Nasen (National Association for Special Educational Needs) will lead the project, which is aiming to provide crucial support and training to early years practitioners in settings including nurseries and Reception classes, to help them identify and support children with SEND.
The project is intended to improve outcomes for more than 50,000 children in early years provision across the country.
Nasen will be co-ordinating a number of groups to meet and reflect on best practice, resulting in a series of informative webcasts, resources and a training package.
The project will also support an increase in the number of early years settings offering places, including the free entitlement, to children with SEND.
Nasen chief executive Dr Adam Boddison said, 'Over the last 25 years, our knowledge and expertise has enabled us to support thousands of SEND professionals from a range of sectors, and thanks to this extra funding we are delighted that we can now put even more resources into ensuring that the needs of children aged 0-5 years are met.'
- Read about the progress of the project in Nursery World online and in the magazine.