This article has been brought to you by Slough Borough Council's Early Years and Prevention Childcare Development Co-ordinator, Clare Thompson, for the attention of Early Years.
To support the inclusion of children aged 3 & 4 years old with low level / emerging special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) who attend registered early years provision.
Slough Early Years Service recognise that, despite the best efforts of providers to meet the needs of children with SEND, occasionally settings will need to implement strategies that are additional to or different from their typical provision. Therefore, the Early Years Service manages a small budget to enable Early Years providers to cater for the support needs of children aged 3 & 4 years old where additional care or resources are required at additional cost.
The grant is intended to be used as a contribution towards providing additional resources and support for children with low level / emerging SEND where a provider is unable to meet the costs from their own funds, and is not necessarily expected to cover full costs or long term staffing costs.
What can we apply for?
- Funding for specific resources;
- Funding for targeted or bespoke training on specific issues or conditions;
- Short term* funding for additional capacity to support the inclusion for a specific child or groups of children which will enable the setting to be fully inclusive - where all other options have been tried/explored; and
- Support for transition arrangements, the grant is not intended to be used for children who require long term one to one adult support.
For the guidance and application form visit: https://thelink.slough.gov.uk/la-services/early-years-and-development/early-years-inclusion.