Agenda item

Jane Seymour introduced the report (Agenda Item 11), which proposed an alternative method of funding children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in the Local Authority’s maintained nursery schools, Victoria Park Nursery and Hungerford Nursery.

Jane Seymour reported that the two maintained nursery schools had historically attracted a high level of children with SEND and had developed a positive reputation for this. Both nurseries were now in a position where around 28 percent on roll were children with SEND, which was significantly greater than the percentage of children with SEND in maintained primary and secondary schools, which averaged out at 17 percent.

The nurseries did not receive a dedicated SEN budget. They could request Education Health and Care Assessments however, this process took time and the child had often moved on by the time an EHCP was issued. The only way the nurseries could attract funding for SEND support was to approach the local authority’s SEND panel for each child individually. This consisted of a bureaucratic process and created a lot of work for the nurseries, which could cause a delay in the funding being received and the speed in which support could be put in place. This also created a volatile budget and made it difficult for the settings to hold on to experienced members of staff.

Given that the level of children with SEND had been static at the two nurseries over the years it was proposed that they move to a different model of funding and that a sum of money should be allocated to each nursery in the next financial year, based on historical spend.

The Chair invited the Forum to consider the recommendation. It was proposed and seconded that the Forum should agree the recommendation set out in 2.1. At the vote the motion was carried.

RESOLVED that the Schools Forum agreed the new proposed method of funding children with SEND at Victoria Park and Hungerford Nursery Schools.  

(Ant Sizer arrived at 5.45pm)