About us

We support your child and family, as well as working with early education settings in the private voluntary and independent (PVI) sector.  We offer advice, support and training to these settings so that they are inclusive and can meet the needs of early years children with SEND in the local community.  

We partner with parents/carers, PVI settings and other professionals to support babies and pre-school children with emerging or identified learning and development needs. Needs may be in one or more of these areas:

  • communication and interaction
  • cognition and learning
  • social and emotional
  • sensory and/or physical, including children with complex medical needs.

Within Early Years Inclusion Support, we have two teams, the Early Support Service and the Area SENCo (Special Educational Needs Coordinator) Team.

Early Years Inclusion Support Parent/Carer Leaflet

We provide educational support to babies and children who are yet to attend a childcare or early education setting. We work in the context of your family, to best meet the unique learning and development needs of your child.

How we can help

We support babies and children on a pathway which addresses their individual needs. We may invite you to join us in one or more of the following ways:  

  • partnering with us, either in your home or virtually, as we share teaching and learning opportunities through play
  • attending groups, virtually or in your local community
  • accessing information, discussion and training sessions,

These are some of the opportunities our team members offer, depending on your baby or child’s needs:

  • Virtual Groups for the parent/carer(s) of babies and children with Down Syndrome, where those attending meet one another, offer mutual support, share experiences and benefit from the expertise of the professionals attending, all of which support improved outcomes for their children.  

  • Play, Interact and Communicate (PIC) Groups to support children who need to develop their use of language and their social skills

  • Infant massage delivered by accredited trainers

  • Makaton training delivered by accredited regional tutors in our service.

Our work may involve any of the following:

  • listening to everything you share with us about your child and family to support our understanding.
  • getting to know your child’s interests, strengths and needs by observing and interacting with them and by speaking with other professionals who know them
  • ongoing assessment of your child’s needs and seeking to meet these through play and learning activities
  • partnering with you and other involved professionals as part of the ‘team around the child’.
  • developing an individual special educational needs support plan with you, when this is needed.
  • supporting you through the Education Health and Care (EHC) assessment process if this is appropriate for your child’s needs
  • advising you when you are ready for your child to attend a setting or school. To support a successful transition, we can help you choose a setting and will partner with staff in the receiving setting, and with specialist teams that will be involved in the future.

We work with private, voluntary and independent (PVI) early education settings helping them to meet the needs of babies and pre-school children with SEND.

How we can help.

Our offer includes:

  • professional development and training for setting-based SENCOs and staff to support best inclusive practice and early identification of need
  • advice, through consultation sessions, around understanding a child’s needs, planning to meet these and delivering support
  • direct packages of support in settings, when team members demonstrate how to deliver activities and how to communicate and interact with your child to best support their progress
  • support to setting-based SENCOs in partnering with you to write an individual plan for your child.
  • support for setting-based SENCOs to work as part of a ‘team around the child’ in partnership with you and other professionals involved
  • advice if your child’s setting needs to access additional resources to meet your child’s needs
  • support for you, and setting staff, through the Education Health and Care (EHC) Assessment processes, if this is appropriate for your child
  • support to setting staff to plan for a successful transition, when your child moves on to school. This is achieved in partnership with receiving schools and the specialist teams that will support your child in the future.

Forms of contact

  • Telephone or via video call
  • Email 
  • In writing
  • Home and/or setting visits
  • Providing support at meetings
  • Meeting at consultation sessions

How to access the service

  • Early Support Service : If your child is yet to attend an early years setting or school, please email EYISreferrals@birmingham.gov.uk for referrals information
  • Area SENCO Team: Talk to the Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) in your child’s PVI early years setting.
  • Contact:  Karen.A.Jones@birmingham.gov.uk