What free services we provide to support early years practitioners who support children with SEND up to the age of four.
Support
We offer advice and guidance to all providers of early education and childcare. This support includes:
- guidance on good inclusive practice in early years with reference to Bristol’s Ordinarily Available Provision
- providing appropriate support and interventions for individual children’s needs
- developing strategies and targets for individual children
- monitoring and reviewing children’s rate of progress
- providing an awareness of special educational needs processes and procedures
All early years settings get up to six visits each academic year. At the visits there's an opportunity to talk about:
- the early years environment
- staff training needs
- the requirements of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (including following a graduated approach) and how the setting is meeting these
- individual children that a setting has concerns about
We record all visits and identify any areas for development with the setting. We review the areas for development in visits that follow after.
Support for children with a diagnosis of autism
To get support for a child with a diagnosis of autism fill in the Early Years Portage and Inclusion Team Referral Form.
To return the application to us you must follow our pdf secure email guidance (235 KB) .
Email completed applications to earlyyears.sensupport@bristol.gov.uk.
Training
We provide training to:
- special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs) and other early years practitioners to support and develop their knowledge of SEND
- help all those working with children in the early years to create inclusive and effective early learning environments
Portage home visiting service for families
We offer a home visiting educational and support service called portage for children from birth to five years old with SEND.
How to refer
We accept referrals from:
- parents
- professionals
Fill in the document Early Years Portage and Inclusion Team Referral Form (130 KB) .
To return the application to us you must follow our pdf secure email guidance (235 KB) .
Email completed applications to earlyyears.sensupport@bristol.gov.uk.
Contact
If you have any queries about the Early Years Portage and Inclusion Service you can email earlyyears.sensupport@bristol.gov.uk.
