Special Education Needs and Disability Inclusion Fund - SENDIF

What is SENDIF?

SENDIF is part of the Kirklees approach to supporting inclusion of children with SEND to participate in Early Years education. It provides extra money to childcare providers so they can better support children aged 0 to 5 years old with SEND. The government says all local authorities must have a SEND Inclusion Fund.

The SEND Inclusion Fund (SENDIF) supports early years providers to meet the needs and support the inclusion of individual children with SEN and/or a disability. SENDIF is for emerging and lower level needs. Children with complex needs are funded through an Education, Health and Care Plan. As with other elements of early years funding, the statutory aspect of SENDIF should apply to children taking up their free early entitlement in any local authority. In Kirklees, SENDIF is also available for 2 year olds who meet the criteria for a free early entitlement of 15 hours per week over 38 weeks per year.

KIRKLEES SENDIF GUIDANCE – UPDATED APRIL 2025

The guidance below is intended to support settings to understand the process for claiming and using the Special Educational Needs and /or Disabilities Inclusion Fund (SENDIF)

Key SEND responsibilities of Early Years Providers:

All early years providers are required to have arrangements in place to identify and support children with SEN and/or disabilities and to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care.
All settings should adopt a graduated approach with four stages of action: assess, plan, do and review.
These arrangements should include a clear approach to identifying and responding to SEN.

(Early Years: guide to the 0-25 SEND Code of Practice - Advice for early years providers that are funded by the local authority SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years

- GOV.UK).

Many children identified with SEND will make progress as a result of relevant and purposeful measures as above – further information is available in Inclusion Counts: Guidance to support the delivery of universal inclusive high-quality practice and graduated approach guidance for children at SEN Support in the early years. Inclusion Counts | Early Years | Kirklees SEND Local Offer (kirkleeslocaloffer.org.uk)(opens link in new window)

For some children at SEN Support, following a period of intervention, progress may be slower and there may be a requirement for additional funding over a period of time to enhance the provision in order to meet presenting needs. Such children may be eligible for SENDIF.

Children at SEN Support identified as eligible for SENDIF will meet one of the following criteria, all elements of the criteria MUST be being carried out or in the case of training, a plan must be in place.

It would be expected that a child who is completing their first term with you would undertake a cycle of assess plan do review before SENDIF is requested. Due to this the setting would only be eligible for half a terms funding. See section 2 f) for further details on how to apply.

Please note that the SENDIF monitoring team will be using this information as part of their monitoring process.

SENDIF codes

A (the majority of children eligible for SENDIF will fit this category)

The child is known to EYSEND and advice is being
The setting has accessed relevant training through EYSEND or through Dingley’s Promise with the learning from this being implemented.
Settings have implemented the graduated approach with at least one cycle of Assess. Plan, Do, Review.
The child has an MSP (My Support Plan) or
Parents / carers have full and active involvement in their child’s SEND journey (High Quality Universal Inclusive Practice - Positive Relationships - Inclusion Counts).

Code: SENDIF A or SENDIF A HT

B (some children eligible for SENDIF will fit this category)

The child is not known to EYSEND, but the setting has accessed relevant training through EYSEND or through Dingley’s Promise with the learning from this being implemented.
Settings have implemented the graduated approach with at least one cycle of Assess, Plan, Do, Review.
The child has an MSP (My Support Plan) or
Parents / carers have full and active involvement in their child’s SEND journey (High Quality Universal Inclusive Practice - Positive Relationships - Inclusion Counts).

Code: SENDIF B or SENDIF B HT

C (exceptional – a very small number of children may fit this category)

The child is new to setting with complex medical needs and is known to Health professionals who are supporting the transition and feeding into a support plan.

Code: SENDIF C or SENDIF C HT

D (exceptional – a very small number of children may fit this category)

The child who is not known to EYSEND and is new to setting and has exceptionally high needs that are difficult to meet after the implementation of the graduated approach.

Code: SENDIF D or SENDIF D HT

Settings will need to distinguish between which SENDIF code the child falls within

SENDIF applications are made through the Provider Portal.

Please see instructions below. Also refer to Appendix A for more detailed guidance.

Login to the Provider Portal
Go to Funding, select the relevant term and age group
Select the child by clicking on their name and go to ‘Childs Details’ tab
In the ‘SEN COP Stage’ select ‘SEN Support’
In the Notes tab add the relevant code to indicate which criteria the child meets, i.e. SENDIF A, SENDIF B, SENDIF C, SENDIF D.
If claiming for half a term add HT after the code e. SENDIF A HT
For children with an EHCP In the SEN COP Stage select EHCP.

Important: the ‘Notes’ and SENDIF Funding will not be carried forward to the following term. Providers will need to add a note to the child each term on the portal when claiming for a continuation of SENDIF even if there are no other changes to make to the child’s claim. Don’t forget to select Save and Send Claim.

Where settings confirm that the child meets A, B, C or D above, SENDIF will be awarded in line with the calculated hourly rate and based on hours of free early years entitlement attendance. Claims for half term will be paid at 50%. This will be paid in the final/actual FEEC payment of the term for which SENDIF is being applied for.

SENDIF will be calculated as follows: Funded hours x funded weeks x £ SENDIF hourly rate x 100% for full term or 50% for half a term.

The hourly rate is subject to change each term and is dependent on financial forecasts that will ensure the annual budget allocation is not exceeded. The SENDIF hourly rate will be communicated by email via the FEEC and SENDIF teams.

The rate for children with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) will be determined once the plan is finalised.

The SENDIF budget is fixed each financial year following consultation with the sector.

Financial modelling allows for projection forecasts to be reviewed each term based on the numbers of requests that have been submitted previously and potential demand in the future.

To ensure there is no overspend, it’s essential that these regular reviews take place.

Caution will always be applied to try and reduce the likelihood of any reduction in rates however this will be influenced by the number of requests received and the demand on the budget.

Final SENDIF payments in Spring term may be subject to enhancement if the budget allows. These mechanisms are in place to ensure that we achieve a balanced budget at financial year end.

Disability Access Fund ( DAF)

Providers who offer Free Early Education and Care (FEEC) can apply to Kirklees Council for Disability Access Funding (DAF) to support children with a disability to access the free entitlement. A lump sum payment is available each financial year to providers who have eligible funded children in receipt of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits local authorities and settings from unlawfully discriminating, harassing or victimising disabled children, and requires them to make adjustments for disabled children where it is reasonable to do so. Local authorities must comply with the provisions of the Act in finding suitable provision for eligible disabled children.

The DAF was introduced to support disabled children’s access to the entitlements for 3 and 4-year-olds. From 2024-25, DAF eligibility was extended to eligible 2-year- olds and under, accessing the entitlements.

The funds can be used, for example, to support providers in making reasonable adjustments to their settings and/or helping with building capacity, be that for the child in question or for the benefit of children attending the setting.

For further guidance please refer to the current FEEC Guide on www.kirklees.gov.uk/fundingdocuments

Early Years Pupil Premium ( EYPP)

The EYPP gives providers additional funding to support disadvantaged children accessing an entitlement place.

From 2024-25, EYPP was extended to all 2-year-olds and under accessing the entitlements and meeting the eligibility criteria detailed below.

For further guidance please refer to the current FEEC Guide on

Kirklees SENDIF is available to support provision additional to and different from that which you are offering children as part of your Universal Inclusive High-Quality practice (UIHQP).
Kirklees SENDIF is available to ensure children identified as being at SEN support can receive the best possible provision over and above the
Kirklees SENDIF must be linked to the provision you are implementing for the child as a consequence of using the Graduated Approach cycle. This will be evidenced in a personalised planning document such as a My Support plan (MSP) / Individual Assess Plan Do Review Document (IAPDR)
Kirklees SENDIF may support your access to training if this is directly linked to the child’s outcomes and provision
Kirklees SENDIF may support access to some resources that are additional and different to the provision within your universal offer and, are directly linked to the child’s outcomes and provision. It must be clear that the child is still receiving any enhanced ratio that they need if a portion of SENDIF is used for

Kirklees Council have a robust SENDIF monitoring process in place. It is based on the principle of ensuring a process is in place which promotes fairness, transparency, and equity over requests for SENDIF alongside monitoring the impact and difference it is making to individual children’s outcomes.

The information that is inputted into the portal is used during the monitoring process.

Monitoring is carried out retrospectively. i.e. Autumn term will be monitored throughout Spring Term.

Monitoring considers:

Total funding
Other funding that is received for that child e. Disability Access Fund (DAF), Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP).
Use of SENDIF for the provision available to the child/ children above universal, this must include costings.
How the Graduated Approach Cycle was evidenced during that term
The impact the SENDIF has had on the child's progress and how youIt is important that that person responsible for how the SENDIF is being used is the person communicating with the SENDIF monitoring team.

Please be aware that the criteria in section 1 and section 7 will form part of the auditing and monitoring process. In the absence of clear evidence that the criteria are being met, funding will be withdrawn with immediate effect and could be recouped.

For support with submitting a SENDIF claim using the Provider Portal please contact the Early Years Funding Team on 01484 225752 or email feecteam@kirklees.gov.uk

For all other questions or for help and support regarding which children meet the criteria for SENDIF or the SENDIF rate, please contact the SENDIF Team on 01924 483744 or email sendif@kirklees.gov.uk

Select the child’s record and on the ‘Child Details’ tab ensure SEN Support is selected for the SEN COP Stage
Enter the claim as usual entering the correct number of ‘Funded and Non- Funded Hours per week.
Enter the Notes as
- Example: child who is SENDIF A attends 15 hours per For SENDIF, just add the code SENDIF A (FEEC Funded hours and weeks will be used to calculate SENDIF)
- Therefore the Notes added would be:
  - SENDIF A

To view SENDIF funding at the end of the term
In child weightings you will see the SENDIF weighting code and the total amount of funding which includes Base Rate Funding, SENDIF, EYPP, DAF and IDACI (Deprivation funding) if applicable.
To view the notes you have added, select the child’s name and select the ‘Notes’ Tab
To view the total funding for a child:
Select the child’s name and go to the ‘Summary’ tab, then select the small black triangle to drop down the list of weightings
In the example below the child is in receipt of SENDIF. The SENDIF amount shown is based on funded hours (15 funded hours x 12 weeks = 180 x £6.20)£1,116.00

For a more detailed with pictures guide please see the SENDIF Provider Guidance April 2025 v2 PDF document (opens new window)

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Last updated: 20/10/2025