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SEND advice for home educators

My child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

The parental right to educate your child at home applies equally where your child has SEND, irrespective of whether an EHCP is in place. It remains, however, the duty of the local authority to ensure that the education provision specified in the plan is made available to your child and to conduct annual reviews. If you are planning on home educating your child, please contact your SEN Case Officer to discuss.

To try and minimise local authority oversight of your provision you will be asked whether you are agreeable to a Home Education Family Support Worker joining any annual reviews so that you can meet with both SEND and Inclusion Services at the same time.

My child is enrolled in a special school

If your child attends a special school, where enrolment was arranged by the local authority, the permission of the local authority must be obtained before they can be removed from roll. To discuss the situation further the Southampton SEND Service can be contacted on:

Telephone: 023 8083 3004

I would like to apply for an EHCP

If you are home educating your child and believe that they have special educational needs, the starting point is to request an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment. Further information in relation to this can be found in our SEND section.

Southampton SENDIASS have produced a document listing online SEND resources for home education.

Recognising that staying at home can be more disruptive to the lives and routines of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), the government produced advice to support parents and carers looking after children with SEND during the coronavirus. Whilst this guidance has now been withdrawn the following links are to resources recommended by the government which are still active:

Further support

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS) provide advice to children/young people with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) and their parents/carers. They also have useful online factsheets and resources for parents and carers of children and young people with SEND.

The service is for people who live in Southampton and they can be contacted in the following ways: