The law has changed from today 1st September 2014 and it has placed greater emphasis on professionals from different services to work more closely together to support children and young people with their special educational needs and or disabilities to provide the support they require.
Statements of special educational needs and learning difficulty assessments are to be replaced by a single Education, Health and Care plan (EHC). Children and young people will be able to have a greater say in the support they require to achieve their goals.
Many of the children and young people that enter the care system will have requirements for extra support and this will lead to a significant number having an EHC plan. Local authorities have a duty to promote and support the educational achievement of every child within their care. The local authority will appoint a virtual school head to coordinate the support for each individual child and they will work closely with an array of professionals to progress the plan.
For further information read the page Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEN/D) contained on this website which gives links to the Department for Education and the guidelines for carers.