The Derbyshire Early Years Special Educational Needs Panel meets weekly to consider requests for support from any of the EYSEN service teams (specialist teachers, SEMH Outreach or Portage Home Visiting Service) and to the Educational Psychology service. It considers services for Derbyshire children aged 0 to 4-years-old with complex special educational needs (SEN) in line with the criteria for each of those services. Follow links on this page to see the criteria for each support service.
The Early Years SEN Panel aims to:
- support the early identification of SEN and disabilities
- ensure that children’s needs are identified and assessed quickly, and matched by appropriate provision
- coordinate provision through the development of close partnerships between parents, the local authority, health, and the private and voluntary sector
- promote inclusion in mainstream early years settings wherever possible, and in-line with parental wishes
Information for Parents, Carers and Referrers
Everyone working for the Local Authority has a legal duty to keep information about you and your child confidential. All services working with you and your child need up-to-date information. We only ever use or pass on information if there is a real need to do so.
For more information about what we share and who we share it with, please view Derbyshire County Council - Privacy Notices. This will also tell you about your rights and how we store your data.
The EYSEN Panel Request for Support form (in the related documents section of this page) can be used to refer into the following support services:
- EYSEN Service Specialist Teachers
- EYSEN SEMH Outreach Team
- Educational Psychology
Support can also be requested through the SENIF evaluation form when a setting is evaluating the impact of funding on the support for a child: Derbyshire Local Offer - Early Years SEN Inclusion Fund
There is a separate form for referrals to the Derbyshire Portage Home visiting Service, which can be found by visiting: Derbyshire Local Offer - Derbyshire Portage Service
Information about referring to the Sensory and Physical Support team for a specialist teacher for a child with physical, visual or hearing impairments can be found by visiting: Derbyshire Local Offer - Sensory and Physical Support Team (SPST)
Parents/carers must agree to the referral being made. Settings must confirm consent has been obtained.
All requests must include a description of the child’s developmental profile. In addition, there should be evidence of work completed by the EYs provider with the child as referenced in the Graduated Response (Code of SEN Practice 2015).
For requests for support from the EYSEN specialist teaching service, the child (if in receipt of a government funded place) should already be in receipt of Early Years SEN Inclusion Funding (SENIF). Referrals to the EPS should also have a robust graduated response, which will often include SENIF being in place.
If the child is not eligible for SENIF because they are yet accessing a government funded place, or because they receive funding through a finalised EHC plan, support can still be requested. If the child is eligible for SENIF but it has not been requested previously, you can still request support, but please explain why you have not applied for SENIF in the graduated response section of the form.
New referrals will not be accepted by the Early Years SEN Service during the Summer term for children starting Reception in September. After the end of May, referrals can be directed to Inclusion Support Service (ISS) in preparation for their start in Reception in September. Information about ISS Referrals for targeted and specialist support can be found by visiting: Derbyshire Local Offer - ISS Referrals for Targeted and Specialist Support
Contacts
For queries about the Early Years Panel, please email: CS.EYSEN.Referrals@derbyshire.gov.uk