Education for children with mental health needs

Children who are unwell are entitled to an education that is adjusted to meet their needs.

If your child needs specialised CAMHS they are very likely to meet the criteria for support under the umbrella of special educational needs and disability (SEND).

Most children in Tier 4 CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) will need additional support, to achieve their best, alongside recovering from their illness or managing their additional needs.

For some, reasonable adjustments alone are sufficient (such as leaving the class earlier or having longer for exams).

Others need short term targeted support (for spelling or maths for example) and for some, a more bespoke or specialist arrangement is needed.

This support is provided regardless of the child’s academic ability. They do not have to be ‘behind’ or ‘delayed’ to be eligible for support.

All children are entitled to an education that helps them to ‘achieve their best’, no matter what their academic levels are.

Most children and young people in Tier 4 settings meet the criteria for disability under the Equality Act (2010) and are entitled to reasonable adjustments to enable them to access an education.

Almost all will have special educational needs (SEN) relating to their mental health and/or neurodivergence.

The Child and Family Act (2014) Part 3 outlines the relevant law.

The SEND Code of Practice explains the responsibilities of schools and the local authority for providing education for children who need additional support to manage in school.

The SEND Code of Practice can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25

Barriers to learning

When working out what support children and young people need, it can be helpful to think about barriers to learning.

These can include:

• barriers to attending school
• barriers to being in lessons when in school
• barriers to learning when in the lessons
• barriers to achieving their best in exams

For example, anxiety, social communication differences and difficulties with focus and attention can all be significant barriers to getting to school and learning when in school.

There are two formal levels of support available

First level of support: SEN support in school

Schools are expected to carry our regular assessments and identify pupils that are not making expected progress.

Where additional needs are identified by the school, or raised by parents/carers, the class teacher and school special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) should carry out further assessments.

They should then plan and deliver support to meet the needs. This cycle of assess, plan, do and review is called the graduated approach.

IPSEA has more detailed information: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/

Higher levels of support: Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCPs)

If your child needs a higher level of support, they may need an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment (EHC NA). This assessment will help to identify if an EHCP is needed.

Parents, young people, school or health care staff can apply for an EHC NA. More information and template letters can be found here: https://www.ipsea.org.uk/.

Please talk to the unit school and Family Ambassador if you feel an EHC NA is needed for your child.

If your child had an EHC Plan prior to admission, it is likely that an early review of this is needed so that new reports and assessments can be included in the plan.

To do this you, or the school, can request an early formal statutory review.

The local authority can support the annual review being brought forwards in line with the change in their level of support needs.

Please ask your CAMHS unit school staff and family ambassador if you would like help to consider support needs in school, for applying for an EHC NA, or for a review of a current EHCP.

For more help

Visit the Family Ambassador website for more information and support: Family Ambassador service | Oxford Health CAMHSOxford Health CAMHS

You can contact the Family Ambassadors via this email: familyambassadorsTVPC@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk