What is the maximum number of hours that can be awarded on a statement?

[huffyhuffystompstomprahrahrah]

Hi there - my partners dd is changing schools as her first primary school was not meeting her needs and generally not interested. It was all going ahead but the proposed school has now said that they wont take her unless the provision on her statement is increased. She currently has 25 hours of 1:1 on her statement but the school is asking for a further 19. This would make 44 - can they ask for more hours than there are in the school week??? Can they ask for the xtra hours as preperation time even though they have outreach services that are supposed to do this??? Are they just making it impossible for her to go??

She doesn't need 2:1 as she is tiny and has no aggressive challenging behaviour although she can be quite rigid and head strong. We wanted her to change schools because her last school just wasn't right for her - she didn't want to go, had no friends, was starting to soil herself, was excluded from her peers by the approach of the teachers etc.

Help as the lea/advise that we are being given is rubbish and confusing!!

[meltedmarsbars]

My dd1 has 2 helpers in mainstream for two thirds of the day, but this is more than on her statement because it is funded by the special school that she goes to for the majority of the school week.
Hours specified by the statement translates into classroom points at a special school (this doesn't make any sense does it!) and they were prepared to pay for two helpers otherwise my dd2 couldn't attend the mainstream school.

[prees]

I'm not sure but theschool should know the maximum number of hours they can request. my DS has a statement of matrix 8 which is the maxmum, I presume it s the same everywhere. It was originlly 16 hours but after reception class they applied for an increase to matrix 8 and got it. I assisted by writing my own report. At his annual review I noticed that it was about 33 hours and the SENCO broke it down to individual 1-1, 1-1 in the classroom and planning and preparation hours by the senco and teacher. Your potential school is probably as other schools desperatly wondering how they can afford another full time TA without extra funding from the borough which they might get if she has a maximum allowance on her statement. Havuing said all that I do not see that they have a right to actively refuse her a place if one is available. Let them apply for the extra hours, add your own application to theirs. But insist this is the school you want her at, they may be hoping you just give up and go somewhere else but you don't need to.

[saintlydamemrsturnip]

DS1 had full time 1:1 when at mainstream (including all breaks and lunch). I do know children who have had 2:1, so they can provide as many hours as a child needs.

[daisy5678]

The whole 'won't take her' thing is really not your problem. As long as the LEA change the name of school in part 4 of her Statement to the school you want, they have to take her really. Then the school and the LEA can fight it out over the funding etc.

My son's Statement is 33 hours, covering the whole school day from start to finish and the school are also given 5 hours of preparation/ liaison time as lots and lots of outside agencies are involved and the TA needs time to meet with them during the school day so someone else is paid to come and cover the class.