Early Years SEN Support Pack

In the first 5 years of life, children go through one of the largest developmental phases. During this time, children develop at different rates and not all children follow the same developmental journey. It’s important that we sensitively observe patterns across key areas. These include:
-    Physical development - how a child develops both their gross motor skills (big muscle movements like crawling, climbing, walking) and their fine motor skills (small muscle movements like holding a spoon, early mark making, reaching out to grab something close by).
-    Communication and Language - how a child develops skills in understanding others and expressing themselves.
-    Social and Emotional development - how our child engages with others and manages their emotions.

Child development is ever changing and many children will experience bursts of development throughout the first 5 years of life. We often refer to the watchful wait which is a period of time where we sensitively observe a child’s development and scaffold their learning. Where a child might be presenting with a developmental difference at 2 years of age, this could change as they grow and experience more of the world as they are supported by attuned adults. It’s important that we observe and celebrate what a child can do and continue to support them to build upon these skills.

If you are concerned about your child’s development there are lots of people who you can reach out to. First off, it is helpful to make contact with your Health Visitor.

The role of a Health Visitor is to support the health and development of children in the early years. They work with families of children aged 0-5 and can offer guidance and support to explore your child’s development.

If your child attends an early years setting like a Nursery or Childminder, you can speak to the team who care for them. This might be the Key Person or the Practitioner known as the SENCO (Special Educational Need Co-Ordinator).

If you contact with your child’s Health Visitor, they may suggest that they complete an Ages and Stages Questionnaire. This is a health assessment that can be completed at different points of early child development. For more information about these assessments, please contact your local health visiting team.

Your child’s Early Years setting may talk to you about the Graduated Approach. It’s a continuous loop of support that helps the adults to provide a tailored approach. The four stages of the Graduated Approach include:
Assess - This is when they gather information about your child’s strengths and differences. They may use developmental trackers to support them as they build a picture about your child’s development.
Plan - once they have gathered the information, they will create a plan of support and set individualised targets. 
Do - once the plan is created, it is now time for the Early Years team to put the plan into action and begin working on the agreed targets.
Review - following a period of support, you will be invited to review the progress made.

As a parent/carer your input is central to the process: you know your child best!

Throughout the stages of the Graduated Approach you will be invited to share your thoughts about your child’s development, how you feel they are progressing and what you are observing at home. 

Children learn best when they are motivated by the activity. Following your child’s interests and building on their existing skills is a great way to support their development. Observe your child’s interests and explore what fascinates them, when engaging with the world around them. Use these moments as opportunities to share in that fascination by mirroring their play and having fun together.

An SEN assessment is a series of observations, questionnaires and gathering of information, to note if your child's development differs from the usual trajectory demonstrated in the majority of children of a similar age and stage. 

Parents, carers, key workers in early years settings, the early years special educational needs coordinator (SENCO), health visitor and any other significant person involved in support or care, this could be a speech and language therapist, occupational therapist, all these people contribute to an assessment process by sharing observations and information that they know about your child. The process follows an assess. plan, do, review, pattern in order to gather information but also establish early support. 

The information gathered needs to focus on the whole child. Taking into account likes, dislikes, interests, skills and talents as well as communication, cognition and learning, social, emotional and physical development. Child development frameworks like the early years foundation profile (EYFS) shape the way these areas are noted.  Narrative, descriptive observations, photographs, videos, samples of a child’s work and mapping a child’s movement , involvement and engagement in their setting and at home, are all methods of observation that may be used to gather the required information. 

Parents are a vital and invaluable part of the assessment. They should be involved and their opinion and input sought at every step of the assessment process. 

The Assess Plan Do Review Process, ideally highlights the areas of support that may be beneficial for your child. It is a good idea to ask what support is being put in place and share anything you may do at home that supports your child. Holding up a nappy at change time or a cup for a drink are important communication supports known as augmentative communication, they are often overlooked because we do them so naturally but if this method of ‘helping your child to see what you are saying’ supports their understanding it needs to be adopted in all their care and learning experiences.  

An early assessment of needs can help to initiate immediate early support. Services like portage, occupational therapy can be more easily engaged, once assessment information and observations are available. The best support can be facilitated. Research by the institute for fiscal studies in May 2025 suggests early support has a long term and positive impact.  

Many parents experience different communication, interaction and engagement from their child at home to their child at nursery. It is helpful to ask the setting to share the observations and information that shaped their assessment. If after this you disagree with the findings then ask for a meeting with the SENCO and setting staff. Try and enter this with an open mind and collaborative attitude. Parents have a legal right to their input in the assessment but they can not force a setting to change their information or observation. In an assessment form parents will have a section where they can explain their personal thoughts and opinions about what other contributors have said.