A teaching school centre in Leicestershire is launching a hub, in partnership with Birch Wood Special Schools, which will help education professionals support increasing numbers of children presenting with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
Leicestershire and Rutland Teaching School Hub, which offers training and professional development to existing teaching staff and teacher training those joining the profession, will open its specialist SEND provision in January next year.
One of the hub’s main areas of focus will be on introducing and explaining SEND to teachers and providing practical classroom tips to those working with children. Increasingly, it is staff in nursery settings who are seeking this kind of training and support.
Kay Shepherd, director of Leicestershire and Rutland Teaching School Hub, said: “We know that nurseries are seeing more children attending who now come with special educational needs and staff need the training and support to know how best to offer activities and learning opportunities for those children.”
According to the Department for Education, 6.3% of three and four-year-olds and 3.5% of two-year-olds accessing the 15 funded child care hours a week have special educational needs (SEN), as do 2.8% of three and four-year-olds accessing the extended, 30-hour, funded entitlement.
However, Louise Toombs, director of Shardlow Hall Day Nursery, said she has seen the number of children with SEN increase at the nursery in which she works.
“We used to have perhaps one or two children with special educational needs and now we have around 12 out of 115 children we look after each day,” she said.
“Since Covid we have also seen children with delays in their development, many are sitting or walking later than they should and those delays are also seen across their speech and social and personal developments. It’s quite stark.”
Louise said that, while they suspect many more children they look after have additional needs, referrals for to a paediatrician to get a diagnosis now takes two years, up from the one year she said it used to take.
“That means, by the time children get a diagnosis and the funding to support their learning, they aren’t with us anymore.”
Louise said that is why the SEND Hub will be useful. “Our staff have done a lot of training but training and sharing ideas is always welcome and it doesn’t often happen across nurseries so I think that will be great.”
Leicestershire and Rutland Teaching School Hub is also delivering the National Professional qualification in Leading Early Years, which is a fully funded qualification by the Department for Education for all Early Years practitioners, including those in independent nurseries. The course starts in February with the deadline for applications on January 12.
Kay said the SEND hub would not just focus on nursery and early years staff however, and would offer training and bespoke packages for schools to support them in enhancing their knowledge and training around special educational needs.
“We would also like the hub to become a focal point for the community,” said Kay. “And will be looking to bring together professionals, parents and doctors to share information and open up conversations. I am also keen to hear from people doing a fantastic job in support SEN in the classroom so we can offer them a space to share that knowledge and best practice.
The SEND Hub will open in January 2023 and can be reached by emailing Contact@Lrtshub.org.uk.
