Early years

The Early Years SEND Inclusion Team is made up of experienced specialist advisors and practitioners who work to support young children with a range of additional needs. This support includes promoting the inclusion of young children in playgroups, nurseries (settings) and with childminders.

For some children and families, support may involve home teaching. For others it may be visits to a setting or childminder to observe or work with the children.

They are part of the Early Years Inclusion and Childcare Service which is part of Leicestershire County Council.

Who do they help  

They help children from birth until their entry into school, who are displaying delay in some aspect of their development and learning. This may be due to:

• health issues

• speech and language delay

• physical difficulties

• difficulties in learning new skills

• social communication difficulties

• emotional and behavioural difficulties

They provide practical advice and support to all validated settings and childminders in the county who have children on roll who are on their caseload.

How can I get the Early Years SEND Inclusion team involved  

If you are worried about your child’s development, you should speak to your Public Health Nurse, GP or staff at the setting.

Every setting has their own Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator (SENCO) responsible for identifying and addressing the needs of all the children in their care.

The setting, another professional or you as a parent can decide to make a referral to this service.

All referrals are considered by an Early Years Referral Panel. The panel allocates appropriate services and informs you as the parent and the referrers (if the referral has been made by the setting) of their decision.

When an advisor receives a referral, they will contact you and arrange a visit. After this initial visit and in consultation with you a full assessment of the child’s needs will be made. Help and advice is then offered at a level appropriate to the child’s individual needs.

What support can the service offer to my child 

A range of interventions may be suggested:

It may be decided that your child is making sufficient progress, but that the setting or you as parents require ideas and strategies to maximise current support.

The needs of the child may require teaching sessions. These could take place at home, at the setting or a combination of the two.

The Early Years team regularly review the progress of children they support, alongside other professionals. Following review, the advisor may suggest referrals to other professionals such as speech and language therapist, occupational therapist or physiotherapist.

The Early Years team can support you with preparation for your child starting school.

What support can the Early Years team offer to settings 

The service supports settings by:

• developing the role of the setting SENCO

• supporting the early identification of children with additional needs

• helping to implement the graduated approach when supporting children – Assess, Plan, Do, Review

• working on appropriate strategies to meet the individual needs of children

• helping to identify and respond to the training needs of staff

• giving advice and helping settings to complete reports

The local authority have produced a SEND Early Years Standards guide for parents