The true cost of inclusion

Schools are being punished financially for supporting students with SEND, says Bill Lord
10th March 2017, 12:00am
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The true cost of inclusion

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archived/true-cost-inclusion

If the publicity surrounding changes to the school funding formula is to be believed, I am fortunate to be in a school that has had its long-term underfunding recognised and is in line to receive an increase that is much larger than the national average.

Am I happy? No. When I compare our budget to those of statistical neighbours, ours still trails behind. This leaves me looking enviously at fellow headteachers in other local authorities (LAs) as we all stagger into what could be one of the toughest times for funding in years. The scrapping of the Education Service Grant - used to provide schools with essential services - along with the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and increases in national insurance and pension contributions mean the financial future for schools isn’t rosy.

Who will suffer? Ultimately, we all will, but one of the main pinch points over coming years will be around SEND provision. Jarlath O’Brien, headteacher of Carwarden House Community School, Surrey, and author of Don’t Send Him In Tomorrow, recently blogged that there was a “perfect storm brewing” for SEND funding due to a triple whammy “of central government policy and financial decisions, and the changing demography of children requiring specialist provision”.

I fear for children with SEND. We are moving towards a situation where government policy will result in schools that have the capacity to develop strong SEND practice being punished for taking in larger numbers of pupils with additional needs. As head of a large primary school, I have seen the support we give increase over recent times as our local special schools have reached capacity. We have a non-classroom-based inclusion leader and an additional needs group for 15 key stage 2 children who need extra support in core lessons. This is expensive but central to our approach of having a positive impact on all classes in KS2.

We should be able to pay for such support through the notional SEND budget. LAs specify the percentage of each income stream into a school to be allocated for SEND support and the government recommends that this is used to pay for up to £6,000 worth of SEND provision to meet a child’s needs. Yet no school business manager I have spoken to has been able to identify this money coming in. And so, last September, I found myself considering the implications of meeting the needs of three children coming from out of county, all of whom would require education healthcare plans (EHCPs). This was in addition to the two students we already needed EHCPs for. Those five children are to be provided for out of our existing budget until we get a decision from the LA about whether they qualify for additional funding.

How many schools are in a similar situation? How many students with SEND will struggle as our budgets are cut? It seems that we are being punished for valuing pupils with SEND. Something needs to be done.

Bill Lord is headteacher of Long Sutton County Primary School, Lincolnshire

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