Don't understand funding changes for SEN in primary schools

[ljc7]

We live in Wales and my son has a statement that stipulates 27.5 hours per week ie full time support. I've heard of no funding changes in Wales. But we want to move across the border to England (will be Cheshire West and Chester). And any schools that I approach seem very reluctant because they are worse off the more statemented children they have. I have found a fab but very small school, but they are worried that they won't be able to afford him. I've read elsewhere that if the statement is for over 25 hours per week the LA has to fully fund. Does anyone know where I stand here?

Thanks

From April the school will have to fund first £6000 of any statement. Anything over that LA will top up. Please notify MP and Ipsea as these stories need to get known about nationally.

Ljc, the funding varies from LA to LA. Some have passed more devolved money to the schools' own budgets, out of which they have to fund their own TAs for statements. So some LAs are saying school has to fund the first 20 hours, the school have already had extra funding given them directly to fund that. Trouble is that money isn't ring fenced for SEN so schools can spend it on laptops or French lessons or anything that takes their fancy.

In my LA the primary schools only have to fund the first 10 hours so less has been given to them, more kept by the LA. The LA would fund the rest.

I think it's only in some LAs that they fully fund over 25 hours.

TBH, it shouldn't really be your concern, how it's funded. That's the school and LA's problem. If you move LAs the new LA will usually honour the statement only until they have done their own assessment, which may change the provision, reduce or increase (unlikely) or with such a large number of hours may prefer to use a SS if they have places available. Have you talked to the new LA?

Agnes, crossed. Is that a national policy?

"And any schools that I approach seem very reluctant because they are worse off the more statemented children they have."

They are worse off in the sense that the money they got for SN anyway actually has to be spent on SN

Too true, lougle.

Lougle has hit the nail on the head there.

They are actually no worse off, but are being forced to use their SEN budgets to support statemented children - which of course they don't like at all. If they don't have any statemented children they can spend their SEN budget on buying pretty hanging baskets to decorate the school premises - if they so wish.

I've got recent experience of this since my DD is due to start school in September. Her proposed statement is for 32.5 hours and it stipulates that the school is to fund the first 12.5 hours and the LA will fund the other 20. This is in an LA where schools were previously expected only to fund the first 5 hours.

The HT of the school has told me that based on the budget they've seen for the forthcoming year they actually have less money overall, not more. I don't know if that's because the LA hasn't yet got their heads around the fact that they should be devolving more £ into the SEN pot or what.

But, based on what the HT has seen so far re next year's budget, they're planning to re-jig how they use LSAs in the rest of the school in order to ensure that they can have someone assigned to my DD all the time. This is a single form entry village school in an area that has lost out on the deprivation/high incidence of lower level SEN parts of the schools funding formula.

I've definitely been given the impression that the school has not been given extra funding into its SEN pot this year although, as I say, it could be the LA just hasn't got its act together yet.

I have thought as I've been going through the process of choosing a school that if my DD wasn't my younger child and we were going into schools cold without the benefit of having a sibling already at the school, then we'd have found it far more difficult to get her accepted willingly into a MS setting.

Arguably, if my DD is taking existing LSA time away from other children then her presence in that school could be seen as detrimental to the education of other children in the school and I worry that this is an argument that some schools may try to pull in the future.

Ljc there's definitely the option in the new funding arrangements for schools to apply for top-up funding from the LA if they have more high-needs children on their role - not sure of the criteria though. Good luck with your move.

Thanks for your replies. I just don't know what to do...on so many levels we want to move to England, esp as DS1 is now yr5 and we want to move before year 7. But at the moment, statements and budgets haven't been mentioned in Wales. I think that the LA funds the lot. I agree that although I've never thought that his presence would be detrimental to a school in that he's very quiet and gentle, that the fact that he would potentially deprive others of LSA time might be considered to be so. The school that we're looking at, I have a strong feeling that they give ALL their SEN budget to the children with SN's. I was so hugely impressed, and I've both experienced and seen some awful schools. Oh what do I do???? Want to put our house on the market, but equally don't want to ruin my boys' educations!

....might try parent partnership...

Every child in a school deprives the others of a little bit of teacher / TA / headteacher / computer / PE equipment / library books etc.

I am a governor in a school in Wales, and our children who are statemented are funded by the school for the first X hours, and then additional funding from the LA.

will there be any change to how children are funded in independent SS? Presumably the LA pay the full amount?

As far as I'm aware, corny, the changes relate to the funding formulas, so in theory independent placements will be unaffected.

thanks lougle