Guidance on funding for early years settings to meet the needs of children with SEND

On 24 June, the Department for Education (DfE) published new guidance for early years settings for the Inclusive Early Years Fund (IEYF), the early years strand of the Inclusive Mainstream Fund (IMF). This guidance follows the DfE’s announcement in February that the IEYF would support providers to create a ‘more inclusive mainstream system’ and help providers transform physical spaces to meet the needs of children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). 

The guidance outlines that the funding should also be used to improve: 

• Workforce capability to ensure early years staff are equipped to support children with SEND. 
• Inclusive environments and routines. 
• Early identification and intervention. 
• Multi-agency and family support through strengthening links between early years staff, families and SEND services. 

Local authorities will be prioritising larger providers to ensure allocations are ‘meaningful’. Whilst some childminders may be able to access the IEYF, smaller settings are likely to be excluded. Childminders and smaller settings can access existing support including: 

• Funding: SEN Inclusion Funding (SENIF), Disability Access Funding (DAF) and High Needs funding. 
• Best Start Family Hubs (including Best Start Inclusion Practitioners).  
• Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs. 
• Early years SEND CPD. 
• SENCo training.
• Specialist and locally commissioned support.

The DfE will also strengthen support for childminders and smaller providers gradually, including: 

• New early years SEND training for all providers.
• Expanding Stronger Practice Hubs to include childminder‑specific support.
• Improvements to early years SENCo training to better reflect smaller settings.

Ka-Lai Brightley-Hodges, Head of Coram PACEY comments: 

“In February, we welcomed the DfE’s investment into making early years settings more accessible for children with SEND, but we were concerned that its focus on larger settings would exclude children in childminding settings from benefiting from the IEYF. 

We were reassured that there would be a package of support for childminders who could not access the fund, but we are disappointed that this announcement focuses only on strengthening existing support. This creates a significant gap between the financial investment for children in larger settings and the lack of focus on inclusion for children in smaller settings. 

Childminders across England are providing highly personalised care and early education to children with SEND every day. Smaller group sizes mean childminders can adapt their routines and physical spaces to meet children’s individual needs and they are often the first to notice when a child needs additional support. 

For a truly inclusive education system, childminders must be financially supported to choose to work at lower ratios to observe children in need of early intervention, attend specialised SEND training outside of working hours, and invest in resources and the physical space of their setting to ensure it is accessible to all children. 

We would like to see future funding for inclusive early years spaces reflect the needs of families who choose smaller settings due to the tailored care they provide for their children with SEND. The DfE must work with the childminding sector to create a dedicated package of support for smaller providers to invest in training, resources, and necessary adaptations to their settings for children with SEND.”