Chapter 9: EHCPs, School Attendance and Children Struggling to Attend
When a child is struggling to attend school, focusing only on the attendance percentage can miss the most important question: what is making attendance difficult?
EHCPs, School Attendance and Children Struggling to Attend explores attendance through the wider context of SEND, unmet needs, health, distress, educational access and EHCP provision.
The guide encourages parents and carers to notice patterns before, during and after school and consider whether the current EHCP accurately reflects the barriers the child is experiencing.
It also introduces health-related absence, alternative provision and EOTAS, while keeping these distinct rather than treating them as interchangeable solutions.
It includes:
- Guidance on looking beyond attendance figures
- Prompts for identifying patterns and possible barriers
- How attendance difficulties may connect with Sections B, F and I
- Questions about adjustments and existing EHCP provision
- Information about health-related absence
- An explanation of alternative provision and EOTAS
- Guidance on when the EHCP or placement may need reviewing
- A practical attendance and EHCP check
- Harvard-referenced information and further support
This resource relates specifically to the SEND, EHCP and attendance systems in England and provides general information rather than individual legal advice.
A compassionate, practical resource for shifting the conversation from “How do we make this child attend?” towards “What is preventing this child from accessing education, and what needs to change?”
Space to Breathe Therapy / Support - Understand - Empower
