The Wandsworth Schools Forum convened to discuss and approve several key initiatives, including the High Needs Budget for the financial year 2025-26, an Enhanced Reception Support Project, and updates on the SEN Support Fund and Enhanced Transition Project. The forum also noted future meeting dates and approved the minutes from the previous meeting.

High Needs Budget FY 2025-26

The Wandsworth Schools Forum reviewed and approved the High Needs Budget (HNB) for the financial year 2025-26¹. The total HNB allocation for Wandsworth is £70.572 million, which represents a 5.9% increase compared to the previous financial year, despite a decrease in pupil numbers in primary and secondary schools. After academy recoupment and schools block contributions, the forecast HNB budget attributable to the local authority is £66.440 million.

The increase in funding does not cover the forecast overspend of £10.314 million from FY 2024-25. The report notes that this creates immediate budget pressures before accounting for increased demand or inflation.

Key points regarding the budget include:

• Top-up Rate Increase: A 0.5% increase has been applied to all provisions, aligning with the increase in funding rates for mainstream schools.
• Continued Investments: Funding for mainstream therapies, the SEN Support Fund, and the social work in schools programme will continue.
• Academy Recoupment: £4.132 million will be recouped for commissioned places in mainstream academy resource bases/units (£1.160 million), special academies (£2.780 million), and in-borough further education places (£0.192 million).
• Increase in Special School Places: There will be an increase in places at Paddock School and Nightingale Community Academy, as well as an expansion of the Granard Primary School Resource Base, as part of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) recovery plan.

The forum also reviewed appendices providing detailed budget figures, changes in commissioned places, and top-up rates for special schools, resource provisions, and mainstream schools, as detailed in the Public reports pack.

Enhanced Reception Support Project

The Wandsworth Schools Forum agreed to run a pilot project to provide an enhanced package of support in the Reception year to a targeted group of 20 children. The project aims to alleviate transition anxiety for parents and carers, build staff confidence in meeting identified needs, remove barriers for children with additional needs to attend mainstream school, enable pupils to attend school full time, and avoid the need for Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessments².

Children will be selected from those whose EHCNA requests were No to Assess but went to mediation or tribunal, as well as children new to the borough or entering Reception without prior nursery education. The project will provide a coordinated support package from existing local services, including the Wandsworth Autism Advisory Service, Victoria Drive PRU, NHS Speech and Language service, NHS Education Wellbeing Services, and social care.

A member of the Early Years Inclusion Team will lead the project as a transition coordinator. The council will commission 10 days of Educational Psychologist time from Schools Psychology and Community Services (SCPS) at a cost of £6,000. Participating schools will receive an additional £3,000 per annum, topping up the notional SEND funding for the reception year to £9,000, funded from the Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund (SENIF) budget, at a total cost of £60,000.

The project aims to support at least 75% of pupils at SEN support by the end of Reception, avoiding the need for an EHCNA. It is estimated that the project could avoid the need for 15 EHCPs, representing an annual cost avoidance of £180,000.

SEN Support Fund and Enhanced Transition Project Update

The Wandsworth Schools Forum received an update on the impact of the investment set aside for Special Educational Needs (SEN) Support projects and the Enhanced Transition Project (ETP). The report outlined the training provided during the 2024-25 financial year and plans for expenditure in 2025-26.

The forum heard that £117,000 of the £130,000 allocated to fund training for mainstream primary and secondary schools targeted at reducing the number of EHCP assessment requests has been committed for this financial year.

The report highlighted the positive impact of the AME (Autonomy, Motivation and Engagement) Coaching project, with delegates reporting significant changes in their interactions with students. The Enhanced Transition Project (ETP) has also demonstrated success, with only one pupil involved in the project requiring an EHCP and 100% of pupils being well supported at secondary school. The ETP has led to a significant reduction in EHC assessment requests in Year 6, with an estimated cost avoidance of £230,000 per annum.

The forum agreed to allocate £114,000 for the financial year 2025-26 to fund targeted training for mainstream primary and secondary schools. A new project, the ADHD Ambassador Programme, was commissioned in response to feedback from headteachers and Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCo) that there is a gap in support for pupils with this need. The Item 5. SEN Support Fund ETP Update report provides further details.

Future Meeting Dates

The Wandsworth Schools Forum noted the future scheduled meetings:

• 12 May 2025
• 30 June 2025
• 13 October 2025
• 1 December 2025
• 12 January 2026
• 16 March 2026
• 11 May 2026

Approval of Minutes

The Wandsworth Schools Forum approved the minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2025, confirming them as a correct record.