Early Years Services

Supporting children aged 0-5 in the Early Years 

The Early Years Service helps the youngest children (aged 0-5) in Cornwall to learn, play and develop.

Most children we work with are aged between 2 and 4 and attend an Early Years Setting such as:

• Pre-school

• Day nursery

• School nursery

• Childminder

Some children may be younger or have not yet started in pre-school.

Who is in the Early Years Service?

The Early Years Service consists of professionals working across Cornwall. Team members work closely with colleagues in:

• Health visiting

• Education

• Social care

• Colleagues who work for other relevant organisations

Our team has a range of professional qualifications in education as well as wider experience including:

• Headship

• Ofsted experience and expertise within the Early Years Foundation Stage and SEND. This includes within maintained schools, academies and private, voluntary and independent (PVI) settings.

Our staff have a range of professional qualifications and experience in working with younger children. This includes children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

The service consists of:

• Early Years Consultants

• Senior Area SENCOs

• Early Years Advisory Teachers and Specialist Child Development Teachers

• Early Years and Childminding Specialist Support Assistants

• SEND Inclusion workers and Social Communication Workers

• Learning and Development Lead for Early Years

We work to provide:

• General advice and support

• Targeted work to children who may need some additional help

• Specialist training, support and intervention programmes

• Professional consultancy and expertise to early years providers and schools

• Pre and post Ofsted support

• Bespoke packages to help develop inclusive provision

• Support to settings and SENCOs in relation to individual children

All staff vary the support on offer so that the needs of individual children can be supported.

Early Years Inclusion and SEND Local Offer

We work in partnership with:

• parents / carers

• settings

• schools, and

• other supporting professionals from services and voluntary organisations

The Early Years Inclusion and SEND Team aims for early years children with additional needs and / or disabilities to:

• develop good language and effective interactive communication skills

• develop independence skills

• be given the equality of opportunity to access a wide curriculum within their setting and school

• gain social and emotional inclusion in their wider community

• achieve economic well-being

The Early Years Inclusion and SEND Team consists of:

• Senior Area SENDCOs

• Specialist Child Development Teachers

• Early Years Inclusion Workers

• Child Development Nursery Nurses

• Social Communication

• Autism Workers

All of our team are excellent classroom practitioners who have: 

• at least two years teaching or work experience before they join us within the Early Years Sector

• relevant Early Years qualifications and specialisms

• they work with a wide range of children and young people who have varying levels of additional needs and/or disabilities

• all staff in the Early Years Inclusion and SEND Team update their skills regularly. There is a varied programme of Continued Professional Development (CPD) in place.

The Team:

• provide individualised and bespoke support for children with the most complex needs

• to enable children to make progress and have the best start, provide settings with:

  • consultation

  • signposting

  • modelling of strategies

  • coaching and guidance

• provide a range of support materials and training to support inclusion and SEND development in line with the:

  • Early Years Foundation and Welfare requirements, and

  • SEND Code of Practice

• supports early years children with an additional needs and / or disabilities in their:

  • home

  • pre-school setting, and

  • school

• offers specialist teaching, advice and support, educational specialist and bespoke training

Most children in the early years are supported in mainstream settings. This includes bespoke transitions to mainstream and specialist schools.

Our service supports from 0 to 5 years. We can offer support with all transitions including daily and routine transitions.

Referrals for involvement can be made by:

• parents / carers

• early years settings

• health professionals

• Speech and Language Therapists,

• and other SEND agencies

We request that referrals for individual children are accompanied by:

• a record of their developmental levels

• alongside any strategies and interventions that have been used

This can be done in liaison with the Early Years Setting if attending.

To make a referral please visit the Multi Agency Support and Safeguarding Hub and complete the online referral form.