CEY1440

Written evidence submitted by FullSpektrum

Introduction

As has been laid out in the terms of reference of this Call for Evidence, every child deserves a decent education that is affordable for parents and provides the stimulus a child needs so that they can get the grounding they need for their life. 

It is for others to comment on the operational processes around the provision of the ECEC system, but at FullSpektrum we care very deeply about ensuring that the education provided to young people, especially those with SEND, is based on a proper understanding of what that child needs to succeed.

We are therefore going to concentrate on early year provision, namely:

-          Whether the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system is meeting the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND), and the improvements that could be made to better support young children with SEND within early years provisions; and

-          To what extent does the early years system adequately prepare young children for their transition into primary education, particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Does the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system meet the needs of pupils with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND), and what improvements could be made to better support young children with SEND within early years provisions?

The right to quality, inclusive education is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (UNCEDAW), the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) [1].  However, whilst we acknowledge that the Government does understand why children with SEND need to have a rounded education tailored to their needs, there is still a lack of strategic thinking about its delivery. 

The start point of education delivery for those with SEND should be early diagnosis to ensure that intervention is available as quickly as possible for the child.  It is well recognised that the first 1,001 days of a child’s life are seen as key to a child’s development [2] and this is

even more important for a child with SEN.   The reality is that many of the 1.4 million school children in the UK with SEN[3] do not get the educational scaffolding they need to have a happy and fulfilled life early enough meaning that many children have already fallen behind before their SEN needs are identified.

This is the case because early years is the least well-funded phase of education and diagnosis is often complicated by the fact that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between normal developmental stages and developmental delay. 

It should also be recognised that currently, the path to diagnosis is long and complicated, with inconsistent procedures meaning that process is rarely straightforward. Couple this with the fact that many professionals need involvement, including GPs, SENCOs, psychiatrists, psychologists, speech & language therapists, behavioural support teams and educational psychologists, and it is unlikely a young person will get the diagnosis when intervention has the most impact for the least cost.

Considering that as children pass through the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) system, they have a new baseline assessment at 4[4], it would make sense for the Government to develop this into a standardised test that includes evaluation of any SEND needs. 

To achieve this, the Department of Education needs to work with sector specialists across education to find the best providers for this type of service provision, as well as create guidance regarding how the information provided by these tests should be utilised as the basis for the child’s education in the future.

What extent does the early years system adequately prepare young children for their transition into primary education, particularly children from disadvantaged backgrounds?

Whilst the Government has produced papers that set up “a national vision for a more inclusive culture”, OFTSED have very closed parameters of what measures success, with scores and rankings top, middle and bottom.  Whilst this is more understandable when young people reach exam age, early development should be about setting up the scaffolding for a young person to ensure that they have the interventions they need to give them confidence to master the framework indicators that are set for them.

However, educational settings are unable to deviate from the measures dictated to them meaning that the education of our more vulnerable students is often side-lined in comparison to the schools “main job” of achieving certain grades. 

If the Government are going to change this culture, as they claim they want to, they need to ensure that schools are also judged by the educational journey they provide for young people with SEND.  They therefore need to work with sector specialists who work on the ground to really understand what provisions are needed to help children with SEND access education effectively, and how these will narrow the gap between these children and their peers.

This in turn could then inform OFSTED on the key objectives and targets that they should be judging a school on and ensure that a school is judged on education provision that is tailored to the student.

January 2023