Education provision

This section outlines the support that nurseries, early years providers, schools and colleges are expected to provide for children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disabilities using the funding available to them, WITHOUT the need to request an Education, Health and Care Plan needs assessment.

Nurseries and Early Years providers

Nurseries and early years providers in Gateshead must have arrangements in place in order to identify as early as possible if a child has additional needs and to provide relevant support for them using the setting's resources. You can ask a nursery/early years provider to provide you with information about how they do this or look for it on their website.

In Gateshead, two SENCO's support all early years settings (local, private, voluntary and independent sector, childminders, maintained nurseries and schools) in order to identify SEN and to recommend suitable interventions for children. If a child is not making the expected progress, despite support and intervention being provided from the setting using a graduated approach, the child may be referred to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) panel. If deemed appropriate, support can then be provided by Gateshead's Early Years Assessment and Intervention Team (EYAIT). Children with more complex developmental needs may also be signposted to appropriate services at this stage.

The EYAIT is a commissioned service, funded by Gateshead Council from the High Needs Funding Block and is made up of specialist teachers, Portage workers, teaching assistants. This team offers assessment, intervention, support and review for children who are experiencing significant barriers to their development and learning and for whom specialist intervention is needed. They also support staff working in early years settings by offering advice and modelling appropriate strategies with children.

If, following input from the EYAIT, it is felt that a more detailed assessment is needed, then a child may be referred to the Educational Psychology Service and a request for an EHCP assessment may then be made.

Maintained Schools

All children and young people in mainstream schools and academies should have:

the highest possible expectations and stretching targets set for them so they can achieve their best and are prepared for adulthood
their progress monitored so that any gaps in understanding or barriers to achieving targets are identified quickly
lessons planned so that any barriers to achieving their best are removed and they can take part in the lesson/learning activity
teaching built on what they already know and can understand
different ways of teaching in place so that every child is fully involved in learning which can involve using practical equipment or providing different resources
any concerns raised by themselves or their parents taken seriously.

In order to meet these expectations, schools receive funding which is made up of 3 elements.

Element 1 - also known as the Age Weighted Pupil Unit (AWPU)

This is funding that schools receive for every pupil that is registered with them and is the school's core budget. It is used to support all pupils in the school, including those with SEN. The amount varies in different local authorities (LA) but in Gateshead it is approximately £4,000 per pupil.

Schools are expected to use part of their Element 1 funding to support pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND). This should be used to:

Employ a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) whose role is:
- Ensuring all practitioners at school understand their responsibilities to children with SEND and understand the school's approach to identifying and meeting SEND
- Ensuring that parents and carers are involved and their views inform any action taken
- Advising and supporting colleagues around SEND
- Liaising with professionals outside of the setting to seek specialist help and support where appropriate
Provide administrative support for the SENCo
Provide resources required to differentiate the curriculum including low cost equipment and technical aids
Provide some additional support for children with SEND
Ensure classroom staff can take part in SEND reviews
Hold whole school activities related to the development, implementation and review of the school's SEND Policy

Element 2 - also known as the school's notional SEN budget

This is 'delegated' funding that schools receive to support pupils with SEN. The amount that schools receive is based on a formula that currently includes the number of children who have free school meals and those who aren't making good progress in English and Maths. The government recommends that schools should use this budget to fund up to £6,000 worth of provision for each pupil with SEN.

Schools must use their Element 2 funding on 'SEN provision'. SEN provision is anything that is 'additional to or different from' provision that is made for all pupils. Schools can spend this funding in any way they think is best but they have a duty to identify, assess and make special educational provision for all pupils with SEN in their school. Element 2 funding can be used to provide:

Differentiated curriculum
Additional support from learning support teachers, teaching assistants and/or learning mentors so pupils can work in small groups or with individual support
Resources to support SEND planning and monitoring
Additional resources to support individual needs, for example, equipment and/or adaptations to the school
Enhanced access to ICT for pupils with SEND
Group strategies to promote independent or child-initiated learning
Some specific reinforcement or skill-development activities
Alternative curriculum opportunities at Key Stage 4
Specific inclusion activities and initiatives

Element 2 funding is enough to fund up to 10 hours of 1:1 support from a teaching assistant but the school can also choose to provide a combination of some 1:1 support, some work in small groups and some specific programmes rather than using it all on 1:1 support. The school should discuss this with parents/carers so that they know exactly how their child is being supported in school.

Element 3 - also known as the High Needs Block or top-up funding

The local authority can provide additional funding when a pupil's needs cannot be met by the school's Element 2 budget and this is Element 3 funding. Schools can apply for this funding if they can evidence that a pupil requires more SEN provision than can be provided using their Element 1 and 2 budget.

Pupils assessed as needing Element 3 funding will be issued with an Education, Health and Care Plan. The EHC Plan will be reviewed every year to see whether the pupil's needs have changed and to ensure the right level of support is being provided. Gateshead Council has the responsibility to audit, plan, monitor and review the use of the Local Authority allocated high needs block funding in mainstream schools, special schools, additionally resourced schools and post-16 and alternative provision. Staff from the Council's SEN Team also attend annual review meetings for individual children as appropriate.

Post-16 schools and colleges

Schools and colleges receive an allocation of funding to meet the needs of students with lower level needs, below £6,000. For students with high needs the Local Authority is responsible for providing additional funding.

A high needs student is defined as a young person aged 16-18 who requires additional support costing over £6,000 and any young person aged 19-24 subject to an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan who requires additional support costing over £6,000. Funding for such high needs students, aged 16 to 24, consists of both place funding (Elements 1 and 2 - see below) and top-up funding (Element 3 - see below).

Element 1 is the first of two components known as place funding and is paid by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) to institutions to enable students to study a post-16 course. For maintained schools this funding is given to local authorities as sixth form grant. Element 1 covers students for their basic programme and does not take into account the additional support costs of high needs students.

Element 2 is the second part of place funding and provides the first £6,000 of funding to meet the additional support costs for those classed as 'high needs students'.

Element 3 is the funding required over and above that provided by the place funding (Element 1 and Element 2), to enable a student with high needs to participate in education and learning. The EFA makes an allocation to local authorities for Element 3, through the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). This forms part of their high needs budget. Local authorities then use their high needs budget to pay top-up funding to institutions where assessed that this is required.

More Information

IPSEA Guidance on SEN Funding (opens new window)

You can find more detailed information about how an education provider supports and makes provision for children and young people with SEN and disabilities by looking on their website or by contacting them directly to request this information.

Special and alternative educational provision for children and young people in Gateshead

View the Gateshead Inclusion Standard - A self-evaluation tool to promote inclusive schools (PDF, 880 KB)(opens new window)