Three steps to boost SEND accountability in the Early Years

Today we welcome new SNJ columnist, Catherine McLeod MBE, Chief Executive or Early Years charity, Dingley’s Promise

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Getting it right for children with SEND in the Early Years has been increasingly recognised over the past few years as being key to improving their life outcomes. The Department for Education has created a team focused specifically on early years SEND, there is now inclusion guidance for local authorities and providers by the Childcare Works programme, and an advisor has been recruited to support (now halted) Safety Valve, and Delivering Better Value local authorities specifically on early years SEND.

At the same time, the new Government has stated that early years and ‘fixing’ the SEND system is a priority in education it’s actively discussing how best to do this. There has never been more hope and potential to really improve the experiences of children with SEND in the early years and their families.

Accountability must include the Early Years sector

Accountability, and how local authorities and educational settings can be held to account by families, is high on the agenda. It’s interesting that while practical action to improve practice and services is now regularly discussed for the early years, the accountability question rarely touches our sector.

This lack of focus on accountability in the early years is rooted in the long-standing issue of early years not being seen as statutory and therefore not respected as the first stage of the education system. Rather, it is more frequently linked to ‘childcare’ and ‘getting families back to work’.

We are used to hearing how we need increased and more easily accessible funding for early years SEND and how we need accessible inclusion training for early years educators. However, what is rarely discussed is how we drive accountability in early years SEND so families can access the right provision and support for their children, and how local authorities can drive high-quality inclusive practice in early years settings.

Catherine McCloud MBE

Is early years education ‘statutory’?

A common response to issues related to the early years among local authority decision makers is that the early years is not ‘statutory education’ and therefore there is little they can do to influence the sector. Numerous local authority areas do not include early years data in their SEND strategic planning, and in some cases, early years teams are not represented on SEND strategic Boards.

While children do not have to attend an early education setting, there is a statutory duty on the local authority to ensure there is sufficient early years provision for every child who wants it. This is what gives parents choice and allows them to make real decisions about the educational journey of their child.

Currently, in England, according to the Coram annual childcare survey, only 6% of local authority areas say they have enough provision for children with SEND in the early years. Strictly speaking, this means that 94% of local authorities are not meeting their statutory duties, to the detriment of children with SEND and their families.

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Early Years is the first stage of our education system

Secondly, the belief that early education is about childcare and getting families back to work seriously undermines the impact of early education on children’s life outcomes. This is widely proven. For children with SEND, this is a particular concern as early identification of needs and early intervention have a long-term impact on their educational journey and are critical to their life chances.

Some local authority leaders have recognised that the early years are the first stage of education and are prioritising this stage for investment. This takes vision and foresight, as the most pressing issues relate to schools’ support. However, the best leaders understand that while their early years issues may appear to be less pressing, it is the practice in early years that will lead to a reduction of the current pressures in schools. Ofsted SEND inspection recommendations for improvement are often dominated by schools, with early education appearing to be less relevant. This risks issues which could have been addressed, being neglected in early years, and as a result becoming critical problems for children later on in the education system.

The early years sector has long been under-funded by Government, but recently funding rates have started to rise. Consequently, a higher percentage of costs are now covered by the Nursery Education Grant. While more needs to be done to fully fund Early Years entitlements, it is important to recognise that alongside increasing public funding comes increased accountability. To improve access for all children with SEND, we need a system where local authorities understand and promote good inclusive practice and are confident to hold settings to account if this does not exist.

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Three steps we need to take to drive accountability

Local area Childcare Sufficiency Assessments need to actively look at supply and demand for children with SEND. This must be detailed enough to understand the expected level of children with SEND in the early years, and the places available for those children. With a clear expectation of how many children exist, local authority staff can talk to settings who have many more or many less children to either hold them to account or offer more support.

A strong early years-specific Ordinarily Available Provision document to guide what every early years setting is expected to provide as standard for all children. This standardises practice for settings, empowers families to know what provision they can expect for their child, and allows local authority staff to question settings who do not offer everything that is expected.

A clear channel for families to report to their local authority if they have been turned away by a setting because of the needs of their child or have been asked to pay extra. Dingley’s Promise research showed that one in five families had been turned away by a setting, which is not acceptable given that children should have equal access to early years provision. In addition, we are increasingly hearing that some settings are trying to charge parents of children with SEND more for ‘consumables’ than other children, which breaches equality law.

A change in mindset is also needed

These three actions will enable local authorities to better hold early years providers to account for being inclusive and will also build the confidence in families that the early years can support their children effectively. Alongside this increased accountability though, there must also be a change in mindset, which recognises the critical role and expertise of the early years, and its place as the foundations of the education system.

If we are to improve the current situation in the SEND system as a whole, we need to look further than funding and workforce development. In order to build accountability, we have to both take the specific actions that enable us to hold authorities and settings to account in the early years, whilst also shifting the mindsets of decision makers, to recognise that without strong inclusive early education systems we cannot hope to improve the experiences of children and families.

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About
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Catherine McLeod MBE, CEO Dingley’s Promise

CEO at DIngley’s Promise

For the last 25 years, Catherine has worked in the charity sector to ensure equity and inclusion for people with disabilities. She was awarded an MBE in 2011 in recognition of her work with vulnerable children, and today actively lobbies to improve opportunities for children with SEND in the early years. Catherine has been the Chief Executive of Dingley’s Promise since 2015, growing the organisation from a small local charity to a national one that delivers training and influences policy.

Latest posts by Catherine McLeod MBE, CEO Dingley’s Promise (see all)