Schools 'unaware' of funding for students with special education needs and disabilities
Schools are potentially missing out on funding to help them support students with special education needs or disabilities (SEND), and are being urged to apply, a committee has heard.
Every year Telford and Wrekin Council distributes £100,000 among schools mainstream schools where an above-average number of pupils have education, health and care plans.
Group accountant Tim Davis told the borough’s Schools Forum it was believed some schools were unaware it was available or thought they could “just cope” with the costs of supporting SEND students.
He said schools should not have to “struggle financially” because they had “done the right thing” by being inclusive of SEND pupils.
A report by Mr Davis, outlining the 2021-22 budget for higher-needs provision, explained that the SEND Innovation Fund “distributes £100,000 to schools with higher numbers of EHCPs than the school demographics would usually be associated with” using a formula that takes into account deprivation, previous attainment and the number of hours covered by the pupils’ plans.
“In 2021-22 we will continue to encourage schools to apply to this fund, with the intention that schools shouldn’t feel they are financially disadvantaged by being as inclusive as they can,” he wrote.
Speaking to the Forum, which is made up of education and childcare representatives, Mr Davis said: “We want the message to be firmly out there that doing the right thing with SEND, being as inclusive as you possibly can and doing your best to support pupils in mainstream schools shouldn’t then lead to a financial hit for the school.
“I think sometimes there has been that feeling that schools who do the right thing end up struggling financially as a result of the cost of the support that is being put in. We’re very keen to prevent that being the case and for schools to feel that is not the case.
“So we are keen for schools to apply to this fund.
“We will, of course, only distribute funding where we think the case merits it, but we would still feel that maybe there are schools out there who do have a strong case but either through a lack of awareness or the sense that ‘we’ll just cope because that’s what we do’ don’t apply.”
