Most schools already produce plans for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), data suggests, as government consults on proposals for new 鈥渋ndividual support plans鈥. Under wide-ranging government reforms announced last week, schools will have to draw up ISPs for all pupils receiving the new 鈥渢argeted鈥, 鈥渢argeted plus鈥 and 鈥渟pecialist鈥 tiers of support. Separate education, health and care plans (EHCPs) will continue to be issued, but will be reserved for those on the 鈥渟pecialist鈥 tier. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said ISPs should create 鈥淓HCP-like support without the fight to get that EHCP鈥. According to a poll of special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs), just 11 per cent of 503 respondents said their school did not write individual plans for pupils with SEND, but without an EHCP.聽 More than half (57 per cent) said plans were created for all SEND pupils, while 27 per cent said plans were created for some SEND pupils. While leaders have welcomed the move to a more uniform approach, others have warned there should be some flexibility to create systems that work for their specific contexts, with support for a smooth transition of plans. Flexibility to help smooth transition Astrea Academy Trust creates support plans for all pupils with SEND across its 26 schools in South Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire through an online portal. Ryan Purdy, SEND and AP lead at Astrea, said plans were 鈥減erson centred鈥, beginning with pupils and parents filling out a form outlining their details, specific needs, medical conditions or diagnoses and exam access requirements. The plans also set out specific targets for the child and evidence-based practice which could help support specific needs. 鈥淭here could be hundreds of children on one school鈥檚 SEND register, so having ready access to evidence-based and additional interventions can really help make the process more effective and efficient for those children,鈥 Purdy explained. At Jeavons Wood Primary in Cambridge, pupil passports are issued to the 15 per cent of pupils on its roll with SEND. Headteacher Em McMurray said the passports were a 鈥渞eally good way of capturing the needs of a child on a page, that made it practical, personal and something that everybody could use鈥. As at Astrea, the passports give a breakdown of a pupil鈥檚 strengths, gaps in learning, the interventions they should have and targets. But McMurray said an important aspect of the plans was how easily they can be adapted. 鈥淭his is very much a live document that influences what we do on a daily basis, and I think that鈥檚 where the power is,鈥 she said. Letting pupils voice interests At Endeavour Learning Trust, which has 10 schools across the north west, SEND pupils have a 鈥渢argeted learning plan鈥 as well as a pupil passport. Donna Waring While the targeted learning plan involves all information on the child, the pupil passport constitutes the 鈥渟tudent voice鈥 and is put together by the pupil and school鈥檚 SENCO.聽 Here, a pupil may be able to voice their interests on a specific topic, which teachers can then use in the classroom. Donna Waring, the trust鈥檚 director of SEND, said the plans had 鈥渞aised the profile of SEND鈥, particularly for their secondary school teachers. 鈥淲here they may see 300 children in a week, we just need to be really specific at what their targets are and how that can be translated into the lessons,鈥 she explained. Universal document Warring said ISPs could help with transitions between phases too. 鈥淎 secondary school could have 30 feeder primaries, and if they鈥檝e all done something different, you鈥檝e got parents coming and saying 鈥榟ave you got all about my child yet? Or have you got my pupil passport?鈥 鈥淎nd I think having that universal document would be really useful.鈥 But she added that government should make it clearer how ISPs are going to look, and that there should be 鈥渢he option for individual schools to add on specifics that they want to make it relevant to the context of their schools鈥. McMurray said standardising practice would be useful for her school, and sharing good practice between schools 鈥渕ight take some of the fear鈥 out of the prospect of creating the new plans. 鈥淚t might be a few functional boxes changing but I think the bones of it would be consistent with what we鈥檙e already doing.鈥 Purdy added: 鈥淭here will be an administrative task in transferring across the data for each child on to a new system, but also some benefits such as in portability or transferability of plans which will share a uniform format across the country.鈥