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12 Teachearlyyears.com In early years settings, the implementation of the 0–25 SEND Code of Practice is everyone’s responsibility. Kerry Payne shares some tips for key people… KERRY PAYNE IS AN EARLY CHILDHOOD SEND SPECIALIST. Roles & responsibilities The code of practice is clear that educators and key people have a crucial role in SEN support. The key person is likely to have formed a strong bond with the child and family and has an intricate knowledge of the child’s developmental differences and delays. Whilst the SENCo should oversee effective and high-quality SEN support, they should also be invested in facilitating and empowering the key people to lead in early intervention. In what ways are roles and responsibilities communicated to key people? How are they empowered to carry out the role? The power of language Part of the challenge of SEND is that we often view it through a deficit lens. If we think about our language, we may find that we use negative labels to define what we see, for example, labelling a child as hyperactive rather than energetic. Or we focus on impairments rather than abilities. It’s important to switch the narrative and view children through an asset lens. Children don’t often view themselves as delayed unless we make them feel this way, and we should focus on meeting their needs by building on their strengths. How do you ensure that children’s strengths are valued and celebrated within your setting, and that positive labelling is adopted? Universal teaching All children, including those with SEND, should receive high quality teaching that involves differentiation and personalisation. Targeted and specialist interventions are strengthened when they exist within the strong foundations of everyday teaching. For example, if you have a child with limited communication skills, Makaton or visual routines alone won’t make the difference. They must be matched with good practice and an understanding of what is developmentally appropriate. We must, therefore, acknowledge the combination of teaching styles we use to secure progress, and recognise the ways in which we’re already equipped to support children with SEND. In what ways do you evaluate the effectiveness of your high quality universal provision? Are key people given feedback on the strengths of their teaching with SEND? While you wait When a child requires support beyond your expertise, you will likely work with different specialists to upskill. Due to demand, there are often long waiting lists, which can leave you feeling anxious or deskilled when you’re needing to act quickly. But it’s important that you recognise that you can still provide support during these times and provide meaningful strategies. Developing a SEND toolkit is one helpful way to be able to carry out targeted support during the wait period. Try developing a toolkit of strategies and techniques under the broad areas of SEND: Communication & Interaction, Cognition & Learning, Social, Emotional and/or Mental Health, and Physical and/or Sensory needs. Take a whole-team approach to inclusion 1 2 3 4