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Disabled Children and the Equality Act 2010: what Early Years providers need to know and do

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Speech and Language Challenges at a Record High - Dingley’s Promise

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Dingley support children in the early years withSpecial Educational Needs and Disabilities to achieve their full potential.

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Outdoor Learning in the Early Years - Dingley’s Promise

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Dingley support children in the early years withSpecial Educational Needs and Disabilities to achieve their full potential.

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The individual & diverse ways that children develop & learn | Tapestry

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Educator and lecturer Rory McDowall Clark, reflects on the importance of understanding the individuality of child development.

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How we support children through everyday change & transitions

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Sonia Mainstone-Cotton asks us to reflect on the many small changes a young child experiences in a day and consider how we can support them with these transitions.

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Importance of representation of disability in curriculums & books

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Carlyn Mueller on the representation of disability in children’s books and strategies for increasing representation in school and at home

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Respecting neurodivergent play: what does it look like?

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David Cahn reflects on one child’s neurodivergent play, and how educators can engage and learn with neurodivergent children’s strengths.

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Quick Read:

Neurodiversity-affirming practice can come in the form of making small accommodations for a child.

When making these small accommodations, we can consider and reflect on how it might affect the other children and what our strategies or approach might be.

The small accommodations you make can have a wider-reaching positive effect on the child than you may think.

At our setting we say we are striving towards neurodiversity- affirming practice. We don't claim we are experts at it but we are learning as we go. In my first blog I shared the value of letting go of the idea of there being a "normal way to play." In this article I'm going to discuss another idea...

...keeping our egos in check.

What neurodiversity-affirming practice might look like - an example

At our childminding setting we have one autistic child who greatly prefers the container for our water pump outside to be filled to the very top. She is minimally speaking and in the past would get very upset if it was not filled up to the very top. When I figured out that this was the issue one day, she settled very quickly. Though I only thought it for a split second, when I learned this I won't pretend my first knee-jerk response wasn't:

"Am I going to let a child shout at me to do something that doesn't really matter in the long run? If she learns she can shout at me to get me do this, what is she going to shout at me to do next? I need to put a stop to this now."

I now know enough to discount this voice, and we make a point to fill the water pump container to the top every time. We have also explained to her that if she wants the container filled to the top she needs to wait until I am ready, as my wife Jennifer can't carry the jug when it's full.

Doing this little thing she prefers has led to the exact opposite of her making more demands. I really don't know why this little extra bit of water means so much to her, but it does, and her knowing she will get it each time is clearly very settling for her. I am fairly confident if I had decided to turn this into a mountain to die on, she would have looked for a different way to exert some control in her time with us.

She also finds washing her hands and filling the basin to the near brim very enjoyable and regulating. She lathers up her hands a lot and makes mini whirlpools in the water. When it gets near the top, I ask her to turn it off or sometimes I do it.

Making small accommodations

If there is a small thing that matters to a particular child, why not make an accommodation for them to do so? I can't answer this question for you, and don't want you to blindly do what I do, rather I am just sharing that doing so has been very worth it in my experience. This child looks forward to coming to our setting every week and her family has seen her confidence, communication, and social development grow over the months of attending with us.

A counter argument to this approach could be: It's not fair to the other children if I don't let them spend four minutes filling up the basin when they wash their hands.

Yes, maybe, but our current crew don't care at all - they have never once asked or shown any interest in doing the same thing. Perhaps if we had more 5-7 year olds as opposed to 2-4 year olds this would be more of an issue, but I doubt it. In general, young children are naturally more inclusive and understanding of neurodivergent and disabled children than adults. If any of our other children wanted to do what she did, we would probably let them for a bit. And if, hypothetically, it became an issue that got in the way of transitions to mealtimes or something else, we would redirect other children to more water opportunities outside. If children asked 'why does this other child get to do that' we would explain they find it calming and it helps them have a nice day. I would bet a fiver that would settle the issue.

It's too tempting to think of hypothetical situations and adult ideas of fairness to exert needless control over things that don't matter all that much. None of this is to say we let this child do anything she wants. Though she is minimally speaking it is clear she is intelligent, competent and understands and accepts plenty of our other expectations, routines and boundaries.

What neurodiversity-affirming practice might look like - another example

The boy from my first blog who loves rolling tyres, has a specific way he likes to read stories and will often interrupt a group who are listening to a story to point out and list something he sees in the illustrations. Sometimes he comes over to join a group story and insists on going a page or two back to "catch up" on what he was listening to from afar.

More often than not, we let him do this. Yes, it's not technically "fair" to the other children, but I'm not convinced any of our other crew minds at all. Other children "interrupt" stories all the time with thoughts or observations of their own that might be entirely off topic. It's all part of being in a group sharing a story in an early years setting.

Reflective questions

Below are some questions that might help you to reflect on how you can keep your ego in check and to support you to strive towards neurodiversity-affirming practice. They can only be answered by you, in your specific context and setting - your reflections will be unique to you and your learning community.

Does any of this remind you of any child(ren) currently in your setting? Are they minimally speaking or not?

What is something they are interested in or prefer to do that feels at odds with the way you currently do things?

Why are they interested in it? It is okay if you don't know, but take some time to put yourself in their shoes. If you really can't see the "point," that is okay but ask your coworkers or the child's family for their thoughts as well.

Is it harming anyone or anything?

Is it really stopping a necessary transition or aspect of the day or is it just slowing you down to a degree you don't like?

If you feel it is slowing you down too much or stopping a necessary transition, that is entirely legitimate - can you find a different time or way the child can explore this interest in another part of the day?

Everyone in an early years setting - adults and children alike - have only so much mental and emotional capacity each day. We should be mindful of how we use ours as well as the children's. In my experience when we make these sorts of small accommodations for neurodivergent and disabled children it frees them up for more growth, learning and development in other areas.

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Neurodiversity-affirming practice and our egos | Tapestry

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This article explores neurodiversity-affirming practice; how making small accommodations has a positive effect on neurodivergent children

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EY Southwest Stronger Practice Hub blog: Developing a sensory toolkit. Helping young children to regulate their behaviour

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Author: Heidi PriceHeidi Price is the CEO for the IDEAL Alliance which includes a primary school, two nursery schools, two PVI daycare provisions & the Early Years Southwest Stronger Practice Hub. Here, she explores how the Alliance has used sensory tools to help children to manage their self-regulation. Blog: 4-minute read, Monday 29th January 2024

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Making sense of self-regulationOver the past few years there has been a growing interest in self- regulation and its importance in the early years. The EYFS Statutory Framework (2021) introduced self-regulation as an early learning goal as part of the Prime Area of Personal, Social and Emotional Development (PSED).

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By Ruth Coleman and Eileen AllpressRuth is Headteacher of Highfield Nursery School and leads the East of England Stronger Practice Hub and Eileen is the Research Lead for the hub.Foundations for the Future: Nurturing Self-Regulation and Executive Function in the Early Years

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Growing Independence: A Guide to Early Years Self-Help Skills

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By Natasha TrinderAn early years manager, and a partner in the East of England Early Years Stronger Practice HubEarly years settings are wonderful places to learn and grow. As an early years manager and educator, it is a real privilege to be part of and observe a child’s learning journey throughout their earliest years.

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It is time to "unschool" behaviour management 

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It is time to "unschool" behaviour management 

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8 min read:
If a child can't write... we teach If a child can't read... we teach If a child can't tie up their shoe laces...we teach If a child can't climb...we teach If a child cannot manage their emotions, we ... Why is this sentence harder to finish?
Behaviour as learning in action

One of the best ways to think about behaviour is to see it as learning in action. It should be viewed through the same lens as any other area of learning, such as literacy or self-care. When viewed this way, it opens up possibilities for practitioners to include it as part of their planning experiences. This also reduces the anxiety we might feel about children's behaviour. One of the best pieces of advice I was given when I was first confronted with behaviour is to remember that early years' settings are quite literally the spaces in which children come to learn to behave. If we expected children to arrive wholesome and complete, it would, surely, render our settings null and void? What is our purpose if it is not to teach? Imagine as an adult that you wanted to learn a new language and attended night classes, but then were disciplined or punished because you did not pick up the language quickly enough. That can sometimes happen to children when it comes to learning how to behave. Our expectations of how quickly those skills should be acquired are often far too unrealistic. Children need time to figure things out, yet "behaviour management" has forced us to rush headfirst into "school readiness" agendas. And so, maybe it is time to "unschool" behaviour management.

"Unschooling" behaviour management

During a TED Talk by the late and great Ken Robinson, he told the audience that the purpose of education is to find out what you are good at. The reason this is so powerful is because often the opposite feels true. Many children and adults view education, specifically the school system, as the space in which "failures" in learning become glaringly obvious. School, therefore, becomes the place where behaviour is fixed, corrected, and cured. And because of the fascinations with "school readiness", we see this creep into the very early years. As a result, children tend to learn to perform behaviour to avoid punishments or consequences (or "red cards"). For example, a child might sit through circle time merely because he knows, if he does so quietly, he will get to play outside afterwards. Similarly, many children learn to engage just enough to avoid consequences. The problem with this type of performative engagement is that it becomes a means to an end, and learning becomes lost.

This topic can feel quite uncomfortable for teachers and practitioners who often feel that they are unable to adopt more positively tuned-in approaches, but we must continue to challenge outdated behaviour systems that can be harmful to different intersectional identities.

In recent years, self-directed education, also referred to as the process of "unschooling" has gained momentum as researchers identify that there are long term benefits when a child has freedom and ownership of their educational experience (Gray, 2017). Self-directed education can be defined simply as "an education where the learner retains control of what they are learning. They are free to choose what they learn, and they are free to stop when they have learnt enough" (Fisher, 2021, Pg. 56). It is an important concept when we think about behaviour because we often see behavioural issues arise out of the power play between adult and child, and essentially who gets to call the shots. While as adults, it is imperative that we promote security, safety, and respect through boundaries and supportive direction, this does not need to be delivered through an adult vs child mentality. Autonomous learners experience higher levels of motivation, and engagement, and much of our behavioural concerns would be diminished if we moved away from behaviour fixes and modifications, all of which are foundations of outdated educational principles. So, what might we do to "unschool" our behaviour approaches? Below are four fundamental tips to get you started:

1 - Look for your bias

Research has found that the way practitioners think and act towards children and their identity influences their educational "performance" and behaviour (Youn, 2015). Research has also found existence of teacher bias, particularly towards children of colour (Graham et al., 2019), and those with neurodivergence. For example, a teacher recently shared with me that an autistic child was continually excluded from the main environment for not being able to sit still during circle time. This child used stimming, defined as a repetitive self-stimulating behaviour to regulate their emotions and attention. The teacher believed that this child's behaviour caused disruption to others. Examples such as this highlight why it is imperative that we check and challenge our bias and address it from an equity perspective.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Are my judgements linked to any stereotypes when observing this behaviour?

2. Do I pay particular attention to certain child characteristics, and behaviours?

3. Is my response amongst children consistent?

4. How do I speak about the child and their family?

Top-Tip - reframe "misbehaviours" as "learning in action". What information is the behaviour giving you, and how might you teach it?

2 - Co-regulation is the foundation of self-regulation

Co-regulation can be defined as the process whereby the practitioner or teacher who is usually more capable in a task attunes the behaviours, emotions, or cognitive processes of an individual to model and guide the child (Braund et al., 2021). For example, providing the language for feelings, or explaining what an emotion might physically feel like, and then offering some solutions. Sometimes, it can really be as simple as being in the moment with a child and being a secure base. Through this process, the ability to regulate is transferred to the child and forms the foundations of later self-regulation. Allal (2020) makes a critical point that just because children gain increasing competency in self-regulation, that does not mean we withdraw our co-regulation. They, instead, work in unison with each other over time. Behaviour management and self-regulation, despite being used increasingly in the same sentence are totally at odds with each other. You cannot teach self-regulation through rewards, sanctions, and consequences. Findings from studies highlight that co-regulation practices have to be highly adaptable to meet the different needs of children, and so a "one size fits all" management approach rarely leads to meaningful social and emotional development (Silkenbeumer et al., 2018).

Top-Tip - use visuals to help children understand their feelings, for example, the reaction wall. This helps children to connect emotions and physical feelings:

3 - Know your Flashpoints

One of the most significant things I have found with behaviour is that consistency is hard to maintain because we all have different "flashpoints". According to Nicholson et al. (2020), practitioners experience their own stress responses during behavioural support, and so beginning with a reflection on the role of the adult is crucial. Behaviour can make us feel de-skilled, isolated, angry and confused. There is no shame in admitting that some behaviours ignite uncomfortable feelings such as anger or make us feel disempowered and stressed. I remember as a practitioner often feeling like I needed to hide this shameful side of myself. Research has found, however, that when we engage more deeply with complex emotions, we experience lower levels of stress and exhaustion, and can engage more meaningfully with children (Pisaniello, Winefield and Delfabbro 2012).

Top Tip - We all have stress responses, but do you know your individual flashpoints, such as fight, flight or freeze? Figuring out your common reactions to stress means you can plan individualised strategies for yourself, which will help you to be a better co-regulator.

4 - Look at your expectations and lower them

In her recent twitter thread, Research scientist Dr. Suzanne Zeedyk (@suzannezeedyk) outlined one of the Early Learning Goals for personal, social and emotional development:

Children at the expected level of development will: Show an understanding of their own feelings and those of others and begin to regulate their behaviour accordingly (DfE, 2021).
-MOST ADULTS CANNOT DO THIS-
The focus of the ELG is for children aged 5 to begin to self-regulate, to manage their own feelings, emotions and behaviours accordingly, however there is no mention of how self-regulation is dependent on supportive adults and environments in co-regulation, and how both concepts are intertwined and sit side by side. Self-regulation is not the individual responsibility of the child. One of the most important questions you can ask yourself when expecting behaviours, is "could I do this?". You will be surprised at how many behaviours are actually hard to maintain, hence why as adults we are often exhausted by the end of the day. Maintaining a social self is difficult to do over a long period of time. The key is to see the strengths in the behaviour and use them as a hook for learning, for example, "I could see you really tried to take turns today, in fact, you were able to do it two times. I bet you can do it again tomorrow".

Conclusion

I am not going to say that supporting children's behaviour is easy, because quite frankly...it isn't. Children are complex creatures, just like us. Behaviour is disorientating at times, and it can make us feel bad about ourselves. Children's behaviour can shine a bright light on our own feelings of inadequacy, but we have to remember that "behaviour management" is a deeply rooted system that creates a sense of urgency and moral panic. Childhood takes time, and the emphasis should be on joy and thriving, not management and modification.

Kerry Murphy

Excerpts taken from forthcoming books:

Little Minds Matter: Supporting wellbeing in SEND (Kerry Murphy).

The Building Blocks of Behaviour (Kerry Murphy & Sarah Doyle).
References
Allal, L. (2020). Assessment and the co-regulation of learning in the classroom. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 27(4), 332-349.

Braund, H., DeLuca, C., Panadero, E., & Cheng, L. (2021). Exploring Formative Assessment and Co-Regulation in Kindergarten Through Interviews and Direct Observation. In Frontiers in Education (p. 375). Frontiers.

Fisher, N. (2021). Changing Our Minds: How children can take control of their own learning. Robinson.

Graham, B., White, C., Edwards, A., Potter, S., & Street, C. (2019). School exclusion: a literature review on the continued disproportionate exclusion of certain. Department for Education.

Gray, P. (2017). Self-directed education-Unschooling and democratic schooling. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education.

Nicholson, J., Perez, L., & Kurtz, J. (2018). Trauma-informed practices for early childhood educators: Relationship-based approaches that support healing and build resilience in young children. Routledge.

Pisaniello, S. L., Winefield, H. R., & Delfabbro, P. H. (2012). The influence of emotional labour and emotional work on the occupational health and wellbeing of South Australian hospital nurses. Journal of Vocational behavior, 80(3), 579-591.

Robinson, K. (2006) Do schools kill creativity? February. Available at: https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity?language=en

Silkenbeumer, J. R., Schiller, E. M., & Kärtner, J. (2018). Co-and self-regulation of emotions in the preschool setting. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 44, 72-81.

Youn, M. (2016). Learning more than expected: The influence of teachers' attitudes on children's learning outcomes. Early Child Development and Care, 186(4), 578-595.

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It is time to "unschool" behaviour management | Tapestry

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Kerry Murphy, early years specialist in special educational needs, disability and development differences, explains that we need to think about behaviour as learning in action in this article about how to 'unschool' behaviour management.

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Diversifying Child Development in Early Years

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Diversifying Child Development in Early Years

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Diversifying Child Development in Early Years

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Kerry Murphy is an early childhood specialist with a background in neurodiversity and disability. She is a lecturer in early years & SEND at Goldsmiths University, an author & student completing her EdD at Sheffield University.Reflection on child development

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Templates for supporting with medical needs

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Templates for supporting with medical needs

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Access resources and strategies for supporting nursery and preschool children with epilepsy. Learn how to manage their early education needs effectively.

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BCP Council Family Information Directory and Local Offer

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Your Internet Explorer 11 browser is not supported by this site. Please upgrade to a recent browser for the best experience.

The directory helps autistic people, their families and the professionals who work with them to find local and national services. It includes residential, supported living and respite, employment support, diagnostic, schools and nurseries, social groups and leisure activities, solicitors and advocacy organisations. Please use the search bar below to find services in your area. We require your FULL postcode to provide the most relevant results for you.

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The UK's most comprehensive directory of services and support for autistic people, their families, and the people who work with them.

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Online request form for Area SENCO support

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Online request form for Area SENCO support

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Refer an early years child into the SEN Co-ordinator (SENCo) service

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How early years providers can refer a child with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to an SEN co-ordinator.

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Section 23 Notifications for Health Professionals

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Section 23 Notifications for Health Professionals

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Section 23 notification for professionals

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How to notify us of a child under compulsory school age who may have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

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The DfE assessment resources provide a suggested way of working when assessing children with SEND in the early years. Whether you are a school-based provider, group-based provider or childminder, these resources can be used to support your children with potential or known SEND. You may want to use everything, or choose which specific elements will be helpful for your setting.

The resources include:

four assessment tools centred around the four broad areas of need

examples of how to use the assessment tools in practice

a one page profile to capture the voice of the child

SMART targets sheet to set short-term targets

support and achievement play plans (SAPPs) to capture a child's long-term goals and needs

The assessment tools

There are four assessment tools, that reflect the four broad areas of need, with a focus on the core skills children with SEND may gain in each area. You can use them at any stage of supporting a child, and they are designed to be used individually or together based on the needs of a child.

The tools may be used in the following way:

1. An area of need is recognised through observation and discussed with the parents and or carers.

2. The appropriate broad area(s) of need is selected from the assessment tools.

3. You use the tool to find out what the child can do in their area of need.

4. You discuss the child's strengths and strategies to support them and note this on a one-page profile with the parents and or carers.

5. You use the assessment tool to outline the initial targets for their child. Using specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) targets you can help a child to make progress towards the assessment statements within the tool.

6. You may want to produce a Support and Achievement Play Plan (SAPP), which will identify long-term goals and record key strategies you may use to support the child. You implement the strategies discussed in practice, noting their impact on the child and how the child engages with your planned support.

7. By the end of the term, or appropriate period, you review the impact of the strategies with the parents and or carers, complete a development monitoring review to determine developmental progress and set out new appropriate targets.

8. Repeat steps 5-7 until you feel support is no longer required or you support the child to transition to their next setting or school.

There may come a time where you feel external specialist support is required. You may refer to your setting or local authority area Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENCO) for support and guidance or you can directly refer to these services and work with them on any additional support to be implemented. You should only request specialist support when you are satisfied that you have used a graduated approach to understand the child and their needs, and even when they are waiting to be seen you should continue to trial different approaches to support the child.

To strengthen your understanding of how to identify developmental differences and needs and help to consider factors affecting children's development when they access the learning and curriculum on offer, the DfE has developed early years child development training. You can access it for free.

Using the assessment tools

Completing the assessment tool is quick and simple. Each statement is broken down into three levels:

emerging - the child is showing some interest or awareness of this skill.

supported - the child can achieve this skill with support from another (adult or child).

independently - the child can consistently achieve this skill on their own without additional support from an adult or child.

By reading the statements you can make a judgement as to whether you feel the child is not yet showing awareness of this skill, and so leave it unmarked, or determine whether they are emerging (E), supported (S) or independent (I). You can then mark the coordinating letter however you wish (circle, highlight, tick, etc.).

Every time you complete an additional review you should use a different colour to evidence where you feel the child is at that point. We recognise that some children may regress with their development on occasion, and this should also be marked, and appropriate next steps and intervention should be carried out.

The assessment tools promote a positive view of the child by working towards a series of "I can" statements. These are further divided into three sub sections, which allow you to see if there are particular areas of development that may need deeper focus. The statements are organised like building blocks, with the likelihood that the lower blocks are achieved before the higher blocks. However, some children will not progress in this way, and you should not be concerned if you are observing that the higher blocks have been achieved before the lower blocks.

You can also note the types of play you observe from the child to support your decision making in appropriate strategies of support or environmental adjustments you can make to enhance their learning.

Case study

Mary completed the "Sensory and Physical" tool for Abdul, and noted that he is not yet using an open top cup and preferred drinking from a closed 'easy drink' bottle. She circled "E" (emerging) on the statement "I can drink with an open top cup without support". To support him, Mary planned to initially provide Abdul with a slanted, 2 handled drinks cup, alongside his favourite bottle, which gave him the access to an open cup whilst being easier to hold and needing little movement backwards to drink. She shared these next steps with other practitioners and Abdul's parents so that at meal and snack times Abdul will be supported by an adult to engage and drink from the open cup ensuring consistency between home and setting. She also noted this down on his SMART target sheet. Mary also decided to offer other tipping and pouring opportunities for Abdul throughout his play to encourage these skills in the moment. She modelled tipping and pouring actions with Abdul throughout the session when he showed an interest in the water tray. Throughout the term, his confidence grew, and his skills developed. By the following term, when Mary completed the assessment tool for Abdul again, she was able to recognise his progress by circling "S" (supported), indicating that he can now demonstrate this skill with guidance from an adult.

Here is an example of a completed tool

Example tool

Using the framework tool to monitor child progress

Monitoring how children progress with their learning helps you see where to focus your support. The development growth section enables you to note how a child is progressing over a period of time, recognising areas where the child may need further support and areas in which they are making continuous developmental progress and so highlighting their strengths.

This can be simply monitored by recording the number of emerging, supported or independent statements a child is achieving. For example, where a child is emerging in a statement this would be recorded as 1, supported would be 2 and independent would be 3, you can add these together to see how much of the assessment tool they are covering with each review, monitoring their progress.

You can monitor a child's progress through the change in the number of statements a child is covering within the assessment tool each term.

Using the framework following the Progress Check at Age Two

If a delay is identified during the Progress Check at Age Two, you may choose to use the assessment tool as your next step on the journey to supporting the child and their parents and or carers. You can select and complete the relevant tool to understand in more detail what the child is currently achieving. This way, you create a starting point to work from and this supports you in evidencing the successes a child has with the intervention you can provide.

Case study

After completing the Progress Check at Age Two with his key child, Leigh, Mathew recognised that her communication and language skills were delayed. He met with Leigh's parents to discuss how they could further support her, and introduced the setting SENCO. They chose the communication and interaction tool and completed an assessment of Leigh. This assessment, alongside conversation with her parents to understand more about how Leigh communicates at home, led to identifying that Leigh could use some early speech sounds, but lacked confidence when engaging with others.

Mathew decided to use visuals alongside Leigh's favourite interests and used simple language during play as first strategies to support Leigh's communication journey moving forwards. Mathew engaged in these strategies with Leigh consistently, and shared the same visuals with her parents to use in the home. Over time both parents and Mathew noticed an increase in awareness of the visuals and on occasion Leigh would pick up a visual which linked with something she was playing with. By the next review, a term later, everyone could see the progress in Leigh's awareness of communication.

Through the reviews and communal discussion of Leigh's strengths and needs the team that surrounded her could identify strategies that would interest her as well as support her early language skills which led to effective progress being made on each termly review. If Leigh's communication needs continue to make progress but not meet typical milestones the SENCO would support the family in making a referral to speech and language services in their area for additional support and guidance.

Using the toolkit to support accessing funding

Additional funding can be important to ensuring equipment, training and appropriate support are in place. When applying for local authority allocated funding, they may ask you for evidence of the child's need. To access funding, it should be clear what broad areas of need a child has, how this impacts their learning and development, the support currently in place and the potential impact of the support requested. The impact on a child's learning and development can be evidenced through selecting observations that demonstrate the child's needs and how effective the current support provided is. By using the assessment tool, you can show clear progression through small steps-based learning. These are all things that a local authority may consider when assessing applications for SEND funding.

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The DfE assessment resources provide a suggested way of working when assessing children with SEND in the early years. Whether you are a school-based provider, group-based provider or childminder, these resources can be used to support your children with potential or known SEND.

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EYSEND National Seminar - Ordinarily Available Provision in the Early Years

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A national seminar by EYSEND on Ordinarily Available Provision.

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Registered charity No. 258825. Registered in England and Wales No. 952717.

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Toilets and school readiness - ERIC

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Concerned about how your child will manage using toilets when they start school? Find out how to prepare your child and get support from school with toileting problems.

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Toolkit for supporting mental health and wellbeing of deaf children

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Toolkit for supporting mental health and wellbeing of deaf children

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Helpful Hints for using a sensory profile

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Helpful Hints for supporting play skills

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Helpful Hints for positive behaviour support

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Helpful Hints for giving clear instructions

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Helpful Hints for Gifted and Talented support

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Helpful Hints for developing fine motor skills in nursery

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Helpful Hints for Creating a SEND Support Plan

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Helpful Hints for creating a behaviour support plan

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Helpful Hints for choosing a primary need

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Also known as Individual Education Plan or Individual Learning Plan

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Template - Early Years SEND Support - Intervention Record Sheet

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Guidance for completing costed provision maps

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Guidance for completing costed provision maps

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Guidance for completing costed provision maps

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Individual Costed Provision Map template

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Our Speech and Language Therapists support children with speech, language and communication needs, to help them to communicate better. They also work with children who have eating and swallowing problems.

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speech language therapy talking talk problems issues play salt communication support supporting cleft lip palate hearing loss stammer stutter stuttering development social worried child early years school eating drinking sound

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Norfolk & Waveney Children's Speech and Language Therapy Service

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Here at Just One Norfolk, we are dedicated to providing children and young people's health services to the community. Find out more about our services

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12 tips for an autism friendly christmas

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https://www.strongerpracticehubs.org.uk/hubs/ee/ee-eysph/resources/reimagining-play-neurodivergent-children-kerry-murphy

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What is speech therapy?

Our speech and language therapists provide life-improving treatment, advice, support and care for children and young people who are experiencing challenges with their communication, or with their eating, drinking and swallowing.

We aim to work in partnership with parents and carers, and other key people in the child or young person's environment to support their

understanding of words and sentences

use of words and sentences

communication and interaction

dysfluency (stammering)

speech sounds

voice

We also help children and young people who have physical difficulties with swallowing, eating and drinking. Some children we support may have other identified needs such as cleft palate, hearing impairment and special educational needs and disability (SEND).

How do we work?

Speech and Language Therapists use specialist skills and a variety of methods to assess a child or young person's needs and determine if further support is needed. We work in partnerships with the child or young person, their parents/carers and family and other professionals such as teachers, early years setting staff, occupational therapists, doctors and heath visitors to provide quality care and the most appropriate support for your child. The support we provide to your child is based on their needs, it is individual to them. It is vital that the supportive approaches identified by the therapist are practiced at home with family encouragement and assistance.

Education staff at your child's early years or school setting are also key partners in supporting your child or young person by following the advice and personalised programmes of support provided by the therapist.

Where do we work?

The service works across Dorset and aims to offer support in the most appropriate setting for your child. This may be in a health centre, children's centre, school, nursery or at home. A number of our appointments are offered virtually. We are a teaching trust and therefore it is possible that your child may be seen by a student speech and language therapist under the direct or indirect supervision of a qualified speech and language therapist.

Please see our locations for current clinic locations, which include details of accessibility and parking.

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Speech and language therapy service (Children & young people's)

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Paediatric speech and language therapy Children and young people's speech and language therapy

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Elklan Training Limited | Elklan Training Limited

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Supporting people across all ages to improve sleep, and provides sleep training to professionals in the health, social and corporate sectors.