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Local offer 2022
This article was written By Anne Swindlehurst in her capacity as a Lead Practitioner ,in June 2025 to celebrate our SEND provision and was Published in the Lancashire Spotlight Magazine
Welcoming SEND Children into Our Early Years Setting,
Inclusion is at the heart of everything we do in our early years setting. We celebrate the uniqueness of every child, acknowledging their individual needs, strengths, and challenges. This is particularly true for children and families with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), who often require a deeper, more tailored approach to feel valued, supported, and fully included in all aspects of their learning and development.
In this article, I aim to share how and why we welcome SEND children, including those with complex needs, into our early years setting. This work is not only crucial for the development of the children we care for, but also for our growth as practitioners and as a community.
All children have a right to access early years provision, regardless of where they are on their SEND journey—whether they already have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or no formal intervention in place when they join us. Increasingly, we are called upon to provide care and education for children with complex needs, and we have embraced this responsibility wholeheartedly.
We have always been recognised for our open-minded and inclusive approach to SEND. Currently, we support 12 children with SEND, including three with significant genetic, physical, healthcare, and developmental needs. Over the years, we have become well-acquainted with the logistical realities of SEND, including staffing, paperwork, and ongoing training. However, as the needs of the children in our care have become more complex, we have found ourselves navigating a maze of “grey areas” and systemic gaps—especially between health and education services.
Services that were once accessible through the local authority, such as advanced moving and handling training or detailed risk assessments, are no longer readily available. As a result, we have had to forge our own path—sourcing our own training, contacting various agencies (including notifying the fire service when oxygen was introduced to our premises), and adapting our policies and procedures. Without a flexible and solution-focused mindset, these challenges could easily prevent children with complex needs from accessing nursery provision.
Creativity and resilience have become essential. We are a small setting, and like many others, we’ve experienced financial strain—particularly since the Covid pandemic. Staff turnover in recent years has added to the challenge, increasing the workload as we support new team members through training and policy adjustments. Nearly every day requires reflection and adaptation, whether it’s tweaking a small routine or responding to legal requirements such as updating Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) following observations during fire drills.
Our nursery is open-plan, welcoming children aged 2 to 4. Everyone plays and learns together, and this collaborative environment—although occasionally challenging—is central to our ethos. It is this spirit of community that has inspired us to welcome more children with SEND, particularly those with complex needs. Despite limited funding, and with only two of our SEND children receiving 1:1 support funding, we have never turned a child away.
Building effective relationships with external professionals is crucial. We work closely with community nurses, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, paediatricians, psychologists, specialist teachers (including those for the deaf and blind), dietitians, and others. Their expertise informs our individualised plans and enables us to support each child holistically. These collaborations also require careful planning, with regular meetings and visits integrated into our schedule to ensure clear communication and shared understanding within each child’s care team.
Through these partnerships, our staff have developed practical skills such as administering food and fluids through various tube feeding systems and using complex medical equipment. Our teaching practices have also evolved. We now use a wide range of strategies, including Intensive Interaction, “Attention Autism,” “Attention for Learning,” Makaton, Body Signing, and the full “Total Communication” approach. We incorporate PECS and communication boards to support all learners.
Our in-house Speech and Language lead holds drop-in sessions for parents, offering guidance and support with communication concerns. We’ve also introduced targeted learning bags—focused on Sound Bombardment, “Colourful Semantics,” and “Funky Fingers”—to extend learning into the home.
Looking ahead, we are planning to host monthly Saturday morning sessions for SEND families starting in the autumn term. We’ve recognised a significant lack of support services for under-fives in our area of Lancashire, and we hope these sessions—each with a theme and supportive resources—will offer a welcoming, informative space for families.
We firmly believe in the importance of early intervention. However, accessing an EHCP remains a complex process that depends on multi-agency involvement. With our experience, early years professionals are increasingly well-equipped to identify specific needs and could potentially streamline parts of the process. Still, we follow the established pathway, using Targeted Learning Plans (TLPs) to set clear, tailored goals for each child. These plans keep staff and families focused, enable measurable progress, and foster a sense of achievement, especially when progress may be slow and incremental.
Home visits are a standard part of our admissions process, but for SEND families, they are especially valuable. They provide a relaxed setting for open conversations and help us better understand each child’s needs and preferences. This personal insight enables us to tailor our support and strengthen the collaboration with families. Parent partnership is essential to long-term success. By sharing TLPs and maintaining open, honest communication, we empower parents to be active participants in their child’s development.
Inclusion is not only about the adults in our setting—it is also about fostering a culture of empathy and understanding among the children themselves. We actively promote awareness and acceptance, encouraging all children to celebrate differences and support one another. We are continually moved by the compassion our children show to their peers with SEND. To them, everyone is simply a “friend”—which is precisely the inclusive culture we aim to nurture.
Welcoming SEND children into our early years setting goes far beyond meeting basic needs. It’s about recognising potential and ensuring that every child has the tools and opportunities to thrive. Inclusion enriches not just the children with SEND, but the entire setting—our staff, our families, and our community.
By continuing to evolve, collaborate, and reflect, we are confident that we are building an early years setting where all children—SEND and non-SEND alike—can grow, learn, and reach their fullest potential.