Over recent months, our SEN teams have been working closely with parents and schools across Kent to try to ensure every child has a suitable school named on their Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan by the national deadline. We know how important this decision is, and we have worked hard to make sure each child’s needs are met as fairly and fully as possible, giving families time to begin preparing for their transition in September.
Improving the Phase Transfer process
Craig Chapman, Interim Deputy Director for Education: Access and Inclusion, explains the improvements his team have been making for the benefit families:
“Kent has invested heavily over the past few years to significantly improve Phase Transfer experiences for parents and their children. Starting or moving to a new school is one of the most important points in each child’s education and, unfortunately, the Council was not organised as it needed to be in the past to ensure this went as smoothly as possible.
“However, this year marks the first year that ALL pupils moving to secondary school will receive their updated EHCP by the statutory deadline. We know this is something that should always have happened, but it does show how seriously Kent takes its duties and we won’t stop until we get to the same level across all of SEN.”
When and how you will receive your offer
The email with your child’s final EHC Plan naming the selected school, or school type, will be sent to the address you used for your most recent contact about your child’s EHC plan, so please make sure you have access to that email. Also please make sure there’s space in the inbox and check your spam folder if the email hasn’t come through.
The email will include a link to a SharePoint folder containing the final EHC plan and a letter with more information regarding who you can contact should you have any worries or concerns about the placement. Please don’t hesitate to reach out - we are here to support you.
If a school type (not a named school) is listed
For a small number of children, discussions with schools are still underway. In these cases, you may see a school type listed on the EHC Plan rather than a named school.
If this happens a member of the Phase Transfer team will contact you within 5 working days. They will update you on progress, explain next steps, and give you the opportunity to ask any questions.
What happens next?
Once a school has been confirmed, the educational setting will be in touch with you directly. They will begin planning:
- Transition arrangements
- Support for your child starting in September
- Ongoing monitoring and review of your child’s EHC Plan
If you are unhappy with the placement
We understand that some parents may not agree with the school named in their child’s EHC Plan. Please remember:
- Support is available.
- You can contact your child’s caseworker to talk through your concerns - we will always try to resolve issues informally first.
- Speaking to your caseworker does not affect your right to mediation or appeal at any stage.
Information about mediation services and the appeals process is available on our website.
Post‑16 transfers
For young people with EHC Plans moving into a post‑16 setting, the national deadline to name a placement is Tuesday 31 March.
