Can early years practitioners meet children’s differing educational needs without labelling them as different? Mary Warnock, who revolutionised the way children with special educational needs or disabilities were educated in the 1970s, complained that the term ‘SEND’ implied children belonged to one homogenous group, when in reality their needs are many and varied. And aside from the huge funding shortages for SEND children, if a child is lucky enough to get extra support there is a danger that this highlights what they are ‘unable’ to do, says Chris Collet, former Newman University lecturer in disability and inclusion in early years education.
This Catch 22 situation highlights a conundrum at the heart of the question of how to deliver inclusive practice for SEND children: treating them as individuals while ensuring they have the support they need to flourish. The good news is a solution exists within early years: the principle of a child-centred approach. Practitioners should ‘reflect on how the child (and their parents) experience the setting, trying to take their perspective, to then note what may be difficult or challenging as well as welcoming, supportive and/or fun,’ says educational psychologist and professional tutor at the University of Birmingham, Anita Soni. ‘This child-centred approach is vital, and is a golden thread of the SEND Code of Practice [see box].’
The second important quality for early years professionals, according to National Association for Special Educational Needs education development officer Alex Grady, is confidence. She says many nursery managers worry they cannot support particular needs. In fact, an early years environment is the best place for almost every child. Less than one per cent of children with SEND aged under five need to attend a special school. ‘Most children with SEND can access a mainstream, early years setting, because they are so child-centred, based around play, and the ratios are quite high,’ she says.
Ms Grady says ensuring everyone is clear about their roles regarding SEND is important. Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) should be well trained and given enough time and support from management to do paperwork and share information with their local authority and other agencies. This is especially the case with applying for funding, which can be time-consuming, but is always worth doing as soon as possible.
The Code of Practice states local authorities must ensure funding is available for providers to meet SEND children’s needs. However, while the number of under-fives with an Education, Health And Care (EHC) plan or statement of need was 12,516 in 2018, an 11 per cent increase on 2015, cuts to local authority funding have reduced SEND provision. The Local Government Association estimates a shortfall of £1.6bn in SEND funding will exist by 2021.
Ideally, all staff will have some SEND training. ‘Good practice for SEND is good practice for all children,’ says Ms Grady. ‘Staff need to have a positive approach. If they see a child behaving in a challenging way, rather than telling them off, it’s about trying to understand what they might be trying to communicate.’
Staff must also be able to identify need. The Code of Practice outlines a graduated approach of trying different strategies and seeing if the child makes progress. If they do not, practitioners must take action early. ‘Sometimes people think – let’s wait until he gets to school – he might catch up,’ says Ms Grady. ‘[But] if you wait until he’s five, and he does need help, he’s already much further behind.’ She adds that labelling is not the aim. ‘You haven’t got to say, “he might be dyslexic.” You just need to say, “at the moment he needs some more help’.’’
YOUR EMPLOYEES
The Equality Act 2010 applies to employees and job applicants as much as children, with employers required to make reasonable adjustments for staff who declare a SEND.
Milton Keynes’ Woodlands Day Nursery SENCO Tazmin Farrington advises mangers complete occupational health assessments for new colleagues, if they disclose a need, to ensure the right support is in place.
‘For example, where there are mobility issues, other colleagues will take over more expansive garden play and activity,’ says Ms Tazmin. ‘With any reading or writing issues like dyslexia, management teams and colleagues step in to prepare or ‘spell check’ parent communications and reports. Additional support is also available in training and study programmes which involve a lot of practical elements and one-to-one tutoring.’
National Education Union assistant general-secretary Nansi Ellis says it is important SEND children see themselves reflected in the staff working with them. ‘The issue for nursery managers wishing to appoint a member of staff with a disability may be cost,’ she says. ‘It may be difficult for nurseries to make sure a staff member can be covered if they need to be for reasons of their disability.’
Ms Collett concludes in her book that inclusive practice in the early years can lead to long-term change. Children who are educated alongside both disabled and non-disabled people, she says, ‘will grow into more tolerant adults’.
Reflective questions:
1. Are you aware of all streams of SEND funding available to you?
2. Are your recruitment policies inclusive of applicants with SEND?
3. Do you know if any of your parents have a disability?
Case study: Pre-school room leader and SENCO
Kelly Thomas at Ladybirds and Brookvale Nursery Cluster in Halton, Cheshire
‘Just under a fifth of our children have SEND. My job involves assessing and deciding how to support them. I work alongside parents and apply for financial support such as the disability access fund, one-to-one support grants from our local authority inclusion fund and apply for EHC plans.
‘We have a little boy who is profoundly deaf. He wears two cochlear implants, which we explained to the other children. We have a really good partnership with the local authority hearing impairment team. They arranged for our staff and the boy’s family to have joint British Sign Language training one night a week for six weeks.
‘The children know he doesn’t join us for story time. So we take him away and read him a more simplified story.
‘The children try and sign to him. When we’re doing the sign for milk and water at snack time, they copy us.
‘All of the children benefit from being in an inclusive setting. It really helps their personal, social and emotional skills. They learn about difference and how we can support each other.
‘We have to fight really hard to get funding. We try to put in a lot of paperwork. Other nurseries with children with disabilities aren’t getting the funding because the paperwork isn’t quite right.
‘We can apply for any child with SEN to receive a top up fund – it’s a detailed application - from the local authority for up to a year and then, if they’ve got an EHC plan, they can continue to receive that fund. We also use DAF funding from central government at £615 per child per year.‘
Supporting disabled parents: a guide by former government disability policy advisor, professor Jenny Morris
1. Make sure parents with SEND can find out about your setting. Provide accessible information and facilitate visits.
2. Always ask the parent of a new child if they have SEND requirements, as they may not be obvious. This may include organising a car-parking space if they have a physical disability, giving them a setting tour at a quiet time, or installing a hearing loop system – sound system for use by people with hearing aids.
3. Offer to provide written communications in other formats such as large print. Parents may use audio software and prefer electronic communications.
4. Be aware of small details such as providing appropriate seating, or ensuring a wheelchair can move around.
5. Encourage disabled parents to be involved.
6. Seek advice from professional organisations, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People and Royal Association for Deaf People.
The legal requirements
- Equality Act 2010 – states providers must not discriminate against, harass or victimise disabled children, or employees, and that they must make reasonable adjustments to prevent them being put at disadvantage.
- The Children and Families Act 2014 –outlines duties such as early years providers being required to co-operate with local authorities.
- EYFS – specifies providers must have arrangements to support children with SEND, and must ‘have regard to’ the SEND Code of Practice. Nursery schools ‘must’ identify a member of staff to act as a SENCO, providers in PVIs are ‘expected to’, and childminders are ‘encouraged to’.
- SEND Code of Practice – explains actions needed to meet duties.
- Education, Health and Care plan – a legal document that describes SEND, health and social care needs.
