SPOTLIGHT ON SEND


Schools have adapted – but what about those learners with


additional needs? In her regular column for Education Today this month, independent Specialist Teacher and Assessor JOANNE GLADDERS looks at the impact coronavirus has had on schools and practitioners, and asks what effect the ever- changing learning landscape is having on learners who need additional support?


As this term has progressed schools have had to adapt to an ever- changing environment. Remote learning is a common occurrence in the teaching and learning of all learners now. This month I ask us to consider the impact of this ever-changing landscape on those young people we work with who have additional needs. At the start of the term we were asked to plan a ‘recovery


curriculum’ to enable our learners to make up for the lost six months of learning. For those with additional needs this becomes a huge mountain to climb, even before factoring in their own needs prior to the pandemic. For teachers, this also becomes a nightmare of a juggling act, tailoring the needs of all learners within the ever- changing landscape. From my own experiences visiting many schools I can only congratulate you, as what I am seeing is settled learners who are keen to learn! Clearly the extreme effort and work is paying off for the young people in your care. However, on the other side of the coin are those learners with


additional needs, many of whom are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated by their difficulties. They see the gulf between them and their peers widening and, within the limitations of ‘bubbles’, there are no opportunities for the targeted intervention groups which many of these young people would have benefited from. As you read this you too are probably thinking “I feel overwhelmed and frustrated with it all as well!” So how can we support these young people? More important


than anything else is, I believe, that you should simply be there for them, making sure (despite all the pressures on your time which is the lot of every teacher these days) that you are easily accessible to discuss their feelings and frustrations. The use of short, sharp interventions such as Precision Teaching to target specific areas with an immediate response will aid in building self-esteem. Opportunities for a focus on Mindfulness as well can also help boost self-esteem and help our learners to refocus. Sometimes it can be so easy to get wrapped up in the enormous task we face each day that we lose sight of what we should be focusing on. And finally, what about all of you, the teachers who are


managing this change and contending with all the upheaval and uncertainty with such amazing resilience and fortitude? I would ask you to consider what action points you can put in to allow time for yourself, to take stock of all your achievements this term and replenish your own self-esteem.


Finding the money to provide proper SEND teaching


In her regular column for Education Today this month, KATE SARGINSON, Deputy Headteacher and SENCO, examines the complex and frustrating issue of SEND funding.


The SEND Code of Practice says: “It is for schools, as part of their normal budget planning, to determine their approach to using their resources to support the progress of pupils with SEN. The SENCO, Headteacher and governing body or proprietor should establish a clear picture of the resources that are available to the school.” (6.97) All schools are expected to make effective use of their budgets and making provision for pupils with SEND can be costly. The SEND part of the school’s income is known as the “notional” SEN budget. It is not specifically linked to the school’s actual numbers of children with SEND. In July, the government published its national funding formulae (NFF) for schools and high needs, and stated that there was ‘significant additional funding for children with special educational needs and disabilities’. Element one funding for this academic year has increased by 4%, and high needs funding (also referred to as element 3) has been increased by 10%, equating to a £730 million rise; bringing the high needs budget to total over £8 billion. This might sound like a healthy figure, but schools across the UK repeat the same frustrating cries; that accessing additional funding for pupils with SEND is complex, elongated and inconsistent across different local authorities.


Applying for high needs funding is conditional on schools providing evidence of already spending £6,000 per pupil from the notional SEN budget. As a special school placement is funded at approx. £10,000 per pupil, compared to a mainstream school pupils each representing approx. £4,000, the second figure is subtracted from the first, resulting in the £6,000 difference. Schools are expected therefore, to meet the needs of pupils with low-cost, high-incidence SEN with the resources they are given in the notional budget. The vast majority of children with SEND will have their needs met without within this £6000. When it surpasses this sum, schools can approach the local authority to request additional money.


Element 3 funding is ring-fenced to an individual applicant. Making applications for funding will involve proving the initial £6000 spend through creating costed provision maps, detailing interventions and their outcomes, the purchase of resources and allocation of staff time to specifically support that individual. Being able to do this can be challenging; it can be time consuming and difficult to prove specific spending on an individual when a lot of school’s approaches are shared. There is an assumption of spending money that it feels schools simply doesn’t have, to prove that it is needed. A balance also needs to be struck to maintain positivity and inclusion, whilst also showing that what has been done to help a child hasn’t worked to try and that additional finances are essential to meet the need.


Local authorities have a variety of procedures, formats and deadlines for applying for Element 3 funding. When writing EHCPs, some local authorities automatically apply additional funding, whereas others leave it to the school to make an application for the money they need. This can be a minefield for SENCOs, particularly those whose school is located where the cohort resides in different local authorities and subject to varied systems.


December 2020 www.education-today.co.uk 19


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44