Home schooling with SEN

[firecracker123]

Hi, how does home schooling work with a child with a statement of SEN who is currently in school. He has full time TAs as part of an ABA programme. If I decided to home school him, would he get any of the funding he currently receives through his statement?

Not easily. It is done but nearly always involves a tribunal where you have to prove that No setting can meet needs.

Having said that if the overall cost of HE is significantly less than the Ed provision, your LA 'might' agree to it under the new perceived SEN reform rules which pretend to give parents more of a say.

Is the full time TA at school the only ABA received?

You do get to keep the statement, and it should be reviewed annually the same as if he was in school (some LAs double up AR and EHE monitoring, so it's worth checking what 'meetings' are for). Some LAs will try to persuade parents to give up the statement but it's not a legal requirement.

There is no specific funding for EHE but LAs can be discretionary. They are meant to support children with SNs and disabilities but in the current climate there's not much money to go around, so you're unlikely to get much.

Under new legislation, it's possible to get funding with an EHCP so you could ask for early transition to the new system. It's not easy though - parents have to persuade the LA to name the child's placement as Home Education being the most suitable setting, rather than 'Parents have made their own arrangements' as is the usual phrasing.

Another option would be to apply for Personal Budget/Direct Payments to fund the ABA.

Fiona Nicholson would know more so it's worth contacting her: here

He has ABA school hours and in holidays, all through the statement. I feel the school are not differentiating his work and it is becoming an uphill struggle.

He has ASD and ADHD and is of moderate ability range although with some degree of learning difficulty. We only have either a special school for moderate to severe learning difficulties or a behavioural school neither of which are appropriate. What he really needs is an autism unit attached to a mainstream but the nearest is over an hour away in another county.

I thought you could get the top up element of the funding the school gets through his statement? Which in his case is £10k so would go quite a long way

I'm not sure how the funding works at school level. Fiona would know - I'd contact her.

No top up funding by law. It is discretionary and given via DPs which the LA can refuse on the basis of no reason.