Support Strategies for Children with SEND
Here Early Years Practitioners will find a variety of tools and guidance to support children with SEND.
SEND in the Early Years: A Toolkit
The Council for Disabled Children and 4 children developed a toolkit for SEND in the Early Years. Each section provides a briefing on a particular aspect of the SEN and disability reforms as they apply to early years providers. This toolkit can be accessed here and continues to be a useful document, although it should be noted that the statutory guidance cited is now out of date and the toolkit should be read alongside the current guidance.
Resources to support Section One - Observation and Assessment:
- Tracking Observation Example
- Interval Observation Template
- Observation S.T.A.R (Setting, Trigger, Action, Response) Template
Early Years Assessment Guidance and Resources
The Department for Education, in collaboration with Dingley’s Promise, has developed new Early Years SEND assessment guidance and resources. These materials are crafted to foster a child-centred, strengths-based approach to assessing children’s needs and sharing their progress with parents, carers, and professionals.
The guidance offers practical advice, tools, and downloadable resources to help early educators:
- Evaluate what children with SEND can do.
- Capture children’s voices.
- Set SMART targets for progress and learning.
- Develop Achievement Play Plans (SAPPs) to outline long-term goals and needs.
Aligned with the SEND Code of Practice and Early Years Foundation Stage assessment policy, these resources use best practices and evidence-based methods to support early educators in meeting the needs of children with SEND.
We encourage local authority professionals to share this invaluable resource with their providers via the HUB link.
Resources to support Section Two - Understanding Children's Behaviour:
- Step One - Identifying Behavioural Issues
- Step Two - Understanding a Routine Impacting on Behaviour
- Step Three - Focus and Analyse
- ABC Behaviour Chart
- How to complete an ABC Behaviour Chart
- Counting Down Board
- Traffic Light System Coloured Faces
- Solution Circle Template
- Now and Next Photo Board
- Now and Next Photo Board (with nursery pictures)
Resources to support Section Three - Targeted Support:
- Targeted Support Plan Template
- Targeted Support Plan Example - Behaviour, Listening, Speaking and Self Care
- Targeted Support Plan Example - Strategies and Activities & Play Skills Ideas
- Targeted Support Plan Example - Social Interaction Ideas
- Example Individual Provision Map
- STAR Behaviour Modification Analysis Example
- STAR Behaviour Modification Template
- Making Choices Board
- Together Time Boxes
- Home Picture Exchange Resources (PECS)
- Encouraging Interactions and Communications
- Sensory Motor Circuits
Resources to support Section Four - Transition:
- Toileting Routine
- Handwashing Poster
- Song Cards
- Visual Timetable
- Daily Diary Sheets 0-3 and 3-5 years
- Home School Chart
- Pictures for Snack Time
- Emotion, Feelings and Behaviour Regulation Ideas
- Books for children around Feelings, Anxiety and Worries
- Body Awareness Songs
- Books on Body Awareness
- 12 Self-Regulation Strategies for Young Children
- Discovery Bottles and Treasure Basket Ideas
- Physical Development Signs and Symbols
- Differentiating Physical Exercise Activities
- Play Ideas to Keep Things Fresh
There are so many terms used with children with SEND - ADHD, Acquired Brain Injury, Autism, Down’s Syndrome, Dyscalculia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Hearing Impairment, Physical Disability, Social, Emotional and Mental Health, Speech, Language and Communication Needs and Visual Impairment - but what do they all mean?
NASEN have created a suite of SEND Guidance Videos in collaboration with Centre for Education and Youth (CfEY) and many other experts within the sector.
The videos aim to develop a newly qualified teachers’ knowledge of SEND and to introduce them to helpful resources and tips for the classroom. However, the strategies shared in the videos can also be used in Early Years Settings.
For more information, please view the Condition Specific Videos and a summary of all the terms in the SEND Gateway Videos can be found here.
