finleysmaid Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 (edited) just wanted to do a straw poll really as to what funding pre-school, nursery settings are getting for supporting children with additional needs? Edited February 1, 2011 by finleysmaid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SazzJ Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 We get £60 a week and have to apply each term for the funding - only covers the cost of a staff member for 3 days though and we need 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rainyjaney Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 We only get funding for one hour per day and unlikely to get anything at all after March. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devondaisy Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 We get 6 hours per week for a named child. I have a very complex form to fill in soon about how this has helped her. Not looking forward to that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 thanks Sazz your getting £60 more than we are at the moment and i've got two children with sen needs every afternoon! i'm getting a bit cross ...i really want to support these children but i cannot afford the staff they need our borough is saying there is no money but schools get an sen budget wether they have any children with needs or not my little chap in the afternoon cannot be left for a second without a support assistant and the other children are suffering because we just dont have enough hands ...i'm really upset , my setting has been at the front of supporting sen needs in pre-schools for the last 10 years but there has always been financial support Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 thanks everyone ...it took me so long to reply i crossed your posts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SazzJ Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 We get ours through Access Fund - through our disability team. That is the max we can get and it's designed to provide extra support for the child but not one to one support. More needs to be done for SEN children. Can you not get a parent helper in? Will at least give another pair of hands Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have one child that I get the max funded hours for, 15 a week, even though he attends for 33 hours a week, then 2 children who get 5 hours funded support each week, one of them is with us for 55 hours a week the other for 10, better than nothing but rubbish really! I always find that getting the funding is the easy bit, finding the cover is the hardest!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 good idea sazz and something we have resorted to doing before but this chaps behaviour is pretty extreme and it might make his life at pre-school more difficult if parents were to witness it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SazzJ Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 I know that feeling. I'm currently being told how to deal with my child with SEN despite the people telling me having no experience of children with SEN and who have never worked with kids. But go with what you know. Do you have review meetings for them? Or do you get extra advice and support for them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 janny im really interested in your reply...are these children all statemented? it seems quite rare to get so much additional funding . Sazz ...i am getting so upset about sen support...the government want more and more children in mainstream as 'special' schools are so expensive..then they take away all the funding our LA have given us lots of support in the past and thankfully all my staff have lots of sen experience but it now seems to be taking a long time to sort any support out for the children. i have received a report back on one of them today..telling me he needs to go to salt (er doh!)and offering help if i need it in future...otherwise nothing! the other chap had an observation done some weeks ago and i have had nothing since...except being told the money that was offered is not available just as well we are proactive and have set iep's spoken to parents done team around the child(ha ha!...that would be us then and the parents) If i have no replies by next week i may have to raise a caf...very few done in this area so far so might have the desired effect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 Hi finleysmaid, no none of the children are statemented, all are 3 years old. Maybe access to funding depends on where you are in the country and your local LEA? I'm in Oxfordshire and I have to say the EYSEN Team are very good and supportive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 yes janny i'm sure your right ...were not too far from you but no money around here...are you on single funding formula yet? do you get an sen addition for that? i have discovered a lot of boroughs are adding extras that way ( though not ours ...again!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fimbo Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 we are on SFF, we dont get any 'add on's ' for SEN, but if a sen child attends for less than their 15 hours -we are allowed to claim the full 15 hours, as long as we send of copies of any IEP's (as evidance the child has SEN) and the additional money must be used to assist the SEN child (and we have to be able to prove that !) we havent currently any statemented children -so not sure if we do get any extra financial help tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted February 2, 2011 Author Share Posted February 2, 2011 ah fimbo ..i had forgotten that we were able to claim more hours! unfortunately they are both 15 hour children...i might just have to go down a different route, our parish council has helped us out before with a one off payment i might go and sniff that avenue out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted April 22, 2011 Author Share Posted April 22, 2011 just for interest i had a conversation with our local councillor today and had a moan about this...he was really cross and said that his council had put extra money aside to provide for this and for safeguarding ...i responded by saying it was not getting to ground level...he said that if we did not get the funding he wanted to know why and who had made that decision!...so if you are having problems with funding contact your local councillor and see what they say perhaps there is money in the pot after all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 alas my last post on this seems to have come to nothing. so decided i would revist this topic to see if anyone had any advice. I have today accepted another child with ASD difficulties (lovely chap/lovely family) my heart will always say yes but (and this is a big but!) i am really struggling financially to support this decision. My LEA have told me that it is very unlikely i will get any more than 6 hours of additional funding for this young man and yet he needs an inclusion assistant to be with him constantly (he has no verbal communication) uses pecs/ has no danger awareness/ is dangerous with scissors /and bolts at any opportunity....how is everyone else supporting these situations financially? is there anyone else i can go to...would the local autism society be able to help? any ideas welcome i have offered the family 15 hours but Mum really wants full day care! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyMaz Posted September 20, 2011 Share Posted September 20, 2011 Can you try agencies such as Family Friends? I know they offer support in the short term, but it might be worth a try. Have you considered asking for volunteers? I was just looking for something else and came across Windsor and Maidenhead Voluntary Action. They might be able to help you. Their website is here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finleysmaid Posted September 20, 2011 Author Share Posted September 20, 2011 good ideas but the problem really comes in the fact that i will have to allocate an experienced member of staff to this chap (and pay for their 5 sessions) but they will only be able to support one child. It is neither fair on the other children because they lose a practitioner (and the ratios are scewed) or on the child in question because if i am only getting funded for 2 sessions i may only be able to support him for that. It just seems so unfair (and schools get an sen budget....not enough...but they do get one...we get nothing ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 21, 2011 Share Posted September 21, 2011 Oh finleysmaid you sound exactly the same as my pre-school setting. We have two children with SEN (who ideally need one to one), both in all day every day but there are no funds to pay for this (charity committee run). Staff are stressed, children missing out, its all a nightmare. Add onto that the CAF meetings, safeguarding meetings that manager goes on too. She is included in ratio but struggles to make it into the room some days. Its just not fair. We too have been told that there is very little funding..think we currently get 2 hours for each per day. During this time they get the required one to one but then after that its down to other ratioed staff. You really have to watch these children all the time which is difficult when there are 2 staff with 16 children as both children with SEN are included in the 1:8 ratio. The committee say there just isnt any money to fund getting extra staff in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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