Early Years education for parents and carers of children with special educational needs and disabilities - Print version

Your child's early years are very important for their physical, emotional, intellectual and social development. If you’re worried about your child’s development advice and support is available.

If your child is not yet at school or going to an early education setting, you can talk to your doctor or health visitor who will be able to give you advice. This is best done as soon as you have concerns because the earlier support is given the better.

SEND provision in Early Years Settings

All children deserve a fair start in life and in Coventry we are committed to giving every child the opportunity to reach their full potential.

We work with families, schools and other agencies to provide a wide variety of support and aim to ensure that all children and young people have access to provision which is appropriate to their special educational needs or disability. 

What does special educational needs (SEN) mean?

The term SEN covers a wide range of needs. These include behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, speech, language and communication, hearing impairment, visual impairment, multi-sensory impairment, physical disability and autism.

The Equality Act 2010 defines a person with a disability as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The definition of disability encompasses a broader range of impairments than might be commonly assumed, including children with autism, sensory impairments and communication difficulties.

Your ‘key person’

When your child starts at an early years setting he or she will be assigned a key person. The setting will let you know the name of the key person, and explain their role. The key person will help ensure that your child’s learning and care is tailored to meet his or her individual needs at the setting. They may also give you ideas to try at home. They should also help you to get advice from more specialist support agencies if it is necessary.

Assessment and Identification of SEND

Early Years settings assess children’s development all the time through observation of play and other activities. When a setting thinks a child might not be making the progress expected they will contact you, the child’s parent carers, to find out if you have any concerns and what you can do together to help your child make better progress.

In addition to this regular and ongoing assessment, settings will also carry out other checks on progress. If you have concerns about your child’s development you can talk to setting staff. This is likely to be the key person, manager or special educational needs coordinator.

What does SEN Support look like in Early Years Settings?

All Early Years Settings must have arrangements in place to support children with SEN or disabilities. Maintained nursery schools and other settings that are funded by the local authority to deliver early education places must have regard to the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice. All nursery schools and other Early Years Settings have a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) who will work with nursery staff and other outside specialists to put in place appropriate SEN provision.

A member of staff will contact you if they think your child may have special educational needs or disability (SEND). They will arrange a meeting with you to discuss what support is needed and then put a plan in place to support your child’s development.

Once your child has been identified as needing SEN support, staff will observe your child’s play and progress even more closely. They will meet with you at least three times each year to discuss how your child is getting on and plan the next steps.

All early years settings are expected to offer a range of support for children who have additional needs. Please see Ordinarily Available Provision [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/4586/assessment_and_identification] in Early Years for Coventry’s expectations of what should be offered by early years settings.

Support from other agencies

Early Years settings have support available from a number of specialist support agencies including:

• Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Support Services [/sendsupport]
• Speech and Language Therapy Service and other Health Professionals

Progress checks for two year olds

When your child is aged between two and three, the early years setting will review their progress, and provide you with a short written summary of your child’s development in a number of areas. This progress check will identify your child’s strengths, and any areas where his or her progress is less than expected. If the setting has any concerns about your child’s progress, including possible special educational needs or disability, they will develop a plan to support your child’s future learning and development involving you and other professionals (for example, the setting’s Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator or health professionals).

The written summary will highlight: areas in which your child is progressing well; areas in which some additional support might be needed; and focus particularly on any areas where there is a concern about a developmental delay that might suggest a child has a special educational need or disability. It will describe what the setting plans to do to meet any special educational needs. Settings will discuss with you how the summary of development can be used to support learning at home.

Assessment at the end of the EYFS – the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP)

In the final term of the year in which the child reaches age five, an EYFS Profile will be completed for your child. The Profile provides parents and carers, practitioners and teachers with a well-rounded picture of a child’s knowledge, understanding and abilities, their progress against expected levels, and their readiness for Year 1. The Profile must reflect: ongoing observation; all relevant records held by the setting; discussions with parents and carers, and any other adults that the teacher, parent or carer thinks can offer a useful contribution.

Your child’s level of development must be assessed against the early learning goals and the setting will indicate whether or not your child is meeting the expected levels of development. This is the EYFS Profile.

Your child’s Year 1 teacher will also be given a copy of the Profile report together with a short commentary on your child’s skills and abilities in relation to the three key characteristics of effective learning:

• playing and exploring – how your child investigates and experiences things, and ‘has a go’;
• active learning – how your child concentrates and keeps on trying if he or she encounters difficulties, and enjoys achievements; and
• creating and thinking critically – how your child develops his or her own ideas, makes links between ideas, and develops strategies for doing things