Early Years SEND Support

Early Years settings must have arrangements in place to support children with SEND. The Early Years, Childcare and Business Development Service advises these providers to ensure their offer is high quality, inclusive, and safe.

There are different types of support you can expect from your early years setting provider.

Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) 

Each childcare provider must have a SENCO. Their role is to make sure the professionals in their Early Years setting can identify and meet the needs of children with SEND. The SENCOs also liaise with parents, carers, and other professionals, such as health, who also support the child.

My Early Years Support Plan

If an Early Years setting identifies a child as having SEN, they’ll work with parents and carers to create a support plan for them. In Waltham Forest, this is called ‘My Early Years Support Plan’. This sets individual targets for your child to work on at the nursery and is reviewed every term.

All Talk Project 

All Talk Project has been commissioned by Waltham Forest to provide a universal and targeted service to early years settings within the borough. All Talk is led by two Speech and Language Therapists.

Starting School Together

Aims to help children, parents and carers make a smooth transition from home or early years education into primary school. This includes targeted work between our Early Years and Childcare Service and Early Years providers to help SEND children make this step.

Find out more about the Starting School Together initiative.