1st September 2025

Dear Colleagues,

I hope you've had a restful summer and are returning refreshed and ready for the new academic year. I want to extend a warm welcome back and thank you for your continued leadership and commitment to our children and young people across Hillingdon.

I would also like to warmly welcome any new school leaders to Hillingdon this year. There will be an online event to welcome and introduce new Headteachers to the key Council departments. More information will be shared in due course.

As we begin the 2025-26 academic year, we do so with a renewed focus on our shared priorities. These priorities will guide our collective efforts over the next five years. There are two key strategies that are important to be aware of, as well as a range of wider strategies to set the direction of travel for the local area over the next five years.

Our Strategic Priorities for 2025-30

Hillingdon Education Strategy

You can access the new Education Strategy 2025-2030 here.

The education strategy was approved in early 2025 and will be a focus for us this year.

Local Area SEND & AP Strategy 2023-28:

You can access the Local Area SEND & AP Strategy 2023-28 here.

The right support, at the right time, in the right place

We will improve children's and parents' experience of the SEND system by delivering the right support in the right place at the right time.

Fully inclusive education for all

We will support all schools and settings in Hillingdon to be inclusive and welcome children and young people with SEND.

Provision meets the needs of Hillingdon's children and young people

We will deliver new, ambitious, and innovative provision that enables children and young people with SEND to receive excellent education in their local community.

Children and young people live happy and fulfilled lives where they are included in the community

We will enable all children and young people to achieve independence, take part in activities they want to be part of, build good relationships and have meaningful outcomes in adulthood.

There is a flexible offer and range of interventions available for children to access alternative provision

We will create a 3-tiered model for alternative provision that offers flexible interventions and supports children back into mainstream where possible.

There are a range of new strategies that are available on LEAP to view also, such as the SEND Sufficiency Strategy, School Organisation Plan and others.

These priorities reflect both local needs and national direction, and I am confident that through our partnership working, we will continue to make meaningful progress.

New SEND Frameworks

I am pleased to share the new banding frameworks which have now been finalised. We have a range of new documents for schools to use:

SEND Funding Framework - general information about how SEND funding works in schools
Mainstream Banding Framework - banding descriptors and funding framework for mainstream schools
Special Banding Framework - banding descriptors and funding framework for special schools
ESF - Early Support Funding approach (non-statutory)
SENIF (previously EYIF) - Early Years SEN Inclusion Funding Framework
Early Identification Toolkit - checklists and useful contacts
OAP - Ordinarily Available Provision - (updated OAP during 2024-25 - now with a new cover to ensure all the new documents have a similar look.)

I wanted to reiterate our sincere thanks to all schools who took part in the banding reviews and the development of the new documents listed above. We do not underestimate the time that has been invested into these, and we are very grateful to each of you for your contributions. This work has been a significant project but it has been achieved through the local area working together in a partnership approach, which is something that we hope to build on further over the course of the year and into future years.

I would also like to recognise the work that Helen Redding and Sanjaya Gunatilake have invested in these new frameworks. Sadly, both Helen and Sanjaya have now left the Council, but we are very grateful for all the time they gave to ensuring Hillingdon now has a fair, transparent funding approach.

Replacing Sanjaya in supporting the oversight of the DSG funding is Kamaljit Kaur, who is an experienced Finance Business Partner. She can be contacted at: KKaur2@hillingdon.gov.uk.

Social Media Posts Relating to Terrorist Threats

It has come to our attention that there is speculation circulating on social media relating to possible terrorist attacks being planned against schools.

If you are experiencing any concern from parents or staff with regards these posts, please reassure them that the Police have confirmed that there is no known increase in the threat level or specific threat known relating to Hillingdon at this time. These posts are circulating nationally and have no credible substance to them. Schools all have contingency plans in place should such an incident occur.

The local authority continue to work together with the Police and partners to manage any local community tensions / issues or threats that arise and to keep our communities safe. The Prevent lead for Hillingdon is Fiona Gibbs - please do make contact if you have any concerns: fgibbs@hillingdon.gov.uk.

EYES

Thank you for all the school support provided with preparing for EYES during the summer term. 100% of data sharing agreements have been completed, schools have been connected, tested and trained. School accounts have been set up and log-in details shared.

We are pleased to inform you that schools can now make referrals directly into the EYES system. This new process is designed to streamline referrals, improve tracking, and ensure timely support for children and young people across the borough.

What this means for your school

From 1st September 2025, all referrals for Education services should be submitted via the new EYES portal using this link:

Education Establishment Portal Online Service

This includes referrals for:

Education Services:

Admissions
Attendance
Exclusions
Suspensions
Elective Home Education (EHE)
Children Missing Education (CME)

SEND Advisory Services:

Early Support Funding (ESF)
SEN Inclusion Funding (SENIF)
Early Years SEND Support
Portage Team
Educational Psychology

Please note that there is no change to:

The EHCP process - this remains the same as before, until the new EHCP portal is introduced during the Autumn term. More information will follow.
Early Years (not SEND related) - this remains the same as before, using the same EY provider portal to make your EY funding claims until March 2026.
NEET (Post 16) - this remains the same as before, using the same form process until March 2026.
FSM - for the establishments connected to the data feed (the connection we have made into your MIS), we will now pick up eligible children automatically through this process. Which no longer requires you to fill in the existing spreadsheet.

LEAP is your go to guru for EYES information, to help with any school queries, account logins, staff training and guidance:

EYES System - Leap

We look forward to monitoring how EYES is supporting school with referrals. Once the system is settled in and embedded, we should start to see benefits in reduced administrative tasks and time spent on referrals within schools.

Please do not hesitate to reach out if you need support or would like to discuss any aspect of our work. I look forward to working with you throughout the year.

Warm regards,

Abi Preston

Director of Education & SEND

Children, Families & Education

London Borough of Hillingdon, Civic Centre, Uxbridge, UB8 1UW