statement funding.

[reuby2]

I have a friend whose daughter already has a statement for 12 hours a week she is classed as educationally disabled but she is also about to undergo the dx process for autism.

Next year she changes schools to the junior school and she was concerned how her child would cope. The sen says that she doesn't think she will cope and they now have to consider a special school.

 

The mum in question popped into the school that her daughter would have been going to and the head teacher (who used to run the local special school but now has changed to mainstream,this is his 1st year) tried to push that she go into the special school because he said that if this girl has a statement for 12 hours then that will take up a big chunk of the T.A time and if the girl doesn't go there then the teachers assistant can help many more children. I think this stinks, the mum is aware that she can't be denied a place because of her daughters difficulties however I thought that the lea funded according to the statements in the school?

 

Can anyone shed any light on this please.

[Suze]

............this doesnt make sense..........if this young girl is statemented for 12 hrs these will be paid directly to the TA from the LEA , the school does,nt usually get the money as it were.If she isn,t statemented but gets 12hrs the school must be paying for this out of their own sen budget.For example my son has 12hrs and an lsa for those hours.If my son was,nt at the school neither would his lsa as she is funded directly by the lea not the school............ am I making any sense ........I,ve confused myself...........hope I,ve got my facts right.

[reuby2]

I don't know how it works but the head tried to dissuade her from sending her child there as they haven't the resources (e.g the TA) and that the T.A could be helping the other kids instead.This little girl already has a statement and also at the moment at primary school she has a helper for this time to basically stop her from hurting the other kids. This Mum also mentioned that the school grounds are open (no gate at one side just a barrier for cars and the gates open at the front) and that the little girl takes every oppurtunity to run off and how would they cope with that ?she would need someone dedicated to watch her at playtimes and dinner.. he said that would be a problem and that they couldn't do it.

 

Obviously they can't stop her going but he is really trying to persuade her to go for the special school option.....the only problem is she has been to look at the local special school and the autism group aren't actually learning any lessons, wheras at the moment the girl has a reading book twice a week etc.. at the special school they don't do any of that!!!!!!!!!

 

Thanks for answering Suze, I find it all very confusing and I haven't even applied for a statement yet!!!!!!!

[Kazzen161]

Different counties do funding differently. In our County there would be a little extra money for her daughter, whether she had a statement or not. The 12 hours woudl come from the devolved SEN funding, which is supposed to cover LSA hours, but usually doesn't. The Head has NO RIGHT to lay this guilt trip on her - it is not up to her how to fund the LSA hours. Is there another mainstream school that she coudl go to instead, as this one certainly don't seem to want her.

 

Karen

[Zemanski]

most LEAs now delegate almost all the funding to schools and schools employ and pay for the LSAs.

 

there is usually a formula for working out what schools get at each level - school action, school action plus and statements. Most statements are now funded with the same formula used for SA+.

 

The formula does not usually cover all the costs - it is extra on top of the main SEN budget and schools are expected to pay for some of the provision from the main budget - this is why the school may be reluctant to cooperate; they can see a child who may need considerable support (already looking at extras like the playground support although this could be from her 12 hours giving her less cover in the classroom but then playtimes are usually the most stressful and challenging times for AS kids so maybe that would be a good use of some of the 12 hours) and some of that will probably need to come from their general budget which is not easy when you've already spent it all (we are now well into the financial year).

 

However that is not the mum's problem, it is the school's and the head should not be using it to make a parent feel guilty or to discourage them but should be getting on to the LEA to give extra to cover unexpected SEN costs so that they can meet her needs.

 

unfortunately the LEA will not be making it easy for the head to do that either but it is still not the mum's concern. The statement must be met regardless of where the funding comes from and that is the LEAs responsibility.

 

The mum could try complaining to the LEA but first I think she should be sure this school really is the one she wants - be wary when people are reluctant, it usually means they either know nothing at all about AS or they have some misguided preconceptions that may be hard to shift.

 

Zemanski

[Hectorshouse]

The mum could try complaining to the LEA but first I think she should be sure this school really is the one she wants - be wary when people are reluctant, it usually means they either know nothing at all about AS or they have some misguided preconceptions that may be hard to shift.

I'm with Z on this one, is this 'really' the school she wants her child to attend ...?

 

I would be extremely wary of anyone who was as obtuse as this HT, if he feels the need to make excuses such as these then there could well be problems ahead, what other schools are available locally? what about independent schools? (a battle I know but a lot of parents get the LEA's to cough up the dosh if the right pressure is put on them, we considered it for T, but he hated the school so that was that .... saved me a battle and an expensive bill for uniform that he hated, and plus he now love where he is .. sorry I digress )

 

If you can get the HT to confirm that he feels that placement is inappropriate (which I doubt cos of inclusion bull sh*t) then this could help the parents with the LEA ... sorry rambling a bit this morning.

 

HHxx

[mossgrove]

In our LEA area (and I suspect many others are similar) the first 10 hours worth of LSA support is paid for from the schools SEN Budget, therefore they are techniocally correct in the sense the mainstream primary would be meeting the cost of the LEA time.

BUT!

 

The head of the proposed junior school is bang out of order on more levels that I can count.

 

The schools budgets are not a matter for the parents. Full stop. End of discussion.

 

Your friend should concern herself only with the needs of her child. EVERYTHING else is for the school to worry about. She should politely but formly decline to discuss the headmasters budgetary issues with him.

 

There is an absolute and watertight legal position that a school cannot refuse admission to a child with SEN for resource reasons. The headmaster should be reported to the LEA for his remarks. He should also be asked to put his concerns in writing as he may well change his tune very quickly as he will get his *rse kicked from here to next week if he put them in a letter that reached the LEA (and he will know it!)

 

Back to budgets for a second, the Head has a budget for SEN provision. It will be enough to fund some TA support for children SEN. What he is quite blatantly and openly saying is he wants to continue to spend the SEN money on giving additional support to NT children, i.e. he would rather not have SEN chldren at all as they cost money and get in the way.

 

It is a very scary thought that a man like this used to run a Special School. Maybe that is why he is no longer running one!

 

A good first step would be to write to the headmaster (Copied to the chair of Governors and the LEA) asking him to clarify if he feels the school would be able to meet your daughters needs and if not, why not?

 

I agree with everyone else that I wouldn't want to send my child to any school he was in charge of, but he shouldn't be running a school at all with attitudes like his, so he needs to be challenged.

 

Meanwhile, she should arrange to visit her local special school (Just give them a rung) and make her own mind up about them too.

 

Round about year 3 is a difficult time for Autistic children in mainstream schools. Our son did not cope well in year 2 and would have had a breakdown by now had we not moved him to Special School. So in a sense the headmaster may be right, but for all the wrong reasons.

 

 

Simon

[reuby2]

Thanks everyone for your replies, this school is the one that my own son (asd) but no statement (Haven't gone down that road yet as only recently found out.) is also due to go to next year. I was told by our speech therapist that this new head would be fine and that he had lots of experience of special needs kids. I hope my son is okay there!!!!

[pumpkinpie]

In our area the sen budgets have been devolved for the first 12 hour after that there is a additional budget their hope is to make it so complicated parents wont apply for a statement for effectively no funding. However the statement does offer some protection for the child, so I would advice getting one.

I would agree with writing a letter and copying it to the COG these are important issues and his attitude regarding the insecure playground is ridiculous. I had to write and it took my child escaping several times before they put gates on the school grrounds.