Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) in the Early Years
The early years sector is currently experiencing significant pressure to deliver on the government’s policy to expand early years entitlements: the biggest expansion to early years in history. The sector is reporting a number of challenges in delivering this, including years of underfunding, a recruitment crisis and vast increases in children with additional needs.
Increase in levels of SEND
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, local authorities across the country are facing huge rises in demand for support for children presenting with additional needs or Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). But is COVID to blame? Partly, some might argue, but not fully. The sector argues that the increase was inevitable prior to COVID, and that the pandemic has just exacerbated things.
The increase in numbers of children with additional needs or SEND can also be traced back to over a decade ago. Sure Start centres provided families with advice and support on parenting, child and family health, finances, training and employment. However, since 2010, the government cut funding for the centres significantly and many of them closed. Some councils have felt the impact of these closures. With no replacements, some families may not have accessed this early support and therefore early identification of additional needs may have gone unnoticed. Councils and the early years sector are also reporting that as well as increases in numbers of children presenting with additional needs or SEND, the severity of the level of need has also increased.
Early Identification of SEND
Early identification of SEND is crucial. The early years are such an important part of building the right foundations for a child’s educational journey, and even more so for a child with additional needs. Early years practitioners and professionals need to be skilled at spotting early signs of potential concerns where children are not meeting the developmental milestones for their age. This alone does not mean a child has SEND, but where there are concerns there needs to be close monitoring and assessment to ensure that children get the right help at the right time.
Working in close partnership with parents/carers from the earliest opportunity is fundamental. Good parental engagement can make gaining consent for any necessary referrals easier. Early years providers report that sometimes parents’ reluctance to admit their child has any additional needs can be a barrier as can some parents who believe their child needs a diagnosis as soon as possible. Good practice is to find that balance somewhere in the middle, where good parent partnership is about working closely to do what is in the best interests of the child. It is important to consider what the journey for a child and their family can look like when navigating new systems as it can be daunting and overwhelming for them.
Early Help and Intervention
Getting children the right help and support at the earliest opportunity is key. Referrals to the necessary agencies and services need to be made in a timely manner. Many local authorities refer to this as the graduated approach or response. Providers need to be able to evidence the support that they have given to the child after their early identification of additional needs. Often waiting lists for other services are lengthy and access to other professionals can take time. Early years practitioners must show what they are doing in the meantime to support children’s needs whilst they are accessing their early years entitlements. This is because though local authorities have a range of funding streams available to support children with SEND, they require early years providers to show evidence of a graduated approach before they can access this additional funding to support the children in their care. One funding stream is the Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund (SENIF), which is government funding to help providers deliver early intervention to children who are presenting with emerging or complex needs. The reality is that these funding pots are inadequate for the level of demand that there currently is. Councils are having to make difficult decisions to make the funding stretch as far as possible Providers, on the other hand, are reporting that without this additional funding, they would not be able to provide the adequate care, support and intervention that some of the children with more complex needs require.
Early Years Inclusion
Local authorities have a duty to provide sufficient childcare places for children within their local area, including for those children with SEND. A recent report published by Coram shows that just 6% of local authorities report that they have sufficient childcare places for children with SEND. This is a decrease from 18% in 2023. This suggests that finding early years and childcare places for children with SEND is a pressing issue.
This is why it is so important for local authorities to support their early years providers with early identification of SEND. It is only through this good practice of thinking ahead that we can begin to fully understand the bigger picture. The early years sector needs to plan for inclusion long-term, as the increased numbers of children with SEND and the levels and demand for support are only going to increase further.
Support
Here at B11 we are fortunate to have consultants who are specialists in early years and SEND. They can work alongside your early years team to offer advice and guidance on best practice and how to make maximum use of the limited resource available in school to meet the needs of the children. They can also work with staff to model the most effective ways of working with individual children. To discuss any SEND requirements you may have, reach out to us today!
Resources
Coram Family and Childcare (2024) Childcare Survey https://www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/sites/default/files/Childcare%20Survey%202024_1.pdf
