What is a parental statement?

The parental statement (Section A of the EHCP) is your account of your child's needs, strengths, and what matters to them. It's required by law to be part of every EHCP assessment. This is your opportunity to tell the story that professionals' reports don't tell - the day-to-day reality of living with your child's needs, the impact on family life, your child's aspirations, and what works and doesn't work for them. The statement can be submitted during the EHCP needs assessment process, included in your request for assessment, or at any annual review.

How to structure your statement

Start with your child's strengths and what they enjoy - what makes them happy, what they're good at, what matters to them. Then describe the difficulties: be specific and give examples (not "struggles with reading" but "cannot decode sentences, gets distressed when asked to read aloud, has been getting 5% on phonological tests for two years"). Explain the impact: on learning, behaviour, relationships, confidence, family life. Finally, describe what support has helped and what you're asking for. Keep it to 1-2 pages - quality over quantity.

Be specific, not vague

Vague: "Has anxiety." Specific: "Has panic attacks before school (heart racing, difficulty breathing), will not leave the house on school days, takes an hour to get ready because she's checking she hasn't forgotten anything, misses 1-2 days per week due to anxiety." Vague: "Struggles with maths." Specific: "Cannot understand place value, cannot count on in steps of 10, cannot handle fractions, scored in the bottom 1% of maths assessments." Professionals need specifics to understand the severity.

Tell the emotional and social story

Professionals' reports focus on measurable abilities and diagnoses. But the story that matters is the impact on your child's wellbeing. "My child comes home from school and has a meltdown nearly every day because she's been holding it together all day. She doesn't have friends because nobody understands her. She's started saying she's stupid and nobody likes her. She's losing confidence." This emotional impact is just as important as test scores.

What to ask for

End your statement with what you're requesting. "I am requesting an EHCP assessment because I believe my child has special educational needs that require provision beyond what the school can ordinarily provide. Specifically, I believe my child needs: an educational psychologist assessment to understand their learning profile, specialist teaching in reading and maths, therapeutic support for anxiety, and consideration of specialist school provision." Being clear about what you're asking for helps the LA understand what they're assessing for.