Background

The Department for Education funds local authorities to provide the early years funded entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds and some 2 year olds. This is funded through the early years’ block of the Dedicated School Grant. (DSG).

All settings provide some provision for young children with SEN from their core funding. However, all local authorities are required to have an SEN Inclusion Fund in their local funding systems for 3- and 4-year olds with SEND taking the free entitlement. The purpose of the fund is to support local authorities to work with providers to address the needs of individual children with SEND.

The funding is in addition to the funded entitlement and is paid to the setting for them to support children in their pre-school years to enable them to effectively meet the needs of children with SEND to access their 15 or 30 hours funded early education entitlement.

This document sets out the procedure to be followed by a setting when applying for funding to support a child(ren) with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. It includes who can apply, what can be applied for, how and when to apply.

Who can apply?

This funding is available for all early years settings, registered with Ofsted in the Peterborough Unitary Authority area. The SEN inclusion fund is for 3 and 4 year-olds who are taking up any number of hours of their free entitlement up to the 31stAugust following their 4th birthday. 2-year-olds are not eligible to receive this funding, but additional funding has been made available for those in receipt of the 2 year old funded entitlement.

Who is it for?

Funding requests will be considered where:

A child requires support to access a setting physically.
A child cannot benefit fully because they have an identified learning, communication, attention, sight or hearing difficulty.

Settings are encouraged to be clear, transparent and consistent about the SEND support available at their setting and make information available about the support to enable parents to choose the right setting for their child.

Following the SEND Code of Practice, providers must have arrangements in place to support children with SEND and identify the support they need. Prior to submitting a request for funding the setting must have good knowledge and understanding of the needs of the child(ren) and how they intend to use the funding to benefit the child(ren).

How to apply

In order to request funding all providers will need to ensure the child meets the criteria of being in receipt of the early years funded entitlement and already be accepted onto the Early Support Pathway. To access the Early Support Pathway the provider will need to complete the Early Help Assessment, the Privacy Consent Statement and the Consent Form for Early Support.

Requesting Funding

To request new, or an increase in already agreed funding levels, providers need to submit a request on the Funding Request Form, clearly setting out how many funded hours the child attends, what additional funding is being requested, what the needs are and how the funding is to be used. All requests will be considered half termly, with any agreed funding to commence at the start of the following term/half term.

Any requests received after the deadline date will be submitted at the next date.

Deadline date	Commencement date
10/05/2024	03/06/2024
28/06/2024	03/09/2024
11/10/2024	04/11/2024
06/12/2024	06/01/2025
07/02/2025	24/02/2025
21/03/2025	14/04/2025

Successful applications will be written to, via email, with confirmation of the funding band agreed and commencement date. Successful applications will be supported for up to 5 sessions a week consisting of a maximum of 15 hours (or up to 30 hours if eligible).

The funding is not allocated to provide a specific one to one support for that child. It is there to ensure that through additional resources (i.e. increase in staffing levels across the setting) the child is able to access his/her early education session and that the child’s educational and care needs are being met appropriately. Where applicable to support access or meet care needs adaptations or resources may also be purchased.

Payments will be made upon submission of the SEN section of your SharePoint. All requests for payment must be made by the end of the term being claimed for. Claims received after the term has finished will not be paid.

Continued funding is not guaranteed and will be reviewed at the discretion of the Early Years and Childcare Service. They will be responsible for reviewing the funding rates and the funding allocated to individual children. There is no longer the requirement to submit a termly review form unless requested to do so.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Appropriate use of funding, support and progress of funded children is essential. The Early Years & Childcare Service may ask the setting for an update on how the funding is being used and the difference this is making to the child(ren).

They may request evidence that:

the extra help is used for the purpose intended
determined attempts have been made to involve parents
support staff have accessed relevant training

For children who are absent from the setting or leave the setting part way through a term, the same terms and conditions set out in the provider agreement will also apply to additional funding for children with SEND.