Our service aims are to:
- offer support and advice to parents and carers
- provide specific training, advice and support for our early years professionals, in order to create an inclusive learning environment
- enable children with additional needs to access an early years provision to promote holistic development
- work collaboratively with parents, carers and professionals to promote the best outcomes for children.
Our service is made up of a service manager and two home support officers that work across the borough of Lambeth. We also have a coordinator for the Children and Young People’s Disability Register (0-18 years).
Families who choose to register will receive a Lambeth Liberty card which provides recognition of a disability where not obvious, and also, discounts from some providers.
Referrals to the Early Years SEN Service usually come from the Mary Sheridan Centre once a child has been seen by a paediatrician. We have two different pathways for referrals: complex needs and an autism pathway.
Parents moving into the borough with children with complex needs or a diagnosis of autism can discuss the support available by contacting their local children’s centre.
Lambeth children's centres currently provide stay-and-play sessions.
Disability Team Around the Child (DTAC)
When you are referred to the Early Years SEN Service, your child will be put on to our list to be discussed at a professional’s meeting called Disability Team Around the Child (DTAC).
Professionals from different areas (including health, education and social care) that work with your child, are invited to attend these meetings to share information.
Your child will be discussed twice a year to ensure that the correct provisions are in place. This support can look different for individual families depending on their needs. Children will remain on the DTAC list until they are discharged from the Early Years SEN Service on their fifth birthday.
Where can I find support and advice about autism?
Lambeth offers a number of different drop-ins and coffee mornings that are specific for children with an autism spectrum condition, where you can access support and advice.
- The Early Years SEN team provides termly topic-based drop-ins across the borough. Contact us for more details.
- Lambeth Autism Advisory Service provide workshops across the borough.
- Lambeth children's centres currently provide stay-and-play sessions.
- We also run the Early Bird Parenting Programme for families with children with an autism diagnosis.
My child has complex needs - what support can I expect?
Our home support officers provide a service to children who have complex developmental needs. Referrals for this service are made by health professionals working with the family.
We usually work with children that are often too young for nursery, therefore, we offer fortnightly visits to the home to deliver a range of play intervention skills to promote the child’s development and support the family as needed.
When the time is right, we support and liaise with your chosen nursery to ensure a smooth transition into an educational environment.
Our home support officers also provide specialist stay-and-play sessions at Jessop Children’s Centre. For information on sessions, please visit Jessop Children’s Centre and the Livity School.
These sessions require a referral, so please speak to your home support officer if you would like to attend.
We also provide an inclusive stay-and-play at Liz Atkinson Children’s Centre every Tuesday.
Contact details
Early Years SEN Manager: Catherine Pearson
Email: earlyyearssen@lambeth.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 7926 9966
Home Support Worker: Jackie McDonald
Email: earlyyearssen@lambeth.gov.uk
Home Support Officer: Tsotsoo Stephenson
Email: earlyyearssen@lambeth.gov.uk
Children and Young People’s Disability Register Coordinator: Tracy Imms Email: liberty@lambeth.gov.uk
Tel: 020 7926 9140
If you have any enquiries, you can contact the SEND department on 020 7926 9450 or email sendsupport@lambeth.gov.uk.
Downloads
| SEND useful contacts | PDF, 3.85 MB |
| Early Years SEN Service: Who are we | PDF, 603.83 KB |
| Early Years SEN Service | PDF, 1.24 MB |
| Early Years SEN Service: Activities ideas | PDF, 2.26 MB |
| Children's centres in Lambeth | PDF, 843.15 KB |
| Early Years SEN parent drop-ins | PDF, 248.18 KB |