SEND Reforms: Early Identification and intervention of SEN in the Early

Years

Implementing the SEND Reforms

Produced in collaboration with:Contact a FamilyCouncil for Disabled ChildrenEarly SupportInformation, Support and Advice Services Network

Mott MacDonaldNational Network for Parent Care ForumPreparing for AdulthoodThe Communications TrustThe Dyslexia-SpLD TrustAutism Education Trust

Develop an understanding of the legal requirements for early years providers

Consider the new graduated approach and how practice needs to be adapted to the new system

Consider how early identification and intervention in the early years can lead to better outcomes in adulthood

Aims of the workshop

“We want children and young people with special needs and disabilities to achieve well in their early years, at school and in college; find employment; lead happy and fulfilled lives; and have choice and control over their support. The special needs reforms will implement a new approach which seeks to join up help across education, health and care, from birth to 25. Help will be offered at the earliest possible point, with children and young people with SEND and their parents or carers fully involved in decisions about their support and what they want to achieve. This will help lead to better outcomes and more efficient ways of working.”

The vision behind the SEND reforms

Starting early – being aspirational about longer term outcomes.

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) is the statutory framework for children 0 – 5 years.

Providers must have arrangements in place to support children with SEN or disabilities.

Improving outcomes: high aspirations and expectations for children and young people with SEN

Maintained nursery schools must:•Use their best endeavours to make sure that a child with SEN gets the support they need•Ensure that children with SEN engage in the activities alongside children who not not have SEN•Designate a teacher to be responsible for co-ordinating SEN provision (SENCO)•Inform parents when they are making special educational provision for a child

Maintained nursery schools

Equalities Act 2010. All early years providers have duties under the Equality Act 2010.

Medical conditions. All early years providers should take steps to ensure that children with medical conditions get the support required to meet those needs.

Duties and requirements

All early years providers are required to have arrangements in place to identify and support children with SEN or disabilities and to promote equality of opportunity for children in their care

Some children need support for SEN and disabilities at home or in informal settings before, or as well as, the support they receive from an early years provider.

SEN in the early years

Parents’ early observations of their child are crucial.

Health assessments e.g. hearing screening test enable very early identification of a range of medical and physical difficulties

Where it is the opinion that a young child under compulsory school age has, or probably has SEN, they MUST inform the child’s parents and bring the child to the attention of the local authority.

From birth to two – early identification

Early years providers and educational settings should have arrangements in place that include a clear process to assessing SEN.

The EYFS framework includes two specific points for providing written assessments for parents and other professionals – when the child is two and when the child turns five.

From 2015, it is proposed to introduce an integrated review that covers the development areas in the Healthy Child Programme 2 year review and the EYFS 2 year progress check.

Early years provision

It is important that there are no delays in making any necessary special educational provision.

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: •Assess•Plan •Do •Review

SEN Support in the early years

Assess

The EY practitioner working with the setting SENCO and the child’s parents will have carried out an analysis of the child’s needs.

This assessment should be reviewed regularly.

Where there is little or no improvement in the child’s progress, more specialist assessment may be required.

PLAN

The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the outcomes identified for the child and a clear date for review.

Plans should take into account the views of the child.

Parents should be aware of the planned support and interventions, and where appropriate, plans should seek parental involvement to reinforce at home

DO

The early years practitioner, should remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis.

The SENCO should support the practitioner in assessing the child’s response to the action taken, in problem solving and advising on the effective implementation of support.

Review The effectiveness of the support and interventions and their

impact on the child’s progress should be reviewed in line with the agreed date.

The impact and quality of the support and interventions should be evaluated along with the views of child and parents.

Parents should have clear information about the impact of the support and interventions provided, enabling them to be involved in planning next steps.

SEN support should include planning for transition, before a child moves into another setting or school.

The Graduated Response in practice DFE

Q&A

Group task

In small groups discuss the how you are developing the requirements for Early Years in your area and consider:

• How you are involving and embedding the views of young children and parents?• What are your plans to meet the Early Years requirements for young children with and

without EHCP’s? • What are your plans to meet your obligations and implement the integrated review

process?• What is the demand on LAs for young children to have EHC assessments and EHCP’s? • How do you ensure that all early years practitioners feel confident and equipped to

identify and support SEN?

• What is working well? • What is not working well? • Issues and challenges?

• Please record and be prepared to feed back to the wider group

Next steps

In small groups reflect on what you have heard today:

• What future support needs do you have?

• What 3 key things will you take back to your organisation?

Mott Macdonald – SEND Information Packs and Resources•Includes case studies and resources

•The send gateway at: www.nasen.org.uk

•Achievement for All at: www.achievementforall3As.org.uk

•Local authorities websites, particularly the local offer pages.

Resources and Further Reading

Please help us to keep improving these workshops by completing the evaluation form at

Participant evaluation:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/sendreformworkshops

Facilitator evaluation: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RGVNV9M

Evaluation

Pathfinder ChampionsNorth WestWigan, Manchester. Salford & LancashireNorth EastDarlington and Early SupportYorkshire and HumberNorth Yorkshire, Calderdale and York CityWest MidlandsConsortium of 13 LAsEast MidlandsLeicester and Nottinghamshire

Support available to local areas

East of EnglandHertfordshire and BedfordLondon 1Bromley, Bexley and EnfieldLondon 2SE7 (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South EastSE7 (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South West 1Cornwall (supported by Mott MacDonald)

South West 2Southampton and Portsmouth (supported by Mott MacDonald)

http://www.sendpathfinder.co.uk/pathfinderchampions/

Support available to local areas

Delivery Partners

Autism Education TrustContact a FamilyCouncil for Disabled ChildrenEarly SupportInformation, Support and Advice Services NetworkNational Network for Parent Carer ForumsPreparing for AdulthoodThe Communications TrustThe Dyslexia-SpLD TrustMott MacDonald

The Implementing the SEND reforms workshop series has been collaboratively produced by:

Series 1: Transitioning from the old to the new system

Series 2: Understanding EHC plans

Series 3: Best practice in joint commissioning

Series 4: Engaging parent carers – Wednesday 25th March 2015

Series 5: Engaging children and young people – Tuesday 2nd December 2014

Series 6: Preparation for adulthood – Tuesday 10th February 2015

Series 7: Understanding SEN Support – Tuesday 18th November 2014

Series 8: Early Years providers – Wednesday 21st January 2015

Series 9: Personal budgets – Wednesday 4th March 2015

Implementing the SEND reforms workshop series