The Early Years SEND Team support children from birth to 5 years. We provide support, advice and guidance on inclusion for children aged 0-5 years who have, or may have, Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND). They work closely with families, early years settings and schools in helping to understand young children’s early development, strengths and needs and finding ways to promote all aspects of their learning.
Providing Support
Early Years settings get support to help them provide for children who may have a special educational need or disability and they are expected to adapt or intervene to make their setting suitable for all children.
Getting More Support
Where a setting or professional identifies that a child is making less than expected progress, despite carefully planned adaptations and interventions, consideration should be given to involving the Early Years SEND Team. They must work in partnership with parents to establish the support the child needs. We can accept referrals made by parents if the parent feels support or advice is needed.
You can complete a referral form here and send to senis@sefton.gov.uk
When a request for support has been received by the team. An Early Years SEND professional will contact you or your child’s setting to discuss the level of support that has been allocated. In most cases this will include a consultation visit within a school or setting. If your child is at home and doesn’t attend a setting, a member of the portage team will be in touch to discuss what will happen next. If you child is in a setting, the visit will be arranged around your child’s childcare hours.
The aim of the visit is to:
- Explore the effectiveness of the approach undertaken so far.
- Further develop the practitioners understanding of the needs of the child and how the provision could be adapted to meet the needs of the child.
- Provide specific strategies to support individual children.
- Consider how and when to evaluate the impact of provision.
- Signpost practitioners and parents on where to get further support or training.
- Provide training to the settings, to ensure the environment is inclusive and learning needs of children with SEND are at the forefront of planning.
Following a visit, a report will be sent to the setting and the parents or carers with the outcomes of the visit and next steps. All information on the report will be the
information discussed at the setting with key workers as well as conversations with parents and carers. Resources may be shared, or further support or training will be
offered to staff and parents. If appropriate, a follow up or review meeting will be arranged
Further Information
You can find out more about SEND in Early Years at our dedicated SEND Support website