Information for parents
An Individual Support Plan (ISP) is a document developed by Derbyshire's Early Years Special Educational Needs (EYSEN) Service to help your child’s early years settings plan, record and review support for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). It brings together information about a child's strengths, needs, outcomes, support strategies and progress.
Does my child have to have an ISP?
No. The ISP is not a statutory document, and early years settings are not required to use this particular format.
However, all early years providers have a statutory duty to identify and support children with SEND using the Assess, Plan, Do, Review approach. The ISP is one way that settings may choose to record this support.
When might an ISP be used?
A setting may choose to use an ISP when a child requires support that is additional to the support normally available to all children. In Derbyshire, this is often described as Targeted level support within the graduated response.
What does an ISP include?
An ISP may include:
- Your child's strengths, interests and what is important to them.
- Agreed outcomes and next steps.
- Strategies, adaptations and support being provided.
- Advice from professionals working with your child.
- Reviews of progress and future planning.
How will I be involved?
Parents and carers are important partners in the process. If your child's setting uses an ISP, you should be involved in agreeing priorities, reviewing progress and contributing your views about what is working well for your child.
How does this link to the SEND reforms?
The Derbyshire ISP has been developed in line with the direction of current SEND reform proposals, which promote more consistent planning and support for children with SEND. As these reforms are still being implemented, the Derbyshire ISP remains a local tool developed by the EYSEN Service that settings may choose to use. It is not a national statutory requirement.
Key message
The Derbyshire ISP is an optional resource developed by the EYSEN Service to support good SEND practice. Settings may choose to use it to help coordinate support for children receiving either a targeted or specialist level of support within the graduated response.
Additional information for settings
A blank ISP template is available to download from the 'Related Documents' section of this page if setting choose to use it. The template is provided as a Microsoft Word document, allowing settings to personalise it with their own branding and adapt the layout or content to meet their local recording and planning processes. The document can be used to record, review and coordinate the support in place for an individual child.