Early Years Inclusion Funding Guidance for Parent Carers
The Early Years Inclusion Forum is a setting led forum within Telford and Wrekin that provides support to private, voluntary & maintained early years settings including childminders regarding the support they deliver for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).
The forum offers two functions of support:
- Advice and guidance from experienced professionals
- Access to funding to help settings meet children’s needs
The aims of the forum:
- Early support without the wait.This means settings can get the help they need quickly, so children’s needs are met without delay.
- Staff in settings will be more able to meet the needs of children with SEND.
- Settings will increase their confidence so that children with SEND are included and can achieve to their highest potential.
- There will be increased participation and achievement for children with SEND.
- Settings will build their own expertise through wider workforce development leading to better outcomes for all.
- There will be less escalation into more specialist pathways, resource and provision.
To find out more information speak to your setting's SENCo.
Eligible children
Any nursery child in a Telford and Wrekin with special educational needs can be presented for advice and guidance.
Where access to EYIF is being sought the following criteria is applied:
- The child’s home address must be in Telford and Wrekin.
- Children must not have an EHC plan.
- The setting can demonstrate that they are already supporting a child’s special educational need using quality first teaching and a high quality graduated approach (this must involve evidence that outside agencies have been used during cycles of assess, plan, do and review).
- There is evidence that the setting has considered costings through a costed provision map.
- The setting can provide evidence of progress over time and the impact of current provision.
- The setting has set out what they require EYIF for (based on recommendations from outside professionals), what needs they aim to address, what provision they would put in place, the cost of it and expected outcomes.
In addition
- Pupils must have significant barriers to learning
- The right for Parent carers and schools to request an EHC needs assessment remains in place, if appropriate, for children with EYIF allocated through the Inclusion Panel. However EYI funding will stop from the date an EHCP is finalised by the Local Authority.
- An allocation of EYIF must be used for the named pupil only which is in line with the Schools and Early Years Finance Regulations, 2015.
Involving parents carers
- Parent carers must be involved in the whole process and consent to their child’s needs being presented at the Early Years Panel.
- Settings must meet and plan with parent carers so that their views are represented in all decisions.
- There is opportunity on the form to collect parent carers views.
- Parent carer views must be included with the EYIF request form when making a request to attend the panel.
Pupil views
The child’s voice must also be ‘heard’ when a request is made to the Early Years Inclusion Panel. This can be submitted as a one Page Profile when submitting an EYIF request form.