How To Combine The EYFS With The SEND Code of Practice

As an Early Years educator, it's important to understand that every child is unique and will develop and learn differently. In my view, the role of the Early Years special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) is to get to know each child so you can support them and help them learn with curiosity and joy. To make this happen, we need to team up with parents and other professionals to support the child's key person.

Combining the key principles of the Early Years Foundation Stage with the requirements of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Code of Practice is a great way to make sure you’re hitting the mark.

Before we kick things off let’s remind ourselves of the four EYFS principles:

• Every child is a unique child, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident, and self-assured.
• Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships. 
• Children learn and develop well in enabling environments with teaching and support from adults, who respond to their individual interests and needs and help them to build their learning over time.
• Children develop and learn at different rates. The framework covers the education and care of all children, including children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

In order to combine the EYFS principles with the SEND Code of Practice, we need to get three basics right. Take a moment to see if you’ve got these covered or if your setting could use a bit more work.

1. Time to talk

We all wish we had more time at work, but since our time is limited, it’s important to prioritise talking with families and listening to their insights about their child. If we don’t make room for these conversations, we might miss out on key information.

We also need time to collaborate with other professionals, like health and portage services, as well as family support workers. This helps ensure that staff have the most complete understanding of the child and the support they require.

2. Time to train

We need dedicated time for training to get familiar with the SEND Code of Practice, understand how to meet children’s needs, and build confidence in supporting inclusive practices, including navigating local authority funding. This training will also help staff understand their role as a key person and ensure that every child, no matter their needs, makes progress.

The Statutory Framework for the EYFS (2023: p21) states that:

“Providers must support staff to undertake appropriate training and professional development opportunities to ensure that they offer quality learning and development experiences for children that continually improve.”

3. Time for thought

It’s not just training and speaking. We need time for thought too.

Many Early Years practitioners naturally reflect on their practices, often making changes to help children learn more easily.

What about taking time to think about theory and how to apply guidance documents in practice? I suggest using staff meetings to reflect on how your setting can be more inclusive.

Also during staff meetings think about and discuss strategies like story props, visual cues, and signing which help to include children with SEND, as well as better supporting all children.

Facilitating staff to think through and reflect on the following can be a great starting point. 

The Early Years Guide to the SEN Code of Practice (2014:p14) states that:

“It is particularly important in the Early Years that there is no delay in making any necessary special educational provision. Delay at this stage can give rise to learning difficulty and subsequently to loss of self-esteem, frustration in learning and lead to behaviour difficulties. Early action to address identified needs is critical to the future progress and improved outcomes that are essential in helping the child to prepare for adult life.”

It’s a statement like this, that makes it clear why a SEN quality improvement action plan can be so important. Below, I’ve created an example, linking the EYFS principles and the SEN Code of Practice principles. While this can be a useful resource, remember to create a plan that is tailored to your setting and the needs of each child.

Example action plan for EYFS and SEN Code of Practice

Before we dive into the 4 sections you can fill in, let's look at 3 key components ( guided by principles from the EYFS) we will cover in the action plan:

• The SEN Code of Practice Principle – These principles should be observed by all professionals working with children who have SEND.
• Example actions for your setting – Ideas to put in place, including timescales and guided by the SMART principles (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely).
• An example impact of these actions – You always need to reflect on your action plan, asking yourself – What difference did it make?

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1. The Unique Child

Development Matters says: 

“Every child is a unique child who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident and self-assured.”

The SEN Code of Practice Principle:

In Early Years settings, it’s super important to really listen to both children and their families. By taking their feedback on board, we can make sure our support is spot-on and meets their needs perfectly.

Example actions for your setting:

• Ask each family and child about their hopes and aspirations during each individual education plan (IEP) meeting, but also be available to hear what parents have to say outside of meeting times. Keep this as an ongoing practice.
• Set one target on the IEP that aligns with the family's hopes and aspirations, such as a goal related to developing an independence skill.

Example impact of these actions:

• SEND child’s parents spoke more positively about his needs.
• SEND child is now able to put on his own shoes with Velcro fastening.

2. Positive Relationships

Development Matters says: 

“Children learn to be strong and independent through positive relationships.”

The Send Code of Practice Principle:

• Collaborating with partners in education, health and social care to provide support.
• Enabling children, young people and their parents to participate in decision-making.

Example actions for your setting:

• With parental permission, set dates to meet with the health visitor or speech therapist together to review your IEPs.
• Encourage families to help create the SEN policy, including kids' perspectives, and set a deadline for completion.

Example impact of these actions:

• Integrated two-year-old review completed for three children.
• The policy reflects parents' concerns about transition times and the clear process now in place.

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3. Enabling Environments

Development Matters says:

“Children learn and develop well in enabling environments, in which their experiences respond to their individual needs and there is a strong partnership between practitioners and parents and carers.”

The SEN Code of Practice Principle:

• Focusing on inclusive practices and removing barriers to learning.
• Making high-quality provision to meet the needs of children and young people.
• Helping children and young people to prepare for adulthood.

Example actions for your setting:

• Ask all staff to research and share a strategy for inclusion (e.g. for children with communication needs) with a set deadline for completion.
• Have each key person change something in their practice in small group time by a set date.
• Ask your team to review the routines and identify where independence can be encouraged (e.g. pouring their own drinks) and set aside time to discuss 

‍Example impact of these actions:

• 8 new strategies shared and being used at your setting (e.g. story props).
•  SEND child now able to stay for a short story.
• 5 key people have attended signing training and are using signing regularly. 
• Children are more engaged and exhibit calmer behaviours at group time.
• All children now pour their own drinks and choose which one they would like

4. Children develop and learn in different ways and at different rates

Development Matters says:

 “Practitioners foster the characteristics of effective early learning of playing and exploring, active learning, creating and thinking critically.”

The Send Code of Practice Principle:

• Identifying the needs of children and young people.

Example actions for your setting:

• All staff will become familiar with the ‘Every Child A Talker’ (ECAT) monitoring tool and age-related language development posters by a set deadline.
• SENCO will share local speech therapy referral processes with staff by a set date.

Example impact of these actions:

• ECAT tool completed for each 2-year old as part of 2-year-old review. 3 children were referred to SaLT (Speech and Language Therapy) in January.
  
  
It is important to give time to plan provision and talk about it with parents and within the setting. It is essential that staff are well trained and that this feeds into thinking about and informing the inclusivity of your provision.

Want to learn more about SENCO? 

Check out the list of resources we’ve put together to help you and your team better support the children at your setting.

Further reading and references

• SEN in the Early Years - Get to know everything about Children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) in the Early Years, and how to provide the perfect environment for them.
• Early Years Guide to the SEND Code of Practice by The Department for Education – This is advice for Early Years providers that are funded by the local authority on how to use apply the statutory SEND Code of Practice.
• Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage by The Department for Education – The statutory framework that sets the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five.
• An Early Identification Framework for Speech, Language and Communication by The Communication Trust – A useful framework on the three-step approach to understanding and identifying early speech, language and communication difficulties.
• Cracking the Code by The Communication Trust – A handy poster resource by The Communication Trust on speech.