Early Intervention Fund

What the Early Intervention Fund (EIF) is, the SEND Support Tool (SST) and dates for the EIF training

Targeted Support Fund renamed ‘Early Intervention Fund' (EIF)

In our changes to top up funding update that was sent out at the end of term 6, we referred to the incoming Targeted Support Fund (TSF). This has been renamed to the 'Early Intervention Fund' (EIF) to better describe the function of the funding and provide clarity on its scope.

The Early Intervention Fund (EIF) is for mainstream settings. It is designed to support children and young people with emerging needs being supported with Ordinarily Available Provision through SEN support. The funding is intended to provide additional support at an early stage to enable children and young people to access education alongside their peers.

Applications for EIF grants open on Monday 23 September 2024.

EIF is:

for mainstream primary and secondary schools to provide additional support at an early stage
capped at £1 million and can issue grants of up to £2,500 per pupil
based on the principles of inclusion and require clear evidence of a graduated response, reasonable adjustments and evidence-based intervention.

SEND Support Tool (SST) 

The SEND Support Tool (SST) is a new online resource that will be live from Monday 23 September 2024.

It has been designed to help SENDCOs identify needs and provision across the four key areas of the SEND code of practice:

communication and interaction
cognition and learning
social, emotional and mental health difficulties
sensory and/or physical needs

Needs and provision can be selected and downloaded into a word document. This can be used in the child's support plan as part of the assess, plan, do, review, cycle.

The SST can also be used to submit an EIF grant request.

For more information see the new EIF guidance document.

Training sessions for EIF

We strongly recommend that SENDCos attend one of the Introduction to Early Intervention Fund (EIF) sessions and one of the SEND Support Tool training sessions listed below, before they complete an EIF application.

Applications for the EIF will open on Monday 23 September and close on Wednesday 23 October 2024.