Your annual review (AR) in Year 9 and all those after, must, in law, focus on Preparing for Adulthood (PfA). This can be an exciting time for you but also a little daunting, and it’s important to start putting the things in place now to help you achieve what you want to in your adult years. You can find out more about annual reviews, and in particular year 9 ones on the SEND Local Offer here: EHCP Annual Reviews.

The SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years tells us that any planning for PfA must be person centred and the local authority should ensure that the you have the support you need (perhaps an advocate, you can find information about them here: Your rights regarding making decisions to fully participate in this planning and to make decisions. Person centred means everyone should listen to what you want and then work together to put the support in place which will help you to achieve your ambitions.

Preparing for Adulthood is looking at all aspects of your life, not just what you want to do in education, but also to start thinking about where you want to live, what you want to do when you leave education, what you need to stay healthy and be part of the community. These are known as the Preparing for Adulthood outcomes; and you can find out more about them on the SEND Local Offer.

From year 9 onwards your annual review should be about looking at your EHCP, celebrating what you’ve achieved so far, and reviewing what needs to happen now to make sure that it supports you moving forwards into adulthood. It may be that, up until now, your parent or main carer did most of the paperwork for your EHCP, because they have advocated and supported you and know you very well. Now that you are getting older it is really important that you have a better understanding of what it looks like and what is says about you. Make sure you have read it and ask a trusted adult to help, whether it is your Parent Carer or someone who works with you each day at school, if that is not so easy for you to do. It’s always good to look at the progress you have made, but the focus should be on adapting the plan to make sure it reflects what you need to achieve what you want to do, building on the skills you have already developed and helping you to achieve more.

From year 9 onwards it’s vital that everyone understands your hopes and wishes and what your needs are, and the best way this can happen is by you being involved. This doesn’t mean you have to be part of all and every meeting, but you must be asked and listened too. You can involve your parents or carers if you want to, they have had an important role up to now, but you don’t have to. It’s important that you let people know about what you like doing, where you see yourself living, what you’re good at and what you need more help with. 

Don’t worry, anything which is put into your EHCP in year 9 is not set in stone, you aren’t committing yourself for the rest of your life. Everyone can change their mind, and people’s aspirations and ambitions often change, your EHCP can be amended at future reviews. 

As you get older you will learn new skills which may influence what you want to do and so it’s important to share these in the conversations and incorporate them into the reviews. New experiences should open up new opportunities.

Here is a link to a resource that explains Annual Reviews:  CYP.leaflet.indd

A PfA review should consider each of the four outcomes, what you want and what support you will need to help you achieve. Don’t be frightened to think ambitiously and realistically and be clear about what you want to do.

Outcome 1: Employment or Further Education: what do you want to do when you leave post-16 education or training?

This is about thinking how you will occupy your days once you are no longer in school or college. This might be a job, or helping out somewhere, it’s about exploring what interests you, what you’re good at and then looking at what needs to happen to help you to achieve your goals.

Things to think about: What are you good at? What do you like doing? What are your hobbies/interests? If you think you know what you would like to do, are you aware of what qualifications, skills or experience you might need? You can ask at your careers interview or ask for another one. Have you had your careers interview?

You may also want to read information about accessing employment which can be found at: Worcestershire Inclusive Employment: Your Pathways (PDF)

You can find out about Supported Internships here: What is a Supported Internship? Student Edition

There are also videos of young people who have accessed work: 

• Inclusive Worcestershire - H2O Café Case Study
• Supported Internship - NHS Case Study - INclusive Worcestershire
• Inclusive Worcestershire - Alex and Audi UK Case Study

Outcome 2: Independent living: what do you need to live as independently as you are able and what will this look like?

Things to think about: Where do you want to live? Who do you want to live with? What do you need to help you make decisions? What financial help is available? What are you like at cooking, shopping and managing your money? Do you need help with your personal care, like showering, eating and dressing? Do you think you may need a care assessment? To request an assessment of need if you are under 18’s you can contact the Family Front Door, by calling 01905 822666 during office hours. They will then contact the specialist Children with Disabilities Team for them to determine the most appropriate pathway for assessment for you. If you are 16 and over you can do this yourself, or you can ask your parent/carer or another trusted adult to help you.

Outcome 3: Community inclusion: having friends, being part of the community and having relationships.

Things to think about: What leisure activities do you like doing? Do you need help to see your friends? Can you get out and about on your own? Would you like to join some clubs but do not know how to go about it? 

Do you think you may need a care assessment? To request an assessment of need if you are under 18’s you can contact the Family Front Door, by calling 01905 822666 during office hours. They will then contact the specialist Children with Disabilities Team for them to determine the most appropriate pathway for assessment for you. If you are 16 and over you can do this yourself, or you can ask your parent/carer or another trusted adult to help you.

Outcome 4: Health: what do you need to keep healthy and who can help?

Things to think about: Do they know about your disability/needs at your doctors? Do you have an annual health check? Do you need support understanding any health concerns that you have? Do you think you may need a care assessment? To request an assessment of need if you are under 18’s you can contact the Family Front Door, by calling 01905 822666 during office hours. They will then contact the specialist Children with Disabilities Team for them to determine the most appropriate pathway for assessment for you. If you are 16 and over you can do this yourself, or you can ask your parent/carer or another trusted adult to help you.

To request an assessment of need if you are 18 and over you can contact Adult Social Care, more details can be found here: Get in contact with Adult Social Care.

Your EHCP should reflect your ambitions, and have short-, medium- and long-term goals to make sure the choices you want to make are available, for example: If you want to be an electrician you will need….

If you want to live in supported living you will need….

Above all remember, no idea is a bad one, or silly, be ambitious, but not unrealistic. Many individuals will aspire too, and accomplish, great things in life with the right information, planning and support. It’s important to recognise the barriers which can be overcome, and which cannot.