Purpose

Proposed decision
 
That the Cabinet
Member for Education and Skills, in consultation with the Cabinet
Member for Integrated Children’s Services, approve the
implementation of a Revised Model of Early Years Education in Kent,
including a revised process to apply for Special Education Needs
Inclusion Funding (SENIF)
 
Reason for the decision
 
At the
Children, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee on 16
January 2024, the findings of a review into the current strengths
and challenges within the Early Years education sector in Kent were
presented. At that time, the intention to undertake a public
consultation on a revised model of universal,
targeted and specialist support for Early Years settings and a new
process to apply for Special Educational Needs Inclusion Funding
(SENIF)  was
shared.
 
An
eight-week public consultation has been completed. Five  recommendations and six key changes  focused on
addressing a lack of inclusive culture,
disjointed services and bureaucratic processes identified within
the review where shared for comment. These were:
 
Key
Recommendations
 

The
Early Years education system needs a shift in culture towards one
of greater inclusion and achievement for all children and
specifically for those with Special Educational Needs and/or
Disabilities (SEND)
Improved leadership is needed with clear lines of responsibility
and accountability as the Early Years education system is
disjointed due to services being delivered across multiple partners
(KCC, KCC commissioned partners, and Health)
Any
future model of Early Years education must place children and their
families at the centre i.e. a child and family-centred
approach.
There
is a need for greater alignment of Early Years services with more
resources working directly with children, families and in settings
with early education practitioners
Improved communications are needed, with a single, reliable
source of information available to families and
professionals.

 
Key
Changes
 

Early
Years and Childcare Service (EYCS) will move to a Link Worker
model, providing universal support and removing the need for
settings to self-refer to the service
SENIF
Practitioners to focus more on delivering targeted support within
settings for individual children.
Specialist Teachers from the Specialist Teaching and Learning
Service will continue working in settings with individual children
and groups of children identified as having similar needs. They
will no longer be required to provide evidence of level of need as
part of the SENIF process
Specialist Nursery Intervention will continue to work with
individual children but will provide support directly to children
in their mainstream settings without the need for the child to
attend a special school setting, as is (predominantly) the current
model.
The
process to apply for SENIF will change and move away from settings
being reliant on additional evidence provided by
professionals.
The
model proposes a core offer of training available to settings and
childminders that will be designed with input from settings
themselves.

 
The responses to the
consultations have been analysed and the recommendations identified
regarding the implementation of this revised model are being bought
for decision.
 
Background – Provide brief additional context
 
In November 2022, the
Director of Education and SEND requested a comprehensive review of
Early Years education in Kent. Findings of the review were
presented to Children, Young People and Education Cabinet Committee
on 16 January 2024.
https://democracy.kent.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=894&MId=9301&Ver=4
 
At that time, the
service stated its intention to undertake a public consultation on
a new model of universal, targeted and specialist support for
settings, including a new process to access Special Educational
Needs Inclusion Funding (SENIF).
 
An eight week public
consultation was launched on 11 March 2024 and ended on
5th May 2024 which sought views on five key
recommendations identified as part of the review in response to key
issues identified (lack of inclusive culture, a disjointed system
and too much bureaucracy within the system) and on six proposals
related to how a refreshed model of universal, targeted and
specialist support could work in the future to address these
issues.
 
 
Options (other options considered but discarded)
 
For each
recommendation and proposal identified within the Public
Consultation, the option to not implement the proposal was
considered and dismissed.
 
All proposals and key
changes presented for consultation received a majority of
‘agree’ responses when strongly, and ‘tend to
agree’ responses where combined. Additional consideration was
given to the proposed revised model for Specialist Nursery
Intervention given the small majority of agree responses and the
concerns raised. The two main concerns raised in relation to this
model where that specialist nurseries would be closed and that some
children cannot be supported in mainstream settings. Under the
proposal however, children who require specialist support will be
able to access this while in their mainstream settings and those
children who require prolonged support in a specialist setting will
still be able to access this.
 
How the proposed decision supports the

Framing Kent's Future - Our
Council Strategy 2022-2026
 
These actions will
support Framing Kent’s Future through:
 

Priority 1: Levelling Up Kent and our commitment to maintain
KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent to deliver
accessible, high quality education provision for all families,
specifically: Maintain improvement support services for all Kent
schools, including maintained schools and academies, to maintain
Kent’s high-quality education system.

 

Priority 4: New Models of Care and
Support and our commitment is to support the
most vulnerable children and families in our county, specifically
in relation to responding to national policy changes on SEND
provision, work with SEND families to rapidly improve the service
provided to SEND children and work with mainstream schools so more
can accept and meet the needs of children with SEND, increasing
choice and proximity of school places.

 
While both above
priorities apply directly to schools, it is reasonable to extend
the application of these to the earliest years of children’s
education provided through early years settings and
childminders.
 
These actions will
support Securing Kent’s Future by:

·      
Supporting Objective 1 in bringing the budget back
into balance through cost avoidance achieved by supporting more
children in mainstream schools from the outset of their statutory
education and avoiding the use of non-maintained independent
special school placements. 

·      
Further transforming the operating model of the
Council (Objective 4). By making processes less time-consuming and
bureaucratic we can free up our resource to focus on working
directly with children and the providers that support them. A
greater focus on understanding and demonstrating impact will enable
more effective decision making about how and where to focus the use
of resources.
 
Equalities implications
 
The Equalities Impact
Assessment has been updated to reflect the feedback provided
through the public consultation.
 
Key issues identified
from the public consultation are:

· 
children with English not their primary language
need to be able to access services.

· 
cultural issues meaning that parents do not want to
acknowledge that their children have SEND.

· 
impact on staff delivering Specialist Nursery
Intervention if they need to move to an outreach model.
 
The following
mitigating actions have been identified in relation to the
above:

· 
this will be considered in relation to
Recommendation 5 which relates specifically to communication.

· 
Key Change 1 proposes that Early Years and Childcare
Service move to a link worker model will ensure that more robust
universal practice is embedded within settings meaning that
children with SEND can be identified earlier and discussions had
with parents sooner.

· 
Key Change 4 proposes the move to an outreach model.
Each school will need to consider the individual needs of their
staff in relation to implementing this model.
 
Data
Protection implications
 
Data protection
implications will be considered as part of the implementation of
the revised model, specifically in relation to the development of
referral pathways and funding applications processes.
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, and in
consultation with the Cabinet Member for Integrated
Children’s Services, I agree to:

 
A) Approve the implementation
of a Revised Model of Early Years Education in Kent, including a
revised process to apply for Special Education Needs Inclusion
Funding (SENIF)
 

b) Delegate authority to the
Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education, to
take relevant actions, including but not limited to entering into
relevant contracts or other legal agreements as required, including
Service Level agreements (SLAs), to implement this
decision