Early yearsEarly yearsPre-school education provision including day nurseries, pre-schools, school nurseries, childminders and play groups.  providers and schools must have systems in place to identify and support children with SEND and must promote equality of opportunity for the children in their care.

These duties are outlined in the SEND Code of Practice and in section 1 of the Early Years Foundation Stage Statutory Framework (EYFS). Pre-schools, day nurseries, school nurseries and schools have a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO). Their job is to put the settings special educational needs policy into action and arrange support for children with additional needs in their setting. Childminders do this job in their settings.

The Graduated Response shows what providers do to support children with SEND. Find out more about this in the I am worried about my child's learning and development section below.

As part of BCP Council's inclusion fund to support children with SEND, settings can apply for Early Years additional SEND payments . They can also get payments via the Disability Access Fund. An extra amount will be paid to them if a child at their setting has an EHCPEHCPA legal document that describes a child or young person's special educational, health and social care needs. It explains the extra help that will be given to meet those needs and how that help will support the child or young person to achieve what they want to in their life. which requires them to offer more support than this existing funding pays for.

Health to Education Notification (HEN) - If a health provider has recognised that your child may have a special educational need, they can support you by referring your child's details to the BCP Council Early Years Team. This referral is called a 'Health to Education Notice', often known as a HEN.

A HEN will notify BCP Council staff of your child's need and allow them to support your child's educational setting, by providing a personalised learning pathway which will support their future learning and development.

For more information about this and how it will help your child, please view the online leaflet on this page.

Find out about support available if you are worried about your child.

Find out about help available for children under 5 with SEND.