The Statement needs to stay up-to-date, so the school will arrange a formal review of your child’s Statement at least once a year, starting from the date on which it was finalised by the LA. This is known as the ‘Annual Review’.
To make sure that everyone involved in the Annual Review, including yourself, has time to prepare for the meeting and can participate fully, the arrangements for these meetings are set out in regulations drawn up by central government.
The school should normally give you at least 6 weeks notice of an Annual Review meeting.
The school will invite representatives from all those services who have a part to play in helping the school to meet your child’s needs. The school will discuss with these services whether it is essential for them to attend the review meeting, or if the school feels that the meeting could go ahead without their direct involvement.
It is important that your child is fully involved and their views can be heard. Your child will always be invited to contribute to the review meeting. School staff will be able to help your child to contribute to the best of their abilities. It may also be appropriate for your child to attend the review meeting.
If your child is at risk of being excluded, an interim or early review meting should be called.
How can I contribute to the review process?
When you are invited, you should be asked if you have any views about your child’s progress that you would like to contribute in advance and you should reply promptly if you wish to do this.
If you do not put your views forward, these will be circulated by the school to everyone who has been invited 2 weeks before the meeting takes place, together with copies of reports that anyone else invited may have submitted.
You do not have to give your views in writing in advance. You may present them in writing or verbally at the meeting itself, together with any comments you may wish to make on reports from other participants.
If English is not your first language, you should be given access to an interpreter and an offer should be made for the paperwork to be translated. Equally if you have other access needs e.g. if you communicate via sign language or you are a wheelchair user, appropriate provision should be made.
What will be discussed at the review meeting?
The meeting should review your child’s progress systematically, through discussion and by referring to the detail of the IEP as necessary.
The main purpose is for you and the school to satisfy yourselves that the Statement is still relevant, in every way, to your child’s situation.
If parts of the Statement no longer seem right for your child, then the meeting can recommend changes in the way it is worded for the LA to consider.
If your child is in year 2 or year 6, the review will concentrate on deciding the most appropriate placement for him or her when he or she transfers to the next phase of schooling. Reviews for pupils in year 9 or above will look at the options available to the pupil when he or she leaves school. This will be done in conjunction with the Connexions service, who can advise on career paths for all pupils.
The school will use a standard form to record the conclusions of the meeting and any recommendations for amending the Statement, which it will send as soon after the meeting as possible to the Special Education Service. Parents should also be sent a copy.
Who deals with recommended changes to my child’s Statement?
If your child’s Annual Review report recommends any changes to the Statement, these will be considered in detail by the school’s allocated Casework Officer.
The Casework Officer on behalf of the LA may accept the recommendations of the review meeting. Recommendations that are accepted, which bring significant changes to your child’s Statement will result in a re-drafting of those parts of the Statement that are affected. They will then be sent to you for you to read and consider. Minor amendments that are accepted will not result in a re-drafting of the Statement, but will be ‘appended’ to the Statement. These amendments will need to be reviewed along with the original statement at the next Annual Review meeting.
The same basic processes of consultation and timescales apply to drafting and finalising amendments to Statements as when Statements are prepared for the first time. A maximum of 8 weeks is normally allowed from issuing a draft amendment to sending you the final version.
