Question: Should children with an EHC plan and a social worker return to school?

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Guidance Critical workers who can access schools or educational settings
section_headers: Vulnerable children and young people
section_content: During the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, for the purposes of continued
attendance at educational settings, vulnerable children and young people are
defined as those who:

are assessed as being in need under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, including children who have a child in need plan, a child protection plan or who are a looked-after child
have an education, health and care (EHC) plan and it is determined, following risk assessment, that their needs can be as safely or more safely met in the educational environment
have been assessed as otherwise vulnerable by educational providers or local authorities (including children’s social care services), and who are therefore in need of continued education provision - this might include children on the edge of receiving support from children’s social care services, adopted children, those at risk of becoming NEET (‘not in employment, education or training’), those who are young carers and others at the provider and local authority’s discretion

*[EHC]: education, health and care

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
Discusses who can return to school, but only brings up children with an EHC plan in a short blurb. Does not give details on how they should be reintegrated into schools.
There is information here on children with EHC plans, but the information doesn't address whether or not those children should return to school.

Reviewer ratings:
Could be Improved
Could be Improved

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Guidance Supporting children and young people with SEND as schools and colleges prepare for wider opening
section_headers: Questions and answers
How does this guidance impact children and young people who have an EHC plan and a social worker?
section_content: There are a significant number of children and young people with an EHC plan
and a social worker.
Decisions about whether these children and young people should attend or
return to an educational setting should be made collaboratively on an
individual basis. Local authorities and educational settings should work with
parents or carers, the child or young person and social workers to undertake
or update a risk assessment to determine where the child or young person’s
needs and best interests can be best met.
*[EHC]: education, health and care plan

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
Discusses children/young people with an EHC plan and social worker, but doesn't go in-depth.  Only gives a short paragraph and directs people to contact local authorities.
The information here is about children with an EHC plan.  The info tells someone how the decision to return to school would be made.

Reviewer ratings:
Acceptable
Excellent

Answer passage (source: UK):
page_title: Guidance Supporting vulnerable children and young people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak - actions for educational providers and other partners
section_headers: Attendance of vulnerable children and young people
Attendance of children and young people who have an education, health and care (EHC) plan
section_content: This group includes children and young people with an EHC plan attending all
educational settings. For all children and young people with EHC plans, we are
asking local authorities to follow the guidance to conduct a risk
assessment - in consultation with educational
settings and parents/carers - to determine whether children and young people’s
needs can be met as safely or more safely in the educational environment. We
are asking local authorities and educational providers to keep risk
assessments under review, in case circumstances change and a different
decision is more appropriate.
For children and young people with an EHC plan in mainstream settings:

those in year groups specifically targeted for return should return to school, where medical advice suggests they are not clinically vulnerable to coronavirus, informed by their risk assessments, and are not shielding and protecting people defined on medical grounds as clinically extremely vulnerable
those in other year groups should continue to attend or not depending on their individual risk assessments

Schools, colleges and local authorities should ensure risk assessments are
kept up to date so that pupils and students can be brought back in, in any
year group, where circumstances change, for example if it is becoming
unsustainable for parents and carers to care for their child week-round.
This includes children and young people who are placed in special units and
resourced provision attached to a mainstream school, since they are recorded
on the roll of the mainstream school.
Schools, colleges and local authorities have latitude to use special
educational needs and disability (SEND) risk
assessments also for children and young people who
have SEND without an EHC plan, where they feel it would be beneficial, for
instance for children on SEN support who have complex needs. This means they
can use this as a mechanism to bring back pupils and students with SEND who
need it, in other year groups, even if they do not have an EHC plan.
For all children and young people with an EHC plan in special educational
settings, such as special schools, special post-16 institutions and hospital
schools, settings should encourage attendance based on the child’s risk
assessment and on the ability of the setting to provide for their needs, and
not using the child’s year group as a primary deciding factor, both because
all children and young people in these settings are considered vulnerable and
because year groups may not be indicative of key transition points. In line
with the guidance on implementing protective measures in education and
childcare settings
and the guidance for special schools, specialist colleges, local authorities
and any other
settings, special schools and special post-16
institutions should:

consult risk assessments conducted and where children and young people are attending their specialist setting, they should continue to do so
work with local authorities and families to continually review risk assessments and bring children and young people back to face to face education where circumstances change, for example where it is becoming unsustainable for a family to care for a child week-round
consider how to increase the numbers of children and young people accessing on-site education from the week commencing 1 June, including where appropriate by considering what the key transition points are, and ensure that as many children as can be safely catered for are able to attend their setting
consider a range of options to enable as many children as possible to benefit from attending their setting, such as creating part-time attendance rotas

Hospital schools should:

aim to provide educational services for as many pupils in these settings as is possible, in line with risk assessment and social distancing guidelines and where headteachers agree with medical practitioners that it is safe and feasible to do so
use their discretion in considering how to provide education services - taking into consideration issues of safety, capacity and so on - and how to prioritise pupils if this is required, including through a phased return approach
work closely with hospitals and NHS trusts so that children and young people in hospital schools are able to receive their education, including through access to classrooms where appropriate

[EHC]: education, health and care
  [SEND]: special educational needs and disability

Reviewer feedback on this answer:
Directly addresses what should happen with children with a EHC plan and gives a detailed outline in several paragraphs.
There is a lot of info here on students with EHC plans.  I think parents with a child with an EHC plan would be able to decide whether their child should go back to school based on this information.

Reviewer ratings:
Excellent
Excellent