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The inclusion team encourages providers to take responsibility for making changes to their provision to meet the needs of the children in their care. 

The team can support the development of inclusive practice by advising on:

• supporting early identification and intervention
• observations and planning for children with SEND
• role of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo)
• guidance on Individual Support or Educational Plans and Provision Maps
• visual aids and strategies
• strategies to support specific areas of development
• behaviour management for children with SEND
• support with liaison with parents for consistency of approach
• guidance on SEN policies required within early years settings
• support with and signposting to a range of professionals and specialist agencies
• support with transition

The EYIP is designed to support settings, children, and families in implementing the graduated response. Typically, health providers will make the initial notification to the EYIP when SEND is identified. However, Early Years providers can also notify EYIP when the reviews of the graduated response indicate that despite high levels of support being provided and or the use of specialised strategies and resources, a child is making limited progress in specific or across all areas of development. This is typically identified through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Early Support Levels (tracking templates can be found on the Early Years Inclusion Team Website).

All Early Years providers and health professionals are able to notify the Local Authority of a child or young person that may have SEND needs that require additional levels of support and or provision and this is done through the new EYIP. All Early Years providers should have access to the portal (if not this can be requested).

The decision to notify the EYIP must be discussed with parents prior to submission and they will be requested to complete a parent questionnaire. This parent questionnaire can be completed at the time of submitting the notification, and this will lead to shorter timescales between notification and outcome. We are recommending this method.

You can find out more about funding opportunities, the support available to parents of children with additional needs and view our useful resources for inclusion booklets and leaflets.

Each month notifications submitted will be discussed by a multi-disciplinary team and dependent on the presenting need, a number of outcomes may result, including:

• needs can be met by provider - no further action from the EYIP
• additional support will be provided by the Inclusion Support services
• the child has been put on a discussion list for Wyre Forest Nursery Assessment unit, Batchley Nursery plus or Chadsgrove and this has been recorded, they may also be assigned a team member from the Early Years Inclusion Team
• no further action from EYIP as child has been referred for a place at language class

If needs change over time further notifications and updates can be made to the EYIP to ensure that the right support and services are in place to meet needs.

An email or letter will be sent to the referrer to provide them with the outcome of the EYIP and provide them with additional signposting if required.

This depends on the outcome. If the outcome is that Inclusion Support Services will become involved, a member of the team will be in contact within 6 weeks of the outcome letter to arrange their involvement. If the decision is that needs can be met in the universal offer it is expected for the setting to continue with their graduated response.

Please follow the link below which will take you to the portal to submit an Early Years Inclusion Notification.

We’ve created a series of informative webcasts to help early years settings and childminders reflect on current practice and understand their role in delivering early help to children and families.

See our webcasts below:
 

Supporting families through Early Help

Creating your ‘Supporting Families Offer’

Using Early Help Assessment Effectively (Part One)

Using Early Help Assessment Effectively (Part Two)

Low level concerns in the Early Years

Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) 2023 places a requirement on schools and colleges to have policies and processes in place to deal with any concerns or allegations regarding adults working or volunteering with children, which do not meet the harm threshold, referred to as ‘low-level’ concerns.

Although this requirement is specifically applicable to schools and colleges in England, KCSIE clearly states, as a matter of best practice, it could be applied to any organisation working with children.

This 40 minute webcast explores our safeguarding responsibilities and the importance of building a positive culture around safeguarding, considering how adopting low level concerns into our safeguarding practice can strengthen this. We will address the confusion that sometimes arises between the definition of concerns, complaints and allegations and how to deal with these effectively. We will also consider past serious case reviews and investigations with a focus on Vanessa George and Jimmy Saville to help us understand the importance of addressing ‘niggles or concerns’.

By the end of the 40 minutes I am hoping you will have the knowledge, confidence and passion to adopt low level concerns into your current practices to help build an effective safeguarding culture to be proud of.

ÇÑ×ÓÊÓƵ have Area SENCOs and SENCO Support Advisors, both teachers and specialists in SEN and disabilities. They are part of the Inclusion Support Service. The principle focus of their role is to support all early years settings and schools in the early identification and intervention for children with Special education needs and disabilities.

Roles and responsibilities of Area SENCOs and SENCO support advisors

In many ways the roles of these team members are similar as both will:

• empower all those working in early years settings and schools, including childminders to respond to and meet the diverse needs of children in their care
• help to meet the needs of children with SEN and disabilities as soon as possible through observational assessment, advice and support
• support providers to implement the statutory requirements of the Code of Practice for SEN
• promote effective communication with parents, ensuring a shared dialogue between professionals and parents
• support the successful inclusion and admission, of children with SEN and disabilities
• monitor and review children’s progress and supporting successful transitions between settings and schools

In addition to the above, the Area SENCO holds strategic responsibility for Early Years SEND, which includes:

• disseminate high quality, inclusive practice across settings and schools
• provide day to day support to practitioners and early years SENCOs in the implementation of the Code of practice for SEN
• provide annual visits to every setting in ÇÑ×ÓÊÓƵ to monitor SEND provision
• plan and deliver high quality training to teachers, practitioners and child minders to support children with SEN or disabilities
• provide a continuous SENCO training programme ensuring a fully qualified SENCO in every early years setting
• have an overview of all SEND children with each provider and monitor and review progress with the setting