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Update to SENDIF guidance

SELA EYFS boys laughing

All local authorities are required to establish a SEND inclusion fund for 3- and 4-year-olds with SEND (not necessarily those with a diagnosis) whose parents/carers are taking up the free entitlement to a pre-school place. These are children who do not have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and are not attending a reception class.

The purpose of the fund is to support local authorities to work with providers to address the needs of individual children and has been running successfully for a number of years in the borough.

Each year we review the process to ensure it is working efficiently to support the needs of young children and for this academic year we have made some small amendments to ensure the guidance is clear and the application process is quick and easy to complete.

We have separated the Tier one and Tier two application forms to make each process clearer and easier as well as making small amendments to the guidance on the final panel of the year and group applications.

  • The last panel of the academic year is the ‘forward planning’ panel. This panel is for applications for children who will be joining the 2’s (where eligible) and 3 and 4’s age group or remaining in these age groups for the following year. 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.
  • 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. Group applications are limited to a maximum of 4 applications a year per provider. Children already in receipt of funding from SENDIF should not be included in group applications

All the information on the SENDIF is available to download from the education website