Special Educational Needs in Practice (Revised Edition): A step-by-step guide to developing a SEN inclusion policy and delivering the requirements of Early Years Action Plus

The Role Of The Senco: An Introduction

The updated Special Educational Needs Code of Practice sets a requirement for all early years settings, including approved childminding networks, to either employ a member of staff or train an existing one as special educational needs coordinator (SENCO). Whilst the organisation of this role may differ among settings, it is a mandatory and very important role with major implications for all areas of early years provision.

The overall responsibility of the SENCO is in monitoring and coordinating the implementation of the Code of Practice within the setting, so if you have just been employed or appointed as SENCO, what is expected of you and who can you turn to for advice? The following headings provide a summary of the areas you will need to give consideration to first of all.

The Code of Practice and policy for special educational needs

The first thing you will need to do is make sure you are familiar with both the Code of Practice (see page 70) and your setting’s special educational needs policy.

The Code lays down a statutory obligation to ensure that an up-to-date SEN policy is implemented in the running of each group, and you will be responsible for overseeing the operation of this policy. Assuming this policy is appropriate, you will need to make sure that all staff members are aware of the policy and what is expected of them, that it is being carried out and review progress.

You may need to organise a staff training session to explain the policy further and check understanding amongst the staff team. With support from the staff you work with, you will then be in a position to assess how the policy is actually being implemented.

Coordination of provision for children with special educational needs

Whilst staff working directly with individual children with special needs will be supporting them and observing and assessing their progress, you should support them in making assessments of need and ensure all known information is collected from a variety of sources. This may involve liaison with outside agencies, including those already involved with the child, and will always involve liaison with the parents. You will need to make sure that parents understand your involvement and arrange and review meetings with the child and everyone involved each term.

It is important that staff understand they are required to keep records of children’s progress, noting concerns, and these will provide valuable information when you liaise with staff to produce Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and plan relevant provision for the child.

Support for individual children and their families

You will need to work closely with the child’s early years worker and parents to decide upon the action to be taken and to plan relevant teaching strategies. It is important that you provide information to parents on the advice and services offered by your local authority and Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership (EYDCP).

In-service training and information

As SENCO, you will be expected to provide relevant training for your staff team. This does not, however, need to be delivered solely by you. The Early Years Development and Childcare Partnership plays an important part in supporting and training both SENCOs and early years staff, providing opportunities for individuals to develop skills and knowledge, helping them to provide support to staff in assessing and providing for children with special educational needs.

Funding should be available to help partnerships in training and providing area SENCOs who will offer support and guidance to setting SENCOs - so you will not be alone!

Additional support for the SENCO

Do not feel you should know everything immediately! It will be useful to draw up lists of relevant local and national contacts. Some local authorities compile their own SEN directories.

Contact experts for advice, or to provide staff training and make sure you go to all relevant training sessions.

The role of the SENCO is an important, demanding one, requiring commitment and a willingness to train and to be trained. You will probably have been chosen because of your interest and enthusiasm for the role, probably coupled with previous experiences and an understanding of children with special educational needs. Through this challenging role, you will be able to pass on your knowledge and understanding to others and provide a greatly enhanced service to children with special educational needs and their families.

Sue Fisher,

early years training consultant.

Be Aware of Confidentiality!

The revised SEN Code of Practice (4.28) directs all SENCO’s to Section 14 of the SEN Toolkit with regard to care and protection of ‘sensitive’ documents. Section 14 states that confidentiality about certain issues must be considered. In line with the Data Protection Act 1998 be aware that documents such as IEPs and Child Information Records can contain personal and medical information.

All documents relating to a child should be:

treated sensitively

not left around

stored securely

not removed from the setting without the SENCO’s permission

shredded when finished with (after required archiving period)

All staff involved with such documents should be briefed/trained on Data Protection and how sensitive or confidential documents should be stored/signed in-out.

Developing Inclusive Practice

The Special Educational Needs Code of Practice states that the provision for children with special educational needs is a matter for everyone involved in each setting. As SENCO, under the overall direction of the head or manager of your setting, you will need to ensure that all staff members recognise and understand their responsibilities towards all the children in their care.

Why develop inclusive practice?

It is becoming increasingly accepted that inclusion is the right of every child, whether at pre-school or school. This helps to ensure that equal opportunities are provided for all. All children should be given the power of ordinary experiences and have the right to a broad and balanced curriculum.

Children with special needs will benefit from the atmosphere of a happy, stimulating early years setting. Children learn from doing things for each other and observing each other, and all children in the setting will benefit from working and playing with children with special needs.

Children can only be equal if differences are accepted. Therefore, ensuring your provision is inclusive to all children, rather than focusing on specific special needs, is an important starting point.

Supporting staff

The staff in your setting working with children with special needs will be responsible for their daily care. Some may lack confidence in this, but it is expected that anyone looking after children should be able to manage a wide range of behaviours and needs. Staff members will also be expected to manage extra helpers working with the children, but at the same time can learn from such support workers who will often have specialist knowledge. Groups belonging to the Pre-school Learning Alliance, for example, may be able to access a support worker through their local branch to provide some one-to-one support. Other specialists, such as Portage workers and educational psychologists, may also be involved in the care of a child and staff will benefit from their experience and advice.

Action and adaptations

The Code of Practice states that decisions about which actions are appropriate must be made on an individual basis, through careful assessment of the child’s difficulties and their need for different approaches. It is vital to work closely with the parents of each child in building up a detailed picture of such needs. This will help you in being prepared to care fully for each child.

It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking you are including all children simply by accepting them into your setting, without making any changes. Therefore, as SENCO, a positive approach to inclusion is to identify what difficulties your setting may pose for children with special educational needs rather than looking at the difficulties their attendance may cause you.

It is often not particularly beneficial to provide special activities or equipment. What is more important is that staff use the information they have received from parents and other sources to adjust approaches to suit individual children.

The Code of Practice states that staff should enrich and extend the normal range of teaching strategies for pupils who may need extra help. For true integration, it is important for the children not just to be there, but to be part of it.

Examples could include:

Story time: one-to-one support for a child who lacks concentration or whose behaviour may deteriorate in a group situation. Props and visual aids for children with hearing difficulties.

Sensory exploration: This is strongly linked to working with children with special needs but is equally of benefit to all children, especially less confident children and those who find it difficult to express themselves verbally. A range of sensory equipment, both indoors and outdoors (visual, auditory and tactile), will provide valuable learning opportunities for all children.

Adaptations to the physical environment: This is sometimes as simple as rearranging the furniture. For example, a less cluttered environment assists movement and extending the area of the home corner will provide play opportunities for children with mobility and vision difficulties. It is also important to keep the layout similar each time the child attends.

As SENCO, there are many ways in which you can support inclusive practice in your setting.

It will help you a great deal if all parents are asked to complete an initial assessment of their child’s needs and progress to date. It is also useful to know about the impact of different disabilities. If possible, a home visit will give key staff the opportunity to see how the child is cared for and in particular to gaina better understanding of the care needs involved. This information will help you to help staff prepare for the child’s entry to the setting. Remember also to focus on each child’s strengths and achievements rather than what the child cannot do. This is a method of assessment familiar to all working in the early years and will encourage staff to have high expectations and set suitable targets.

Support and training

Make sure that staff have access to relevant support, information and training. Close links with your area early years development and childcare partnership are important as special educational needs and inclusion are priorities and they may be offering relevant training and support.

Local schools and other early years settings may also have experiences to share and could be interested in sharing training, ideas and resources.

Staff may worry that they do not have enough specialist knowledge to care effectively for some children. However, with training, advice, information and support this should not be a problem. Although it is your role to support staff, they should be encouraged to seek some information for themselves. You can support them in this by keeping details of useful contacts and addresses of organisations who will be able to provide useful written information. They may also be able to offer advice on how to make your setting more accessible to children with specific disabilities.

Bear in mind the differing needs of children when requesting resources. It is not always necessary to have special resources, but sturdy construction and small world equipment, for example, would be suitable for most children.

Overall, remember that inclusion must ensure all children are valued for who they are, andthe more flexible the strategies you use,the more likely that children with a wide range of needs will make progress.

Sue Fisher,

early years training consultant.

Organisations to contact

Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education.

National Association for Special Educational Needs (NASEN).

Disabled Living Foundation.

Full contact details for these organisations can be found on pages 87-88.

Publications

Good Practice in Caring for Young Children with Special Needs by Angela Dare and Margaret O’Donovan (Stanley Thornes) ISBN 0 7487 2871 6.

Early Identification And Intervention

Some children will begin pre-school education already having been identified as having a special educational need (SEN) but a number of special needs will be identified for the first time whilst children are attending early years provision, with a significant chance that you or a member of your team (such as a key worker) will be the one who identifies it.

What is a special educational need?

It is likely you will first be alerted to the possibility of a SEN through observing that a child is not learning or behaving how you would expect for their age. All special needs will fall into one of the categories stated in the new Code of Practice. These are:

Cognition and learning difficulties

Behavioural, emotional and social difficulties

Communication and interaction difficulties

Sensory and physical difficulties

Why is early intervention so important?

The Code of Practice stresses the importance of early identification and assessment and places a requirement on early years settings to make sure that suitable provision is made for any child identified as having a SEN. You have a duty to recognise and identify any SEN in your setting and plan what action needs to be taken to help and support each child.

The same applies to those working in the private and voluntary sector.

How are special educational needs identified?

Many early years workers lack confidence in identifying special needs, yet have a wealth of experience in meeting children’s individual needs. Some children will arrive at your setting already having been identified as having a specific special need, but many more will not. Those already diagnosed are likely to have a label attached to their need and whilst this will help you identify what support they need, it is not imperative. What is important is early intervention to ensure the child reaches their full potential. As SENCO, you can support staff in understanding that it is their depth of knowledge of child development that assists more than anything else in the identification of a special need.

If a child is having difficulty, it is possible staff will be alerted to this early after admission. However, it is more likely that concerns will be raised when a child makes little or no progress, even when additional support has been given or when they consistently work or behave at a level well below that which is expected of a child of a similar age.

When concerns are raised about a child, it is important to gather together as much information as possible, from parents, records of assessment and, importantly, from first-hand observations of the child in a range of situations. A written format for recording initial concern is useful, in particular to help you and the child’s key worker decide upon further action.

What next?

It is important to remember that the identification of a special educational need aids appropriate provision and this is the key to early intervention. From your observation and assessment, it will become clear what each child needs and how they differ from others in the group and this information will help the key worker when planning