Making the announcement today, the expansion of the training, which is delivered by the Best Practice Network (BPN), forms part of the Department for Education’s Early Years Recovery Programme. It is on top of the 5,000 places already announced last year.
The new places will be available until August 2024, with priority given to SENCos in areas currently under-represented in the training uptake, including the north- east and north-west of England.
Existing early years SENCos with a Level 3 Early Years Educator qualification, or those due to take-up the role of a SENCo, are eligible for training if working in a ‘group-based setting’ or as a childminder.
The expansion of the Early Years SENCo training programme forms part of a larger announcement by the Department for Education to provide more support for children with special educational needs. Other measures being introduced include building seven more special schools and giving selected local authorities the chance to ‘test and refine’ reforms to services for children and young people with SEN.
SENCo training
Best Practice Network’s Early Years SENCo four-month long programme was launched last summer.
The qualification is being delivered with a national network of partners – Elklan, Kids Planet Day Nurseries, Snapdragons Nurseries, Bristol City Council, Derbyshire local authority, Durham County Council, Telford & Wrekin local authority and the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA).
Sian Marsh, director of early years and ITT at Best Practice Network, said, ‘We’re delighted to be able to offer these additional fully-funded places to satisfy this demand from the sector.
‘Having more qualified SENCos in the EY sector will have positive impacts on children with SEND and on the sector as a whole, giving professionals the skills to address urgent priorities – and a big incentive to stay in a sector that they know will invest in their professional journey.’
Further support for children with SEN
Other measures announced by the Government today include:
- The delivery of a ‘ground-breaking’ programme by selected local authorities to test and refine reforms to services for young people and families. The local authorities will help inform the development of new national standards to improve the consistency of provision across the country. Each area will also bring together education and health services, as well as parents and families to develop an inclusion plan that sets out how they will deliver local services in a co-ordinated way.
- Seven new special free schools in Cambridgeshire, Kent, Merton and Norfolk, more than doubling the number of special free school places available across the country – from around 8,500 to 19,000
Minister for children, families and wellbeing, Claire Coutinho, said, ‘Making sure children with special educational needs and disabilities get a superb education is a priority.
‘Earlier this year our Improvement Plan set out systemic reforms to make sure every child and young person gets consistently high-quality support, no matter where in the country they live.
‘Today we’re making sure that those reforms are informed by the experiences of real families, up and down the country, and creating the thousands of new places at specialist schools and in staff training courses that are needed to make sure our plan is a success.’