Exceptional needs funding

[mum22boys]

Hi,

 

Today I found out M was put forward for exceptional needs funding at the school cluster group. They have agreed he has exceptional needs and now his case has to go forward to the district to see if they agree.

 

I am so pleased we have passed the first hurdle. Has anyone had a child been awarded exceptional needs funding and if so how did the process go. Would also be keen to hear from anyone that had their case turned down.

 

Thanks

 

Mum22boys

[caren]

not heard of it sorry but wanted to wish you good luck

[Kathryn]

Not all LEA's operate this system, and those that do have a similar funding policy probably call the process by a different name.

 

Good luck with the second stage. As I'm in the same LEA I'd be keen to hear how you get on.

 

K x

[mrs fussy]

Hi what is exceptional needs funding and what would be the criteria for this does anyone know?

[BusyLizzie100]

Would also be keen to hear from anyone that had their case turned down.

 

Hello, that's us! The school head put DS2's case forward for exceptional needs and he was turned down. Out of 20+ cases that were heard, only three were agreed and none of them were related to autism. One of the criteria, apparently, is that the diagnosis has to be something rare and unusual - autism is just too common!!!

 

We are now in the process of appealing against DS2's newly amended Statement - a rewrite of Parts 2 and 3 - and are seeking an increase in his hours through that route. In any case, we want him moved to a more appropriate setting.

 

I'm assuming, Mum22boys, that you're in the same LEA as me if you're in the same as Kathryn... For others who are not familiar with this set-up, this system is known as 'delegated funding', where the funding for Statements that would normally come straight from County and go straight to school is now 'included' in the school's SEN budget, but is then the school's responsibility to apply the money appropriately. In real terms, many schools have seen their SEN budgets slashed - we are waiting to see if this means they will not be able to provide the support stipulated in Statements... The notion of Exceptional Needs is applied to those children who require more than 15 hours on their Statement, in which case the funding still comes direct from County and is additional to the school's SEN budget.

 

Well done for getting past the first hurdle. You're breaking new ground! Let us know what happens next.

 

Lizzie xx

[carrieq]

Ds was awarded exceptional funding in Jan this year. It was quite a battle to get the Head to agree to put him forward as she has to put the case before the cluster which consists of other Heads and she didn't want to look silly!!!

 

We are in Scotland so system may be different, our authority is one of only a few that operates exceptional funding system.

 

Head had to gather evidence and fill out form to demonstrate ds met criteria which consisted of

 

complex learning needs arising from combination of profound sensory, cognitive, communication impairment, physical disability, challenging or disturbed behaviour;

 

a specialist facility required;

 

curriculum radically different;

 

enhanced level of teacher support/aide contact as consequence of health and safety or likelihood of harm to self or others;

 

require highly specialised resources, facilities or technology which is not ordinarily available for use on a continuous basis.

 

Head filled out a form citing evidence to back up at least 2 of the criteria and this was taken to the panel.

 

As a result of being awarded the funding he moved in August to a specialist base on an assessment placement but the intervening time didn't see any difference to support, I think school were de-mob happy that he would be away.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Carrie

[mum22boys]

Hi, and thanks for your replies - positive and not so positive

 

M's class teacher is the key stage 2 member of staff that goes to the cluster meetings. She was so concerned after having M in her class for just two weeks that she made the decision to apply for exceptional needs funding. This has been based on all events in the classroom (the crawling up and down the carpet, rolling up and down the carpet, refusing to work particually if another child has misbehavied, hitting teachers and children, and running out of school). He has a LSA with him in the morning but he needs more support. She took his case to the cluster meeting and all the schools said he has exceptional needs and agreed his case to go to district. He is now waiting the EP assessment although his teacher believes the EP requesting to see him is not directly linked to the funding. M is the first child his school has taken to cluster meetings so they don't know what to expect, and neither do we. As I understand the meeting takes place after half term and is purely based on the teachers report.

 

They have applied for a full time TA, a specialised company to come in to teach him social skills and money to create a room for him to take himself to when stressed so he doesn't run off and lash out at everyone. We are keeping our fingers crossed and he is lucky.

 

I will keep you all informed.

 

mum22boys

 

ps Lizzie, I am in the same LEA as Kathryn, so will also be in the same as you.

[Kathryn]

Good for the teacher. I think many schools are still finding their way through the system which only came into effect in April.

 

I hope the next stage is successful and your son gets the funding. If not, you can of course go down the statementing route and apply for a statutory assessment. The LEA would like people to believe that this "exceptional needs" process has replaced statementing, which is not the case.

 

K x

[mum22boys]

Kathryn,

 

I think the new system has just confused things with regards to statementing. The teacher decided M needs help NOW. Not in 6 months time if we go down the statementing route. This leaves things hazy if you ask me as if he is sucessful he may be awarded the funding for the entire key stage 2, which in M's case will be just under 4 years. However the school know we want M statemented before year 6 as we want the option of mainstream or special school. I have no idea how things work though if a child has exceptional needs funding. If we go ahead and apply for a statement and he gets less than full time support then does that mean we lose the exc. needs funding and get less support? Do we if he is sucessful leave it until year 5 when we need to start thinking about secondary schools to apply for statutory assessment?

 

This system has made things confusing. I want the option of special school or mainstream later on and really if a child gets exc. needs funding i feel that should give the choice. not just if you have a statement. Hope that makes sense???? If you do know the answer to my question reg statements and exc. needs funding could you please let me know.

 

Thanks. mum22boys

[Kathryn]

Kathryn,

 

I think the new system has just confused things with regards to statementing.

 

You're right there!

 

 

The teacher decided M needs help NOW. Not in 6 months time if we go down the statementing route.

 

The trouble is, the exc needs process, if you take into account the holidays, isn't a lot shorter than the statementing process. It takes an entire term for the case to go through the cluster and district panels and it's unlikely the support would be in place till the term after that..

 

This leaves things hazy if you ask me as if he is sucessful he may be awarded the funding for the entire key stage 2, which in M's case will be just under 4 years. However the school know we want M statemented before year 6 as we want the option of mainstream or special school. I have no idea how things work though if a child has exceptional needs funding. If we go ahead and apply for a statement and he gets less than full time support then does that mean we lose the exc. needs funding and get less support? Do we if he is sucessful leave it until year 5 when we need to start thinking about secondary schools to apply for statutory assessment?

 

The system hasn't been operating long enough to see how it's working in practice, so I can't really answer for sure about what would happen. What is certain is that a statement has legal force whereas an exc. funding arrangement does not, so what's in the statement would take precedence. The funding would come from the same source - but the LEA would be legally obliged to provide it. If a statement included less than full time support, you could appeal this.

 

A statement has built in safeguards and obligations and gives parents the right to appeal and review - whereas the exc needs system does not. Meaning that if the school decide to change or reduce the level of support at any time, there's nothing a parent can do about it. The exc. funding is supposed to last for a whole key stage, but there's no binding agreement and nothing to prevent the budget holders from changing their minds.

 

It sounds as though your school is really supportive and working in full cooperation with you, so that's encouraging and if you can get the full time support and the other provision without a statement - great. But provision will always be less secure than if it was written into a properly detailed statement.

 

What to do if successful.. it's difficult to anticipate what will happen but you could, as you suggest, leave it a couple of years before applying for a statement, (assuming that you remain happy with the level of support in the meantime). But you'll need to leave yourself enough time to go through the whole statementing process, plus possible appeals, and if you are applying for a special school, especially if it's an independent one, you can bank on some LEA opposition along the way!

 

I agree that having two parallel systems has made it (deliberately?)confusing and more (deliberately?) difficult for parents who want to change from mainstream to special school. But take heart! I'm pretty sure there will be many challenges to the funding system which may change things for the better in the long term.

 

Hope that helps and I've not confused things further!

 

K x