Non-maintained and independent special schools (NMISS) are used to feeling like outsiders. They sit outside of Local Authorities, tend not to feature heavily in central Government thinking and the children and young people that they work with are generally some of the most marginalised in society. As an advocate for these schools, I have spent much of the last 7 years arguing the case for why our schools should be included in policy initiatives and factored into Local Authority planning of SEN provision. However, 2011 appears to be threatening to buck the trend. Proposals outlined in the Department for Education summer consultation on school funding changes would result in the funding of High Needs pupils (essentially those who currently have a statement of SEN) being the same across all school sectors. The first £10k of each placement would be funded through the new Education Funding Agency (EFA) and the rest would be “negotiated” with the Local Authority maintaining the statement.

At first reading, this may not appear to be a change to make your heart beat faster but it will cause ripples across special school provision as a whole. In the language of Chaos Theory, the butterfly flapping its wings in the Department for Education may very well cause a tornado in a special school near you. If all schools are funded the same way, it follows, the Department suggests, that all schools should admit children in the same way. If all schools admit children in the same way then it should be possible for a parent to express a preference for any school. For NMISS this is a huge change. Since March, we have been lobbying for NMISS to be included in the right for parents to express a preference, set out in the SEND Green Paper “Support and Aspiration”. It now appears to be within our grasp. However, there is a sense of being careful what you wish for. Schools are rightly concerned about how the funding will work in practice. Will the new EFA be more efficient at distributing funding than its predecessors, the Young People’s Learning Agency and the Learning and Skills Council? Will being part of the new system mean that schools are compelled to admit children whose needs they do not believe that they can meet effectively? Will “negotiations” for top-up funding with Local Authorities become a less painful process? At present schools spend significant time and resource on this process, which is often unnecessarily adversarial and bureaucratic.

And what of special Free Schools? They, like non-maintained and independent special schools, will face the same funding structure, with the same implications. Far from having complete freedom from their Local Authority with centralised funding, they will have to negotiate funding for every student placed with them. As the “old kids on the block”, NMISS have a certain amount of sympathy for the new boys and girls. Developing relationships with placing Local Authorities takes time, effort and, often, a thick skin. Those proposing special free schools are likely to have done so because of a passion for special education and a desire to make provision better. They probably didn’t consider setting up a special school because of a love of financial negotiations, contracts, tenders and dynamic purchasing systems. However, these are likely to be words and skills which they will have to develop a familiarity with. Writing this just before Christmas, Free School status strikes me as being rather like the huge, beautifully wrapped present which has sat under the tree looking tantalising. On Christmas morning, it turns out to be a foot spa. Yes, it’s perfectly functional but any excitement disappeared the minute the wrappings came off to be replaced with a sense of disgruntled disappointment.

At present, it is not possible to tell whether the proposed changes will enhance the standing of NMISS by bringing them fully into the much talked of “continuum of provision” for special educational needs or share a prominent feature of NMISS with all other special schools – scrapping for funding. This would be very bad news for SEN provision. As much as good leadership, innovative teaching and curriculum development create strong schools, concerns about where the money is coming from saps time and energy from schools and can ultimately lead to their closure, if they cannot secure placements from Local Authorities. For all schools outside of Local Authority control, it is essential the needs and wishes of the child and their family remain central to decisions about placement. We cannot escape the current economic challenges but we cannot allow them to let us lose sight of the children who are at the centre of special school provision.

Outsider identity is often lonely but it can bring positives – resilience, creativity and determination to show your worth. The grit of the struggles forms the pearls of the provision. As NMISS face the possibility of becoming fully fledged members of “the system” that identity will need to be re-shaped to a certain extent. We have long talked of our role as “specialist” providers and we will have to be clear about what we can offer that other schools cannot. We still need to find the “grit” that creates provision which shines. Battling for funding does not lead to pearls – something we would urge to Government to take note of as it develops this new landscape of special educational provision.