ECHP - funding

[Lauder123]

I spoke to our senco yesterday and she advised that even if we get the ehcp that it will not mean that any additional funding will be available and the school will have to cover it through their usual Sen budget as they do with an iep. I had hoped that we would get more ta 1:1 support at school but senco suggested any 1:1 would be met by the usual class ta - is this correct?

No. The school is expected to fund SEN provision out of its budget up to the first £6000 of cost. Any provision with costs above that level would be funded by the LA. So it depends how much 1:1 is specified in EHCP as to how much it costs etc.

That is what I though and was the whole point of making the application! I am not sure why the school are suggesting otherwise - they advised for further funding the would need to separately apply for exceptional needs funding.

If your child gets say 12 hours of 1:1 support on their ehcp, the 1:1 is supporting only your child during those 12 hours. They cannot be your child's 1:1 and class ta during that time. You need to make sure any 1:1 time is specified and quantified.

I had this problem about two years ago with the senco basically saying "the LA won't fund x,yz" my experience the senco wasn't putting in any effort into getting my sons needs met so I ended up contacting the senior Sen team leader at the council, getting a meeting and having a case for funding sent to panel, which thankfully was agreed. It didn't do much for the relationship with the senco as I went over her head to the council, but it taught me one thing that nobody is going to get you the money, you have to fight for it!!

Oh and yes, my son has funding for a full time 1:1 LSA and they were trying to fob us off with a shared class one (to save them money) but the funding was agreed for MY child because he NEEDS it! I know I'm a bit cynical, but unfortunately you do have to pin down the EHCP to be worded in a way to avoid any other interpretation or school (in our case) takes the mick!

The EHCP is a legally binding document. 1:1 means 1:1 not a LSA in class supporting more than one child including your DS. Whilst I have sympathy with the school and the funding issues that should not be a reason to deny your son the support he is awarded after he has been assessed. If the school fail to provide what is listed in his EHCP then you have grounds to challenge them and ultimately the local authority who remain responsible for ensuring the school provides what is in the EHCP.

You need to make sure the wording in the EHCP is clear. You don't want phrases like "access to 1:1 support" or "consideration should be given to small groups" because these do not define how much or exactly what is being provided. Instead it should say "1:1 support for 20 hours a week provided by a LSA with x amount of experience/qualification" etc, and "support in groups of no more than 3 children for literacy half hour sessions, three times a week" etc.

If the wording is right then the school can not wooly up the provision and you can define yes or no as to whether they are doing what they should be doing and challenge accordingly.

Far too many SENCOs come up with this sort of nonsense. They really ought to be sent for training from an organisation like SOS SEN or IPSEA, because I strongly doubt that they get an accurate picture of the law from LAs.

Thanks everyone for your comments - really helpful xx

I expect what she means is that the school will not get additional funding. If your dc's funding is less than £6K, it is already in the school's budget. It might be, that the additional support in the class is only in there, by using this budget. Of course, they then need to demonstrate how this TA support is benefiting your dc, and not being spread around the class generally. It might be the TA is partly funded by the SEN budget (or is funded between 2 dc or something) - you'd have to ask them to demonstrate to you how your dc is getting whatever funding (s)he is entitled to. Some HTs / School managements teams don't always use all the SEN funding for it's correct purpose, and it gets 'forgotten' how much extra funding the schools got when it all had to be devolved from the LAs.
If the SENCo can't demonstrate, then it would be worth putting in writing a formal request to the SEN/D Governor to ask for the information.

Ds school pay for his 121 at the moment, she they there's 2 morning and afternoon was employed as his 121 and sits with him, and referes other children to other ta or teacher.

Just starting the echp journey...

The thing is how the school funds the support for your dc is not your concern or responsibility any more than how much the headteachers salary is, the salary increase of her class teacher or how much it costs to decorate the toilets.