On 23rd October 2025, Foundation Years held an online event on ‘Supporting Children with SEND for Smooth Transitions’. We explored how early years professionals can support children with SEND during transitions.
You can find the event recording here.
Below, you can find questions submitted during the presentations, along with their respective answers:
Would you advise parents to apply for both special schools and mainstream schools?
Whilst each family situation is unique as a general rule, we would encourage families to apply to schools through the standard admissions process even if they feel strongly about their child attending a specialist provision. This ensures the child receives a school place for September and have continued access to their education should the specialist place not be available or they not be allocated one at this time. Often mainstream primary’s can provide a lot of support through ordinarily available provision or reasonable adjustments to ensure a confident approach to inclusion is implemented.
How do you find a list of specialist providers in local areas?
Visit your area’s local offer and this will show you what provision is available to children in your area.
How quickly should you start applying for an EHCP?
You should apply for an EHCP when you feel it is needed for a child, ensure you have put in place appropriate support to meet the child’s individual needs prior to your application. Whilst there are currently long waits for these processes in some areas they should be completed within the 20-week time frame. We hope changes are made through upcoming reforms to make funding more readily available and enabling quicker implementation of funding for settings.
Do you provide training for school settings to support SEND transitions and children with SEND?
Visit our website www.dingley.org.uk/training to find out more about our available training which is currently funded in some areas. If you would like to know more about purchasing training or to have a conversation about other support we may be able to provide please email [email protected]
Do you need to apply for a SEN school earlier and do you need an EHCP to apply?
Different local authorities will have different application processes but often there is an expectation that the child will have an EHCP. It is always best to speak with the provision or your local authority support team to ensure you are following the correct processes and time frames.
What advice do you have for gaining communications and transition relationships with primary schools? I have emailed a local school to may be visit or use their playground to aid transitions, but I haven’t had a response. Any tips to help engage with schools?
Everyone is always very busy, be mindful of the pressures that everyone is under, however it is vital that we have these conversations. Persistence is the number one suggestion, relationships can take time to build! Offer a range of meetings and times so that schools can determine what will work for them. Often when you can show it has been a positive experience once you will get repeat engagement. Finding ways to share the information that supports the child effectively, whether this is through a phone call, email or posting a letter, will demonstrate the valuable information you have to share and encourage engagement.
What type of training do you offer and do you come into school (nursery and reception) to support? Or do you offer training to local authorities?
We have online training readily available visit www.dingely.org.uk/training, we also offer f2f sessions on a range of topics please get in touch to find out more and discuss your needs. [email protected]
If you have a child transitioning from one of our centres on in dual placement with a centre they will always be on hand to provide setting support, and some of our centres are funded to provide more wider support. However, if you have any specific needs and would like to talk through how we could support you please get in touch.