Mother in Need Report post Posted September 30, 2005 I have heard made reference to different bands on statements, Band D and F etc, and was wondering if someone could explain what these mean exactly? I am in the process of trying to get my son statemented, and obviously the more I know the better! And the less they'll get away with... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted September 30, 2005 The use of 'banding' and exactly what the bands equate to depend on your LEA. All LEAs should have these 'bands' clearly explained in their SEN policy. This policy is a 'public domain' document, it ought to be on their website - it may be tucked away in a dusty corner but it ought to be there. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LKS Report post Posted September 30, 2005 mother in need if ever you find out please let us know ! I have got a copy of our LEAs sen policy and I can't for the life of me find any info on banding. Speaking from experience of having 2 statemented children, my daughter is on band H. This is the highest level(apparently) that there is in our LEA.At one stage the LEA wanted to drop her to a band G. The school made a huge fuss and told the LEA that this would have a significant impact on their SEN budget. My sons statement on the other hand makes no mention as to what banding he is on. Why do all LEAs operate differently I wonder, isn't it about time that they had a nationwide policy for SEN Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted September 30, 2005 isn't it about time that they had a nationwide policy for SEN We are supposed to, it's called the SEN CoP! The problem is the way the different LEAs interpret the damn thing . Whether this is a deliberate ploy or not, and you'd have to hope - not, is open to debate. What we really need is for the CoP to be mandatory across the country with no interpretation allowed Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mother in Need Report post Posted September 30, 2005 Nope, definitely can't find it and I searched hard and long on the local gov site. The only thing I could find regarding bands was that they are stopping the statements as much as they can... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted September 30, 2005 If you don't want to post your LEA on here, pm me and I'll do some digging for you. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lil_me Report post Posted September 30, 2005 (edited) We have the banding system in Durham where I live, A-F band only E, F and some D's get statements. I can explain it for my area but other areas may do things differently which can be blooming confuzzling for the best of us. Edited September 30, 2005 by lil_me Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hectorshouse Report post Posted October 1, 2005 ###### banding, when I was in cornwall T was on band 4ASD which was up to 15 hours TA support and other little niceties, he was then moved up to 3ASD which is equivalent of 25 hours TA support etc ... Now we're in Devon its point 8 support which means he will get TA support for 4 days a week plus lunchtime support, the remaining day the school have to fund from there school action plus budget (according to the LEA that is ... !) It is a shame that there is no consistency in these obscure bandings, but it is the advantage of forums such as these that we as parents can share our information and hopefully find a way of understanding the different boroughs jargonised bull! HHxx ps Phasmid, I spent ages on the cornwall lea website trying to find their sen policy let alone their banding criteria, gave up in the end .. if it is there and you could find it could you let me know? Am off the check out Devons website and see what theres says ... here's hoping ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted October 1, 2005 (edited) HH, this might be useful for you... Devon SEN info Edited October 1, 2005 by phasmid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hectorshouse Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Thanks phas ... link not working tho ... HHxx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Hmm, that link was working when I checked it, I suspect the problem might be their end. I'll have another look later (I've fiddled with that link now so it won't work!). Meanwhile info on Cornwall: ASD info link to policy pages - scroll down to the information for parents link. SEN info for parents The information you were after ought to be on one of these links. It will just be a case of following the links till you find the right one. If all else fails these are 'public domain' documents, therefore they should supply them to you (they are allowed to request payment to cover the cost of copying but no more than about 5p a sheet). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hectorshouse Report post Posted October 1, 2005 ... your a star as always phasmid HHxx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Try these links for Devon: Inclusion SEN links 3 yr SEN plan - this one might well be worth a good look. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mother in Need Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Phasmid, I'm in Cornwall and went through all those pages and more yesterday, tried again via your links but have only come across the same pages, but nothing re banding or anything tangible about assessments at all (other than the cutting down of them). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hectorshouse Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Mother in need, I have just recently moved from cornwall I'll pm you, I not so sure about the etiquette of discussing LEA's openly on the net ... HHxx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Found this: Special Education If your child has special educational needs his/her school will initially assess and provide for them according to the DfES Code of Practice. If your child has more complex special educational needs than can be provided for by the support available for pupils on the School's Record of Need, the LEA will carry out a statutory assessment in line with the Education Act 1996. If you feel your child has special educational needs you should discuss this with the headteacher of your child's school. If your child is not yet at school, and you are concerned, please contact Special Education at Inny Building, Old County Hall, Truro, TR1 3AY. The Special Education Casework Team can give you detailed information about all aspects of provision for children with special educational needs, including statutory assessments and the Code of Practice. from here. I think you will need to contact the SEN casework team. They should have this policy. If not, they will know who has. The LEA must explain these banding levels to you, they cannot simply say "Your child's is on SEN band A, B, f, X, 1185" etc without quantifying it! They could mean nothing otherwise. Try OFSTED and see what report the whole LEA got for SEN provision. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Dig, dig, dig. looking here Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on top PDF link. Item A.3 mentions banding and this is what it says... What 3. Review all descriptors and bandings ? Form small working group including special school and mainstream headteachers, SENCos and support staff and members of the LEA. Review the effect of descriptors and amend as appropriate ? Head of Finance & Statistics to advise ref existing practice and recommend alternative funding methodology When July 2003 Who MF JM SC PT How Criteria and procedures amended as appropriate. Implement and disseminate to all schools According to this 'draft' document. Their whole funding policy has been reviewed in the last two years. This means they HAVE got a document somewhere with the funding levels that apply to their bandings! Their Head of Finance & Statistics seems to be a good direction to head. The gentleman in this document compiled their offical DfES SEN analytical return in Jan 2004. He might be worth contacting...have a look at the document! This page has contact details you need to track this policy down. I cannot find the damn thing on the net. But the above should get you a copy. If they refuse to let you have one then you will need to contact the DfES and tell them. The last parent I advised to go this route asked for the school for a policy and were refused (again), they then phoned LEA and then the DfES, both of whom rang the school and TOLD them to hand it over while the parent was waiting outside the office hatch . They will tell your LEA to do the same with this policy. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mother in Need Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Wow, thanks Phasmid!!! I am still only on Stage One so don't want to stir up anything at this stage, but it is good to know I can find out when I need it. Surely though, this info should be freely available, one should not have to go through all what you have just told us? I was hoping to have a clearer idea from the start, but it doesn't seem I'll get that. How much support is given on the highest band? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted October 1, 2005 Absolutley it should be freely available. You are entitled to have this information as a member of the public never mind as a parent of a child with SEN. In fact it is amongst the information that LEAs should supply to you when you tell them your child has a dx of any SEN, and likewise if they tell you they suspect an SEN issue. Sadly many don't! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LKS Report post Posted October 2, 2005 Phasmid I once asked our school for a copy of the SEN budget. You will not believe how many people got involved with this request. In the end I got a letter from the chair of governors who told me that ' I don't see what purpose you having this information would serve'. I had to phone the LEA who huffed and puffed and finally told the school that this information should be made available. The COG then told me the info was available on the school web-site, couldn't find it! Finally got a paper copy but I'm not sure everything was on there. This is the same school that didn't think it necessary to copy parents on I.E.Ps. they have only been doing this since April. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mother in Need Report post Posted October 2, 2005 Gosh LKS, doesn't that make you sick I wonder if there is an honest MP out there (do the two words go together?) who might be interested in all that's been said on this thread and would like to take some action ...This surely should all be against every single guideline and many laws? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
helenl53 Report post Posted October 2, 2005 If you would like to see what your school is getting in funding, from all sources, such as average pupil weighted money, money for kids with statements and the general SEN funding, money to fund management (headteacher & ancillary), repairs and maintenance etc Then you need to go to your local council website and type in "Section 52 Budgets" and you should get all this information. The section 52 budgets also spell out where the total eduction budget goes in the lea. It shows all the lea money in and then all the money out to schools, Parent Support Service, Transport, Ed Psychology service etc - oh and not forgetting the catchall "administration" These are required, by law to be published. Happy hunting. HelenL Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
helenl53 Report post Posted October 2, 2005 Sorry, should have been a bit more explicit On the schools pages, you will see that all the schools are listed alphabetically and thre will be information in the columns going across the page. I think the first one is for the figure that is given for each and every child in the school 2nd Page is for the SEN funding, Deprivation funding etc 3rd Page is for cleaning, maintencance funding etc and the fourth page gives some standard funding that each school gets, such as drug awareness funding, sex education etc and also the funding for the management of the school (Headteachers and Governors) and then on this fourth page, it is all totted up so you can see the total given to you school. If you see for example, that your school is given �100,000 in general SEN funding, then you could ask the SEN governor for the accounts to establish where this has been spent. You need to remember that SENCO should be paid from the general budget. There will be someone on this forum who will know what should not be paid for from the SEN budget. I think I have posssibly, been more confusing than a Section 52 Budget! Best wishes HelenL Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
phasmid Report post Posted October 2, 2005 What annoys me the most is that apart from 'Confidential matters' arrising in governors meetings everything is supposed to be a matter of public record - everything! Likewise, the same goes for the vast majority of school and LEA policies (there are, again, certain exceptions such as child protection procedures, but that is understandable). I have, quite litterally, lost count of the number of times I have heard that a school (or an LEA) have refused to allow parents to access things like;SEN ploicies; behaviour and discipline policies etc (these even when they are being used against a child!)...and so I could go on. The ridiculous thing is that schools do not do themselves any favours by acting like this. Most parents want to work with the school. What everyone wants, or should want, is the very best educational provision a child can access. It ought to be the common goal. A good partnership between school and home (SEN problems or not) should be a part an ethos everyone works to in order to achieve that provision. That can only happen if their is openess on both sides. The momment a school refuses to let a pasrent have a copy of a 'public access' document, that tells me one thing - the policy is wrong something to hide, why else would they refuse to let a parent see it? That sets my alarm bells ringing. The response to such an attitude should be; contact the LEA and if they don't help (or they are the problem) the DfES. As I say 1 parent did this after I had advised them to request the behaviour policy. The school refused - so the powers that be made the school hand it over. It shouldn't come to that - ever. But if thats the way a school wants to go they should expect some phone calls... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hectorshouse Report post Posted October 2, 2005 I found this 'strategy and provision for pupils with need on the austistic spectrum' from Devon LEA http://www.devon.gov.uk/asdstrategy.pdf I know its not linked directly to the banding enquiry, but it carries on from Phas's links earlier. HHxx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mother in Need Report post Posted October 6, 2005 HelenL, I can't find much re the Section 52 Budgets. The only thing I could find was that the overall SEN budget for ALL schools in the whole county was only �782,000 for this school year, but nothing re indvidual schools. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
