SEN register

5 replies

gertrudemortimer · 12/11/2021 11:19

Hi I haven't been sure wether to ask questions about this, I suppose a part of me doesn't want to delve too deeply or make a fuss about nothing.

At the end of reception we had parents evening and the teacher told me and exdp that my son will benefit from going on the SEN register. She didn't say much just that it allows them to provide more help for him. They did an educational plan and he's been in year 1 doing okay, the plan comes up for review in December. I haven't met or spoken to the senco yet but I've requested a meeting at the last two parents evenings. He is summer born if that makes any difference.

Is there anything I should be doing here? Is him going on the SEN register a concern? Should I look at getting him assessed for anything? I'm clueless! He struggles a lot with school and gets upset that he can't get to grips with the subjects but he always tries so hard. Most bed times he asks to do maths and he does phonics and blending after school too. I don't know if I'm doing what I should be doing

OP posts:

oKoK65 · 22/12/2021 05:05

@gertrudemortimer hi I saw your post so thought I'd answer incase you still need help. You need to speak to school to get to bottom of what their concerns are. You should be having a termly Sen meeting with teacher, senco and any other professionals involved to discuss targets for him. Going on sen register gives school an extra £6000 a year for your child , how is this being spent? Is he having one to one? If school are concerned it's a neuro diversity such as autism it would be school who start referral process. Do you have any concerns? Have you spoken to gp? There's three possibilities here -
1, school have concerns about nd and are starting support process
2, school do not have concerns but feel he would benefit from some extra support
3, school do not have concerns and have put him on Sen register for extra funding (it does happen)

Imitatingdory · 22/12/2021 09:02

Putting DC on the SEN register does not give schools an extra £6k. The notional SEN budget doesn’t work like that. It is not based on individual pupils, but on the overall demographics of the school population. Schools can apply for high needs top up funding if they require additional funding for specific pupils, but this isn’t a given and requires evidence. Or they could apply for an EHCNA, but not all EHCPs have additional funding attached.

Original poster

gertrudemortimer · 22/12/2021 12:15

@oKoK65 thank you for replying that was very informative. He struggles a lot with all aspects of learning which does concern me, we had to do home learning last week and it was very hard going on him. He is my only child so I'm not in the best position to say if there's anything I should be concerned about right now. I raised concerns at the two year check which got pushed away and he does seem to be doing better socially since then. He was late to crawl, walk, speak, and wean. Food is a battle I gave up on years ago, he is fussy about clothing and seams in his clothes but we get on with it and it doesn't cause too much bother where I'd seek help.

I still haven't had any contact from the Senco though I've requested it three times now, I'll be straight on to it when he goes back after Christmas. His learning plan says the first review is due in December so I suppose they'll have to meet me after Christmas?

His learning plan says he gets daily support by the ta/teacher in number flash cards and number intervention, finger gym intervention, handwriting intervention, something about sound pegs and building sentences and 3x weekly cvc words, phase 1 phonics and continue using the cslt tool kit listening and attention/memory games intervention.

Thank you again for taking the time to respond.

OP posts:

oKoK65 · 22/12/2021 13:25

@Imitatingdory

If he's in a LA school the school gets 6k extra towards that child's education if they go on Sen register. That's a standard amount across all schools. They can use that money directly for the child such as classroom support or it can be used towards resources that Sen children may benefit from or things like a lunchtime club. The school can then apply for top up funding that would be used directly for the child. I just wondered what has changed since he went on the sen register. If he has had any additional support/resources since things have changed and if not why not? Hope that makes sense.

Imitatingdory · 22/12/2021 13:54

No, it doesn’t work like that. You need to read up on the Notional SEN budget. Putting a child on the SEN register does not result in an extra £6k of funding. How much a school receives in their Notional SEN budget is devised using a formula that takes several things about the whole school population into account e.g. deprivation, prior attainment and FSM. Schools are often expected to pay for the first £6k of support from their Notional SEN budget. LAs often claim a school must be spending £6k on pupils before an EHCP will be given, but that is a myth.

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