Overview
Who Are We?
We are a specialist service for pre-school children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
What Do We Do?
We are a team of Early Years specialist educational practitioners and educational psychologists, working as part of the SEND Inclusion Support Services and Educational Psychology Service for Nottingham City Council.
We are commissioned to support children under the age of five with SEND. We do this by working in collaboration with their families, schools and PVI (Private, Voluntary, and Independent) practitioners across the city. We work closely with city schools when supporting planned transitions for children into nursery and reception.
Much of our work is locality-based through Family Hub areas.
We offer:
Weekly drop-in sessions at each Family Hub across the city during term time
Support for referred children in PVI settings
Bespoke support for children with complex and profound needs
Training for early years settings
Close collaboration with partner services such as paediatric therapy teams and speech and language therapists
Transition support into and between settings
Educational Psychology support for more complex cases
Our Philosophy
We want all the children we support to begin their learning journey—especially their first experience of school—in a positive and successful way. We believe that children with SEND should be welcomed wherever they are learning, so they can grow and thrive alongside their peers in their local community.
We believe that parents and carers are key to a young child's early learning, and that working in partnership with them leads to the best outcomes for children with SEND.
We acknowledge that parents and carers have the right to be involved in all decisions about their child's education.
We work with each child at their developmental stage—not just their age—building on their strengths and celebrating every success, no matter how small.
We respect differences in race, culture, language, ability, and lifestyle.
Eligibility Criteria
We can work with a child if:
The family lives in the City of Nottingham or the child attends a city-based PVI setting
The child is aged from birth to four years
The child has a substantial and significant delay in two or more areas of development, or significant social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs
The child has a recognised syndrome or disability
Please note: We are unable to accept referrals for children who have medical conditions but no developmental delay, or those with mild physical difficulties. These needs should be met by the relevant health services.
We do not accept referrals for children already in school settings unless they are under three years of age.
Children in school settings are supported by other teams within the SEND Inclusion Support Service.
Referrals
We accept referrals from any professional working with the child, provided parental consent has been obtained.
Referrals should be made using the form - Referral for a Nottingham City SEND Specialist Support Service for Children in the Early Years and must link to the information in the above criteria.
This referral can also be used by health services to make a Section 23 Early Health Notification