Early Years Planning and Review Meeting

Early Years Planning and Review Meeting.

Pathway 1 – Complex Needs.

Professional Application Pack.

Contents.

Page 3 Guidance Note about the EYPARM.

Page 4 - 7 Referral Criteria and Process.

Page 8Timetable

Pages 9 – 11Referral Form Example (essential must be completed by referrer in consultation with parent/carer)

Page 12Referral checklist

Page 13Process Flow Chart

West Sussex Early Years Planning and Review Meeting.

Guidance Note.

The Principles:

The purpose of the EYPARM is to discuss pre-school children’s strengths and areas of need and how best to support these within an educational setting.

Within West Sussex we seek to ensure the needs of our pre-school children are raised in a timely and efficient manner within a multi-agency discussion forum. We have adopted a number of Pathways to ensure the most appropriate route of consideration for all these children.

Each Pathway ensures appropriate discussion, planning and review and where necessary further assessment of children aged 0-4 years old who are likely to require additional support within their pre-school and eventually school.

Each Pathway requests clear information regarding the child’s needs including the views of their parent/carer.

This process enables West Sussex Local Authority and Health Services to follow to the requirements set out with the SEN Code of Practice. In particular it ensures:

5.15 Where a health body is of the opinion that a young child under compulsory school age has, or probably has, SEN, they must inform the child’s parents and bring the child to the attention of the appropriate local authority. The health body must also give the parents the opportunity to discuss their opinion and let them know about any voluntary organisations that are likely to be able to provide advice or assistance. This includes the educational advice, guidance and any intervention to be put in place at an early point and before the child starts school.

Making a referral:

If you consider a child aged 0-4 years old may benefit from discussion within the framework of our Early Years Planning and Review Meeting please consider the attached notes on the Pathway and undertake the action described.

If you have questions regarding this please contact the Requests and Referrals Team either via phone 033022 22711 or via email senrequests&

Early Years Planning and Review Meeting.

Pathway 1 – Complex Needs.

Referral Criteria and Process:

• Children with a high level of need across many areas of development i.e. physical, communication, sensory and learning.
• The child is likely to be considered as having complex needs.

Who can refer to Pathway 1- Complex Needs?

• Paediatrician.
• Sensory Support Team.
• Portage Co-Ordinator.
• Specialist Health Visitor.

Examples of the characteristics and diagnosis may be:

Hearing Impairment:

• A level of hearing loss that requires hearing aids or a cochlear implant and results in significant speech and/or language difficulties which impair/significantly impact on communication and access to all areas of the curriculum.
• Severe hearing loss (71 dBHL and above); a severe high frequency hearing loss; or a progressive degenerative hearing condition and Auditory Neuropathy Assessments indicate a significant delay in the acquisition of receptive and expressive language and/or speech.
• A late (post 2 years of age) diagnosis of a significant permanent hearing impairment that impacts on their development.

Visual Impairment:

• The child/young person has significant visual impairment and/or a deteriorating condition affecting vision.
• Visual acuity of 6/36 or less plus a reduction in near vision or a significant field defect.
• A late (post 2 years of age) diagnosis of a significant permanent visual impairment that impacts on their development.

Multi-sensory Impairment:

• The child/young person has a hearing loss together with a visual impairment at a level which might normally be overcome through a reliance on listening in the educational setting.
• Visual acuity of 6/18 or less together with a level of hearing loss that requires hearing aids.

Physical Impairment:

• Significant physical or medical needs arising from a pre-existing or acquired condition which impacts upon the child’s/young person’s overall development and which is likely to persist over time. There may be the need for the use of mechanical or technological aids or assistive or augmented communication aids to allow access to the curriculum.
• Evidence that despite reasonable adjustments being made by the setting/school the child’s/young person’s physical impairment and/or medical condition significantly impacts on their opportunity to access the whole curriculum.

Social Communication:

• Severely impaired social communication skills which requires intensive programme of social communication intervention
• The child has difficulty participating in larger group experiences for significant parts of the day, despite Best Endeavours support. Access to the curriculum is significantly restricted. Greater curriculum emphasis required to support social and communication needs.
• Clear difficulty responding in social situations and to adult direction.
• The child is pre-verbal or requires/uses alternative and augmentative communication strategies e.g. PECS
• Expressive language is disordered and consists of jargon, echolalia and ‘learnt’ phrases.
• Requires a significantly high level of consistency and routine including the use of visual supports in order to reduce anxiety and enable access to the curriculum.
• The child requires a “total communication” approach e.g. use of signing/symbols/PECS/objects of reference/touch cues.
• Observations gathered from noticing what the child does and says in a range of contexts, including information from the family about what the child does and says at home.
• Evidence includes a description of child’s social communication skills.

Communication and Interaction:

• Language levels, receptive and/or expressive significantly delayed/disordered
• Standardised Score of 69 or below, at or below 1st percentile where standardised measures are available or where formal assessment cannot be completed, the child’s speech, language and communication skills are below a 12 month functional level.
• Early Years – child is showing a minimum 2 year delay in the Communication, Language & Literacy strand.

What information is needed? Who is responsible for seeking it?

Timescale:

These children should be referred promptly, ideally around their 2nd birthday. If specialist nursery or nursery placement requiring additional support from age 2 is being considered referral can be made as early as 18 months.

These children will be discussed at the Early Years Slot on the Education, Health and Care Needs Consideration Panel (EHC Consideration Panel). This will occur on a 4 weekly basis. Completed applications will be referred to a Panel within 6 weeks of receipt.

Process:

1. Essential paperwork received by SEN Assessment Team.
2. SEN Assessment Team acknowledge paperwork in a letter to parent, copied to referrer and other relevant contributors.
3. SEN Assessment Team seek parental views through this letter and any other information they consider to be missing.
4. Child is discussed at EHC Consideration Panel. This discussion will happen within 6 weeks of receiving the complete referral. Potential outcomes of Panel are:
5. EHC Assessment agreed
6. Referral to alternative more suitable EYPARM Pathway.
7. Further information is required and re-referral to EHC Consideration Panel will take place (within timescale agreed at the meeting).
8. No further action. The child’s needs can be met from support ordinarily available at school[3].
9. SENAT inform parents of the outcome – confirmed in writing and copied to referrer/other contributing professionals.

EHC Consideration Panel attendees:

Team Manager (SEN Assessment Team), Senior Educational Psychologist, Specialist Advisory Teachers, representative from West Sussex Parent Carers Forum, representatives from the Early Childhood Service, specialist nursery placement, Portage and the Health Service as appropriate.

Early Years Planning and Review Meeting.

Pathway 1 Timetable September 2016 – July 2017[4].

Example form – to make a referral visit the following web page to complete the relevant form:

Pathway 1 – Complex Needs.

Referral Form.

Important information for the professional making this referral:

As the person making this referral you are responsible for ensuring the family are clear that this information will be sent to the SEN Assessment Team and considered at the either the Education, Health and Care Needs Consideration Panel or the Early Years Planning and Review Meeting. You must ensure they are comfortable with what has been recorded and they are aware that the information may be shared with other relevant professionals. You must seek their consent prior to making this referral and ensure they have reviewed the information you are providing and signed the consent statement below. It is expected that you will complete this referral with the family. Please ensure you provide them with a copy of the relevant ‘parent pack’ and they are clear on the possible outcomes of discussion within the Early Years Planning and Review processes.

Important information for the parent/carer:

This information will be used to consider your child’s needs.

In order to do this we may need to share the details in this referral with other organisations or services.

We are obliged to share information if there are any concerns about the safety and/or wellbeing of a child, young person and/or adult and if there are clear reasons for doing so which are in the best interests of a child, young person and/or adult.

Signatures:

Freedom of Information and Data Protection:

Your details will be used in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 and the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998 or other appropriate legislation, and will be stored electronically. If information you have provided is personal, as defined under the DPA, we will only use it for the purpose for which you provided it. We only share your personal data with a third party if we are required to do so by law or if we need to in order to provide the service you have requested.

(Please read the statement below and sign as indicated.)

• I am in agreement with the referral for consideration as part of the West Sussex Early Years Planning and Review Meeting and/or the Education Health and Care Needs Consideration Panel.

• I agree to West Sussex County Council seeking any relevant information from other professionals to help them in deciding how best to support my child.

• I understand further assessment may be an outcome for some children considered within this process and agree for this to proceed if appropriate.

Signed : ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Date : ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Once completed please send this form and any other relevant paperwork to:

EYPARM, SENAT, Room 001, County Hall, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 1RF.[5]

Early Years Planning and Review Meeting (EYPARM).

Pathway 1.

Checklist.

Please ensure you have the essential documents listed below before you submit your request to the SEN Assessment Team[6].

Essential:

Desirable:

West Sussex Early Years Planning and Review Meeting (EYPARM).

Pathway 1 – Complex Needs.

Flow Chart.

1

[1] Including attendance with a childminder.

[2] The template for the setting report and parental views can be found on the Local Offer:

[3] Maintained mainstream schools have access to additional resources and support services to help them meet the needs of learners within their school. Further information can be found on the Local Offer:

[4] These dates provide a guideline to professionals to aid timely referral. They may be subject to change.

[5] Please refer to the checklist on Page 13 before submitting this application.

[6] This checklist of for your use and does not need to be submitted.