Early years support for children

All private, voluntary and independent (PVI) settings in Royal Greenwich have a named Early Years Area SENCo. 

The SENCo will offer general advice, support and training around early identification and special educational needs and disability (SEND) issues in a setting. 

If your child lives in Royal Greenwich but goes to a setting outside of the borough, the setting can access general SEND support through their own local authority. 

Find out more about Early Years Inclusion Service (EYIS) support for professionals

If your child is not yet in an educational setting 

Your child can get support from the SEND Early Years Keyworker if they:  

• live in Royal Greenwich or have recently moved into the borough
• are aged 0 to 3 and not in an educational setting
• have complex disabilities
• are known or should be known to 3 or more targeted or specialist services
• have been referred to the Early Years Coordination Team (EYCT) 

If your child is in an educational setting 

Your child can be referred if they are: 

• accessing funded early learning
• in a private, voluntary or independent (PVI) setting including going to a childminder 

If you think your child needs support, talk to the SENCo at your child’s early years setting about getting a referral to the EYIS.  

If your child has more complex needs requiring 3 or more services, the setting may refer your child to the Early Years Co-ordination Team. 

After your child has been referred 

Once your child has been referred, the allocated Area SENCo will consult with your child’s setting to gather information about the issues and support needed. This may include:   

• a discussion with you
• a discussion with staff
• an observation of your child to identify their needs
• reviewing your child’s Early Years Foundation Stage tracking or setting information
• direct work with your child  

We may need more information, for example detailed observations during the consultation.  

Once we have enough information, we’ll decide the level of ongoing support we think your child needs and share it with you. 

This can be 1 of the following 3 options.

Option 1: Universal support is meeting your child’s needs 

If we think your child is receiving enough support through your early years setting and no direct help is needed at this point. 

Option 2. Your child has an emerging need or disability and could use targeted support 

In this case: 

1. your setting will continue to support your child
2. we will allocate the setting to an Area SENCo who will offer advice as and when asked by the setting
3. your early years setting will continue to get universal support from the Early Years Inclusion service and access a range of online support for early years providers.
4. you can discuss your concerns with an Area SENCo in the targeted needs service by phoning 020 8921 3311 and asking to speak to Antoinette Hunte
5. early years practitioners can join a consultation forum to share advice and information on SEND related issues
6. the setting or parent can request a review if there are significant concerns after the setting have tried the support options above   

Option 3: We think your child has complex needs and needs specialist support 

We will re-allocate them an Area SENCo in the specialist service.  

The Area SENCo will support the early years setting to change the curriculum and environment to make sure your child makes the best possible progress. This includes using the assess, plan, do and review cycle and building a profile for your child. 

Contact us 

You can contact us if you need to discuss the service your child is getting from the Early Years Inclusion Team or make a complaint: