SEN and change to academy status. Good, bad or indifferent?

[beautifulgirls]

DD#1 (speech issues, possible Aspergers, ?APD) is in year 1 at a mainstream infant school, linked to a separate junior school. Statementing process underway but currently on school action plus. Today we have been sent home a letter suggesting that the school is considering applying for academy status with the junior school and another smaller local primary school. They will remain separate schools as far as I can make out but presume are looking to share some skills/staff etc to try and make the funding go further in the long run.

I have read a few general threads about changes to academy status but don't really have the answers I want to find with relation to SEN provision in academy schools. Presumably with a (decent) statement then SEN provision is protected still. What happens though about SEN not accounted for in a statement and for those on SA or SA+?

I would really appreciate any opinions both for and against the change to academy status and any personal experiences good or bad with SEN in a recently converted academy.

There is absolutely no change to the law with regards to SEN if the school converts to an academy.

For some reason it is mentioned heaps on MN but it is all unfounded.

It is true that some academies are as bad with SEN as non academies :). And this is where the rumour started. One school which happened to be an academy and acted illegally wrt SEN provision.

So really, really don't worry about it. The same as true for academies as for maintained schools - it is mostly about how good the HT is.

Schools don't really have many options about converting. At the moment for most schools it's the lesser of two evils.

Oh, and all the SEN support like EPs, ASD team, SALT etc still comes from the LEA when you convert.

It's things like payroll and catering and ICT support which will change.....

Ds's secondary school is an academy but the ASD unit that ds attends attached to the mainstream continues to be maintained and under LA control.The school negotiated with the LA so as to ensure the provision for the current pupils and the future pupils was safe guarded.
I suppose seeing as the LA will be allocating the pupils and they only allocate pupils with the highest needs then it is only right that the unit receives sufficient funding to meet their needs.

That is good news - thanks Indigo and asdx2. I know the school seems to be in support of changing so it is probably a done deal but pleased to hear that there is likely to be little or no impact on SEN provision. We are lucky in most ways with the support DD gets though school and I do see one or two things differently recently. Hopefully if we can get a statement in place that should address that anyway.

I wish I could share your optimism Indigo, but I do think SEN provision will be negatively affected by schools becoming Academies.

SEN support services may remain under LA control, as may Special schools/units etc, you don't have to look at many threads on this site to discover these services are difficult enough to access or gain provision from at the moment.

LEA's apparently top slice between 2 and 10% off a schools budget, a portion of which goes towards funding these services. With school's increasingly being pointed in the direction of Academy status the number of schools contributing towards LEA funds are reduced, yet the number of Special Schools/units will be the same and will require a similar amount of funding. Where is that money going to come from? What will happen to these Special Schools/units in the long term?

Personally when I read about Academies in conjunction with the Green Paper on SEND it worries me.

The LEA will have the same money to spend on SEN as they do now. My school's becoming an academy and we have discussed all of this.

The diff will be that an academy can spend their money however they like, and could in fact chose to use private Ed Psychs on top of the very limited amount of EP time they currently get.

I could see some schools choosing to do this, for kids they are really struggling with. Because schools too are unhappy with how little help SEN help they get from the LEA.

It really depends how good or bad your LEA is as to whether or not it's a good idea to convert to an academy. How much money they waste and what support they provide. Our LEA is truly dreadful and the only sensible decision round here is to convert. All of the secondary schools have already done so.

In some LEAs no one is converting. Because the LEA is good.

my sons secondary school is just going through accademy status and at same time starting a ASD unit at the school so hopefully a good thing but i think time will tell, my DS (ASD) middle school had to pay for their ed psy and so my sons sessions very abruptly ended with no report available either our LEA as often they are is truly dreadful so can it get any worse im not so sure its a case of its as how long is a piece of string