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This leaflet explains how money is provided to help mainstream schools meet the needs of children with special educational needs. It will be particularly useful for parents whose children receive some support through the MSG (Mainstream Support Group) system.
The LEA gives schools resources for special educational needs in three main ways.
The first of these is the Age Weighted Pupil Unit (AWPU).
AWPUs (Age Weighted Pupil Unit)
All mainstream schools receive a basic amount in their school budget for each pupil. This is called the AWPU. About 80% of each school’s budget is made up of AWPUs.
This includes an amount to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs. All schools need to plan part of their general budget spending to support children with special educational needs.
Funding for School Action
A second level of funding is available to schools through what is called ASEN (Additional Special Educational Needs), or ‘School Action Funding’, in their budget.
Two schools of similar size may vary a lot in how many pupils with special educational needs they have. Around one in five children will have some kind of special educational need at some point in their school lives. The actual number in each school will depend partly on the local area the school serves.
In Nottingham, to make sure that schools with more pupils with special educational needs receive more money, an amount for School Action is included as part of schools’ budgets.
The most effective way of deciding the ASEN for each school is to look at the number of pupils who have free school meals or a clothing allowance. This doesn’t necessarily mean that these are the pupils with special educational needs – it is simply that this has proved to be an effective way of deciding on extra money for schools which regularly have more children with special educational needs.
The ASEN amount can be a few hundred pounds or can be many thousands. It helps schools to plan spending for the kind of learning support they know they will need for their pupils.
Funding for School Action Plus and statemented pupils
Schools will meet the needs of most children with special educational needs using the AWPU and School Action in their budgets.
However, a small number of children have more severe or long-term needs which schools may feel they cannot meet from these two budgets.
Schools can ask for extra funding from the Mainstream Support Group (MSG) for these children. They would usually be children who the school is already providing major individual support for, and would be at School Action Plus or have a statement of their special educational needs. Not all children at School Action Plus receive one-to-one support – they may receive support in groups.
To consider these requests from schools, LEAs have set up local groups of professionals. These groups are called Mainstream Support Groups and are chaired by LEA officers. MSGs include a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) from each local group of schools, and representatives of the Educational Psychology Services, Inclusive Education Service, Behaviour Support Services and a school advisor or inspector.
MSGs have a fixed amount which they can give out to schools in this way. Schools apply for funding by filling in a standard form. Members of the MSGs collect the detailed information about schools and their pupils. MSGs then consider all requests from their local area before deciding how to share out resources for the children in the area who have the highest level of needs.
Schools can use any money they receive to provide Teaching Assistant (TA) time or resources such as equipment they need for individual children or groups of children. Schools must apply for money for ICT equipment from a separate ‘High Cost Equipment’ budget and, if they are successful, must then arrange the support that pupils need.
The MSG panel meets twice a year, in January and in June. The January meeting is the main meeting when the panel allocates funding for the whole financial year. During the June meeting, the panel considers requests for funding for pupils schools didn’t know needed help at the January meeting (children starting primary school or moving to secondary school).
As well as these portions of funding, to enable groups of schools to make a co-ordinated response to children’s special educational needs, the LEA will allocate resources for the group of schools as a whole. The group of schools will then have the responsibility and flexibility to target their resources to meet the needs of pupils identified as a priority across the group. This is called ‘delegated money’.
Every year LEAs look at a sample of allocations to schools from different areas to make sure that MSG’s decisions are consistent.
Other LEA support to mainstream schools
LEAs also support schools in their work with children with special educational needs by employing staff who work with all local schools to provide advice, support and training. These staff teams work in Communication and Interaction, Learning and Cognition, Portage and Early Education Team (PEET), Sensory and Physical and Behaviour Support Services (BSS).
Here are some questions parents sometimes ask about resources to meet special educational needs.
How can I find out how my child’s school uses its budget to support children who need help with their learning?
Information about this and on the school’s Special Educational Needs policy should be included in the Governors’ annual report. The school should send this to all parents, and it should also be available in school.
Can my child get MSG funding without a statement?
Yes. The funding is avaiable for School Action Plus children.
Would my child get more MSG help if he or she had a statement of special educational needs?
No. The MSG system is available for children with exceptional needs whether they have a statement or not. Because decisions are made by a group of professionals who are in touch with local schools, the MSG shares out resources fairly to those children with the highest levels of need, whether they have statements or not.
Once the MSG gives the school extra money for my child, will it stay at the same level?
Not necessarily. Children’s needs change over time. One child may make good progress and need less individual support while others may need more support than they were originally allocated.
Schools are responsible for reviewing pupils’ progress and providing up-to-date information for the MSG meeting each year.
My child’s progress and support is reviewed regularly in school and I contribute to those meetings. Why can decisions affecting my child can be made without me at MSG meetings?
Your child’s school will give the MSG up-to-date information about your child’s progress and his or her Individual Education Plan (IEP). The MSG panel uses this information to focus on your child’s needs, progress and targets for the next year.
Do I have the right to see the MSG request, Individual Pupil Profile (IPP) and IEP for my child?
You may be able to see the information if it is kept on your child’s school record, but not all schools will keep MSG paperwork in a way that parents will understand it.
It would be useful to see your child’s Individual Pupil Profile (IPP).
Does the quality of the written information that schools send to the MSG affect the outcome?
No. Schools use a standard form to provide information.
What can I do if I feel strongly that the MSG is not giving my child’s school enough support?
You can discuss the issues with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator at your child’s school. He or she may have some suggestions. As a parent, it is important that you help to monitor your child’s progress through the next review of their Individual Education Plan.
The review should show whether your child is meeting the targets set in their Individual Education Plan, and so whether they are getting enough support.
This leaflet explains the Nottingham City system of paying for education for children with special educational needs. It is a complicated system and this leaflet gives simple information for parents and tries to explain MSG funding in relation to overall financial support for schools.
Nottingham LEA is committed to reviewing and improving their services for special educational needs and working with parents.
If you have any comments about this leaflet or the MSG system, please contact us at the address shown below.
We work with parents, schools, the LEA and the Voluntary Sector to encourage them all to work together to provide services for children with special educational needs.
Another leaflet you may find useful is
“An Extra Pair of Hands”. This explains how teaching assistants work to support individual children in schools.
We are based in the voluntary sector and are supported by the Family Welfare Association and funded by Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council.
Parent Partnership Service
Suite 5 Clarendon Chambers
32 Clarendon Street
Nottingham NG1 5LN
Unit C
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Annesley Road
Hucknall
NG15 8AY
Phone, fax or minicom: 0115 948 2888
This number is for City and County parents
Email:
enquiries@ppsnotts.org.uk
Website: www.ppsnotts.org.uk
Copyright 1994
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