Learning journals and children with SEN

[Beetlejuice]

Not sure if anyone can advise me. I have recently taken on a child with Down Syndrome and wondered what I should be doing with regards to LJs etc. He is 1 year old with obvious developmental delay in physical, communication etc - which I would expect given his condition and given he was born a month premature too. What should I be doing? Should he immediately be on Early Years Action? I was talking to his parents about meeting with their Portage contact and about calling my county FIRST team in (place we refer for support with children with SEN). Have I missed anything? I'm a little new to this as previously I have had children in my setting who have gone on to develop signs of SEN conditions but never had a child come with a diagnosis as such already.

I would be really grateful for any advice as I want to do my absolute best for this child and his family - he is a delight and his parents are lovely. I feel really honoured that they have chosen me to look after their son - they said they saw other settings but 'nobody compared' which is a lovely compliment

Many thanks

B x

[wellybelly]

Hello there,

Wonderful to see you're so enthusiastic to support this child. You sound perfect for him and the family!

Is the child already on Early Years Action? If he is make sure you have confirmation of this from the Local Authority and the parents - something in writing (of exactly where the child is with the Early Years Action process) and get a list of contacts of who the parents have already as multi-agency contacts e.g the Child's Psychologist, or Speech and Language Therapists. Now you are supporting the child, you too can contribute to everything to do with his care and its important you know everything too.

Don't just assume he is on Early Years Action because it could be seen as discrimination. If he is on Early Years Action, ask your LA for training to support the child. I would highly recommend the SENCO course as it covers a great deal of how to support the child and family with an SEN in the setting but it also goes over the discriminatory side of things like what you can and cant do. The first thing we were told on our SENCO course was that there were solicitors up and running who focus on just suing schools and settings who don't do things by the book.

If the child is not on Early Years Action, get in contact with the LA because you will need support. In my LA, I have an Early Years Improvement Officer who supports me with the SEN process. We were warned if we don't get things right e.g. all the paperwork, we are not allowed to ask for help again for the child for 6 months! Its all to do with funding and the amount of children who need support.

With regards to Learning Journeys, I have a child who has behavioural SEN and she has a typical Learning Journey, same as all the other children with evidence of obs, photo obs and art work etc, but then she also has an SEN file which I use to keep contacts for all other agencies involved in supporting her, copies of assessments from other agencies, an audit trail of information such as letter sent to paediatrician on this date and then copies of all paperwork I send out. I also have a consent section in the file with a copy of parental consent to work with other agencies and share info with them.

Best of Luck with everything. Pm me if you need any help x

[wellybelly]

Just to add a bit more...

You say he's got some delays. Its really important you make note of where he is against development matters as its really about progress for children with SEN. The more evidence you have of any delays the better this will be to access support for the child. The child may move between stages of support before such as Early Years Action and Early Years Action Plus, so obs are really crucial.

Chances are if your LA does this, they may give you are more in depth assessment process which is specifically for children with SEN. I have seen one but it was for the old EYFS. I will ask my LA to see if the revised EYFS materials are available yet.

xxx

[Beetlejuice]

Thanks Welly that's really useful. I was honest with the family as my experience of DS is about 20 years old! All I did though was volunteer at a SEN school when I was a teenager where I was in a class of 2-3 year olds most of whom had DS or autism but the family were unconcerned. I'm thrilled to have been chosen to mind him because they said they visited lots of places and came back to me every time. Dad said he wanted to send the child on a trial basis which I happily agreed to so he's been doing 1 day a week - a month in the parents are comfortable enough with me to leave him 3 days a week. It's a real honour. I have bought some books on Fine/Gross motor skills and Communication Skills for children with DS.

I know they see Portage on a Monday and I asked them to pass on my details and ask for a visit in my setting as I think it's best that we all sing from the same hymn sheet with regards to his care. I have been asked if I will take him to Speech & Language group once a month and there is a possibility I will take him to occasional physio appts too which again I agreed to because it will good for me to learn first-hand what exercises we can do to support his muscle development. They believe his Portage lady won't be able to contact me because of restraints on funding etc - which I said was sad but sounded typical of our LA - so I agreed to call my FIRST team for support and advice which I will do on Tuesday. I have been observing him as he is doing certain things - like realise he can make music with certain resources and he is bonding with my two daughters - so there are some obs though of course he's not necessarily in line with his age/stage but then what child follows it perfectly anyway?!

I have never followed EA/EAP through in my setting as the family I had with children with SEN refused to believe me or the specialist teams and eventually moved from my setting so they could ignore it

I will probably be posting lots in the coming months as this is all new!
Thanks again

B x

[wellybelly]

What you're doing sounds fab, its a shame funding dictates everything nowadays as its the child who looses out. I have found though that sharing info, even an informal chat on the telephone to other agencies (with consent of course) is a great way to still support the child. As you say all singing from thee same hymn sheet.

Best of Luck with it xxxx

[The Juggler]

hon, I would just observe him from a base level, see what he is doing and where he is at. I would then speak to mum and get permission to speak to the LA SENCO advisor about what you could access in terms of support and resources for him (both at your setting, to groups and for mum to access).

Once you have your advice I would take it from there. As far as the LJ goes, just photos and observations and annotations for now.

[Beetlejuice]

Thanks to you both. His parents are so clued up I think they have been teaching Portage stuff because they have greater access to info! Dad is on the ball as he was made redundant when they had him and so he has been his sole carer as Mum is a teacher and had to return to work. I am really enjoying having the child though I call him my little time waster as I spend lots of time just lying on the floor with him (he loves rolling!) and 'chatting' with him!

[manjay]

What a lovely story and I can understand how chuffed you are at being chosen to provide care for the little one. I don't have any practical advice as we do things a little differently over here but just wanted to say well done

[Beetlejuice]

What a lovely story and I can understand how chuffed you are at being chosen to provide care for the little one. I don't have any practical advice as we do things a little differently over here but just wanted to say well done

Thanks hon :-) x

[safcfluff]

Well done Beetlejuice
You sound just the right person to care for this child. You are prepared to ask questions, seek advice and put yourself out. I'm not surprised you stood out. X