Children with SEND in the early years are identified through a range of checks and assessments across education, health and care.

Health staff have a duty to notify the local authority of any child under compulsory school age who they think may have SEN or disabilities (Children and Families Act 2014 (external link).

What to expect

All early years providers must have arrangements in place to support children with SEN or disabilities. These arrangements should include a clear approach to identifying and responding to SEN. The benefits of early identification are widely recognised –identifying need at the earliest point, and then making effective provision, improves long-term outcomes for children.

This will involve:

• The nursery SENCO supporting practitioners to follow the graduated approach in identifying and supporting your child’s needs
• Your child's allocated key person in nursery or their childminder will gather information on your child through observation within the first 6 weeks of attending the provision.
• Observational assessment is the most reliable way of building up an accurate picture of children’s development and learning This is especially true were the attainment demonstrated is not dependent on adult support.
• They will follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFS) to monitor their learning and development.
• If they feel that there are certain areas in your child's development that they need to develop, they will discuss this with you and put in place a SEN support plan, in accordance with he SEND Code of practice this will need to be reviewed every 6 weeks.
• They will ensure any advice and strategies provided by professionals is incorporated into the SEN support plan and any planning systems they have in place.

All publicly funded early years providers must promote equality of opportunity for disabled children. There is further detail on the disability discrimination duties under the Equality Act in Chapter 1, which focuses on inclusive practice and removing barriers to learning.

For more information see our Early Learning and Childcare Inclusion Team booklet.