Experts have joined forces with parents and educators to find solutions to tackle the crisis facing families trying to find nursery care for children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Many childcare providers struggle to accommodate young children with SEND. Alternative solutions are usually expensive and beyond the means of large numbers of families, even those with childcare subsidies.
At the same time nurseries are struggling to meet parental demand and adjust to government reforms and some have warned they may have to close.
The aim of the University of Exeter ESRC IAA-funded research is to bring researchers and providers together to share knowledge to address these early education and care accessibility challenges, particularly those faced by families in inner-city communities. This will help to improve daycare for children with SEND.
In collaboration with Alton Community Playschool, in South London, Dr Angeliki Kallitsoglou, principal investigator, and Dr Rebecca Georgis, from the School of Education, University of Exeter, will hold consultations with families, nursery workers and local community senior stakeholders to identify what might work to increase access to education and care for children with emerging SEND, and to identify training needed to promote the inclusion of children with SEND in childcare.
Dr Kallitsoglou said: "We are currently facing a crisis in education and care for children with special educational needs and disabilities, intensified by simultaneous reforms and the urgent demand for SEND support arising from the aftermath of the pandemic lockdowns.
"This is all taking place in a backdrop of a historically poorly funded sector that has been continuously struggling with staff recruitment and retention, low pay, and access to training and qualified staff. The childcare crisis is disproportionally impacting children with SEND and their parents. Identifying community day care practices that can allow children with emerging SEND access to ECH education and care is imperative.
''Efforts to reform the SEND system are unlikely to bring about overnight change and impact day-to-day practice immediately because they take time to be implemented and absorbed. We aim to work with those most affected to co-identify solutions that address the challenges faced by families in the community in the short term''
The work will help establish a shared understanding of accessibility issues in ECH education and care for children with emerging SEND, disseminate community-based best practices and facilitate the development of a stakeholder network on improving access to ECH community daycare for children with SEND.
Cristina Motoca, managing director at Alton said: ''At the heart of this project lies the commitment and recognition that every child deserves an equal opportunity to grow, learn, and participate fully in the everyday life of early years of education and care. By sharing good practice, we aim to strengthen each provision's capacity to meet diverse needs, foster professional growth amongst all early years professionals, whether directly involved with the children or not, and create a culture of continuous improvement. Most importantly, it places the children at the centre of all decisions, ensuring that their voices and unique strengths shape the support they receive.''
