How we support parents of children with SEND

This Autism Acceptance Week, we have been busy raising money for the National Autistic Society. Our nurseries and head office teams have been wearing lots of colours and taking part in events and sensory activities to celebrate our senses and help us understand how sensory timetables support children who are autistic.

As the week draws to a close, we are taking a closer look at how we support our parents of children with additional needs, and create a safe place and community for them.

At Kids Planet, in addition to the SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator) based in each nursery, we have a dedicated SEND team that provides support, advice and guidance not only to the Nursery SENDCo, but for the families with children that present with additional needs.

Often it is practitioners within Early Years settings that initially approach parents with early identification behaviours, which may later be diagnosed as Autism.

At Kids Planet, we are passionate about fostering positive parent partnerships and supporting our parents as well as our children:

• We nurture consistent and positive relationships with parents that put their child at the centre of everything we do.
• Our Individual Education Plans incorporate the parents’ aspirations for their child into their specific learning and development targets.
• We reflect and include the parent’s voice in the review of their child’s Individual Education Plan.
• We offer a neuro-affirming narrative, that identifies their child’s strengths as motivators for their areas of development.
• We have high aspirations for all children by embedding educational frameworks that recognise neuro-diverse learning styles and celebrate progress.
• We help parents through the Statutory Education, Health and Care Plan process, advocating for their legal rights.
• We signpost parents to external support groups and professionals for advice, guidance, and training. Some of our favourites are:

1. Local Offer websites
2. Local Authorities SENDIAS services
3. Local Authority Parent/Carer forums
4. IPSEA – leading charity in SEND Law
5. Contact for Families with Disabled Children – advice and guidance on various SEND aspects, bespoke training, supporting parent/carer forums
6. National Autistic Society
7. ERIC for toileting support

The SEND team is passionate about ensuring all children have the best possible start in life and uphold high aspirations for those with additional needs and embed practices that improve outcomes.

Becky Eckersley, Lead SEND Advisor at Kids Planet, said:

“Parents often tell me that navigating their journey of becoming a SEND parent can feel daunting and isolating, so it’s important to me that we live, breathe and embed our Kids Planet CARE values of a safe place, and building a community, by ensuring all our parents feel like they have someone within our Kids Planet team who they can rely on to advocate for them and their child in a non-judgmental way and provide support with negotiating the pathway ahead”.

Here are some free workshops for parents of children with SEND in early years.

For more information about SEND at Kids Planet, email Sendsupport@kidsplanetdaynurseries.co.uk

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