Criteria for obtaining Element 3 Funding (over £6,000 “top up”)
without an EHC Plan
Please note that this funding will only be given in exceptional circumstances, and the majority of students / pupils needs will be expected to be met within school resources. It only applies to provision, over and above element 2 (£6 000)
The criteria refers to the element 3 of funding around additional needs.
The 3 elements are:
1-AWPU that all students receive and provide day to day resources. These include teacher salaries, SENCo salary, Headteacher salary and within class TA support for all pupils in that class.
2-School provision for the first £6 000 of specialist targeted support
3-Top up from the high needs block for elements above this amount. Normally this will relate to an EHC Plan but in exceptional circumstances will refer to short term support for students who currently do not have an EHC Planor Statement of SEN.
Schools will be expected to be flexible in their use of funding, so that there is both some contingency for new pupils with additional needs, and the flexible use of this during the year
The “top up“, referred to below, will be for students who have significant needs and there is no existing EHC Plan or Statement of SEN. The finance will normally only last for a maximum of 6 months.
Examples where an application may be appropriate are:
- Where the needs occur suddenly in terms of school/ the child. Examples could include: a new to area arrival from a country that does not have EHC Plans or Statements of SEN, but where there are clear needs; a child who has a significant injury, who has a sudden illness, or sudden emotional trauma. If the need is long term requiring high levels of support, an application for a statutory assessment of SEN would be expected. The short term support as part of this criteria could occur whilst this occurs in order to meet the child’s needs
- Short term needs, for instance provision to ensure that school can maintain a pupil in mainstream due to their behaviour. This is to give the school an opportunity to both settle the student and try adaptations to the learning environment to enable their inclusion.
Specific Criteria
The following criteria would need to be demonstrated, although for a new arrival without an EHC Plan or Statement or one with sudden change in circumstances, assessment over time may not be possible. If this is not able to be demonstrated, reasons should be clearly given. The amount of evidence required will not need to be in as much depth as for an application for statutory assessment. However, it will need to be sufficient to demonstrate that the criteria have been met.
Panels will require enough evidence to be able to say if the criteria have been met, or are not applicable.
Criteria 1: Provision
The child/ young person has clear outcomes, based on their and parents aspirations, relevant to the level of need. These have been resourced appropriately from within the totality of resources available to the school/ college
Clear evidence would have to be given that appropriate programmes have occurred over time. In terms of resources the use of AWPU (element 1) and element 2 (schools contributions to additional need) would have to be demonstrated. Please note that element 2 does not include whole school elements of TA/ SENCo support, including reviews, which are part of AWPU. Element 2 would include targeted programmes/ support / resources unique to that child individually or in a group environment. The cost of provision over and above the £6,000 threshold would also need to be demonstrated (element 3). In respect of this a costed provision map would add clarity.
Available support, such as the use of a SERF placement should have been explored where appropriate
Demonstration of the use of element 2 money, pupil premium where appropriate and the outcomes of these will be needed
Criteria 2: Co-ordinated approach
The child/ young person’s needs have been addressed through a coordinated approach, including use of external services. All planning has had the child/ young person and family at the heart in a person centred way.
The degree of this will vary from situation to situation.
- For sudden trauma, such as a road traffic accident, liaison with appropriate medical / educational services (such as a hospital school) should be shown. For new to area students from a country that does not have EHC Plans or Statements of SEN, an assessment of need by the school/ external services and/ or documentation from the former school setting is required.
- In terms of pupils/ students who have not had sudden trauma and have escalating needs evidence of a plan – do – review cycle over time involving external services, and the outcomes of this will be required.
Parent and child/ young person involvement in planning should be evidenced, or reasons given as to why this could not occur.
Criteria 3: Exceptional, Severe and Complex Needs that are Long Term
The child/ young person’s needs are significantly greater than peers of the same age, are long term and require specialist resources or provision to achieve long-term positive outcomes.
For sudden trauma the criteria would not normally refer to a short term illness or broken limb, but is likely to for significant brain injury or sensory loss and longer term physical disability.
Evidence may include NC levels/ academic attainments, such as progression in phonics, examples of behaviour over time, adaptations required in order to enable access to the curriculum.
Evidence will be required in terms of the severity of needs and the provision required to meet these. Predicted time-scales and outcomes would also be needed, including the plans of how support is to be phased out.
An important element in the submission will be the long term outcomes expected of extra support and exit strategies from the use of it within the next 6 months.
Evidence
Any evidence must be accompanied by information concerning the child / young person in terms of:
- Name
- DOB
- Ethnic origin
- Address / telephone number
- Parental details
- Confirmation that the application has been discussed with parents
- School
- Person filling in the form
The enclosed front sheet of the application must be completed, along with submission of supporting evidence
It is anticipated that few new documents will need to be produced and copies of existing ones would provide enough evidence. It is important for those student who have not had a sudden trauma or are new arrivals that a plan- do review cycle over time has been carried out involving external services.
The list of documents below gives examples and the relevance of each element will vary from case to case.
Examples of useful documents could include:
- Costed provision maps
- Attendance records (normally required)
- Record of involvement of children/ young people and parents in the programme
- Record of parent/ child/ young persons’ wishes
- Timetable of resources provided
- External advice from medical sources
- Records from any previous schools/ school history
- External advice from specialist teaching services e.g. SARS/behaviour support and records of the plan- do- review cycle
- External advice from educational psychology and records of the plan-do-review cycle.
- CAF records
- TAC records
- Current academic levels and progress over time, against specialist programmes
- Behaviour records and outcomes of interventions over time
- Other agency involvement not listed above
- Long term outcomes to aim for over the next 6 months and past this
- Access arrangements
Process
The flow diagram below outlines the process
An application should be made to the SEN team at Blackpool Football Club. If a behaviour case this can come via Educational Diversity working in partnership with the school. A decision made at the next monthly SARP meeting, although short term support, where urgent can be arranged in an emergency over and above this until the next meeting.
The funding will be for a maximum of 6 months, when the school will be expected to hold a review, referring to the exit strategies and expected outcomes from the initial submission. A continuation of funding would only continue for up to another 3 months if required and then only if there were clear next steps.