Individual Support Plans (ISPs) could represent an important opportunity to improve how schools plan and deliver SEND support. But will they make a meaningful difference in the classroom, or simply create another administrative responsibility?
Schools are no strangers to plans
From SEN Support plans and provision maps to intervention records and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), schools already hold considerable information about children's needs, the support they receive, and the progress they make.
The Government's proposed introduction of Individual Support Plans (ISPs) aims to bring greater consistency to how support is planned and recorded.
With teachers and SENCOs already managing increasing demands, ISPs need to make a genuine difference to SEND provision without creating more workload.
Much will depend on whether ISPs become another document to complete, or an opportunity to make better use of existing information schools already hold.
A plan is only useful if people can use it
A primary teacher may have 30 children, several with different special educational needs. A secondary teacher may teach hundreds of pupils across multiple classes.
Teachers need to understand each child’s needs, as well as the needs of their classes as a whole.
ISPs could make it easier for teachers to see the support required across a class, identify common approaches, and adapt their teaching accordingly. SENCOs could use that same information to understand patterns of need, plan resources, and review what is working.
Better access to this information could also help teachers put the right support in place for individual children and recognise when that approach needs to change.
Crucially, this should be possible without requiring schools to record the same information multiple times.
These are the practical considerations that should shape how ISPs are used in schools.
Making existing information work harder
Schools already have a wealth of information, but it often sits across different documents, systems, and teams.
ISPs present an opportunity to bring that information together, rather than introduce another disconnected process.
Technology, including AI, could play an important role. From helping SENCOs draw together existing evidence and draft plans, to connecting information across school systems and making it more accessible to teachers, there is potential to reduce administration significantly.
But technology must support professional judgement, not replace it.
Equally important is ensuring that children and families can meaningfully contribute to plans, and that schools can connect the provision being delivered with evidence of whether it is making a difference.
The ambition should be less time producing plans and more time using them to support children.
What should schools be thinking about now?
Although the details of ISP implementation are still developing, schools can start by looking at how information is currently recorded, shared and used – and where duplication or gaps make effective support harder.
Some useful areas to consider include:
- Accessibility: Can teachers easily access the information they need for individual pupils and whole classes?
- Existing evidence: How much of the information required is already held in current plans, assessments and systems?
- Involvement: How can children and families contribute meaningfully without repeating information?
- Impact: Can schools clearly connect identified needs, provision and outcomes to understand what works?
These questions are not just about preparing for reform. They are about making SEND planning more effective now.
Schools need to help shape what comes next
There is good reason to be optimistic about ISPs, but meaningful change will only happen if they reflect the realities of school life.
At Imosphere, we are exploring how existing SEND information, connected systems, and emerging technologies can make ISPs easier to produce, more accessible to teachers, and more useful for planning and reviewing provision.
But schools must be part of shaping that approach.
We are keen to involve local authorities, schools, and multi-academy trusts in exploring what works, what creates unnecessary workload and what would make the greatest difference in practice.
Because ultimately, the success of ISPs shouldn't be measured by how many plans are completed, but by how effectively they help schools support the children who need them.
Imosphere is inviting schools and multi-academy trusts to help shape the technology we are developing to support ISPs. Find out more here: https://www.imosphere.com/send/isp
If you’re attending the Schools and Academies Show, come and talk to us at stand C44 about the challenges you’re facing and what would make planning easier in your school.
