SEND AND INCLUSION IN THE EARLY YEARS

1. SEND AND INCLUSION IN THE EARLY YEARS Julie Mellor Julie.a.mellor@outlook.com

2. Overview • National and local picture • What works • Identification • Intervention • Improving outcomes

3. The national picture • Only 40% of parent/carers believe childcare providers in their area can cater for their child • Families of disabled children are 2.5 times more likely to have no parent working • 83% of parents carers say lack of suitable childcare is the main barrier to paid work (Source; Parliamentary Inquiry into Childcare for Disabled Children 2015)

4. The national picture • Increase in numbers of children with an EHC Plan being educated in special schools • Growing numbers of children being excluded; children with SEN and Disabilities (SEN/D) feature in this group • Increase in numbers of children with SEN/D who are ‘out of school awaiting placement’

5. National guidance and consultations Inclusion & Early Years • Extension of the review of the Autism Strategy to cover children and young people. The review will inform the new Joint Adults and Children Autism Strategy to be published autumn 2019 • NHS Long Term Plan • SEND System Leadership Board • Education Inspection Framework 2019 • Single Route of Redress National Trial

6. National Guidance; allocation of High Needs Block funding On 17/12/18 Rt Hon Damian Hinds provided the information about the allocation of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) this included: • An additional £250m of high needs funding - £125m for 2018-19; £125m for 2019-20; allocations for each LA • A further £100m top-up to the Special Provision Capital Fund for 2019-20, making a total investment of £365m 2018-21, for new places and improved facilities

7. The Local picture Inclusion and SEN/D support to schools and settings across London • 14 authorities responded to the LEAF CIC Membership Survey • Most reported a level of SEND support to schools and settings • In 9 authorities the support/ team supporting schools is different from the team supporting the PVI sector; in 5 authorities the same teams support both sectors (Source: LEAF CIC Membership Survey, Autumn 2018)

8. Changes in Level of Inclusion/SEN/d support to schools and settings across London Source: LEAF CIC Membership Survey (Autumn 2018)

9. what works well? Outcomes and Priorities • Collaborative, joined up /multi-agency working • Early identification; with tools and processes to support this • Good website • Relationships • Training and development opportunities including modelling practice from knowledgable teams • Support for individual children • Specialist centre Source: LEAF CIC Membership Survey (Autumn 2018)

10. Challenges and areas for improvement • Practitioner skills • Gaps in support & the difference between the support to PVI’s and schools • Funding • Inconsistent decision making/leadership/vision • Capacity - this included support for individual children • Attitudes • Outcomes (EYFS) • Partnership working/ parent voice • Toileting, medical needs, behaviour Source: LEAF CIC Membership Survey (Autumn 2018)

11. Self-rating of early years send provision • Good 43% • Broadly adequate 36% • Don’t know 14% • DNR 7% • (One response of inadequate for reception classes only) Source: LEAF CIC Membership Survey (Autumn 2018)

12. Ofsted and CQC SEND Local area Inspections across London • Local area inspections; 17 inspection letters published for the London area; five of these have led to the borough being required to submit a written statement of action.

13. What are the local area inspections telling us about the early years sector? Strengths within the early years sector reported through the process include:- • High % of families engaged with early years services • Effectiveness of joint working; building relationships, supporting parents to ‘tell it once’ & enabling parents to co-produce services • Early identification of need, effective pathways & resources to support these processes • Flexible ways of working with families which leads to greater engagement • Interventions such as Portage and AH are improving outcomes • End of EYFS data; proportion of children achieving a good level of development • Impact of training and development on providers ability to accurately identify need

14. What are the Local area inspections telling us about the early years sector? Areas for development within the early years sector identified by the process: • Not all children accessing the integrated review/ healthy child programme • Consistency in the identification of need within early years • Importance of knowing your local data; your cohorts and priorities • The need for effective relationships with parent/carer forums • Importance of embedding co-production

15. What works • Access to high quality early years provision • Systems for supporting conversations with parents…. outcomes/ tell it once…….. • Evidence informed practice from other areas • What do the early years providers need to provide as part of the local offer? Is this clearly shared via the online local offer? • What is the data telling you? What are the needs/trends in your area? Do you reflect the priorities/level of need in your response (i.e. is the support proportionate to need?) • What do parents think? • Links between inclusion in early years & later inclusion, in school and society.(The birthday party test)

16. identification • What tools are being used? Are the same tools to monitor the progress of all children? • What training and support do you provide in relation to identification of need/observation & monitoring? • How well is the integrated review operating in your area? Are early years staff confidently completing and sharing the progress check at 2? • Do they develop good relationships with families and feel equipped to confidently communicate with them about children’s development? • What are the local expectations in relation to identification? How are these expectations communicated to settings and parents/carers?

17. Tools support Identification

18. Supporting intervention using Early Years Funding • SEN Inclusion Fund • Disability Access Fund • Early Years Pupil Premium • EHC Plans 0 - 25

19. inclusive practice - intervention • What work takes place in your local area to promote inclusive provision within early years? • What tools are available/used to support inclusion within early years?

20. Creating an inclusive borough • Use of audits - opportunity to reflect and recognise where you are now, what are your strengths and areas for development • What do families think? What is their experience? • Creating a shared vision built on respect and partnerships • Training & development • Critical friends • Appreciative enquiry…. building upon what is already working • Effective use of resources….. how can resources be pooled… what funding may be available…? • Use of data to show impact • Start small, celebrate success, have fun!

21. Intervention • When the setting has identified a ‘need’ how confident are they in taking action to respond to that need? • What is your local offer for young children identified with special educational needs/ and or disabilities? Are all settings clear how they contribute to/form part of that local offer? • Do parents understand what they can expect? • How easy is it for the setting to access the training/resources needed to respond to need? • We know that good quality early years provision supports children with SEN/D. Are practitioners confident in using a range of strategies to strengthen this offer dependent on the child’s needs i.e. use of visual strategies, pre-teaching, refocusing, commenting, modelling, mirroring etc

22. Intervention:Sources of Information • Early Intervention Foundation • Penn Green Celebratory Approach to SEND Assessment • Study of Early Education and Development (SEED) Meeting the needs of children with special educational needs and their families in the early years (March 2017)

23. Examples of Interventions • PALS • Attention Autism • Wellbeing Scales • Talking Tables • Communication friendly spaces • Talking Mats • Five to Thrive • SCERTS • Visual Strategies

24. Don’t forget to have fun! • We all learn best when we are emotionally engaged and there is shared laughter…….. this is also true of the children, parents and practitioners that we work with

25. Type to enter a caption.

26. Evidencing impact • What data do you collect? For example, EYFS outcomes data, parental feedback, impact of interventions, impact of training/development work, audit information • How well do you know your data? • What is your data telling you about groups of children? • What is working well; what needs to change? • How do you decide what interventions may be useful? Evidence informed practice. What has worked elsewhere? • Is the support in your local area having an impact? Are children with SEND making good/appropriate progress at the end of the EYFS? • How does what is happening in the early years impact on factors such as outcomes and parental opinions (re school placement and perceptions of type and level of support)?

27. Approaches that support the implementation of the children and families act (2014) • Systems to support conversations with parents and the ‘Tell it Once Approach’ • Developing shared outcomes early….many children won’t go on to need a statutory plan • Effective website to share the local offer of services and a comprehensive local offer • Training & processes for working in a joined up way with other agencies. For example, agreeing when joint outcomes will be developed

28. Working together to improve outcomes