Newcastle City Council secures investment to support young children with Special Educational Needs

Over the last six months they have been completing the Level 3 Early Years SENCo Award. This is the first time this training has been made available to support these key workers in early years settings across the city.  It was made possible by a successful funding application by Newcastle City Council to the Department for Education.

Cllr Paula Holland, Cabinet Member, Education & Skills at Newcastle City Council said “This training has allowed us to invest in the early years workforce, specifically to support children with special educational needs. We believe ensuring we have a highly skilled workforce benefits us all. It gives professionals working with our young children the opportunity for early intervention at a critical time in children’s development and gives children and their families the best possible support at the start of their educational journey. It has been fantastic to have so many early years settings involved, and I am so pleased and so proud to have you working in our city and supporting our children and families.”

The SENCo’s who took part in the training were from private, voluntary, and independent nurseries or playgroups, and the Council’s own nursery provision – Castle Nurseries. All the early years professionals work with children aged 0-5 years. Everyone involved commented on how they have really benefitted from this specialised training, have been so motivated and enthusiastic, embracing every part of the course while struggling with the ever-changing covid restrictions and doing their day jobs.

Karen Wilson, SENCo, Castle Nurseries at Montagu has worked in early years settings for 28 years supporting children who have had a difficult start in life.

Karen said, “I am very proud to be one of the first practitioners in Newcastle to achieve this award and I will use the knowledge and experience gained in my next chapter of being a SENCo. By gaining this qualification is it making the role of SENCo’s more recognised and respected within early years settings. Being a SENCo is a huge responsibility, and you can’t do it alone but meeting other like-minded professionals and sharing our experiences has proved to me that if you have a passion for something you can rise to the challenge.”

The wider outcome of the training is to improve practice within early years settings for children with special education needs and disabilities, ensure early intervention and raise awareness of the support available to families to ensure every child meets their potential in line with their individual needs.