ABOUT US
At Dingley’s Promise we strive to provide the best start for every child.
We support children in the early years with special educational needs and disabilities to achieve their full potential.
We aim to:
- Seek excellence in our specialist early years intervention
- Develop a greater inclusion movement and enable more children to access mainstream settings
- Help families to access the appropriate support services for their child’s needs
- Ensure every child transitions into the best educational setting for them
At Dingley’s Promise, we are committed to working in partnership with all professionals to improve services for children with SEND and do this in the following ways:
- Training for early years settings to enable them to work inclusively with children with SEND.
- Local partnerships with health, social care and education professionals to give children the range of support they need.
- Sharing of information and best practice with early years educators through our quarterly newsletter.
- Consultancy with local authorities to support strategic development of early years services to give every child the best start.
- Lobbying nationally for a more inclusive early years sector for children with SEND.
Delivering life changing support to children through:
- Commitment to make sure that every child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) is given an equal opportunity so that they can develop and thrive, regardless of their perceived ability.
- Work in our specialist centres, where we deliver ‘Learning Through Play’ sessions. These are tailored to each individual child’s needs, to give them the best start.
- Collaborative work with families and other professionals. This gives children the best chance of achieving their potential and be ready to move on to the next stage of their education.
Providing information, support and guidance to families through:
- Offering a range of individual and group activities through our Family Support Programme, in the aim to reduce isolation and uncertainty.
- Establishing links to new families and offering guidance to access vital early interventions.
- Holiday play schemes for children with SEND and their siblings, which provide vital respite for parents and carers and crucial continuity for children.
Sharing knowledge to build wider inclusion in the early years through:
- Our nationwide training courses help develop the skills and confidence of early years professionals and creates a more inclusive sector.
- Consultancy with local authorities, which supports their planning and delivery of strategies in the early years, alongside sharing best practice with specialist early years providers to encourage better interaction with mainstream services.
- Our commitment to ensuring that the voice of children with SEND in their early years is heard by decision makers at a local and national level.
Dingley’s Promise Over the Years
- Began as a family support group at Battle Hospital, Reading
- Became a registered charity
- Moved to our Reading centre in Kennet Walk
- Opened our Wokingham centre
- Opened our West Berkshire centre
- Awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
- Rebranded to Dingley’s Promise and released our statement on inclusion
- Released our first national training course
- Expanded our family support service in response to growing demand
- Opened our Gloucester and Southampton centres
- Launched our Manifesto for Early Years Inclusion at the House of Lords
- Opened our Bournemouth and Droitwich centres
- Secured our first direct contracts to work with the Department for Education
- Opened our Cheltenham, Poole and Worcester centres
- Early Years SEND Inclusion Reception at the House of Lords
- Provided evidence to the Education Select Committee
- Launch of Early Years SEND Assessment Guidance with the Department for Education
- Our CEO, Catherine Mole MBE, wins Charity Chief Executive Talent Award at the Third Sector Awards
- Opened our Christchurch and Tidworth centres
In 1983 a group of parents, whose children were supported at the Dingley Ward of the Battle hospital in Reading, started a play group. The Dingley ward was named after a local doctor and focused on the medical needs of children with SEND. The parents had one thing uniting them, the wish that there was more than just medical intervention for their children – rather they wanted them to have the opportunity to learn, play and make friends. From this wish the Dingley play group was formed.
In 1988 the group took the next step and registered as a charity to fundraise for a dedicated nursery space with tailored support in which every child could thrive. Fast forward nearly 40 years and we have extended this service to over 12 registered nurseries each providing specialist support and outreach to families, a training programme reaching over 32,000 educators and a leading voice in early years SEND who lobby for positive policy change for children with SEND and their families and a more inclusive early years sector.
With our name we recognise the long history of our charity and we have added our ‘promise’ to reflect the promise we see in every child, and the promise we make to families that we will give their child the best start in life.