Wakefield Metropolitan District Council

Early Childhood Support Interim Funding

Agreement

2016-17

EARLY CHILDHOOD SUPPORT INTERIM FUNDING

AGREEMENT

Introduction

This agreement is between Wakefield Council (‘’the Council’’) and childcare providers in the Private, Voluntary, Independent and Childminding (PVIC) Sector based in the Wakefield Metropolitan District (individually referred to hereafter as ‘’the provider’’).

The Early Childhood Support Interim Funding is subject to the Provider submitting a successful referral form together with the Provider’s signed acceptance of the terms and conditions set out in this Agreement.

Core principles of this Agreement are derived from the Early Childhood Support Interim Funding Guidance April 2015 set out in Appendix 1.

Failure to return this signed Agreement will result in non-payment of funding.

Terms and Conditions of funding

  • The Provider is required to be registered and adhere to Ofsted’s requirement as set out in: Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage and notification requirements of the Early Years Register.
  • The Childcare Inclusion Funding grant will be spent solely on the purpose of inclusion, for the named child, as detailed in the referral form and in any supporting documents as determined by the Educational Health Care Panel.
  • The Provider is responsible for the recruitment and employment of any additional staff members required to deliver support. The Provider will be requested to provide evidence (via the Early Years Funding Audit) for enhanced staffing levels for the named child.
  • The Provider is responsible for the accuracy of the information provided on the referral form.
  • The Provider is responsible for keeping a record of children in receipt of Childcare Inclusion Funding, including their date of birth, home post code and record of attendance.
  • The Provider must ask the parent on a termly basis, and record whether their employment circumstances have changed. The Early Years Team and Area SENCO must be notified if there are any changes which affect funding.
  • The Early Years Team and Area SENCO must be notified if there is an underspend of the funding allocated due to a change in circumstances e.g. child leaves the setting or changes session times/days, any significant changes in the child’s level of need or staffing levels were not enhanced as anticipated.
  • Should the child be off sick, then the provider will still be paid however the provider should ensure a record is made and that they are in contact with the child to ensure that they return to the setting.
  • The Provider should demonstrate a commitment to on-going professional development for all staff by attending training at relevant training courses and to actively work with Council Officers to develop inclusive practice.
  • Upon request, the Provider must send in information relating to why the support is still needed and attend meetings/reviews.

Please ensure that you have read and understood these Conditions of Funding before signing. Failure to return this signed Agreement will result in non-payment of funding.

Setting Name:

I agree to the conditions of the Early Childcare Support Interim Funding

Setting signature:

Date:

Appendix 1

EARLY CHILDCARE SUPPORT INTERIM FUNDING – GUIDANCE

The Early Childcare Support Interim funding is used to promote the inclusion of children with severe special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who may require high levels of support within a pre-5 setting but have yet to undergo statutory assessment for an EHC Plan. This relates to children who are provided childcare through the 2/3 year offer.

Following the implementation of the SEND reforms in September 2014, all applications for, and amendments to, Early Childcare Support funding will be agreed through the Wakefield Education, Health and Care Panel. The panel meets weekly and makes all decisions regarding the support for children with SEND and, in particular, those with Education, Health and Care Plans.

Providers are able to make an application for funding if the child meets the referral criteria.

If the funding is agreed this will be paid by the Local Authority following the issue of an Education Health and Care Plan. It will be paid at a pro-rata amount of 15/25ths of the element 2 funding of £6,000 up to a total of £3,600. Funding will be paid for a maximum of 15 hours for up to 6 months. This will be paid from the point of support being put in place and evidenced as such.

PROCEDURE FOR REFERRAL

  1. The Childcare setting should ensure that the child meets the criteria for accessing the funding
  2. Because of the severe nature of the child’s presenting needs, the setting will have involved the Area SENCO/Advisory Teacher – although it is likely the child will already be known to the service through the involvement of Portage Services. As part of the Area SENCO/Advisory Teacher role, the setting will have been given advice about the implementation of the SEND Code of Practice and a My Support Plan will be in place.
  3. Childcare settings must provide evidence to an Area SENCO/Advisory Teacher that they have exhausted all avenues of support available to them from within existing funding prior to any application and that reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of the child have been made.
  4. Settings must also provide evidence of existing staffing ratios and why existing staffing is insufficient to meet needs.
  5. The Area SENCO/advisory teacher must agree all applications with the provider prior to any application being made.
  6. The setting completes the Early Childcare Support Interim Funding request form, and includes all relevant reports as well as evidence of intervention and support which is in place to support the child through reasonable adjustments, as well as evidence that the child meets the criteria.
  7. The only exception to the child meeting the criteria is when a child is newly arrived to the country and has not had access to the usual range of available support. In this case, advice from other services (Health Visitors, Paediatricians, Paediatric Therapists, Pre-5 Service) should be gathered to support a request.
  8. The request form is sent to the Special Educational Needs Assessment and Review Team (SENART). If the request is not complete, it will be returned for further information to be completed.
  9. SENART will contact the Area SENCO/Advisory Teacher to confirm their input and views as detailed in the application
  10. The request will be considered at the first available EHC Panel and a decision made. The person who made the request will be informed of the decision, in writing, within 7 days of the panel decision.
  11. Payment will be made via the Childcare Market Development Team
  12. Evidence of expenditure must be provided by the setting on request by the Childcare Development Team (register of staff attendance, invoices, receipts etc)

CRITERIA FOR THE ALLOCATION OF EARLY CHILDCARE SUPPORT INTERIM FUNDING

The following criteria will be used to determine whether the childcare setting can access additional support to facilitate the child’s inclusion.

  • The child will be under the care of a Paediatrician and will be subject to overview by the Child Development Teams at Pinderfields or Pontefract General Hospital.
  • The child will be in receipt of other services; typically Portage, Paediatric Therapy (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy or Speech and Language Therapy) Services, Health Visitor, Clinical Psychology
  • Children with delayed Social and Communication Skills may not yet have been referred to a Speech and Language therapist. In this case funding will only be considered if the child has no expressive language skills, is excessively rigid in preferences such that change results in significant behaviour challenges and the child is demonstrating severe cognitive delay or experiences strong reactions to sensory triggers.
  • The providers risk assessment will indicate that the child’s developmental level is such that the child is unaware of danger either personally or with other children and needs access to high levels of individual support in order to be kept safe from harm
  • There will be ongoing assessment evidence as a result of the involvement of ongoing interventions as advised by professionals from a range of services, that the child’s needs are likely to be persistent and long term.
  • The child will have a My Support Plan, or the setting will be in the process of preparing one.
  • The funding is not available for children who are not resident within Wakefield Local Authority area.

Support for the child is not dependent on diagnosis of a specific condition but is dependent on the assessment of the child’s needs and the interventions required to address this.

Should the request for funding be refused by the EHC Panel, clear reasons will be given for this decision and the setting will be advised about what to do in the future to support the child.