School Funding for SEN
Local authorities consult their local school’s forum and design their own funding formula. A compulsory factor is the basic entitlement which is a formula based on a sum per pupil in the school.
For children with special educational needs at a mainstream school like Waverley Abbey, local authorities must provide sufficient funding in their delegated budget to enable them to support these children’s needs, up to the cost threshold of £6,000 per child per year. This is called the notional SEN budget. If a child requires further support than this funding, the additional funding required should be met by top-up funding from the Local Authority placing the child at the school. Top-up funding rates are agreed locally.
For Surrey mainstream schools, there is no additional top-up funding for children with SEN, if they are receiving up to the equivalent of 13 hours additional to and different from the ordinarily available provision.
If a child is receiving over 13 hours (13 to 19 hours) of additional to and different from the ordinarily available provision, they may meet the threshold and profile for an EHCP.
The Mainstream School SEND Banding Framework has been recently developed by Surrey County Council to provide a shared understanding for schools, the Local Authority as well as parents/carers in identifying support level required alongside the Ordinarily Available Provision documentation.
There are six bands in the framework with the principle that funding allows a child based on their holistic needs and provision stated in their EHCP rather than depending on hours of support:
| SEN Support | additional needs can be effectively supported within the notional SEN budget available to schools. Most needs here will be met though high-quality teaching with reasonable adjustments and strategies outlines in the Ordinarily Available documentation. |
| Targeted 1 | in addition to the provision expected through SEN Support, additional to or different from SEN Support may be required. Most needs here will be meet within the classroom with adjustments made and access to further adult support in a group or occasionally 1:1. Some needs may require support in unstructured times above and that of their peers. The level of resourcing may exceed what the school can provide from its budget. |
| Targeted 2 | |
| Enhanced 1 | needs require ongoing strategies, interventions and additional SEN support specifically targeted to support needs. Some needs will require highly adapted learning and assessment approaches and may need explicit support in unstructured times. Some needs will likely be met by spending a greater amount of time accessing specific and targeted interventions. This level of resourcing will exceed what the school can provide from its funding. |
| Enhanced 2 | |
| Bespoke | some needs may require a bespoke programme of support and learning that would exceed the levels provided by the enhanced band. These exceptional cases will be considered on a ‘case by case’ basis. |