SENCO guide to the parent and young person’s portal

What can it do?

The Parent and Young Person’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) Portal allows a Parent the opportunity to create an account and gain access to:

• View the Ealing Request for Statutory Assessment (ERSA) on the portal as a document
• View and contribute to appendix A. The views form is pre-populated from the ERSA; Parents have option to update this information as it will form part of the final EHCP. This is subject to decision to proceed with an assessment being made by the SENAS panel

The following is subject to decision to issue draft/final EHCP by SENAS Panel

• View the draft EHCP and appendices as a PDF which is downloadable.
• Comment on each section of the Draft EHCP via the Portal and view the Draft EHCP as a PDF using the content menu.
• Parents can name their preferred school or setting - using a free text box
• View the final EHC Plan - Once the final plan has been agreed, the Parent, Carer or young person will be able to view this in the portal as a document.

What the portal cannot currently do

• Where a decision is made not to proceed/issue a draft or final EHCP, this will be communicated by letter via email/ post.
• If a parent wants to apply directly, this is not available via the portal. Please contact SENAS SENAS@ealing.gov.uk
• Annual reviews – this is the next phase of development for the portal

SENCO’S checklist

• Has the Gateway ‘known to social care’ question in ERSA been ticked? This is now a mandatory step in the SEND Professional Portal to strengthen information sharing at ERSA stage
• SENCO holds discussion with Parent on the best option for their communication with SEN Service during assessment. Please go through the list below
• Does the Parent have access to a Laptop or Tablet (Phones can be used but larger screens will be more beneficial) It is not recommended if parent only has a phone.
• Does the Parent have access to Internet connection or Wi-Fi and access to an email address? These are required to access the parent EHCP portal. Is the parent able to keep the account for the 20-week statutory process and beyond? Inform parents that it is not possible to change during assessment process
• Do both parents want to contribute separately to the EHC assessment? If more than one parent needs access we recommend they select email/post option, as only one account can be issued per family
• If the Parent Portal is the best option, parents have given consent to use the parent portal - SENCO records this in Communication and Contribution Method tab in the SEND Professional Portal This is a mandatory step in the SEND Professional Portal.

Here is the guide to setting up communications on the parent portal.