Why SEND reform depends on the early years

The number of children described as having special educational needs and disabilities in the early years is rising fast. Research in 2023 by Dingley’s Promise, the national organisation that supports children with SEND in the early years, found that around eight in 10 settings reported a significant increase, and more than half stated they did not have “any more spaces” for new children with SEND.

It is common to hear of children being put on part-time timetables because their setting or school is unable to meet their needs for a full day. This means that the children who need early education the most have the fewest hours, if they are not being turned away completely.

Many early years educators, meanwhile, are genuinely overwhelmed as they try to meet a very wide range of needs. All of this is contributing to a sense of “crisis”.

It’s a sentiment that mirrors perceptions of SEND across the education sector. The Department for Education has recently described the SEND system as being “on its knees”, and will set out how it plans to address this in a White Paper later this year. 

SEND in the early years

The early years foundation stage (EYFS) shapes children’s earliest learning experiences. As such, it is arguably the point at which the SEND crisis begins - and it is, therefore, an area worth looking closely at when considering overall solutions.

Indeed, a recent evaluation of the Sure Start programme by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that a higher rate of identification of developmental difficulties when children were younger, together with better early support, was associated with lower levels of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) in secondary school.

Despite this, it is still common for children in the early years to receive lower levels of funding and support than older children. We need to reverse that, with fair funding for the early years. 

Read on (£) in TES magazine 

Bridging Research and Practice: Lessons from ShREC and REACT in Early Childhood Education

 A new collaborative project in East London is boosting children’s early language development through evidence-informed professional development.

Initial challenges had revealed the need to balance language strategies with emotional wellbeing. The result? A streamlined, research-based framework delivered through an iterative process.

These approaches improved adult–child interactions and created a collaborative 'third space' where research and practice inform each other.

Find out more about lessons learned from this valuable experience.

Julian Grenier and Lynn Ang

Supporting children’s early language development is a key aim for early education and childcare. Research evidence tells us that better vocabulary at age 5 is associated with improved progress in learning to read, better exam results aged 16, more likelihood of gaining a degree, and even better health at age 42 (Shuey and Kankaraš, 2018).

That’s why a group of us working in an economically disadvantaged area of East London felt it was a moral imperative to do more to help children develop stronger language and communication skills in the early years. Child poverty is strongly associated with poorer language development: could making improvements to the quality of early education and care help children to succeed against the odds?

What does the curriculum review mean for EYFS?

Education is a connected system, so what happens in one phase inevitably shapes the next.

Although the early years foundation stage (EYFS) was outside the scope of the government’s curriculum and assessment review, its findings have clear implications for early years.

Today, the latest EYFS profile results were published, showing that while the proportion of children reaching a good level of development has gone up, results remain below the government’s 75 per cent target. With this in mind, here are four key curriculum review areas worth interrogating:

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7 books to improve your early years provision

The early years are about to get a significant boost as a result of the government’s new plan to give every child the best start in life.

As part of this, the Department for Education has set a target for 75 per cent of children to achieve a good level of development at the end of Reception by 2028. This means that it’s more important than ever for schools to focus on mobilising the best available evidence to improve both quality and equity in early years.

Here are seven books that share powerful research and, crucially, offer practical steps for putting evidence into action.

1. The Intentional Teacher: Choosing the Best Strategies for Young Children’s Learning by Ann S. Epstein

In her book, Ann Epstein argues that teaching in the early years should be “intentional”, with teachers acting with “knowledge and purpose” to ensure that children “acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in school and in life”.

As she explains, “intentional teaching does not happen by chance; it is planful, thoughtful and purposeful”.

She argues for a balanced approach to early years pedagogy, noting that “rarely does learning come about entirely through a child’s efforts or only from adult instruction”.

Of course, that presents us with a challenge: how can we develop “intentional” teachers across the early years workforce?

A recent paper by Dr Sandra Mathers is particularly helpful here. In it, she explains the importance of educators’ explicit understanding of the pedagogical strategies they use. For example, while it’s useful for an educator to have a range of approaches to support children’s communication, it’s their explicit understanding of why they might use a particular strategy that leads to children making better progress.

As Mathers concludes, “although there is value in knowing ‘how to do’, explicit knowledge of ‘how and why’ matters more”.

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Why school leaders need to spend more time in the early years

 “Do you really want to spend your time wiping noses and bottoms?” This is what my former headteacher asked me, back when I first decided that I wanted to teach Reception.

That off-hand remark illustrates how some school leaders still view the early years: as a strange, “other” world that is somehow less important than what comes after it.

Yet by the end of Reception, disadvantaged children already trail their peers by 4.6 months - a figure that represents nearly half the 10.6-month gap we see at the end of key stage 2. 

Leaders who treat the early years foundation stage as an add-on, who do little more than hop into lessons for a 15-minute phonics check from time to time, miss so much that is important about this stage of education: guided play, teaching that scaffolds children’s learning, child-led exploration and the everyday moments that build children’s language and confidence.

Read on (£) in TES

Why oral language is the key to learning to write

Back when I was moderating the early years foundation stage profile, a fellow moderator told me about a pupil who perfectly summed up the challenges that early years practitioners face when trying to teach children how to write.

(Image generated by AI)

The pupil was 5 years old, and had written a few words in his book to describe his weekend.

Underneath, his teacher had written: “Can you write some more?” His reply, filling the whole page: “Noooooooooooooooooooo”.

That “no” has stayed with me, not just because it made me laugh, but because it reminds me how crucial motivation and readiness are in young children’s learning journeys, especially with a skill like writing.

Read on (£) in TES

Why we must hold on to the ‘magic’ of the early years

There are some things from my time as a nursery school headteacher that I will never forget, like the day that three-year-old Jayda was taken into local authority care.

Her behaviour had become more and more erratic and worrying. She was running away, biting and hiding under tables. I still have the trace of a scar on my arm from where she bit me.

Concerns from her grandparents, neighbours and nursery staff were piling up and it was clear that home wasn’t a safe place for her.

The young social worker who came to talk with Jayda’s mum was as kind, clear and compassionate as she could be, as she explained that Jayda would not be going home at home time. Both Jayda and her mum were, in their different ways, devastated.

Although this all happened about three decades ago, the events came back to me vividly when Jayda recently contacted me via social media and asked if we could meet.

Read on in TES (£)