There's a new Annual Review form - see below in attachments, or follow the link.

https://thegrid.org.uk/send-and-additional-needs/ehcps-and-funding/education-health-and-care-plan

Email from Ricky Manson, 10/9/2026

Following valuable feedback received through DSPL network meetings, EHCP audits undertaken by the SEND Quality Assurance Team and as part of an evolution and maturing SEND QA approach in Hertfordshire, we recognised that the previous audit tool Hertfordshire County Council were using (Invision 360), did not always fully reflect the quality of EHCPs within education settings. 

In response, Hertfordshire County Council is pleased to share that, over Summer 2026, we have developed our own, new EHCP audit tool designed to strengthen both quality assurance and continuous improvement across the SEND system and replace the previous Invision 360 tool that was used.

The revised tool has been developed to:

• Place a greater emphasis on supporting improvement, alongside evaluating current quality.
• Give increased weighting to key areas of legal compliance, helping to ensure that audit outcomes more closely reflect the lived experience of children and young people, their families, and education settings.
• Be co-produced with a wide range of stakeholders, ensuring that the criteria and guidance are relevant, meaningful and focused on priority areas.
• Include enhanced guidance, prompts and learning from previous audit findings to support consistent and high-quality practice.
• Provide more detailed reporting against individual criteria, enabling targeted improvement actions and clearer identification of strengths and areas for development.

Over the coming academic year, we will be attending DSPL SENCo forums to share the new tool and seek your continued feedback. Your insights will be invaluable in helping us refine the process and ensure that it remains effective, proportionate and focused on improving outcomes for children and young people.

Thank you for your engagement and contributions throughout the previous academic year. Your feedback has been instrumental in shaping the development of this new tool, and we look forward to continuing to work in partnership with you.

Regards,

Ricky Manson
QA Project Officer (SEND & Social Care) | Quality Assurance, Audit, Policy & Practice | Children’s Services
Hertfordshire County Council

Click here to download the flyer and follow the links.

Changes to Specialist Outreach Services – April 2026 Update

As part of our ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality, needs-led support for children and young people, we continue to work closely with our Specialist Outreach (SSO) services to enhance targeted support across Hertfordshire. The expanded quadrant model and increased provider capacity will ensure that support reaches those who need it most, at the right time. 

What’s Changed as of April 2026?

The Specialist Outreach offer has expanded, with new providers joining existing settings across all quadrants. This offer, alongside support from the Early Years SEND Team and SENDSAS, will ensure a graduated, consistent and strengthened offer for children and young people with emerging SEND needs as well as those with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in mainstream settings.

 

All children REC and below with SEND needs/and or EHCP are eligible for Specialist support from the Early Years SEND Team.

Settings may be offered but not limited to:

• Bespoke support for an individual child
• Class or whole-setting support
• Quadrant training or development input
• For those meeting eligibility criteria, Specialist Development Centre Outreach Offer

 

All children Year 1 and above with an EHCP are eligible for Specialist Outreach support.

Settings may request but not limited to:

• Bespoke support for an individual child
• Class or whole-school support
• Quadrant training or development input

  

All requests should be submitted through the Single Service Request Form.

 

Hertfordshire Service Request Form - Children and young people

 

Updated Provider Lists by Quadrant

DSPL 1 & 2 – North Hertfordshire and Stevenage

Existing providers: Woolgrove, Greenside

New provider from April 2026: Larwood

 

Who to contact and when

If you have a child or young person in your school who has an EHCP that you are worried about, and feel will benefit from further support please do make this request through the Single Service Request form. Hertfordshire Service Request Form - Children and young people The new Specialist Outreach model (for year 1 and above) is broken into quadrants and below sets out the panel manager who has responsibility for managing the allocation of Specialist outreach support. Outreach for each area: Providers in DSPL/area

1 and 2, North Hertfordshire and Stevenage.

Pamela Radford Pamela.radford@hertfordshire.gov.uk

 

Early Years SEND Team Alignment with Specialist Outreach

For early years children (up until the end of REC), with or without an EHCP, settings and schools can request support and advice from the Early Years SEND Team via the Single Service Request Form . The Early Years Specialist Development Centre Outreach offer will continue to be provided by the Early Years SEND Team for eligible children - no referral required. 

More information on the Early Years SEND Team can be found here: Early years SEND team

If you have any questions on the Early Years SEND offer please contact your link Early Years Lead Teacher:

North Herts and Stevenage; Laura Wilson- Laura.Wilson@hertfordshire.gov.uk ​

SEND SAS Service Alignment with Specialist Outreach

As part of ongoing whole‑system conversations about SEND, and in the context of national SEND reform, we wanted to take a moment to confirm current arrangements. As a partnership, we are reflecting carefully on where there are opportunities to strengthen practice, while maintaining stability and continuity for children, families and professionals as we develop our reform plan.

There is a shared system intention to place equal value on early support and intervention. Our whole‑school offer builds on existing good practice and includes modelling and child‑focused strategies. We intend to strengthen in‑class work and direct engagement with children, rather than relying on one‑off visits or written reports, working collaboratively with mainstream settings to ensure needs are identified and supported as early as possible.

Within this context and for clarity, currently where there is an identified need, the SLCA team will also continue to work through a casework approach, providing specialist advisory teacher support for children who require targeted intervention, complementing the newly expanded Specialist Outreach Support.

In special schools, the SLCA offer will continue to focus primarily on training. This can be bespoke and, where appropriate, linked to individual children to support staff confidence and consistency of practice. 

If you have any questions on the SLCA offer please contact Andrea Pascali, Senior Lead Teacher in SEND SAS. Andrea.Pascali@hertfordshire.gov.uk

If you have any questions on the SEND SAS offer for Sensory impairments (Deaf and Hearing Support, Vision Impairment, Multi-Sensory Impairment) please contact Louise Carter, Specialism Lead. Louise.Carter@hertfordshire.gov.uk. To request support for a child with Sensory needs (with or without an EHCP) please refer through the single service request form:

Hertfordshire Service Request Form - Children and young people

Next Steps

We are committed to ensuring these changes enhance the quality and timeliness of support rather than reduce it.

Expanding the number of outreach providers will help ensure that every child receives support that is timely, proportionate and aligned with need.

If you have any questions or require support in relation to Specialist Outreach, please contact your quadrant’s Panel Manager using the details above. If you have any questions in relation to the SEND SAS SLCA offer please contact Andrea Pascali, and SEND SAS Sensory offer please contact Louise Carter using the details above. For more information on the Early Years SEND Team offer please contact your EYs Area Lead Teacher using the details above.

Work does not stop here, we are currently discussing further specialist outreach capacity with ESC providers and working to develop bookable training sessions that complement those currently on offer.  

Travel training supports young people with SEND to become independent on their home to school/college journey. Our experienced Travel Trainers give the young person encouragement, information and support, and work with them on a one to one basis.

We work with SEND students 16-19 yrs old who have an EHCP learn their journey from home to college/school to become independent travellers. 

For more information and eligibility criteria, follow this link:  Travel Training webpage

 

See attachments below for the update presentation and Provision Panel checklist.

NB:  Have all annual reviews completed by October half term for any CYP's who are getting ready to move into their next setting.

This pdf can be downloaded from the attachments below and can be found by following this link:  Herts SEND Academy - SMART in Herts examples.

SEND Academy Bookings page

‘This is Me’ is the new form to support children and young people in telling their story. 

We ask all children and young people to complete the ‘This is Me’ form, with the support of their families and the professionals who know them well.  The information on the 'This is me' form is used to carefully ensure Section A of the EHCP is completed by professionals and accurately reflects the views and aspirations of the child or young person. 

Section A is usually split into two parts:

• a part for the parent / carer
• a part for the child or young person to complete. 

Remember that the views of the child/young person can be given in any way they can, e.g., video (please include transcript), drawings, photos with explanations etc.  Be as creative as you like and do not let writing be a barrier to completion. This is the child/young persons’ plan, so it's very important we have their views.

We have listened to school feedback and now have the following:

- A word version of the form that can be easily used which also includes guidance and consent in the one document

- Screen reader versions

 www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/thisisme .  Also on this link is a pre-recorded presentation.

More information is available below in the attachments.