain parental responsibility.

When the child is subject to a care order, an education supervision order, or is accommodated by the local authority, the local authority social services department must include information on the arrangements for the education of the child within the Child Care Plan. Social services must review the Child Care Plan and involve the child in that process, and the plan should include a Personal Education Plan that sets out the arrangements for the child and should include information from the statement, the annual review and IEP's. Therefore Leas may wish to link the annual review of the statement with the review of the Child Care Plan.

Conduct of the review meeting

The review meeting will usually take place at the child's school and should be chaired by the head teacher or the teacher to whom responsibility has been delegated.

Those present at the meeting should consider:

1. Does the statement remain appropriate?
2. Are any amendments to the statement needed?
3. Should the LEA continue to maintain the statement, or recommend ceasing to maintain the statement, and the child's needs be met appropriately through school action plus?
4. Any new targets to be set to meet the objectives in the statement
5. Whether any additions or amendments should be made to an existing Transition Plan.

A meeting may make recommendations on any of the matters listed above and amendments to a statement are likely to be recommended if:

1. Significant new evidence has emerged which is not recorded on the statement
2. Significant needs recorded on the statement are no longer present
3. The provision should be amended to meet the child's changing needs and the targets specified at the review meeting, or
4. The child should change schools, either at the point of transfer between school phases, for example infant to junior or primary to secondary, or when a child's needs would be more appropriately met in a different school.

The review meeting and the report may also recommend that the LEA should cease to maintain the statement. If all those present cannot agree to the recommendations, the head teacher should ensure that this disagreement is recorded, together with the reasons for it.