Planning SEND support - early years

The SEND Code of Practice 2015 states:

5.40 - Where it is decided to provide SEN support, and having formally notified the parents, the practitioner and the SENDCO should agree, in consultation with the parent, the outcomes they are seeking, the interventions and support to be put in place, the expected impact on progress, development or behaviour, and a clear date for review. Plans should take into account the views of the child. The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the outcomes identified for the child, based on reliable evidence of effectiveness, and provided by practitioners with relevant skills and knowledge. Any related staff development needs should be identified and addressed.

5.41 - Parents should be involved in planning support and, where appropriate, in reinforcing the provision or contributing to progress at home.

SEN support

If assessments and other information gathered indicate that a child needs provision beyond universal high quality teaching and learning, the next level is SEN Support.

SEN support is the ordinarily available adaptations, adjustments and additionality provided to a child to enable them to learn and make progress alongside other children of the same age.

The support may be for a short, targeted period or ongoing according to the child’s needs. Read our page on effective early identification for more support.

SEN support is tailored to a child's particular needs and should be agreed with parents and carers in a SEND support and outcomes plan or pupil profile. This plan is regularly reviewed (at least three times a year) and is part of the graduated response taken to meet the child's needs.

Early years identification and implementation flowchart

For an overview of the steps expected to be taken to identify SEND early and implement support through the Graduated Response in Oxfordshire, see the Early Years Identification and Implementation Flowchart (document under review).

Planning with parents and carers

Families play a crucial role as children's first teachers and advocates. Recognising parents as experts on their children fosters positive relationships, a key principle in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and SEND Code of Practice. This statutory guidance emphasises keeping the child and family central by valuing their views, enabling participation in decisions, and maintaining open dialogue between parents, teachers, and others. Strong partnerships with parents significantly support children's development. Families must be informed about any special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support provided for their child.

Resources to support effective partnership with parents

Training available

Effective communication and partnership with parents/carers of Early Years children with SEND

A supportive and reflective workshop aimed to give staff confidence to raise conversations with families, develop active listening skills, ensure the child and families’ aspirations are central to SEND support planning, respond to challenging conversations and successfully work in partnership with parents/carers.

Early years SEND support planning - templates and examples

All early years children at SEN support should have the following essential documentation in place. You may have your own formats of these.

Documented child and family views, e.g. a detailed All about me for EY settings (docx format, 21 KB) document
Developmental tracking, such as development matters, birth to 5 or use of the Oxfordshire Developmental Journal and a WellComm assessment
A plan of the SEN support in place e.g., EY SEND support and outcomes plan and review (docx format, 32 KB)
A chronology of the individual intervention support the child has received and the impact of this e.g., Individual Intervention Record - Early Years
Where appropriate, a record of any additional adult support provided, how this is delivered and the intended outcome of that support for the child e.g., Individual Support Timetable (docx format, 32 KB)

Templates of additional documents that may be required as part of the Graduated Response

To share with parents

Guidance support for settings

Examples of completed Early Years SEND support templates

Remember to

Implement, monitor and assess the impact of the plan/support, making reasonable adjustments as needed.

Share any plans and outcomes with any other adults working with the child. All practitioners should be made aware of the plan for effective implementation and be clear on how to support the outcomes identified.

Complete further documentation to support your graduated response e.g., an individual positive behaviour support plan, individual support timetable, individual intervention record and/or a medical care plan (if the child has additional medical needs).

Complete any further actions agreed e.g., referring for additional support with parents/carers consent, or applying for additional SEND funding.

Monitor and assess the impact of the plan/support to be able to identify and celebrate small step progress. Review meetings should be held between, the setting, parents/carers and any other professionals working with the child at least 3 times a year to think collaboratively about progress made and next steps. This is a requirement in the SEND Code of Practice (2015) - 6.65.

Key links

The SENDCO Helpdesk is a free early advice service that can discuss concerns at an individual or whole school/setting level. It is aimed to help support SENDCOs (or practitioners supporting SEND in early years) to consider the next steps when implementing the Graduated Response so that the needs of children with SEND are met as early as possible.

Training

Early Years SENDCO Core training

Gain core knowledge in order to effectively undertake the Early Years SENDCo role. The Oxfordshire Local Authority expectation is that every setting will attend this training at least once every three years.

Childminders guide to identifying and supporting children in the Early Years with SEND

Explore how to best identify and support children with SEND in your setting. The Oxfordshire Local Authority expectation is that every childminder acting as SENDCO will attend this training (or Oxfordshire Early Years SENDCO core training) at least once every three years.

The Graduated Response for Early Years children with SEND in Oxfordshire

Different scenarios are presented within the session to facilitate supported discussion of what the Graduated Response is and how it may be implemented, and challenges navigated in practice. This training is particularly useful for Early Years practitioners working in a key person role.

Planning and reviewing: SEND support plans/Pupil profiles for Early Years children

This session examines in depth what an EY SEND Support and Outcomes plan is, how to write one, and how to review it alongside other EY SEND support documents as part of a graduated response in the Early Years.

Early years SENDCO network meetings

Each term updates are given regarding local and national SEND initiatives, SEND training available and contain a particular SEND focus for sharing best practice. Networks are often supported by visiting professionals. Attendees are welcome to bring along questions or request a future focus topic for the networks. We also have an ‘ask the room’ slot giving you the opportunity to ask other Early Years SENDCOs whether they have, or have developed, or how they manage.

Transitions to a new setting or school for early years children with SEND

This session will give time to facilitate joint consideration, review and sharing of best practise regarding transitions for Early Years children with SEND who require enhanced support when starting a new setting or school.

Specialist support

A Single Point of Request for Involvement (SPORFI) is a multiagency form used to request support from various educational and health teams for children under 5 with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For further information, see the Single Point of Request for Involvement (SPORFI) Flowchart (pdf format, 255 KB).

Complete the SPORFI form to make a request. Services that can be requested include:

Speech and Language Therapy
Speech and Language Therapy (feeding)
Physiotherapy
Occupational Therapy
Early Years SEND team
SENSS – Physical Disability

Health Visiting Services offer support to families at home and in the community from pre-birth until the child turns 8 years old. See information on how Health Visiting and early years settings working together.

Early Help Children’s Services Early help refers to the collaborative approach taken by all services working with children and families to provide support for a family before problems escalate. Accessing early help can address potential issues and improve outcomes for children, young people, and families. More information can be found here.

The Early Years SEND Advisory team work with individual children under 5 years of age who have complex learning, communication and/or social interaction differences. Individual children can be referred using an Early Support SPORFI form (docx format, 585 KB). Support is given to the family and/or the child’s early years setting or nursery class in collaboration with other agencies from education, health and social care.

The Early Years SEND Advisory team also provide universal and targeted support to Oxfordshire early years settings and schools in order to promote effective inclusion of children with SEND. Settings and schools can use the SENDCO Helpdesk to ask for ‘no names’ advice and targeted setting support.

Children’s Integrated Therapies include:

The Children's Housing Occupational Therapy service assesses children and young people at home to help determine solutions to enable them to continue to live as independently as possible in the family home.

The Special Educational Needs Casework team manages statutory assessment work relating to the Education, Health and Care process, including formal assessment of special educational need, changes of placement and annual reviews.