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by Jess Gibson

The early years sector is “well placed to act as the foundation of an inclusive education system”, according to an independent report by ISOS Partnership.

The report, Towards an effective and financially sustainable approach to SEND in England, was commissioned by The County Councils Network and Local Government Association to identify the issues facing the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system and propose a series of recommendations to reform it.

It highlights that more children and young people than ever before are being identified as having SEND, which, combined with other factors – such as a “squeeze on public resources”, a hard-to-navigate system, and inadequate funding – is leading to poorer outcomes for children.

However, the report states that “attending an early years setting is likely to be the first opportunity to identify, assess and put in place support” to meet children’s needs, with obtaining the right SEND support for children in the early years “essential to driving a systematic approach to earlier intervention with a view to preventing needs from escalating later in a child’s education”.

This is evidenced by the recent evaluation of Sure Start from the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), which found lower rates of education health and care plans (EHCPs) in young people aged 16 who had lived near a Sure Start centre, compared with those who had not.

Despite this finding, the acute recruitment and retention challenges in the early years sector, in addition to issues around access to SEND training and expertise, mean that “well-targeted early intervention and a fully-inclusive early years offer” aren’t often available.

The report concludes that the SEND system – from early years and beyond – should be reformed to overcome the range of challenges it faces and to improve the outcomes for children with SEND.

Commenting, Neil Leitch, CEO of the Early Years Alliance, said: “The Local Government Association and the County Councils Network are absolutely right to highlight the plethora of challenges facing SEND provision in the early years and beyond.  

“Nurseries, pre-schools and childminding professionals are committed to delivering high-quality care and education to children with SEND, but they continue to be faced with a system that is complex, inconsistent, and slow, underpinned by inadequate funding that continuously falls short of meeting providers’ and families’ needs.  

“Now, with the sector in the midst of the early entitlement expansion, the need to ensure that every child – especially those with special needs and/or disabilities – can benefit from early years provision has never been greater.   

“As such, we hope that the new government has this high up on their list of priorities, and we look forward to working with them to ensure that the early years are central to any plans to improve SEND provision”.