We aim to ensure that all children with SEND and their families in Hammersmith and Fulham are well supported and have positive experiences whether the child is with a childminder, in a preschool, nursery or school nursery. This includes access to high quality teaching suited to their needs in their early years setting.
To achieve this, access to the right support, in the right place and at the right time is essential. Wherever children live in Hammersmith & Fulham we want them to have their additional learning needs met. For most children, attending their local setting with other children from their community is the best way to ensure this happens. This document has been co-produced with education, health and social care professionals.
To achieve this, settings must have an inclusive offer that meets the needs of all children, including those with SEND. This offer is referred to as the Early Years Ordinarily Available Provision. It is the range of activities, opportunities and strategies that are offered as basic good practice to meet a range of additional needs without the need for a formal diagnosis or specialist support.
"Early Years Ordinarily Available Provision" refers to the support that all Hammersmith & Fulham early years settings should be able to provide for children, including those with SEND from within their own resources.
We expect our early years settings to comply with legislation, including the SEN Code of Practice 2015, the Equality Act 2010 and the Statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework.
Using Early Years Foundation Stage's Overarching Principles; the following information aims to support Early Years Providers in meeting the needs of children with SEND. For more information, please see the following links:
- EYS Statutory Framework for Childminders
- Development Matters – Non-Statutory Curriculum Guidance
- Early Years Foundation Stage Profile Handbook
- Early Years SENCO Padlet: Early Years SENCos
- Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage – For Group and School-Based Settings
These are the latest documents as of January 2024. Please ensure you remain up to date with changes released regarding these documents by keeping up to do with the Department for Education website.
The Local Offer
All Local Authorities must publish a SEND Local Offer; this is a central source of information and resources available for all children and their families with SEND in Hammersmith & Fulham.
Specific areas of need
A child has an identifiable SEND if their needs are such that the provider must put in support that is additional to or different from what is normally available to all children in the setting. Children may have needs in more than one of the following four broad areas of SEND:
- Communication and interaction (Speech, Language and Communication needs, SLCN)
- Cognition and learning (CL)
- Social, emotional and mental health difficulties (SEMH)
- Sensory and/or physical needs (S/PN)