Navigating SEND with Laura-Jayne Ward

Did you know there’s more than one way an appeal can be resolved? I’ve seen lots of posts about consent orders and people being advised not to sign them and wait for the hearing - most of this advice is, unfortunately, based on misconceptions of the legal process.

If everything you have asked for in the appeal has been agreed by the LA then a consent order request means that the Tribunal review what’s been agreed, issues an order to end the appeal and the LA issues the finalised EHCP with everything you agreed. Your child is then legally entitled to this provision. Waiting for the hearing delays this provision being put in place.

If you don’t feel that everything you’ve appealed has been resolved then you keep the appeal going until the hearing.

If you keep an appeal open to see if something else comes up in the future and you want to keep the hearing date just in case then you risk the appeal being struck out completely.

If you are thinking of appealing or in the middle of doing so and are looking for advice and information on your options, Navigating SEND is a low cost online training offer (courses start from £7:50) and also includes 1:1 consultancy for families.

See https://me-0565.freshlearn.com for more details or use the link in our bio to book a free 15 minute call to discuss how we can support you.

Top tips for submitting appeal evidence

These tips come from having compiled Tribunal Bundles myself and knowing what helps ensure evidence is included, easy to find, and readable for the Tribunal panel.

✅ Send evidence as PDF attachments wherever possible (most files can be saved using “Print to PDF”).

✅ If you’ve photographed documents or taken screenshots, paste them into a Word document and save as a PDF. This helps prevent images becoming distorted when the bundle is compiled.

✅ In your email, list all attachment titles in the body of the message.

✅ If your evidence exceeds 10MB, split it across multiple emails. Include “Email X of Y”, the hearing date, and registration number in the subject line so it’s clear there are multiple submissions.

✅ Keep a master list of everything submitted. This makes it easy to check all evidence has been included when the bundle arrives (though it may appear in a different section than expected).

❌ Don’t simply forward emails or send standalone photos. These can be overlooked or mistaken for correspondence rather than evidence.

❌ Don’t use ZIP files or online folders. Local Authority firewalls may block them.

❌ Don’t resubmit evidence you’ve already sent. Duplicates make it much harder to track what should be included in the bundle.

Need a second pair of eyes on your evidence? I offer an evidence review service to identify any gaps, assess the strengths and weaknesses of your case, and highlight the arguments the Local Authority is likely to raise.

You’ll receive a written report with clear recommendations on any additional evidence or points to address before the hearing.

DM me or book a free 15 minute phone call to discuss how I can help you (link in bio).

When you’re writing about your child, you know exactly what you mean. But will the LA and/or school read it in the same way?

This is something I see a lot.

A parent describes what is happening. They give examples. They explain the impact on their child.

But a SENCO or LA officer may read the exact same statement through a very different lens — looking at thresholds, evidence, needs and the specific decision they are being asked to make.

Sometimes, more examples aren’t what’s needed. It’s how you describe what is happening that matters.

Before you submit, ask yourself: could the LA or school interpret this differently to how I intend it?

I offer reviews of EHC needs assessment requests, Tribunal submissions, Section 19 requests, funding requests and complaints before you send them in. I look at them with my former school leader and/or LA SEND officer hat on and consider how the wording may be read by the school/LA and giving clear recommendations on where it could be strengthened so your points land as you intended them to.

If you’d like me to review your paperwork before you press send, please DM or email me at [email protected] and I’ll get back to you when we reopen for consultancy work on 19th August.

Now booking work for August/September.

Making navigating SEND simple – so every child can thrive.

What I really wish more parents knew…

You can use more than one legal route at the same time. But each one needs to be focused on a different issue.

One of the biggest mistakes I see is parents mixing everything together in one complaint, appeal or letter. When that happens, it can make it much easier for the LA to respond that they don’t have to deal with part of what you’ve raised because it’s already being considered through another legal process.

Here’s a simple way to think about it:

👉 An EHCP appeal is about whether the plan accurately describes your child’s needs, specifies the right provision or names the correct placement. It’s about getting the plan right going forward.

👉 A complaint (and, if appropriate, the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman) can be about an LA’s past failure to secure the provision in Section F.

👉 A complaint, pre-action protocol letter or judicial review may be appropriate where the LA is currently failing to secure the provision in Section F. Because judicial review is a specialist legal process with potential costs consequences, always seek legal advice before sending a pre-action protocol letter.

These issues are often closely connected, but they are not the same legal question.

The more clearly you separate them, the easier it is to make sure each route achieves what it’s designed to do.

Making navigating SEND simple – so every child can thrive.

What I really wish more parents knew…

An LA panel is an internal decision-making process. It does not override the law.

I often hear parents being told:

“The panel said no.”

“It has to go back to panel.”

“The panel won’t agree.”

But it’s important to remember that panels are created by local authorities to help them make decisions. They are not part of the legal framework.

The legal duties in the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Regulations still apply, whether a case has been to panel or not.

A panel cannot lawfully refuse something simply because it isn’t the LA’s usual practice or because “the panel doesn’t agree” if the legal tests say otherwise.

That doesn’t mean panels aren’t important—they are part of how many LAs organise their decision-making. But they don’t replace the law, and they don’t remove the LA’s statutory duties.

So if you’re told, “The panel won’t approve it,” ask yourself:

👉 What does the law say?
👉 What legal test is being applied?
👉 Has the LA explained why the legal criteria have not been met?

Always try to separate “this is our internal process” from “this is what the law requires.” They’re not the same thing.

Making navigating SEND simple – so every child can thrive.

What I really wish more parents knew…

Not all evidence in an appeal is equal.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is that more evidence automatically means a stronger case. It doesn’t.

The Tribunal isn’t counting the number of pages you’ve submitted. It’s looking at how well your evidence proves the points you’re asking it to decide.

Generally speaking, the strongest evidence is:
✅ Professional reports written specifically for the purpose of the appeal.
✅ Reports that clearly identify needs and make specific, quantified recommendations for provision.
✅ Evidence that directly supports the issues in dispute.

The weakest evidence is often:
❌ Long email chains.
❌ General correspondence.
❌ Documents that express opinions but don’t provide professional evidence.
❌ Evidence that isn’t actually relevant to the grounds of appeal.

Every document in your bundle should have a purpose.

Ask yourself:
👉 What point does this evidence prove?
👉 How does it support the changes I’m asking the Tribunal to make?

If you can’t answer those questions, it may not be strengthening your case.

Making navigating SEND simple – so every child can thrive.

What I really wish more parents knew…

One of the biggest reasons appeals and EHCP negotiations become difficult is that parents are asking for provision that isn’t supported by the professional advice.

That doesn’t necessarily mean what you’re asking for is wrong.

It means you need to ask yourself:

👉 Which professional has identified this need?
👉 Where is the recommendation for this provision?
👉 What evidence links the two together?

The Tribunal doesn’t decide what support a child needs based on what anyone hopes would help. It looks at the evidence.

If the reports don’t recommend the provision you’re asking for, the LA is likely to argue that there is no evidence to justify including it in the EHCP.

That’s why it’s so important to review professional reports carefully when you receive them. If something is missing, ask for clarification or further advice before the EHCP is finalised or your appeal evidence deadline arrives.

Making navigating SEND simple – so every child can thrive.

What I really wish more parents knew…

There is no legal requirement to send your child to the school named in their EHCP.

This is one of the biggest misconceptions I come across.

The law doesn’t say you must enrol your child at the named school. What it does say is that you must ensure your child receives a suitable education. That legal duty applies to all parents, whether their child has an EHCP or not.

If you decide not to send your child to the school named in their EHCP, you still have options:

👉 Attend the school named in the EHCP.
👉 Electively home educate.
👉 Request flexi-schooling (where your child attends school part-time and is home educated for the rest). This must be agreed by the school—it cannot be directed by the local authority.
👉 Ask the LA to consider temporary alternative education under Section 19 if your child cannot attend school because of illness or other reasons that prevent suitable education being provided there.
👉 Choose an independent school and pay the fees yourself.

The right option will depend entirely on your child’s individual circumstances, and each route has different legal implications.

Making navigating SEND simple – so every child can thrive.

Navigating SEND may be taking a break from 1:1 consultancy work for a few weeks but we’re still here to provide advice and information about all things EHCP-related.

Follow along this week for our 5 part series on what I wish parents knew about the EHCP processes and appeals.

Check out our website (link in bio) for our free resources and self paced online courses including more information about the education health care needs assessment process.

You know your child best.

No report, assessment or professional spends as much time with your child as you do.

Your voice matters.

Your evidence matters.

Your observations matter.

The key is presenting that knowledge in a way that links your child’s needs to their education and explains why an EHC needs assessment may be necessary.

I hope this week’s posts have helped you feel a little more confident about the process.

If you’d like to keep learning, I’ve created a growing library of completely free resources answering common questions about EHC needs assessments, appeals and SEND processes.

Explore them anytime at me-0565.freshlearn.com

You’ve got this—and you’re not navigating SEND alone.