Last updated:
31st October 2023
Special Educational Needs and EHE
Parents/carers of a child with special educational needs can also educate them at home. However, if on roll at a special school, their name can only be removed with consent from the local authority. Consent may not unreasonably be withheld and Wokingham Borough Council’s statutory duty to undertake annual reviews for children with education, health and care plans (EHCPs) continues even when they are home educated as laid out in the SEND Code of Practice.
The Education (Pupil Registration) Regulation 9(2) 1992 states:
“a child who has under arrangements made by a local authority become a registered pupil at a special school shall not be removed from the admission register of that school without the consent of the authority or, if that authority refuses to consent, without a direction of the Secretary of State”.
The local authority has a duty to maintain a child’s EHCP and to review it annually. Parents are welcome to attend the annual review but are not obliged to attend.
Where the child’s special education needs have been related to a school setting and those needs are being readily met at home without local authority supervision then consideration will be given to ceasing to maintain the education, health and care plan. Should parents/carers attempts to educate their child at home fall short of meeting the child’s needs then the local authority is not absolved of their responsibility to arrange provision in the EHCP. In such circumstances Wokingham Borough Council will “consider providing access to additional resources or treatments where appropriate”.
Where the local authority is not satisfied that provision is sufficient to meet the needs identified in the EHCP, the SEND team will determine whether it is appropriate to make provision under Section 319 of the Education Act 1996. As a general rule, no funds are available to support the EHCP other than in exceptional circumstances as in most instances the local authority will have identified a school placement where all the needs set out in the EHCP can be met.
Parents/carers educating their child at home may ask their local authority to carry out a statutory assessment or re-assessment of their child’s special educational needs. Wokingham Borough Council will consider any such request within the same statutory timescales and in the same way as for all other requests.
Support available: