GUIDANCE DOCUMENT
for
Special Educational Needs (SEN) Inclusion Fund in Kent
Private, Voluntary & Independent Pre-school Settings & Maintained Nursery Settings
SEN Inclusion Funding (SENIF) is a statutory requirement made available by KCC to
enable settings, childminders and out of school provider’s supporting pre-school children
with special educational needs to secure better outcomes;
 when attending a Kent setting or attending a registered childminder living in Kent
 when the child does not have an Education, Health & Care Plan
 for a maximum of 30 hours per week pro rata on attendance & eligibility
 when in receipt of Nursery Education Entitlement for three and four year old children.
 when attending a Kent setting registered to take two, three, and four year old children.
It is non statutory to provide this funding for eligible two year olds in receipt of Nursery
Education Entitlement but Kent will continue to fund support for these children up to a
maximum of 15 hours, when attending a Kent setting that is registered to take Free for Two
places.
SENIF requests are considered by the County SEN Inclusion Funding Officer based on the
criteria set and quality assured by the SEN Monitoring & Quality Assurance Manager and
County Strategic Lead for Early Years SEND.
Requests for Specialist Nursery placements at a Profound, Severe and Complex (PSC)
Special School will be considered at the termly Early Years Multi Agency Planning
Meetings (MAP) held in each Area. Wherever possible the child will access a mainstream
pre-school setting alongside the specialist placement.
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SENIF Process
 EY Settings will have sought advice from the Early Years & Childcare Equality & Inclusion Team at the
Universal Level.
 EY settings will have used Best Practice Guidance strategies to support the child & recorded the
impact of these within the audit tools.
 If the child makes limited progress and it is felt that more intensive support is needed a referral to EY
LIFT should be made supported by the Targeted Plan.
 Allocation of specialist support takes place at EY LIFT meetings.
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Strategies are given to support the setting.
A Personalised Plan is devised, implemented and reviewed.
Child does not make expected progress.
Setting discusses SENIF referral with parents and gains permission to request SENIF support.
SENIF and / or Specialist Nursery Request forms are completed electronically alongside the
Personalised Plan documentation and Best Practice Audit tools at Personalised / Individualised
Level.
Applications can be made at any point throughout the year and may be agreed for up to a year at
which point a review will be undertaken.
For children receiving Portage who may require SENIF support in order to start at the setting, a home visit will be
undertaken with the Portage Home Visitor and the EY setting SENCo / Keyperson to jointly complete the SENIF Request
Form and the Personalised Plan. The Portage Profile / report will also be emailed to the County SEN Inclusion Funding
Officer to be added to the request.
For children receiving support from STLS Sensory service who may require SENIF support to start at a setting it is
recommended that a joint home visit from the Early Years setting SENCo and STLS Sensory Teacher takes place to jointly
complete the SENIF Request Form and the Personalised Plan.
For children attending a childminder and where they meet the criteria for SENIF the childminder will complete the
paperwork having referred to the childminding process for accessing support.
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Setting send completed forms (BPG Audit Tool – Personalised / Individualised, SENIF Request
Form, Personalised Plan) electronically using secure email system (Egress) to [email protected]
and Specialist Teacher or Portage.
If a secure email address is not available documents need to be sent by recorded delivery FAO the
County SEN Inclusion Funding Officer at Kroner House, Eurogate Business Park, Ashford TN24
8XU.
All paperwork can be found on Kelsi:
http://www.kelsi.org.uk/senif
The County SEN Inclusion Funding Officer will consider whether the request meets the criteria for SENIF
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An email will be sent by the County SEN Inclusion Funding Officer to the setting and to parents
with the decision and details of payment arrangements and date for review if applicable.
Reviews of the Personalised Plan and SENIF will be undertaken within the setting at least every
two terms.
Further support may be offered to the setting following discussion at the termly Early Years
Multi-Agency Planning meeting (MAP)
Funding will be agreed for up to a year and the setting reimbursed monthly subject to monitoring
visits which could result in reconsideration of the funding if necessary.
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SENIF Criteria
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All applications for SENIF will need to evidence that the child’s needs are recognised as
requiring SEN Support as defined in the SEND Code of Practice 0 – 25.
There will also need to be evidence that appropriate strategies, training and programmes
have already been tried for the child and have been unsuccessful.
Level 1
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There is evidence that the child is assessed at one level below their age expected age
band in at least two or more aspects of the prime areas of learning.
The Equality & Inclusion Adviser has provided universal support and advice.
EY LIFT has been accessed and advice from an Specialist Teacher or Outreach
Practitioner has been implemented and evaluated.
Adult support is required to remove barriers to learning (over 40% of the time)
Level 2
All of the above and in addition….
 Is likely to be known to the Portage Service due to profound, severe or complex needs.
 Is likely to be known to Early Support.
 The setting is likely to be in receipt of Disability Access Fund.
 There is evidence that the child is assessed at two or more levels below their age
expected age band in four or more aspects of the prime areas of learning.
 A high level of adult support is required to remove barriers to learning (over 75% of the
time).
Consideration for additional support will also be given if a child is assessed at their age
expected age band whilst having a complex health condition that can be unpredictable or
unstable or if a child has significant sensory needs.
SENIF Reviews
A review of SENIF will need to be completed every two terms on the SENIF Review Form.
This document allows practitioners to show how SENIF is being used to support the children
in the setting.
It should be completed jointly with parents and their comments added to the online form
The SENIF Review Forms will only need to be submitted online to the County SENIF
Monitoring Officer if continuation of SENIF is to be requested; otherwise the Review Forms
will remain on the child’s file.
SENIF Monitoring officers and STLS can ask to see these forms at any time.
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Early Years Multi-Agency Planning (MAP) Meetings
An Early Years multi-agency professionals meeting takes place 6 times annually, one meeting
each term in each of the 4 Areas (North, East, South and West Kent).
Purpose:
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To plan actions required by different professionals at the point of transition into, or out
of, a pre-school setting.
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To discuss whether it is appropriate to transfer children between different professional’s
case lists if service criteria is met.
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To make initial decisions about Specialist Nursery placements.
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To make decisions about the EY SENIF Practitioners support to settings as part of the
SEN Inclusion Fund offer.
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To allocate / offer training course places to settings as part of the SEN Inclusion Fund
offer.
If additional support and or training is recommended the setting will be contacted following the
meeting to discuss this further.
Early Years SENIF Practitioners
Early Years professionals employed by the Local Authority.
Role:
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To support, model and advise maintained and PVI settings in receipt of SEN Inclusion
Funding.
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To support settings to implement Personalised Plans, advice and programmes provided
by professionals to enable children to make progress and fully access the EYFS.
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To support settings to monitor the impact that the SEN Inclusion Fund has on children’s
learning.
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To model ways of working and advise on strategies suggested by the EY Specialist
Teacher.
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To provide guidance to EY Settings regarding a range of resources & training that will
support and encourage learning to take place for those children in receipt of SENIF.
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EY SENIF Monitoring Officers
Early Years SENIF Monitoring Officers will be employed by the Local Authority.
Role:
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To monitor and evaluate the special educational needs provision in Early Years Private,
Voluntary & Independent Settings & maintained nursery classes across a designated
area of Kent in accordance with statutory duties and County SEND priorities in relation
to settings receiving SENIF.
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To monitor and evaluate the provision for individual children in receipt of SEN Inclusion
Funding in PVI settings & maintained nursery classes ensuring that they are making
appropriate educational progress.
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Providing advice and guidance to PVI settings & maintained nursery classes on SEN
processes, procedures and statutory duties relating to SENIF Funding.
Roles & Responsibilities of the setting
The role and responsibility of the setting once SENIF has been agreed will be to:
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Observe the child and provide support to develop their independence.
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Implement and evaluate strategies provided by other professionals.
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Include the child in large groups, smaller groups, and in the delivery of individual
programmes as appropriate.
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Review the impact of SENIF support using the SENIF review form every 2 terms.
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Review the Personalised Plan termly, or at least 3 times a year depending on the
number of hours the child attends.
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Arrange / attend training as identified at the EY MAP Meetings, or recommended by
the EY SENIF Practitioners.
The setting SENCo should ensure that the child remains the responsibility of the whole setting,
and that all staff have an understanding of their needs.
Settings should be responsible for compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and
confidentiality regarding any children’s details that they store. If you are unable to
submit documents electronically please post using recorded delivery to the SENIF
Funding Officer.
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Stretched Funding
SENIF supports stretched funding and in line with this, all applications will be considered on
an individual basis. This will be paid in the same way and the Nursery will take responsibility
to stretch the funding. The total claimable for stretched funding is equivalent to the total
claimable on a 38 week, maximum 30 hours a week attendance (there is no additional value
for children accessing stretched funding places).
Funding payments for settings with agreed SENIF
Payments will be paid monthly, directly into the nominated setting bank account via the
established KCC process.
Providing the child is eligible, payments will begin from the month after the application is
made.
If a child is absent for more than a month it is the responsibility of the setting to notify the
SENIF Funding Officer.
Increase in hours attending the setting
If a child increase’s their hours during the year a new SENIF Request form will need to be
submitted together with the most recent Personalised Plan Review and SENIF Review form to
the County SENIF Funding Officer for consideration.
Funding for children with Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCPs)
Children who have a Final EHCP that names the setting will be funded differently and the
County SEN Inclusion Funding Officer will notify the setting manager of the process.
Funding for children moving settings
It is the responsibility of the setting to inform the SENIF Funding Officer as soon as they are
aware that a child will be leaving. There is an expectation that if at all possible there will be a
transition meeting and sharing information relating to the child’s needs. The new setting will
need to submit a new application for SENIF. The SENIF Funding Officer will inform the
setting when the last payment will be.
Specialist equipment
Any specialist equipment that is recommended through a recent Occupational Therapist’s or
Physiotherapist’s report will be acquired through the NHS Equipment Panel Process.
Transport
It is the responsibility of parents to arrange and provide transport for their child to any preschool setting including specialist placements.
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Deferred entry to school
Continued SENIF funding at the pre-school setting can be considered at the Complex Case
Panel (a termly meeting to discuss complex SENIF cases) if there is an agreement and
evidence from the school that a child has a deferred place. For further information on deferred
entry please see the separate guidance document.
Specialist Nursery Placements
Children with special educational needs will usually have their needs met by mainstream preschool settings. However, it is recognised that there may be a need for a few children to
access specialist intervention by placement at a specialist nursery provision.
Clear evidence of the level of need and the support that has been provided for the child
should be submitted by the referrer, before the EY Multi-Agency Planning Meeting can
conclude that a specialist nursery provision is appropriate. These referrals can be made by
the maintained pre-school setting, PVI setting, Portage or Early Support in agreement with
parents and submitted to the meeting via Portage or STLS. The Specialist Nursery Request
form can be found on Kelsi.
If Early Support requests a Specialist Nursery placement this will initially be discussed at the
EY Multi-Agency Planning meeting and Specialist Nursery request paperwork completed as a
result, if appropriate.
The specialist provision should:
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set targets identifying individualised arrangements for teaching & learning.
carry out more specialist assessments.
provide specialist strategies or resources.
provide specialist therapies if appropriate.
provide access to the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum.
monitor and evaluate the child’s progress.
if it is felt that a statutory assessment should be undertaken then this will be requested
within the first 12 weeks of attendance.
share information with the child’s mainstream nursery provision.
offer advice and support at Early Years LIFT meetings.
provide outreach support to the child’s mainstream placement.
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