“Schools must use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEND gets the support they need.” SEND Code of Practice 2015.
Schools have three sources of funding referred to as ‘Elements’.
Elements 1 and 2 (Schools Block), is funding given directly (delegated funding) to schools to provide extra help for pupils with SEND. It is referred to as Notional SEND Budget and should provide the resource and support required to meet the needs of most pupils with SEND attending the school.
Element 3, (High Needs Block) provides additional funding, known as Top Up funding for individual pupils where the provision required to meet needs is over and above what schools can be expected to make from their delegated funding.
Further details about each element are outlined below.
School also receive funding from the Pupil Premium Grant.
Funding for SEND in Croydon Primary and Secondary Schools |
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What it is? |
What does it fund? |
Element 1 – The Core Budget |
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Element 2 – Notional SEND Budget |
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(This is not necessarily £6000 worth of individual teaching assistant support.)
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Element 3: High Needs Block (Top of Funding) |
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Croydon’s High Needs Block also funds:
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Other sources of funding: Pupil Premium Grant (PPG).
Any school where children are eligible for free school meals will receive ‘pupil premium’ money to spend on improving the rate of progress those children. This is because there is a gap in educational attainment between the group of children receiving free school meals and the majority of children who do not.
Across the country, there is a significant overlap between children eligible for free school meals and having special educational needs.
Schools can choose how to spend their pupil premium money, as they are best placed to identify what would be of most benefit to the children who are eligible. For those children who are eligible for PPG and have SEND, this additional funding might be used to fund wider support wider SEND interventions and resources.
Looked After Children are also eligible for pupil premium funding. Details of how this extra money is used to help each child is detailed in their Personal Education Plans (PEP).