A new support group, Funding & dates for your diary 11th March 2016 Dear All We’ve had a very busy week, and expect to bring you firm news of Parent Carer Needs Assessments (PCNAs) very soon...
The right to ordinary lives… SEND Family Voices free workshop with barrister Steve Broach a great success. 73 parents and 22 professionals in one room. We’ve had lots of really positive feedback… “Just to say thank you so much for organising such an informative and interesting day. It was really useful to have the SEN team there as well [at lunchtime]. I would welcome another talk next year.” "It is really great to have a whole view of a complex system. " "Fantastically useful conference brilliantly organised. Well done to the team. " We have the slides and are busy typing up our collective notes – these will be sent to all attendees and are available upon request for anyone else who would like a copy. Steve mentioned two resources, both are available on-line: Disabled children: a legal handbook “an authoritative yet accessible guide to the legal rights of disabled children and their families in England and Wales.” http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/11566 …and this Problem Solving Toolkit from Cerebra. It’s an accessible toolkit, 36 pages and well worth a look. “This toolkit aims to support disabled people and carers, as well as their families and advisers, who are encountering difficulties with the statutory agencies in relation to the provision of health, social care and education support services. This toolkit aims to unpick these problems and to develop effective strategies for resolving them.” http://w3.cerebra.org.uk/help-and-information/guides-for-parents/problem-solving-toolkit/
Funding – take part in the debate… On March 7th, this statement came from the Department for Education: "Today the Government has launched the first stage of its consultation on national funding formulae for high needs and schools, and on other high needs funding reforms.”
What does this mean? At the moment Local Authorities (in our case Achieving for Children) are funded according to how they have spent money on SEND in the past. It’s an unequal system as one authority may receive more money than another, despite having fewer children with high needs. The consultation proposes to change this using a complex formula. No changes are proposed to the balance of funding between schools and high needs; it’s not about spending more on SEND, it’s about how the money is spread so that it gets to young people who need it in a way that is fairer.