Bolton Start Well

Transition for children with SEND (2024)

This is the time of year when we contact you to offer support with transition planning for your children with SEND. 
 
The following actions are things that nursery settings can be doing now that will help to ensure that the school has the information needed to meet the child’s needs:

• Contact parents/carer to find out which school the child has been allocated (parents/carer will have been informed of this on 16th April 2024).
• Parents/carer will be informed about Special School places a little later.
• Consider the Early Years Transition Timeline. This will give you a guide to the things that need to be covered in the coming weeks and months.
• Ask the parents’ permission to contact the school and describe how you will work together with the school and the parent to develop a transition plan for the child.
• Contact the school and let them know that you have the parents permission to begin transition planning, and make arrangements to do this together.
• Look at the transition document on this webpage, use them to support you, including All About Me booklet and One Page Profiles.
• Complete the Transition Information Form and send it to the school by 19th May. This has been designed with schools and ensures that they have the basic information needed to begin to support the child.
• Work with parents, partners and the child’s new school to review the child’s Early Help Assessment and Action Plan and discuss with the school who will become the new Lead Professional. 
• Consider the suggested actions in the transition plan and think about which will best support the child, parents and school.

If a child in your setting is receiving Inclusion Funding then someone from Start Well will contact you shortly to offer support with this process. 

Planning for transition to school 

Transitions can be a difficult time for children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities, moving up into a different room in nursery or moving to school needs to be carefully planned for and managed to support the child’s individual needs.

Most children will have their reception place confirmed around April. It is important to make contact with the school to begin to make plans for their transition as soon as possible after this date. You may choose to have a meeting to plan this transition, inviting the child’s parents, key person, SENCO and/or teacher from the new setting, to discuss how you will manage the transition process.

It is important that, with parental consent, you share your records of SEN Support and Early Help Assessment with the new setting so that they are able to see how far the child has come and what support is in place. At your meeting, you can decide at what point the Early Help Assessment will be transferred onto the new Lead Professional at the new setting.

From mid April, the parents of pre-school children will have learned which primary school has been allocated to their child for the following September.

This means that you can, and should, then start to put together a plan to make that transition as smooth as possible for all children, but particularly for any child with identified SEND.

We have put together a range of things to help you. If you are working with a child who has SEND, you should;

• Consider the Transition Timeline Document and plan for the things that need to be done.
• Talk with the child’s parents about their new school and begin to draft up a plan of the ways in which transition will be supported. The Transition Plan Template has ideas to help you.
• Complete the Transition Information Form and share this with the receiving mainstream school. If the child receives Early Years Inclusion Fund, you must also send it to the Start Well SEND inbox at startwellsend@bolton.gov.uk by that date.
• Access any training and support offered around transitioning to school.

Telephone: 01204 338149
Email: startwellsend@bolton.gov.uk

Early Years SEND transition funding for schools

Process of Application for EY SEND Transition Funding

Early Years Inclusion Fund (EYIF) is used to support all funded 2, 3- and 4-year olds with additional needs who need additional adult support through enhanced staffing levels to meet their needs within a mainstream setting.

The EYIF does not cover children as they start their Reception year. On transition to school, any additional funding to support staffing for children with SEND is either linked to the EHCP process or provided via the school’s notional SEN budget via the first £6000.

Early Years Transition Funding (EYTF)

EYTF can now be applied for as a continuation of EYIF into the first term of a child’s Reception Year in order to access additional support to those children who may be at risk of poor outcomes at transition into Reception Class due to the fact that an EHCP is in process but not yet finalised.

This has the intended outcome of eliminating the need for a child to be offered a reduced timetable and reducing the risk of poor outcomes. 

Which children are eligible for EYTF?

• Children who are in the process of EHCP Needs Assessment and are in receipt of Levels 3 or 4 Inclusion Funding during the year 2022/23,
• Children for whom a detailed transition plan is in place, outlining how the additional funding will be used to support transition.

How long will the funding be for?

EYTF will be paid for the first term of 2023/24. The sole purpose of the funding is to support transition so it will not be paid beyond 1st Jan 2024.

How much additional funding will the school receive to support the child?

EYTF will be paid at the same level as the child’s current EYIF.

• If the child is on Level 3 EYIF there will be a payment of £1,100
• If the child is on Level 4 EYIF there will be a payment of £1,650

How do we apply for EYTF?

Schools can apply for funding from 26th June 2023 until the 20th October 2023. Unfortunately, applications received after this period will not be accepted. Schools will need to outline in the child’s transition plan how this would be spent and the intended outcomes of the funding.

Application to include:

• EYTF Consent form (see appendix 1)
• Recently reviewed Early Help Assessment and Action Plan
• Transition plan developed in partnership with current setting and parents (for suggested template see appendix 2)

What happens after we apply for EYTF?

If all of the above documents are submitted and the child meets the eligibility criteria, you will receive a funding agreement and the allocated amount of funding will be forwarded to you.

If you have any queries or would like any further guidance with this process, please contact Start Well SEND by email: startwellSEND@bolton.gov.uk or telephone: 01204 338149.

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