Guest Post: Championing SEND in the Early Years
A guest post from the Hall Green Consortium Schools (HGCS) Early Years Developing Local Provision (DLP) project.
*The following guest post represents the author’s personal view and does not necessarily represent the view of the Birmingham Early Years Networks (BEYN) as a whole. Any issues or questions arising from the content of this post should, therefore, be directed to the author and not BEYN.
Interested in writing a guest post for the BEYN blog? Visit the Write for Us page for more info.
Developing Local Provision (DLP) is a key part of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) improvement programme in Birmingham. DLP project funding was made available to all schools’ consortia in the city. The main aim of the project is to improve progress and outcomes for children with additional needs.
Identifying SEND priorities and improving SEND provision
Hall Green is a large consortium consisting of 24 schools. The group includes Infant Schools, Junior Schools, Primary Schools with and without nurseries, Academies, and Faith Schools. Three of our schools have Resource Bases.
Headteachers chose, as part of their work, to look at the transition process between early years providers and schools and timely identification of need.
Who is involved in Hall Green Schools DLP?
Alongside Early Years Leads and SENCos from consortium schools, there are 69 Early Years providers involved in the project across the consortium, including representation from childminders.
We also work collaboratively with Early Years District DLP projects across our consortium.
Transition for All
In their early years, children will experience a range of transitions, some for the very first time. Some transitions are horizontal (daily or regular movements and changes), and some transitions are vertical (major changes to a child's routine, for example, moving from an EY setting to school).
All transitions children experience during their early years prepare children to manage transitions throughout life.
“When transitions in the early years are managed sensitively it lays the foundations for positive feelings towards the many other transitions children will face through life.” — Birth to 5 Matters
Starting school is a major vertical transition for all children. In order to improve outcomes for all children, including children with additional needs, a consistent and well-planned approach to transition is crucial.
Viewing transition as a process rather than a one-off event, which supports ongoing discussions involving all stakeholders involved in a child’s development and care, is essential. The contributions from all stakeholders need to be acknowledged and valued.
Through the process of transition, all children, including our most vulnerable, should feel safe and secure through consistency of approach by all involved. Birth to 5 Matters (2020) supports this viewpoint ‘High-quality transitions recognise the importance of feeling “known”.’
Supporting Best Transition Practise
Relationships and Communication
A key priority through the DLP project has been to further develop positive long-term relationships and clear channels of communication between all stakeholders involved in a child’s transition into school.
The pandemic greatly impacted the ability to network and support each other within the early years’ community. The timing of the DLP funding has allowed us to develop new initiatives to support collaborative working and develop a consistent transition approach.
“It is crucial that everyone works together, in the best interests of the child, to make the transition as smooth as possible. Each person has valuable information to share about the child’s strengths. And areas where extra help is needed. This will especially be the case if a child has SEND” — Julian Grenier (2020)
New Hall Green DLP Transition Initiatives
Hall Green DLP Cluster Transition Day
Our Cluster Transition Day was held in the heart of the consortium early in the summer term. All schools and early years providers were invited to participate in a ‘speed dating’ style event to share transition information and the opportunity to have rich and valuable discussions about all children transitioning.
Feedback from our first DLP Cluster Transition Day:
“Fantastic opportunity to speak to feeder nurseries.”
“It has been great to feel part of the early years community in this way.”
“The organisation of the cluster transitions enabled networking and information sharing between nurseries and school settings.”
Eight schools participated in an earlier transitions pilot during Summer 2022.
This included:
Earlier induction sessions at school and home visits to meet families during the summer term
Schools contacted early years settings earlier and communication was ongoing during the summer term
Autumn term check-in with early years settings to continue communication about transition and how children had settled into school
Project worker supported earlier communication between schools and early years settings
Feedback from schools that participated in the pilot:
“It was great to be able to get information early so we could inform staff and ensure the right support was in place so we could hit the ground running.”
“Useful to hear how transition is from pre-school and childminder perspective.”
“Children had more opportunities to meet staff and begin to build relationships.”
”Opportunities for SENCO to attend SEND reviews for pupils in Summer term.”
The aim is to roll out early transition for all across the Hall Green consortium in 2023.
Hall Green DLP Database and Transition Mapping
A database of EY providers and schools across the consortia was developed to support communication for the DLP project.
Regular data collection enabled the mapping of transitions between EY providers and schools across the consortia. The transition data was then used to group schools and EY providers where children transition most frequently to develop cluster areas across the consortia. Cluster areas support relationships between stakeholders.
DLP Cluster Contacts Directory
Through the first year of the project, the need for clear channels of communication was identified. The development of an 'Early Years and Schools Cluster Directory' aims to support communication further.
The directory has a contact name, number, and email for each school and early years settings within the Hall Green consortium. The directory will be beneficial during the transition process both in the Summer and Autumn term.
The directory will support:
Communication to share key information
Share transition documents to key people
Ability to have ongoing transition discussions and support for children with SEND
Save time with all contact details in one place
Further develop positive relationships between all providers
Programme of Visits to EY Settings
Programme of visits to EY settings supported relationship building, raised awareness of needs during transition, promoted CPD for all and collaborative working within the project.
Cluster workers were drawn from four of our schools to support the project worker’s role.
Birmingham Transition Approach Documents
Our work around transition has been complemented by the introduction of Birmingham Local Authority’s “Birmingham Transition Approach”. The aim of this is to support consistency in information sharing.
My experience within the working group enabled a sharing of views of stakeholders and the ability to support early years providers across Hall Green consortium to introduce a Birmingham-wide new transition document to support better communication.
“Protocols for transition in neighbourhoods are useful. They can include agreed ways of summarising the child’s development.” — Julian Grenier (2020)
The Birmingham Transition Approach working group has created resources for parents and providers, including a transition form and transitions guidance notes for providers, as well as resources for parents. These resources are available to download for free from the EYFS page.
Benefits of New Initiatives to Support Transition
(Data collected from Schools and EY settings)
Earlier and greater awareness of SEN need moving to school
Stronger relationships between Early Years settings and schools
Opportunities to work collaboratively with other schools and EY settings in the consortium
Greater communication between schools and EY settings about children with SEN needs moving to school
Parental Voice
“The starting point in working with parents during transitions is to acknowledge parents’ knowledge of their own child... Parents need to know they are respected in this process and will be offered opportunities to contribute to their child’s transition.” — Birth to 5 Matters
Parents are pivotal in the role they play in transition, both supporting their child during the process but also having a rich knowledge of their child as an individual and how best their child can be supported.
It is important to recognise that transition can be a stressful time for parents, ensure they are supported through collaborative working with schools and EY settings. Therefore, parents' viewpoints about transition have been important to capture through the project.
Parent views on what is most beneficial to support transition from pre-school to school:
Meeting the teacher
Meeting with school SENCo
Settling in sessions at school
Additional small group settling-in sessions
Transition meeting involving both pre-school and school staff
Challenges
Communication: sending, receiving, and acknowledgement of transition documents
Varied transition arrangements and supporting documents
Lack of valuing all stakeholders input into transition
Moving Forward
The long-term aim for the DLP project is to have clear channels of communication through an ongoing transition process, where contributions from all stakeholders involved in a child's care are valued.
We aim to have strong relationships and well-established links between schools and EY settings across the Hall Green consortium and beyond.
References
Working with the revised Early Years Foundation Stage: Principles into Practice, Julian Grenier (2020)
Birth to 5 Matters (2020)
High quality transitions, Birth to 5 Matters (2020)
Blog author: Giselle Nelson
As an Early Years Lead in one of the Hall Green Consortium Schools, I have been seconded into the role of Early Years project worker for the duration of the project.
My role is to further develop positive and collaborative relationships between early years settings and providers and schools, to support children with SEND needs and their transition into school through a variety of actions and initiatives.