LHM Youth Lifestyle Information – Support In Education

There are a number of ways you can be supported in your school/further ed life, there are different plans available, let’s look into them so you can see what support you might be able to access.

What is a health care plan (HCP)?

An Individual Health Care Plan is something that every single child and young person with a long term medical condition, in your case half a working heart, is entitled to by law.

Children and young people with a single ventricle heart will have added needs in school or further education. This is usually to do with lower energy levels but sometimes there can be other health related needs that you need support with too. It is nothing to be embarrassed about and could really help you out.

The plan is usually completed in a meeting at school with your parents/guardians, the school, school nurse and cardiac specialist nurse and the any other professional person that can add useful information.

In this plan they will write about your heart and how this affects your day-to-day life as well as putting into place any support you might need to make sure that you can access the best education possible.

This could include things like a plan for wet or cold weather, a plan to support getting to lessons on time or a lift pass. Allowances when you need to go to the toilet or to have a drink available at all times. Whatever you need to make sure you are able to achieve your full potential.

This will then get reviewed once a year to make sure it’s still relevant.

If you don’t have a health care plan and feel like you should it’s a good idea to speak to your parents/carer and see if this is something you can work with your school to achieve.

What is an educational health care plan (EHCP)?

An EHCP is an educational health care plan and a legal document that can be awarded from the age of 0-25 years old if someone has an education problem like Autism, ADHD or dyslexia.

You and your family, with support from the school, have to apply to the local educational authority to book an EHCP assessment. If you have an EHCP, it was awarded by your local authority. Not everyone has one and unlike the health care plan you do not automatically get one because you have half a working heart.

The plan is usually completed in a meeting at school with your parents, the school and the local authority just like the health care plan but the EHCP is for children and young people that have a special educational need that needs support.

If an EHCP is awarded it will fund the added support that you might need in school to help with your education.   The school or college you are in then needs to meet this plan, that all the support written in it is put into place. This should be looked at and updated every year which is a great thing as you may find that this year you need something else to support you that didn’t come up the year before.

Many people think that this is something that helps you in school only but that is not the case. Your EHCP is also transferred to college, or any place of further education and they can also put into place the extra support you may need.

This can really benefit you; you shouldn’t be afraid to speak up for yourself and ensure that it is being followed properly. That extra support can really be helpful and even make the difference between succeeding and struggling and hey, if you have one, you’re entitled to make sure it’s used properly.

If you think you had an EHCP in school (double check with your parent/guardians as they will know) but don’t feel like this is being used properly in college or that the support you need isn’t being provided, ask your parent/guardian contact your local authority as it is their responsibility to ensure you have all that is written in the EHCP.