We support children aged 0 to 5 who are:
- with an early years provider such as a:
- childminder
- pre-school, or
- nursery, and
- who are not meeting their development milestones within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
We are a team of early years professionals with a range of training, experience and skills.
How to access our support
Support can be accessed by a referral through your:
- early years provider
- a health professional, or
- our Portage Team
We can help your early years provider to help your child by giving:
- general advice, modelling of strategies and training
- short term interventions for children who need some additional help
- longer term interventions for children with more complex needs
- support to help them develop their inclusive provision
- support to key person and Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENCOs) in relation to individual children
- support to enable access to the EYFS through the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice and Graduated Response
- transition to school (link to different school provision and starting primary school)
You can find out more information in
- supporting Early Years Special Education Needs Inclusion in Cornwall
- SEND Code of Practice
- SEND code of Practice guide for Early Years settings
Parents and carers may also find the following web pages a useful source of information:
Funding
Early Years Pupil Premium
The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is extra funding for early years settings. It is to improve the education they provide for disadvantaged 3 and 4 year olds. Settings can use it to provide new resources or pay for staff training. They can buy in more support and new play or learning experiences. These can all help to improve outcomes.
Disability Access Fund (DAF)
The Disability Access Fund is for 3 and 4 year old children who get child Disability Living Allowance (DLA). They must also get the free nursery funding entitlement. DAF is paid to the child’s early years setting as a fixed annual rate of £881.00 per eligible child. Read more on the Disability Access Fund web page.
Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund (SENIF)
This is a fund that is available to Early Years providers to support the inclusion of children with additional and different needs.