Early Years Inclusion Fund

Making an appplication

Please read this information carefully before making an application to ensure you have everything you need before you start

• Applications for Tier one, Tier two (for individual children) or group funding (for multiple children) may be submitted to the panel for consideration
• All applications must be made via the Provider Portal. All application forms must be submitted by the agreed deadline. Any late applications will be automatically transferred to the following panel. Please see the EYIF process map for a quick overview of the process from start to finish and panel dates for deadlines.
• The Early Years Inclusion Fund panel (EYIF panel) meets every half term. The panel includes representatives from the Early Years Quality Improvement team, the Early Years Schools Advisory team and Inclusion and Monitoring team
• The EYIF Panel Terms of Reference will be followed at the meetings and are available on the Local Offer website.
• The last panel of the academic year is the ‘forward planning’ panel. This panel is for applications for children who will be joining the nursery aged provision or remaining in the nursery aged provision for the following year (9 months to 60 months). Applications for children who will be leaving to attend Reception in September will only be considered in exceptional circumstances on a case by case basis.
• Decisions will be communicated to providers via the Provider Portal. If funding has been agreed this will include information about the level of funding you will receive. This may also include information on what you may be expected to do as part of the ongoing audit and review process.
• Providers must accept the funding decision of the panel. If your funding request is declined, you have the option to apply again, after a further term of information has been collected. Evidence should show that current resources and funding is inadequate to meet the needs of the child.
• When accepting funding from the LA all providers must adhere to the 'Conditions of funding'   

What type of needs are considered for EYIF?

Most children with SEND do not require specialist resources or additional staffing to be successfully included in settings. Most settings meet the needs of children with SEND very well from within their existing resources and through their own best practice. A delay in learning and development in the early years does not always necessarily indicate that a child has a special educational need that calls for special educational provision. Similarly, difficulties related solely to learning English as an additional language are not considered a special educational need.

We (the Local Authority) will consider requests where there is information that a child has:

• A difficulty in any of the four areas of SEN (Special Educational Needs) – these are communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health and sensory and/or physical needs
• A medical condition that significantly affects their access to, or development in, one or more of the prime or specific areas of the EYFS in comparison to the expected outcomes for their age. 

Funding levels

The provision of funding from the EYIF is a contribution towards the extra costs of meeting the needs of the child or children in your setting, such as the costs of providing resources or additional adult support. It will only be paid for the time the child or children are in your setting and up to an agreed period.

If a contribution is agreed by the EYIF Panel, then it will be paid at the levels below:

The scheme runs on an academic year basis. Funds will be paid on a termly basis with the exception of successful group applications which will be funded as a one off payment.      

Step 1: The step-by-step approach- what you must do first

Children may demonstrate delay in their learning and development for reasons other than SEND. Most children with SEND do not need specialist resources or enhanced staffing to be successfully included and most settings can meet the needs of children with SEND through their own best practice and using the assess, plan, do, review cycle.

Before making an application

• Whilst trying to identify whether a child has SEND look for other reasons that may be impacting on a child’s progress and causing a delay, such as having English as an additional language or family circumstances and then provide appropriate support.
• Where there are still concerns that the child may have SEND discuss these concerns with the parents getting their views and sharing any information gathered. They must be involved in the decision to apply for support from the EYIF and agree with the application. They will be required to give their consent before an application may be started. 
• Do all you can in partnership with parents and other professionals to identify and respond to the difficulties the child has, using different approaches, strategies, staff and resources that are already available in your provision. You should record, monitor and review this individualised planning for effectiveness and keep evidence of this as you will be asked to provide information about how you have used your current resources and staffing to meet the needs of the child as part of answering the question ‘what have you put in place so far to help the child?’
• Gather information on the child’s needs as you will asked to provide this as part of answering the question ‘what strengths and what needs does the child have?’ Where specialists are already involved their advice should be used to further develop an effective individualised response. Where the provision they recommend is intensive or significant you may wish to consider the need for additional funding.
• If your setting is a Private, Voluntary and Independent setting, including childminders and you need advice for completing a funding application, please contact your SENDIP (Special Educational Needs and Disability Inclusion Practitioner). If your setting is a nursery school or a school with a nursery class and you need advice for completing an application, please contact the Early Years Team (schools) for advice.

Step 2: Areas and levels of need- what strengths and what needs does the child have?

• You will need to explain and show information of the nature and severity of the child’s difficulties, and how these impact on their development, learning and participation in learning for the panel to make a decision about funding.
• Please see the guide to levels of needs that apply in relation to the EYIF. We recognise that every child is unique, and the grid should only be regarded as a guide to assist your application.

Step 3: Types of provision likely to be needed- what the child might need

You should consider the provision that is needed to help support the child that is beyond that which you have already put in place. It is likely that this additional provision will have been recommended by professionals supporting the child or you as the setting. 

As part of the question ‘explain how you will use the funding you are applying for?’, you will need to explain how the funding would be used to improve the support you already have in place to help the child. It is likely to include one or a combination of the following:

• A more personalised use of approaches such as visual timetables, objects of reference, picture exchange systems 
• Further differentiation of activities and materials to support specific and individual targets
• Regular direct teaching sessions clearly planned for the individual child
• Small group work or individualised support for specific and planned activities
• Regular supervision and individualised and consistent behaviour management approaches and personalised reward systems
• Support to maintain concentration and participation
• Additional supervision when accessing activities or equipment for safety
• Support to manage personal care, mobility or medical needs
• Support to gain positive relationships with peers
• Specialist equipment or resources
• Staff training to understand the area of need and how to support the child. Please specify the exact training you will use the funding for
• On-going support from a range of professionals through direct work, programme development, TACs etc..
• Increasingly intensive support/interventions requiring increased staffing ratios (this does not mean the child needs 1:1 always)

You should ensure that you are monitoring and reviewing the provision to ensure the child or children are making progress (this could include reducing or stopping provision where outcomes are met). You must involve parents and appropriate professionals in any discussions.

Step 4: Information to support your application- what we need to know

As part of your application, the panel needs to know what the child or children’s particular needs are. This helps the panel to make an informed decision about the funding. It is not the quantity of information that is important but the quality of information that you provide.

Essential information

The essential information on the child that you include in the application form is very important for allocating funding so please take time to complete this fully.  

Tier one funding

If you are making an application for tier one funding, you should select the 'Tier 1' from the drop down list and include a completed Development overview sheet ^{(docx, 114kb)} as part of the additional information. Please note that guidance is available for completing the Development Overview sheet ^{(docx, 74kb)}

Tier two funding

If you are making an application for higher level, tier two funding, you should select the 'Tier 2' from the drop down list and include a completed Development Overview sheet ^{(docx, 114kb)} (see guidance above) and one additional piece of information from the list below 

• information from previous setting, KIDS, or portage
• progress reports, including from partner agencies
• health care plan, risk assessment or similar plans
• evidence of individualised assessment, planning, provision, monitoring and evaluation cycles
• evidence from professionals* involved including reports of assessments, consultation/involvement records programmes provided, referral form to external agency, TAC meeting minutes

(*e.g., Paediatrician, Speech and Language Therapist, Health Visitor, Physiotherapist, Educational Psychologist, Early Years Autism Team, Social Care Services).

Group funding

It is possible to make a group application for funding where there are several children with similar emerging needs that can be addressed as part of group activities.  

• Group applications may be made for up to 5 children but there must be at least 3 children. 
• Children already in receipt of funding from EYIF should not be included in group applications.
• Group applications are limited to a maximum of 4 applications a year per provider.
• Each group application should be for a different area of need to make the best use of the funding by providing a range of resources, training and interventions for the children. These should be based on the 4 areas of need, communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health, sensory and/or physical needs.
• Funding for group applications is a one-off payment of £2,000 (actual amount)
• Please note that when making a group application you should not include the names of individual children in the main part of the application. This is because this information will be sent to the parents of all the children in the group for the final consent before submission. As this is a group application the application is based on the similar needs of the children so they may be referred to as a group. If you have any question please emial us at earlyyearsinclusion@southwark.gov.uk