Anyone an expert on Early Years SEN funding? Need some help.

[Hangingbellyofbabylon]

DD is 3 at the end of March and about to start pre-school. Until now she has been in a Surestart nursery two sessions a week and they have provided her with 1-to-1 support from their own funding. We were told that to secure funding before the age of 3 is really hard but 'don't worry' as when she will be 3 there will be funding through the Early Years Provision. Well, we are now 6 weeks away from her starting pre-school and I have been told they are 'not sure' if they will be able to provide 1-to-1 or indeed any support at all. The pre-school are lovely and utterly supportive and are really worried about how they will ensure DD's health and safety if she does not have 1-to-1 support.

Reasons dd needs it:
-she has cerebral palsy - cannot stand or walk unaided at all.
-uses a walking frame so will need assistance to get around

• needs specilist seating and help getting in and out of it.
• needs help to access play equipment and toys as well as reminding to use both hands
• needs supervision when sitting on the floor as she sits in the 'w' position.
• is trying to toilet train but cannot pull down trousers etc or access toilet without adult help. She also can't wash her hands without help.
• gets tired very easily and loses balance resulting in trips and falls.

Am I going mad or that sound like a child who DOES need support?

I need to know what are the criteria for deciding who gets support? where does the funding come from? My portage worker has told me that at this stage a statement is not needed in order to get support but we are now trying to start the process as we know it will take ages and she needs it in place before starting primary school.

Any help much appreciated.

Sounds completely appropriate that she has additional support. It also sounds like she will need the involvement of outside professionals to ensure that her needs of met (e.g. OT for suitable seating), advisory teachers for physical impairment (if they have these in your area) etc.

I'm afraid I'm not sure who she will get funding from. I imagine the criteria for support and the group that awards funding will be different in each local authority. However, most local authorities have a group called Parent Partnership which provide information to parents of children with special educational needs about how to get suitable support. If you contact them, they should be able to help. You should also be able to get information from the SENCO (special needs co-ordinator) at your daughters new pre-school.

Portage tried to put me off getting a statement too, for various spurious reasons. Send off a letter now to the LEA Head of SEN and say "I am requesting a statutory assessment of my DD for SEN, under the 1996 Education Act". Then lay out her problems, just as you did above. If she starts school at 4, she will of course need a 1-to-1 and the statementing process can be long and arduous. IMHO the early years provision stuff is a con - a way of trying to give support to SEN kids on the cheap. Try IPSEA phone lines (keep trying, they are often engaged but you get through in the end) for more detailed legal advice. But don't let them fob you off - I was told so much nonsense by portage and I was naively thinking they loved my little boy (well, they might have done, but their boss is the LEA and the LEA want to save money first and foremost). Good luck!

Here in Hampshire, it is dealt with by Children's services. They have an Area Inclusion Co-ordinator, who visits and assesses children in the setting, and advise on whether the child requires Early Years Action (i.e. the preschool need to do x, y, & z to help the child) or Early Years Action Plus (x, y, z plus help from outside agencies), and within that they can apply for funding for extra support.

In Hampshire there are 3 rates, I believe:

'Standard' - £8.75 per session to provide funding to enable a child with SEN to access mainstream pre-school.

'Enhanced' - about £12 per session, I think.

'Double' - which I have been told is for children with the most serious needs, such as being completely unable to support themselves, require feeding etc.

DD was assessed in October '08 at 2.10, and given Standard funding until she starts school. But the preschool and the AIC both said she needed 1:1. At first they topped up the funding out of pre-school's own budget to provide full 1:1, but they couldn't afford to do this. So recently they cut her 1:1 time, without telling me, and suddenly she came home with hardly any paintings, I was getting called in because she had had accidents, she was having melt-downs when I came to collect her, etc.

She has been reassessed in March, and the Area Inclusion Co-ordinator has gone back to Children's services and is applying for Enhanced funding for DD, so that she can have the full 1:1 she requires.

She has GDD and no sense of danger, and can't join in group activities without support.

I would perhaps phone your local education authority and ask to speak to someone from early years, to get a feel for what happens in your area.

apply for a statement of special educational needs,
use the points you have stated in your post to outline the extra help your child needs in comparison to her peer group.
please do not be fobbed off by anyone saying that statements are not available at this age-completely untrue
check out the ipsea website for more help or shout out here for attilathemeerkat(or whatever she is called at the mo)she knows her stuff about sen, i only know a little but have fought for my child and continue to do so as the lea are a cheap skate organisation that put pennies before the needs of our children

do not allow any professionals request your statement you must do this yourself as you have grounds to appeal if they refuse, professionals do not, plus you know that it is done and mark the date on the calendar as there is a strict timeline for your lea to follow(and many don't)

As Chatee has said put in the request for the Statement asap to the LEA in question and do not take the, "no she does not need one" from the professionals.

IPSEA are very good at the minefield that can be the statementing process and have model letters you can use:-

www.ipsea.org.uk

You will need to write to the Chief Education Officer at the LEA and give them six weeks to reply (mark that date on your calendar).

Many LEA's have now gone down the devolved funding route i.e they give money to the schools and say to them, "you sort this out". Problem is as well that without a statement in place the support given is not legally binding and can be taken away - as happened in Lou's case. Feel for the children who need a Statement in Hampshire - they are being short changed here. Its a "service" run on the cheap run by someone other than the LEA who should be doing this anyway. Statements have not been abolished and are still issued. There is information on IPSEA's website as well about the problems that devolved funding schemes can cause children.

(Have been known as AttilatheMeerkat for some years now on these pages).

Attila