Late summer is prime time to think about your child’s individual education and learning plan. Before the first bell rings, a little preparation can save weeks of back-and-forth communication once classes are underway, and it sets your student up to start the year with the supports they need in place.

Schools are busiest in September and plan meetings often get pushed to October. Teachers begin returning to school in late August and are setting up their classrooms, so a request sent directly to your child’s teacher that month likely won’t reach anyone, and the first two weeks of September are too chaotic for a meaningful conversation about supports. The better approach is to contact the school office or principal in the last week of August to request the current plan and flag that a review is needed, then follow up directly with the classroom teacher once the third week of September arrives and routines have settled.

About the Law

Every province and territory in Canada has a legal framework to support students with disabilities, but they do not all use the same terminology or process. While the concept is similar across the country, there are important differences in identification, documentation, and eligibility.

To note:

• Timelines matter. In Ontario, for example, once a student is identified as exceptional, the school has 30 school days to complete the plan.
• Parents are entitled to a copy of the plan. You have the right to receive the plan and to be consulted as it’s developed, not simply informed after the fact.
• The plan must be reviewed at least once per reporting period. In practice, this means it should be revisited well before report cards go home, not just once a year.

None of this is legal advice; if you’re dealing with a dispute or denial, a special education advocate or lawyer can help you understand your options in more detail.

Considerations for Updating the Plan

An individual education and learning plan is a living document, not a one-time form: it should be adjusted as your child’s needs evolve, rather than carried forward unchanged year after year. A plan that worked in Grade 3 may not fit Grade 4. Before the new year starts, it’s worth reviewing:

• Goals that have already been met. Outdated goals take up space that could go toward a current need.
• New diagnoses or assessments. Any updated psychoeducational or medical information should be reflected in the plan.
• Changes in workload or environment. A new school, a new teacher, or a jump in academic demands (like the move to a new curriculum strand) can call for revised accommodations.
• What helped last year (and what didn’t). Ask your child directly. Their perspective on which supports made a difference is extremely useful.
• Transition planning, if your child is moving into secondary school or between schools. For example, Ontario’s IEP standards call for a documented transition plan whenever a student moves between panels (i.e., from elementary to secondary school), and for a Grade 8 to Grade 9 move that plan should be well underway before the end of Grade 8, not left until September of the new school.
• Accommodations over modifications, wherever possible. Accommodations change how your child accesses grade-level material—extra time, assistive technology, a quiet workspace—without changing what they are expected to learn. Modifications change the expectations themselves, such as reduced curriculum or alternative grade-level outcomes. Because modifications can narrow future course, diploma, and postsecondary pathways, they are best reserved for situations where accommodations genuinely are not enough, not used as a default.
• Every recommendation in the psychoeducational assessment, checked off one by one. Go line by line through your child’s most recent psychoeducational or other formal assessment and confirm that each recommendation is reflected somewhere in their plan. A missing accommodation is far harder to catch mid-year than before school starts.
• Whether each accommodation will still exist later. An accommodation your child relies on now, such as having a test read aloud, may not be offered at the postsecondary level. Where possible, favour accommodations and strategies your child can request for themselves in high school, college, or university, rather than ones that will disappear just as the workload gets harder and more independence is required.
• To note: Sometimes students don’t have access to essential assistive technology because the teacher isn’t able to support it. If that is the case, ask the school what tech company they outsource to for this type of training so your child can still receive support in learning to use it. Often, a technology lead at the school can also offer helpful support.

The goal of an accommodation is to give your child fair access, not to build reliance on a support that vanishes once the setting changes. If a recommended accommodation will not travel forward with your child, it’s worth raising this with the resource teacher or psychologist and asking about an alternative that your child can keep requesting on their own throughout their academic career.

A move into high school should include a transition plan that spells out which courses and pathway best fit your child’s goals, how accommodations will be communicated to each new subject teacher (rather than just a single homeroom teacher), and whether an orientation visit to the new school can be arranged before September. Ask specifically whether the plan leans on accommodations that preserve full course credit and diploma options, rather than modifications that reduce expectations, since a modified curriculum can affect future academic choices and opportunities.

Talking to the Teacher

The relationship with this year’s teacher will shape how smoothly the plan gets delivered. How can you start that conversation well?

• Reach out once routines have settled, not in the first two weeks. Aim for the beginning of the third week of September, early enough that supports are in place well before your child needs them, but after the teacher has had a chance to get their bearings. A short email introducing your child and flagging that a plan is in place gives the teacher a head start.
• Bring the plan, not just the label. Focus on what your child needs in the classroom and what has worked well before.
• Ask how communication will work. Will updates come through a shared log, a Google doc, email, or scheduled check-ins? Agreeing on this early avoids things falling through the cracks.
• Come with specifics. “She needs extra time on tests” is harder to act upon than “She needs 50% additional time, in a quiet space if possible.”
• Assume good intent. Most teachers want the plan to work as much as you do, and framing the conversation as a partnership tends to go further than framing it as an ask.

Before September Arrives

Work through this checklist in the coming weeks:

1. Request a copy of the current plan if you don’t already have one on hand.
2. Contact the school office (not the classroom teacher directly) during the last week of August to flag that a review is needed.
3. Note any changes in your child’s needs since the last review and check the plan against the psychoeducational assessment to make sure no recommended accommodations are missing.
4. Draft a brief introductory email to this year’s teacher describing your child’s diagnosis and sharing the plan, ready to send after the second week of September.
5. Confirm the date of the first plan review meeting for the year.
6. Talk to your child about what support has helped and what has not.

A well-prepared individual plan doesn’t just meet a legal requirement; it gives your child’s teacher a clear starting point and gives your child the best chance at a positive start to the year. Keep in mind that the plan doesn’t end once it’s signed off in September; revisit it whenever your child’s needs shift, rather than waiting for the next scheduled review.

If you’d like help with understanding an assessment or finding the right academic strategies for your child, we’re here to help.