Headteacher Letter
23 February 2026
Dear Parents and Carers 
I hope that this letter finds you, your friends and family in good health.
Welcome back to term four. I trust you have had an enjoyable half term holiday. It has been lovely to see so many smiling faces returning today.
My main purpose for writing today is to reduce any anxieties surrounding todays education White Paper (Every child Achieving and Thriving) and accompanying media spotlight.
Key points:
- No change until 2029
- EHCP’s will remain
- This is a White Paper which will be consulted on before it can become a bill, before it can be an act of parliament (long and slow process)
Wednesday 18 March at 9.00am Parent Coffee morning in the Wave Building.
A chance to catch up with staff and other parents over coffee and some cake. This will be an opportunity to discuss the mobile phone ban for YR10 pupils, the Education White Paper, and designated number consultation.
Friday 6 March we will be celebrating World Book Day/ Career Dress up day. A chance for us all to dress up as characters from our favourite books or as ‘what we want to in the future’. Full details to follow shortly.
If you would like more information on today’s announcements, please continue to read.
The following is an extract from today’s White Paper
After legislation takes effect, children with an existing EHCP will have a needs assessment as they approach the end of each phase of education. The local authority will determine whether they require a Specialist Provision Package and therefore a continued EHCP; if so, a new EHCP will be created based on the relevant Package, supported by an Individual Support Plan setting out day-to-day educational provision. If they do not require a Package, they will move to an Individual Support Plan in a mainstream school and receive support through the Universal and Targeted layers. The first cohort to transition will be pupils at the end of primary, secondary and post-16 in 2029/30, with assessments from September 2029 and moves to the new system from September 2030; those moving to Individual Support Plans will keep their existing EHCP until the end of that academic year. All children transitioning from an EHCP to an Individual Support Plan will retain the right to request a mainstream placement, and no child will move from a special school or college unless they choose to do so.
This means that all pupils who have a special school place in September 2029 will be able to stay in a special school until the end of their education, unless they choose to move to a mainstream setting. Below are two links for the full details.
In the White Paper a timeline has been published which you can see below:
If you would like to discuss with me or have any specific questions, please email me at secretary@lgs.kent.sch.uk
Best wishes
Les Milton
Headteacher
