Early Years SEND Support

The SEN Inclusion Fund (SENIF) is funding available to early years settings for supporting children with learning and developmental delay or SEND.  The funding is for use in the early years setting that your child attends and will be paid to the provider to support your child’s identified needs.

To be eligible for the SEN Inclusion fund, your child will need to be:

• 2, 3 or 4 years old and taking up their Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) place.
• Attending an early years setting in the London Borough of Waltham Forest
• Presenting with additional needs in the moderate to profound delay range with over thirteen months of learning and developmental delay.

The SENCO at the early years setting your child attends will meet with you to discuss applying for the SENIF.  They will complete an application form, which you will need to sign to state that you agree with the application for funding. This application, along with your child’s SEND Support Plan and any other supporting evidence will be submitted to the SENIF Panel.

The Early Years, Childcare, and Business Development Service decide whether to allocate funding and the amount of funding given. The information provided as part of the application will be reviewed.

The level of funding will be based on your child’s learning and developmental delay in the three prime areas of the EYFS:

• Communication and Language
• Physical Development
• Personal, Social, and Emotional Development

This also includes any additional health needs.

A SENIF decision form will be sent to the referrer. It is the responsibility of your child’s early years setting to follow any recommendations from the panel and to tell you about the agreed funding.

If your child has 0 to 12 months learning and developmental delay, it is expected that they will be supported in the setting without requiring any additional funding.

If your child has a learning and developmental delay of thirteen months or more, in one or more of the three prime areas, a funding level from 2 to 4 will be agreed. Funding will be based on the area with the most learning and developmental delay. This is decided using the setting’s most recent assessments of your child, and your child’s SEND Support Plan.

The funding is to support your child’s identified needs in the early years setting they attend, to promote early intervention and to improve outcomes for your child.

Contact your child’s early years setting regarding how the SENIF could be used to support your child.