Inclusion
There is a legal and moral duty to provide children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) with suitable support to ensure they are able to access early years services. We’re clear that every child is unique and that their individual needs should be identified and supported.
Alliance projects focus on what each individual child can do – and then, within a safe, varied and interesting environment, the child is supported to play, learn and develop. We recognise that effective partnership with parents and caregivers, based on open and transparent communication, is vital to sharing aspirations and goals for young children and in turn, supporting their early learning and development.
Example projects
The Social and Communication Peer Support Worker service (Southend)
The Social and Communication Peer Support Worker service in Southend provides support for families when they first receive, or while they are waiting for, a diagnosis of autism, supporting them with any concerns around communication, interaction or imaginative play.
The team of Peer Support Workers offer come with personal lived experience of parenting children with social and communication needs in the local area.
The project offers:
- A peer support service
- Telephone/email contact
- Home visits
- Community visits
- Flexible service to best meet your needs
- Signposting
- Information and advice
- Play sessions
The project team work alongside the Southend SEND and Portage team to support families within Southend.
The University of Essex evaluation of Peer Support Worker project in Southend, carried out in 2024, reports the highly successful model achieved its aim of focused support to families with children with or without a diagnosis of autism.
Key to this success was the lived experience of staff with personal experience as parents of children with similar needs. Their unique ‘live’ perspective on the issues faced by the families they support, enabled the service to be tailored to meet each family’s needs in a meaningful way, fostering trust and understanding, supporting family engagement and participation, and improving outcomes for their children.
Explorers Plus (Lewisham and Lincolnshire)
Explorers Plus is a stay and play session that brings families together to share their concerns about their child’s development, where their children are not reaching their milestones, as well as those waiting for a speech and language intervention, an assessment or a diagnosis and those who already have one.
The sessions were piloted in Lewisham as part of the children’s centre programme delivery, and now also run in Lincolnshire.
Alliance staff teams work in partnership with a range of professionals who visit the sessions regularly to talk to families. These include:
- Educational psychology team
- Speech and language
- Start for Life team
- Oral health
- Area SENCO for the local authority
Parents get to meet other parents who are going through or been through similar experiences, while their children get the opportunity to engage in sensory play, in a quiet area for those children who find noisier spaces overwhelming, and with opportunities to get messy and engage in open ended play. Families are encouraged to play outside as this supports that full sensory experience which not only provides a healthy lifestyle, a sense of freedom but also helps those children who need to regulate themselves, before engaging in more focused learning.
The sessions end with singing and simple signing which helps social communication, signifies the end of the session to help support children who have difficulty ending play.
Parent feedback
“The most useful thing about this session is getting help, advice and support. It is organised and run well so I cannot think of any improvements that could be made.”
“My son can’t speak except ‘Mama’,’Dada’ very rarely. We were worried so much about him. We felt so lonely and helpless. But in Explorers Plus, we meet other families with special kids as well. We talk to each other and feel better.”
Professional feedback
“Explorers Plus sessions are an invaluable resource for Lewisham families. The setting is informal but purposeful and valuable for both children and parents. The sessions give the children a chance to engage in safe free play with a range of high quality resources, as well as the opportunity to play with or alongside other children” – Senior specialist educational psychologist for early years in Lewisham.
Targeted Positive Activities (Lincolnshire)
Across Lincolnshire as a commissioned provider of Lincolnshire County Council, we offer a wide range of services for families with children and young people and a short break service for families who have children and young people with disabilities or complex health needs from 5 to 18 years old.
Targeted Positive Activities offer a range of sessions being community groups (for children with disabilities aged 5-18 years), youth groups (for children with disabilities aged 11-18 years), and holiday clubs (for for children with disabilities aged 5-18 years) held at a variety of local venues across Lincolnshire. These offer a range of suitable activities in a safe and welcoming environment and giving parents and carers a short break for them caregiving time.
At the range of sessions children with disabilities and their families are supported at the right time to help maintain their quality of life, access high quality education to encourage and support children and young people to remain living at home with their family, and access as many services in their local communities so they can go on to live as independently as possible.
Each group is different with the children and young people getting to say what they want to do, led by caring, experienced and skilled practitioners who will enable those attending to socialise, join in and try new activities at a pace that is comfortable for each child and young person.
Further examples
Little Talkers, Little Treasure and Little Learners (Luton)
Little Talkers – Five weekly sessions for children aged 18 months to three years with early emerging communication needs. Children attend with their families, receiving key messages, practical strategies, and opportunities to practice skills in a communication rich environment. The Speech and Language Therapy (SALT) team attends the final session to provide child-specific advice and guidance on next steps.
Little Treasures – Twelve weekly sessions for children aged 18 months to four years with early emerging developmental needs. The sessions offer a calm space for meaningful play while families receive 1:1 practical support and strategies tailored to their child. The SALT team also provides individual communication advice to families.
Little Learners – A six-week programme focused on the home learning environment. The programme is suitable for children aged 18 months to four years. Using a blended approach of home visits and group sessions, it empowers parents to support their child’s learning and development at home. Families work with facilitators to set personalised targets and receive practical strategies to reinforce development.
Early Help Somerset
The service works with all early years educators and settings in Somerset to support them to deliver early help where needed to children and families.
The main focus is to improve outcomes for children by providing a consistent point of contact for advice and resources in order to build capacity, knowledge and confidence of staff in early years settings so that they are able to:
- Support children and families facing specific challenges and to confidently provide early intervention where required
- Support the emotional health and promote wellbeing in the under fives
- Support school readiness
- Narrow the gap between EAL learners and their peers
Incredible Years Autism Spectrum Condition and Language Delays Programme (Lewisham)
The Incredible Years Autism Spectrum Condition and Language Delays Programme (IY ASC) is an evidence based, 14-week group parenting programme delivered over 14–16 weeks and is offered to parents of children aged four to nine years.
It is currently delivered in the London Borough of Lewisham as a part of a commissioned therapeutic parenting service.
It is delivered where there are the following presenting issues:
- Suspected or diagnosed autism: Identified in referral or through parental/professional concerns.
- Social/Emotional: Difficulties with peer relationships, emotional regulation, anxiety, or low self-esteem.
- Behavioural: Meltdowns, rigid routines, oppositional behaviours, sensory sensitivities, or aggression.
- Communication: Challenges with social communication, understanding social cues, or pragmatic language.
- Impact on functioning: Difficulties in school, family relationships, and/or community participation.
Other project areas
