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What kind of information do you want?

Posted by
Robbie de Santos

on 15th January 2010

at 13:18

Hello everyone,

 

Yes, it's me again, asking you lots of questions. Today's topic is...information about schools and about pupils. The context is that the Government are trying to improve the information that schools and local authorities provide parents about schools, as well as improving the information that parents receive from schools about their children.

 

  • How easy have you found it to get the information about schools that is most helpful to you as the parent of a child with autism - either from your local authority or from the schools themselves?

 

  • Have you found prospectuses useful?

 

  • What information would you want to see that would help you decide whether it would be suitable for your child with autism? Information about their SEN policy, exclusions policy or use of force policy were some things we thought of, but is there anything else that would be useful?

 

  • Have you ever seen your child's school's "SEN and disability report" and, if so, did you find it useful?

 

Thank you! Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Robbie

Policy and Parliamentary Officer

‹ help while childs statement is pending Conservative Party Manifesto ›

Posted by
Josie Barnshaw

on 15th January 2010

at 15:06

Hi Robbie

Well the first thing that pops into my head re info from schools is how many of the teachers and staff have received any training in autism and the level of their training.  I have tried to get this info but it is treated like classified information.

As far as the SEN and disability report, I have never heard of this let alone seen it, but now I know it exists I will go on the hunt for it!!

Josie - Community Champion

Posted by
joolz

on 18th January 2010

at 22:53

Yes they should list the actual training courses staff have been on and when.

Their SEN budget eg how much they got and how they spent it should be available 

For special schools their entry criteria -we get told SS not for children with autism, have to have other disabilities etc; must be IQ under 70 etc except when you ask, this criteria is never documented.

Posted by
Snowdrop

on 20th January 2010

at 12:49

Hi Robbie

This is very relevant to me at the moment as Dylans Statement of SEN has been finalised this week & over the last couple of months I have visiting specialist provisions and viewing their websites & prospectus.  I haven't come across one yet that actually states the specific training/qualifications the teachers have had in autism & I too agree this is very important for us parents to know.  

Also, I'd like to follow on from Joolz comments about the entry criteria, its not very clear at all, I got told Dylans papers were sent to 2 schools for each school to assess, the LA told me Dylan would meet the criteria of one or the other but they wouldn't explain what that criteria is.  Just this morning I asked a specialist provision what their entry criteria is & the answer was 'its individual for each child'!  Its not very helpful as you can end up viewing schools that your child can't even go to. 

I would also love to know what % of mainstream schools goes to SEN & actually how this is spent.  I recently informed Dylans current mainstream school that his statement being issued states that he is now entitled to TA support throughout his school day & the Head's answer was 'we don't get any extra money for this'!

Actually Robbie, can you help on this one, do schools get given extra funds when a child who attends their school is issued with a statement of SEN? 

Tracy - Community Champion

 

Posted by
Anna Marshall

on 21st January 2010

at 15:21

Hi Tracy

I just wanted to let you know that Robbie isn't in the office today but I will try and track down the answer for you and get back to you as soon as we can!

Thanks!

Anna

TreeHouse Staff

Posted by
Robbie de Santos

on 22nd January 2010

at 09:58

 Hi Tracey,

It's basically up to each local authority how they want to arrange their SEN funding. Some local authorities will give schools 'block funding' to fund all SEN, some local authorities will give schools 'block funding' for less profound SEN, and pay directly for the support for children with more profound needs. So you would need to find out how our local authority funds SEN placements and work out whether Dylan's support would be funded directly by the LA or through the block funding allocated to the school.

The DCSF has published 'advice' to local authorities on how they can manage SEN funding - as you'll see, local authorities have quite a lot of discretion:

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/sen/teacherlearningassistant/senexpenditure/

No such thing as an easy answer it seems!

 

Thanks everyone else for the feedback on information!

 

Robbie

Policy and Parliamentary Officer

TreeHouse

Posted by
Snowdrop

on 22nd January 2010

at 18:01

Many thanks for finding out for me Robbie. 

Tracy - Community Champion

 

Posted by
bumblebee

on 22nd January 2010

at 18:25

Hi Robbie,

I think it is the same as usual with the independent schools being completely transparent and the maintained schools (specialist and mainstream) not even giving information after a formal request.....It is worrying as if they have nothing to hide, they should hide nothing!

I think this applies to all of your questions! I would like to know the qualifications of all of the staff and I would like to see a standard IEP, and all other paperwork they use when teaching our kids so that we can see what to expect, how much emphasis they put on outcomes and achievements etc....I would like to have a link to their recent OFSTED report as many parents don't think to look at this.....I would definately like to see an open door policy as it worries me greatly when school dont apply this and comments/reviews by parents and children. Maybe I'm a tough parent to please but I want to feel nothing is hidden and that they are proud of the way they teach the kids and help them reach their potential.....prospectus' shouldnt just be about school dates, uniform and what their mission statement is! If a school has a mission statement, they should then give evidence to support that they actually strive to achieve it....

Going to stop now as I think it is becoming clear I have had a bad week!!! 

Claire - Community Champion