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In a rush? Here's the quick run-down.
We are all unique.
In our roles as carers and educators for young children, it is our responsibility to get to know each child, to support them to voice and show their hopes, skills, and interests if they choose, and to encourage them to learn with curiosity and joy.
Each and every person brings their hopes, skills, interests and worries to work, to school, to life – whether they voice them or not.
In my view, the role of the early years SENCO fundamentally is to make sure that all children are included in this learning and joy, whatever their needs. In order to do this it’s essential that we work closely with parents, other professionals, and support the child’s key person however we can.
Combining the overarching principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage (the unique child, positive relationships, enabling environments, and that children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates) with the requirements of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice is a powerful way to make sure you’re doing this.
But it can’t be done without four fundamentals: time, talk, training, and thought.
We all need a little more time in our working lives. In particular, we need time to listen to and talk with families about their expert knowledge of their child.
We need time to talk with other professionals too, such as health, portage and family support workers in order to ensure staff have the widest knowledge of the child and their particular areas of need.
Rebecca rightly stresses the importance of time in helping to properly look after every child’s needs. But how do you find this time in an increasingly busy and stressful day?
That’s why we recently spoke with Nursery Owner and Manager Roopam Carroll all about some of the strategies she uses to find more time in her daily work life.
Among many tips and tricks, Roopam recommends:
– Matt
We need time to train. To learn about the legal responsibilities of the SEND Code of Practice, to learn about how to meet children’s needs, to develop confidence to support inclusive practice including familiarity with local authority funding processes.
This training includes helping staff to understand their responsibility as a key person to ensure all children make progress, whatever their level of need. The Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (2017: p21) states that “providers must support staff to undertake appropriate training and professional development opportunities to ensure that they offer quality learning and development experiences for children that continually improves.”
It’s not just training and speaking. We need time for thought too.
Reflectively thinking about practice is intuitive to many early years practitioners, often on a practical level, which might result in them changing something to make it easier for children to access learning.
What about time to think about theory and guidance documents and their application to practice? I’d recommend you take time in staff meetings to focus on thinking reflectively around the inclusion of children. Think about and discuss strategies like story props, visual cues, and signing which help to include children with SEND, as well as better supporting all children.
Facilitating staff to think through and reflect on the following can be a great starting point. The Early Years Guide to the SEN Code of Practice (2014:p14) states that:
“It is particularly important in the early years that there is no delay in making any necessary special educational provision. Delay at this stage can give rise to learning difficulty and subsequently to loss of self-esteem, frustration in learning and lead to behaviour difficulties. Early action to address identified needs is critical to the future progress and improved outcomes that are essential in helping the child to prepare for adult life.”
It’s a statement like this, that makes it clear why a SEND quality improvement action plan can be so powerful. Below, I’ve created an example, linking the EYFS principles and the SEN Code of Practice principles. At the same time, it’s important to remember to make a plan that is specific to your setting.
And remember, sharing your thinking and learning is vital to improving inclusive practice. So give yourselves the time!
In this SEND Code of action plan below, there are four different sections to fill in. Each section starts with an overarching guiding principle from the EYFS, followed by:
Development Matters says: “Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.”
The Send Code of Practice Principle:
Example actions for your setting:
Example impact of these actions:
Development Matters says: “Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.”
The Send Code of Practice Principle:
Example actions for your setting:
Example impact of these actions:
Development Matters says: “Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and carers.”
The Send Code of Practice Principle:
Example actions for your setting:
Example impact of these actions:
Development Matters says: “Practitioners foster the characteristics of effective early learning of playing and exploring, active learning, creating and thinking critically.”
The Send Code of Practice Principle:
Example actions for your setting:
Example impact of these actions:
Ensuring an inclusive provision for children lends itself to embedding both the EYFS principles and those from the SEND Code of Practice in a coherent and coordinated way. It is important to give time to plan provision and talk about it with parents and within the setting. It is essential that staff are well trained and that this feeds into thinking about and informing the inclusivity of your provision.
Guidance from the Danish Health Ministry, translated in full to English.
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The full recommendations from a working group of over 70 nursery chains in the UK.
Please note: here at Famly we love sharing creative activities for you to try with the children at your setting, but you know them best. Take the time to consider adaptions you might need to make so these activities are accessible and developmentally appropriate for the children you work with. Just as you ordinarily would, conduct risk assessments for your children and your setting before undertaking new activities, and ensure you and your staff are following your own health and safety guidelines.
Get top tips from a setting just like yours. Hear from Alphabet House on why and how they use Famly - and why they’ve never looked back.
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