We welcome the white paper’s focus on early years and the acknowledgement of this as a vital stage which shapes the educational journey for all children. This is the first time that the early years has been centred within SEND education reform plans, and as such this provides a huge opportunity. Through effective allocation of funding, we can ensure that children with SEND get better access to provision, and through inclusion training, every child can be supported by skilled and confident staff and specialists. We are committed to supporting families of children with SEND to feed their thoughts into the consultation stage, and are pleased from initial discussions with parents, that many feel positive about the renewed focus on early years and the potential for positive change the schools white paper could bring for their children.
The government’s commitment to £47 million funding for inclusion, specifically in the early years, provides an opportunity for quicker response to needs which are identified early. We have long championed early identification of need, however the effectiveness of this will rely on a simple, standardised and effective way of assessing needs and responding to them, which can be communicated across all professionals involved with the child. The foundations of this were created in the SEND Assessment Guidance which we developed alongside the DfE. We would like to see during the consultation stage, a real focus on the implementation of Individual Support Plans (ISPs) across all early years settings, as the current focus is heavily towards school-based nurseries. We look forward to working with the government to guide the implementation of funding and system changes within the early years, as there are many unanswered questions at this stage.
The white paper aims to “strengthen the ability of every educational setting to meet the varying needs of children and young people”. This aspiration, if successful, puts children on a level playing field, regardless of need or disadvantage, finally giving educators the resources needed to be truly inclusive and welcome every child.
The introduction of free mandatory training in early years and the funding investment in the workforce is long overdue, and we have seen first-hand the impact on confidence and skill levels across the country, where whole settings have adopted our early years inclusion training. The recognition that inclusion requires a whole setting approach is greatly welcomed and we will continue to provide high quality training and resources to support the sector with this drive for inclusion. We also are clear that much work is needed to increase the perceived value and impact of the early years and the wonderful educators who work within it, to reduce current retention issues, increase opportunity and remuneration and create better links with primary stages.
We welcome the introduction of ‘Experts at Hand’, knowing first-hand the impact which direct involvement from professionals can have in children’s developmental progress. The success of this will be in the increased numbers of highly trained specialists such as educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, and occupational therapists, which have been a scarce resource in the early years over recent years. The document states the importance of “sharing expertise and resources, with mainstream and specialist settings will work in close partnership”, a collaborative approach which we have adopted successfully with huge benefits for both children and families and one which has encouraged much needed integration of early years teams and professionals supporting each child’s journey.
The introduction of SEND expertise within the Best Start in Life Family Hubs is key to identifying, engaging and supporting parents of children with SEND, and we are keen to use our expertise of effective outreach models to support the refinement of this role. We recognise the need to tailor outreach support to existing local authorities and health team systems, working communicatively and collaboratively to optimise the support given to each family.
We will continue to press the need for High Needs Block funding in the early years to ensure funding for children with the highest needs is immediately available, without the need for families to fight for this support. The review of how this funding ties into the ‘fast-track’ support response for complex children, will be critical to its success. We are encouraged that children will not need to go through lower stages to access higher levels of support, which can delay access to resources at this critical time of development.
Clearly the white paper provides a framework for change and through the consultation we have a valuable opportunity to shape the delivery. It is the responsibility of all those linked to the early years to feed into the consultation, to ensure that this radical overhaul of the system is done in a way which works for both children and families and brings lasting change.
We have been grateful for the opportunity to feed into the reform discussions and look forward to supporting further with this process and providing multiple opportunities for families of children with SEND in the early years to make their voices heard and to working towards a fairer and more inclusive early years system.