SEN Support in the Early Years

Identification of Special Educational Needs

Children learn and develop in different ways and at different rates.  They learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents (The Early Years Foundation Stage Guidance). Practitioners must monitor and review the progress and development of all children throughout the early years.   Where a child appears to be behind expected levels or where a child’s progress gives cause for concern, practitioners should consider all the information about the child’s learning and development. This should include information about his/her learning and development, within and beyond the setting, practitioner observations, formal checks, any more detailed assessment and any specialist advice in addition to information provided by the child’s parents.   

A child may have a special educational need if:

-       despite appropriate intervention and differentiated planning and support, they continue to experience a greater difficulty than their peers in learning and developing skills

-       their needs require the provider to put in support that is additional or different to what is available to all children in the setting.

It is particularly important in the early years that there is no delay in making any necessary special educational provision. SEN Support builds on high quality teaching which has been differentiated and personalised for individual children.

High quality teaching, differentiated for individual pupils, is the first step in responding to pupils who have or may have SEN.  Additional intervention and support cannot compensate for a lack of good quality teaching. (Paragraph 6.37 SEND Code of Practice)

SEN support should be firmly based in the setting’s approach to monitoring the progress and development of all children.

Areas of SEN

Children may have needs in one or more of the following categories:

-       communication and interaction

-       cognition and learning

-       social, emotional and mental health

-       sensory and/or physical needs

Children may have needs that cover more than one area, or needs that change over time. Settings should plan to meet the needs of the child based on an understanding of their strengths and any areas of difficulty. Each child should be viewed holistically, so that all their needs can be identified and considered within the context of the setting and appropriate strategies and interventions put in place.

Examples of the types of approaches settings might adopt to provide support for children with SEN are recorded in the the indicators of need section in ‘Support and Funding in the Early Years – Guidance and Documentation for access to High Needs and Childcare Funding’.

A graduated approach

Where a setting identifies a child as having SEN, they must work in partnership with parents to establish the support the child needs. All settings should adopt a graduated approach with four stages of action: assess, plan, do, review.

Throughout a graduated approach, the practitioner, usually the child’s key person, remains responsible for working with the child on a daily basis and implements agreed interventions. The SENCO supports individual practitioners and leads and co-ordinates the graduated approach across the setting. Parents should be involved throughout; parents have a wealth of knowledge about their children not only in their home environment but in a variety of other situations and discussions with parents can give practitioners insights into a child’s personality, feelings or interests outside the setting.   Actions should also be informed by the child’s views; children may express themselves in a number of different ways. Practitioners can help represent children’s views by using visual prompts and photos.  Practitioners can also understand children’s views by observing the choices they make and talking with the child’s parents. The cycle can be revisited with increasing frequency and intensity in order to identify the best way of securing good progress.

Involving specialists

If a setting has used evidence-based support and interventions matched to a child's area of need, but the child continues to make less than expected progress, practitioners should consider involving appropriate specialists from outside the setting.  These might include:  health visitors, speech and language therapists, educational psychologists or specialist teachers SEN and Inclusion Service – Early Years Team. External agencies may be able to identify effective strategies, equipment, programmes or other interventions to enable the child to make progress towards the desired learning and development outcomes.  Any decision to involve external agencies should be made in consultation, and with the agreement of the child’s parents.

The SENCO in the early years

Where nursery education is provided by a school, there will be a qualified teacher designated as the SENCO, who has the prescribed qualification for SEN Coordination or relevant experience.   Preschool or nursery groups (in the private, voluntary or independent sector) are expected to identify a SENCO, as are child minders who may identify a SENCO from a network.

The role of the SENCO involves:

• ensuring all practitioners in the setting understand their responsibilities to children with SEN and the setting’s approach to identifying and meeting SEN, within the context of a graduated approach
• advising and supporting colleagues
• ensuring parents/carers are closely involved throughout and that their insights inform action taken by the setting
• liaising with professionals or agencies beyond the setting

 

Transition to another setting or school

SEN support will include planning and preparing for transition, before a child moves into another setting or school. This would include a review of the SEN support being provided. To support the transition, information should be shared by the current setting with the receiving setting or school. The current setting should agree with parents the information to be shared as part of this planning process.

Funding for SEN support in the early years

The local authority must ensure that all providers delivering funded early education places meet the needs of children with SEN and disabled children.  In order to do this the local authority has funding arrangements in place so that early education providers are able to provide suitable support for these children High Needs/childcare funding guidance. Early years providers should consider how best to use their resources to support the progress of children with SEN.

An Education, Health and Care needs assessment

An EHC needs assessment is a statutory assessment for children and young people with complex needs aged 0-25. The assessment helps the local authority decide whether a child  requires an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

The local authority would expect to carry out an EHC needs assessment for those children:

-  whose special educational needs (SEN) are long term, severe and complex

- who have not made progress in spite of the interventions and support put in place over a period of time

- who need SEN provision that cannot  reasonably be provided within the resources normally available to mainstream schools and educational settings, including additional funding and resources (funding and resources can be provided through High Needs Funding without the need for an EHCP

Education, Health and Care Assessment and Plans (EHC)