inclusion in the early years for children with …...1 strategic direction : inclusion in the early...
TRANSCRIPT
Inclusion in the
Early Years for
Children with
Additional Needs
A Research Project for
Supported by
29/02/2012
Inclusion in the Early Years for Children with Additional Needs
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February 2012. All rights reserved.
Inclusion in the Early Years for Children with Additional Needs
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Chwefror 2012. Cedwir pob hawl.
February 2012. All rights reserved.
Contents
Executive Summary ..............................................................................................5
1. Introduction...................................................................................................10
1.1 The Need for Research ........................................................................10
1.2 The Steering Group ..............................................................................12
1.3 Referral Schemes.................................................................................14
1.4 Welsh Context ......................................................................................15
2. Research Objectives ....................................................................................23
3. Methodology.................................................................................................24
3.1 Summary of Research..........................................................................24
3.2 Description of each element .................................................................25
3.3 Research Objectives and the Methodology ..........................................35
4. Research Findings .......................................................................................37
4.1 Steering Group Interviews ....................................................................37
4.2 Desk Research .....................................................................................39
4.3 Quantitative Survey ..............................................................................48
4.4 Interviews with Wales Pre-school Providers Association Regional
Executive Officers............................................................................................77
4.5 Focus Groups .......................................................................................78
4.6 Workshop with Referral Scheme Co-ordinators....................................95
5. Main Themes..............................................................................................100
5.1 The Meaning of Inclusion....................................................................100
5.2 Numbers .............................................................................................100
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5.3 Parents ...............................................................................................101
5.4 One to one support .............................................................................103
5.5 Geographical Considerations .............................................................103
5.6 Language issues ................................................................................105
5.7 Staff Skills, Attitudes and Training Issues...........................................106
5.8 Funding and Support ..........................................................................109
5.9 Inclusion – Barriers and Enablers.......................................................111
5.10 Ideas for improving Inclusion ..............................................................112
6. Conclusions................................................................................................116
7. Recommendations .....................................................................................120
7.1 Strategic/National ...............................................................................120
7.2 Local ...................................................................................................121
8. References.................................................................................................124
APPENDICES...................................................................................................130
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Executive Summary
This All Wales research project focuses on the provision of early years play and
educational settings for children with additional needs and their families.
The project is funded by Early Support, is led by Mudiad Meithrin and overseen by a
multi-agency Steering Group which includes representatives from Wales Pre-school
Providers Association, National Childminding Association Cymru (NCMA Cymru), Scope,
Autism Cymru, Learning Disability Wales and Contact a Family.
Methodology
The multi-agency Steering Group was responsible for overseeing the work of the project.
Research methods included consultation with partner agencies, desk research to identify
existing evidence and good practice, a large scale postal survey of 176 Cylchoedd
Meithrin, 4 telephone interviews with Wales Pre-school Providers Association Regional
Executive Officers, three focus groups with Mudiad Meithrin staff, three focus groups
with parents of children with additional needs and a workshop with Referral Scheme Co-
ordinators.
Desk Research
The Desk Research undertaken concluded that although there is a large amount of
literature in the field of children’s access to play it is nevertheless very difficult to see any
clear estimate of the level of need, the level of take up and the extent of unmet need for
provision in the community in Wales. However, the review of literature gives a figure of
between 5-10% of children having additional needs.
The references point to a range of organisations, local authority schemes, government
plans and regulations, and the legal framework within which inclusive early years’
settings and play facilities should operate, but often do not.
The Desk Research highlighted that there are competing and overlapping initiatives
which complicate the picture and make it difficult to assess the level of need. This in
itself highlighted the need for further research in this field.
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Research Findings
Inclusion can mean different things to different people but a general consensus was
given in the survey and focus groups that at its best, ensuring inclusion means planning
activities and the environment in order to enable the child with additional needs to safely
join in all activities where possible. There was a consensus that inclusion is not always
achieved for a variety of reasons .
The survey indicates that something in the region of 5% of children attending or on
waiting lists for Cylchoedd Meithrin are known to have additional needs, which is at the
lowest end of the estimated need indicated by the desk research at 5%-10%. If
aggregated, this would mean that a minimum of 3,250 children over a two-year cohort of
approximately 65,000 pre-school age children across Wales have additional needs.
It seems clear from across the methods employed by this research that children with
additional needs attend early years settings for fewer hours than other children with lack
of funding given as one of the main causes.
Communication between parents and the staff at the setting is seen as key to successful
inclusion of a child with additional needs, and although there are many examples of
good communication, this is not always the case. Many parents in our focus groups
related stories where they had encountered difficulty either in communicating with staff at
the setting, or with other parents, or with professionals. In the case of staff, it was put
down to lack of confidence, awareness and training.
Despite some negative stories, in the main, parents reported good practice and a desire
to do the best for the child at the setting.
A central issue for staff, parents and Referral Scheme Coordinators highlighted in the
research was the lack of availability of good quality, trained 1-1 Support Workers
(Helping Hands) for children with additional needs to enable them to have equal access
to play opportunities in the early years. Inadequate funding leading to poor pay and
Terms and Conditions for 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) were identified as the
main causes of recruitment, retention and consequent high turnover and continuity
difficulties. According to parents, despite the fact that 1-1 Support Workers (Helping
Hands) have a crucial and challenging role in developing a trusting relationship and
enabling inclusion with very vulnerable young children, and that they are valued
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members of staff, they often only receive only a minimum wage due to the financial
restrictions under which the Referral Schemes are required to operate.
The complexity of support arrangements and mechanisms, as well as inflexibility in the
system, in the field of children with additional needs in the early years is a major theme
in this report. The set-up of Referral Schemes differs from county to county and not all
areas in Wales are covered by a Referral Scheme. There is concern also that an
increasing focus on targeting low-income families and deprived areas, with laudable
initiatives such as Flying Start and Families First, could exacerbate this geographical
inequality. Indicators of poverty are always income-based not expenditure-based, and
therefore do not acknowledge the additional financial pressure faced by parents of
children with additional needs.
The research also indicated that pressure is being exerted by health professionals and
others on Welsh-speaking parents of children with additional needs to send their children
to English-medium provision to provide language consistency, as there is little or no
provision of Speech and Language Therapy through the medium of Welsh in certain
areas.
Staff skills, training and confidence are seen as key to facilitating inclusion.
Confidence levels among staff in their ability to include children with additional needs are
lower than for other children, and this, together with the fact that slightly more than one
fifth of staff in our survey reported that they did not believe that they had the necessary
skills and knowledge to support children with additional needs, sends out a strong
message that there is a need for more training to increase skills and confidence levels
among staff. A willingness to undertake more training in inclusion and additional needs
was very marked at over 90% of respondents.
There was strong support for the Referral Schemes in our research, from staff and
parents. In cases of good practice, they provide a vital link between parents, the early
years settings and professionals and they also know how to access available funding
and support.
A strong finding in this research is that the complexity of funding and support
mechanisms together with insufficient funding leads to inequality of access to pre-school
play settings for children with additional needs.
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Conclusion
The results of this research have largely proved the perception that pre-school children
with additional needs in Wales do not have equality of access to play and educational
opportunities as other children.
The research highlights the fact that there is no Wales-wide strategic approach to
funding and support in order to ensure equality of opportunity for all pre-school children
and their parents/carers, leading to geographic inequality which exacerbates the
difficulty that parents of pre-school children with additional needs already face in
accessing inclusive play and education settings for their children.
Given that successful inclusion of children with additional needs at the pre-school stage
leads to an increased likelihood in the future of their inclusion at primary and secondary
school level, training and even employment, investment at this early stage to support
inclusion would seem to be a cost-effective method of minimizing the higher costs
involved with lack of inclusion at later stages.
Recommendations
Strategic/National
1 Strategic Direction: Inclusion in the Early Years for Children with Additional
Needs to be given strategic priority at Welsh Government level.
2 Referral Schemes to be given strategic priority (see 1 above) and adequately
funded in order to provide a consistent and comprehensive service and improve
the capacity of Coordinators to support the need.
3 Adequate funding to support equality of opportunity for early years children with
additional needs to attend pre-school settings, with flexibility in the funding
system to allow parents to access settings appropriate for their child’s condition
outside the designated area, and recognizing the additional expenditure incurred
by families of children with additional needs. Funding should follow the needs of
the child and not the constraints of geography or parental circumstances.
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4 Proving Inclusion: the onus placed upon all settings to prove inclusion of children
with additional needs with clear link to the early years inspection systems (e.g.
ESTYN and other monitoring agencies).
5 Early Support website to include an online resource centre to enable
downloading of e.g. Information Leaflets etc.
Local
6 Referral Schemes: Availability of well resourced Referral Scheme Coordinators
with the capacity to meet demand and ensure inclusion in each area
7 Practitioner-parent communication: can be improved via a Home – Setting Link
Book and use of developmentally appropriate targets set in Play Plans.
8 Practitioner Training: Training in general inclusion (which includes facilitating
communication with and between parents), training and information about the
specific conditions and visits to other settings, specialist schools or shadowing
other practitioners at other settings.
9 Practitioner Mentors: Use of experienced and trained mentors in a local/county
area who are working in early years settings with children with additional needs
to support practitioners who are less experienced.
10 An Inclusion Checklist, including self-audit activities, that can be used by
practitioners at every setting to prove inclusion. This should be monitored
regularly.
11 Networking: Regular facilitated meetings for practitioners to review progress,
share good practice and discuss concerns – at local/county level
12 Online Information Tool: Use of an online resource centre in order to share good
practice and information
13 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands): A trained pool of 1-1 Support Workers
(Helping Hands) covering a wide area with consistent training, monitoring and
assessment.
14 Pool of Resources: A central pool of specialist toys, equipment and other
resources in each area for children with additional needs – free to loan basis
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1. Introduction
This All Wales research project focuses on the provision of services for children
with additional needs and their families in the early years.
This project, funded by Early Support, was led by Mudiad Meithrin and overseen
by a multi-agency steering group which included representatives from Wales Pre-
school Providers Association, National Childminding Association Cymru (NCMA
Cymru), Scope, Autism Cymru, Learning Disability Wales and Contact a Family.
The research was conducted by Mabis, a research consultancy company and
part of the Menter a Busnes group.
One of the main objectives for the Steering Group was to produce clear, user
friendly guidelines to aid inclusion in all early years settings.
1.1 The Need for Research
‘’Inclusion is the process of identifying, understanding and breaking down barriers
to participation and learning’’ (Participation and Belonging in the Early
Years/Sure Start + NCB 2005)
‘’An inclusive setting is... open and reachable to all and makes positive steps to
break down barriers so that children with and without additional needs can
participate’’
The above definitions describe the ideal scenario for inclusion but there are
concerns that this is not always achieved.
The need for this research in to pre-school provision for children with additional
needs was identified by Mudiad Meithrin, in consultation with partners from the
related organisations above, because of what is seen as an inequality of
opportunity and provision for children with additional needs compared with
children without additional needs. Families of non-disabled children are able to
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access their local pre-school setting enabling the parents to live ordinary lives
e.g. a mother can meet other mothers at the local setting and enjoy a natural
progression in a child’s early life and the child can interact with other children with
all the associated developmental and social benefits.
The Welsh Government funds 10 hours per week of early years education for
children between the age of 3 years and one term and 4 years. This is provided
in nursery classes in schools in addition to settings in the non-maintained sector
which are registered with the Local Authority as education providers for children
of 3-4 years old. Non-maintained settings are often open for longer than 10 hours
per week and parents can then choose to fund any additional hours that the
children attend. Parents of children with additional needs face the additional cost
of funding the 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) which would enable their
children to attend a setting.
Families who live in Flying Start areas have the right to part-time child care for
children aged 2-3 years, and although there will be some outreach work after
April 2012, this service is not available for all children who live outside the
defined Flying Start areas. Flying Start ends when the child is of an age to be
funded for part-time education at three years and one term.
In this context, parents of children with additional needs often face greater
difficulty in accessing both early years play opportunities at age 2-3 and early
years education at age 3-4, and there have been concerns that these children do
not enjoy equality of opportunity with other children. Cost is one issue as children
with additional needs may require support from an additional 1-1 Support Worker
(Helping Hands) incurring additional costs for the setting. Concern regarding the
success of achieving inclusion for children with additional needs in the wider
context highlights the need to research the causes and possible solutions in
order to enable equal opportunity for children with additional needs.
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1.2 The Steering Group
The multi-agency Steering Group ensured that the project maintained a clear
focus on the need for a coordinated approach in the early years by contributing
their individual professional perspective.
• Mudiad Meithrin is a voluntary organisation specialising in Welsh-medium
early years provision. It aims to give every young child in Wales the
opportunity to benefit from early years services and experiences through
the medium of Welsh. Sian Owen is Director for Inclusion at Mudiad
Meithrin and in addition to representing the Mudiad on the Steering Group,
is also Project Manager for this research and subsequent production of an
Inclusion Checklist by the Steering Group.
• Wales Preschool Providers Association (WPPA) is an independent
voluntary membership organisation for preschool providers throughout
Wales and a registered educational charity. It is a national charity and
membership organisation that promotes and supports bilingual pre-school
care, education and learning through play across Wales. Elaine Jones is
part of the Special Needs committee and is also Regional Executive
Officer for South West Wales
• Scope works with disabled people, of all ages, and their families, across
England and Wales offering practical, everyday support and campaigns.
They work with disabled people on the issues that are most important to
them and aim to raise awareness, change attitudes and influence
government policy. They also support disabled people and their families
through practical information and support, particularly at the time of
diagnosis and in a child’s early years. Lindsay Brewis is Head of Early
Years for Scope in England and Wales.
• Autism Cymru is Wales’ national charity for autism and is not part of an
umbrella organisation. It is strategically focussed having a Chair in Autism
at Cardiff University, and it works for change in partnership with others
(e.g. the Police – they now have individual identification cards for people
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with Autistic Spectrum Disorder). They also have a large role in training
and consultation and many publications. Maggie Bowen is Deputy Chief
Executive of Autism Cymru
• Learning Disability Wales (LDW) is a National Umbrella Organisation for
Learning Disability organisations in Wales and a registered charity working
for the rights of adults and children with learning disabilities and their
carers. It undertakes policy and lobbying work at Europe, UK, Welsh
Government and Local Authority levels. It runs an information service
which is open to members and non-members and produces good practice
manuals, updates, monthly bulletins, training and events. Zoe Richards is
the Young Person and Carers Manager for Learning Disability Wales.
• Contact a Family Wales is part of a UK charity which supports families
with disabled children and provides information and support. It organises
parent training sessions which focus on issues such as challenging
behaviour, benefits etc and family events including activities such as
circus workshops and art workshops. It maintains links with voluntary and
statutory services especially parent groups and undertakes much policy
and campaigning work. Keith Bowen is the Wales Manager for Contact a
Family
• National Childminding Association Cymru (NCMA Cymru) is the
professional membership association for childminders and nannies in
Wales. Since 1977 NCMA has worked with registered childminders and
nannies as well as other individuals and organisations such as local and
national government, to ensure families in every community in England
and Wales have access to high quality home-based childcare, play,
learning and family support. It supports its members to achieve the
highest standards of care and learning for children and works to build
recognition of their professionalism. NCMA works across England and
Wales with 1,927 members in Wales and 38,151 across England and
Wales. Claire Protheroe is the Quality and Development Manager for
NCMA Cymru.
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1.3 Referral Schemes
Referral Schemes support early years settings through advice, training, funding
of specialist equipment or if necessary funding for additional support in the form
of 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) to provide inclusive play opportunities
for all children.
Each child is unique and his/her individual needs are assessed, with the consent
of the parents, by the appropriate professional e.g. Speech and Language
Therapist, Educational Psychologist, Health Visitor etc. Every setting has a
named individual who is responsible for children with additional needs within the
setting adhering to the Code of Practice (2004).
The Referral Scheme Coordinator liaises with other members of the multi-
disciplinary team and can arrange for the professionals concerned to come to a
setting to provide specific training for the staff of the setting around the individual
needs of that particular child if required. The Coordinator also provides a link
between the family and the setting/professionals ensuring that important and
relevant information is shared for the benefit of the child, adhering at all times to
the code of confidentiality, and helping to ensure inclusion.
Referral Schemes have been set up locally and their Management Committees
are led by either Mudiad Meithrin, Wales Pre-school Providers Association or the
Local Authority. Five counties are without Referral Schemes – Swansea,
Bridgend, Monmouth, Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent. In these areas support is
given directly to settings by the Local Authority. Other organizations also run their
own Referral Schemes in some areas.
At present a Referral Scheme (if one is available in the county) will have limited
funds to provide the necessary support and it is only in rare cases that they are
able to provide the full ten hours a week. This then leaves the child with
additional needs disadvantaged even further with the perception of inequity of
service in most areas in Wales.
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The Referral Schemes, if adequately funded, can redress this inequality of
opportunity and ensure that children with additional needs and their families are
enabled to live ordinary lives at the very beginning of their children’s lives.
Acceptance and inclusion into the community can have a profound and positive
effect on all concerned and can set the child with additional needs on a positive
path to inclusion going forward to primary and secondary education, and possibly
training and employment.
‘’Every child has the right to the best possible start in life. When a child has
special needs, it is vital that these needs are correctly identified as early as
possible. It is equally important that effective early intervention is available for the
child, together with emotional and practical support for the parents’’ (Welsh
Assembly Government: 2004)
1.4 Welsh Context
1.4.1 Policy in Wales
The aim of the Welsh Government is to provide a better education for all young
children in Wales so that ‘children and future generations enjoy better prospects
in life, and are not landed with a legacy of problems bequeathed by us.’ (WAG
2004). In order to achieve this, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of
the Child 1989 was adopted by the Welsh Assembly Goverment in 2004, and
later included in the Children’s Act 2004. This Act influenced policy in Wales as
outlined in the seven core aims for Children and Young People: Rights to Action
(WAG, 2004). The first of these seven aims is ‘A Flying Start in Life’ and covers
early years education.
The post of independent Children’s Commissioner for Wales was created in 2001
and was the first legislative provision put into effect by the Welsh Government.
The office has, since its establishment, sought to influence policy relating to
children and young people to ensure that policies promote and safeguard the
rights and welfare of children in Wales. Keith Towler, Children’s Comissioner, in a
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recent address stated that he ‘was committed to scoping out issues relating to
disabled children in Wales’.
The aim of the Welsh Government in investing £174 million in 2009 in Wales was
to achieve the outcomes noted in the seven aims by concentrating on the needs
of young children and their individual stages and rates of development. It was
also an opportunity to develop and implement a curriculum that enables children
to realise their full potential by minimising the barriers that can lead to failure.
A range of measures have been taken by the Welsh Government to address the
issue of inclusion of children with additional needs, including the establishment of
‘Early Support Wales’ 2009.
The provisions of the Equality Act 2010 (which replaced the Disability
Discrimination Act 1995) have force in Wales, and include the duty to make
reasonable adjustments to facilitate access and inclusion for people with
disability, and this includes children in early years play and education settings.
1.4.2 Early Support Wales
Early Support Wales is the Welsh Government mechanism to improve services
for disabled children and children with additional needs and their families.
Early Support has developed a range of resources and training that are aimed at
bringing service providers together to work in partnership with the family to
ensure the child and family's requirements are met. The aim is to put parents at
the centre of the planning process. The development of the Early Support
resources and training began in England and Early Support Wales has updated
these resources, made improvements where necessary and adapted them to fit
the Welsh context.
Early Support principles and approaches underpin the use of the materials and to
help Early Support's implementation in Wales, Early Support consultants and
trainers are available for advice, training and guidance.
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A partnership of voluntary organisations was commissioned by the Welsh
Government to make sure that Early Support is introduced across Wales. With
Children in Wales leading, the other partners are Royal National Institute for Deaf
People, Royal National Institute for the Blind, Barnardos, Autism Cymru, Care
Coordination Network UK, Action for Children, Downs Syndrome Association,
Contact a Family, National Deaf Children's Society, Access for Black and
Minority Ethnic Children and Young people with Disabilities and/or chronic
illnesses, Scope, Snap Cymru, Learning Disability Wales, Mudiad Meithrin,
Wales Pre-school Providers Association, National Day Nurseries Association,
National Childminding Association and National Portage Association.
Early Support Principles are:
• Wherever possible, families are able to live ‘ordinary lives’
• The uniqueness of children and families is valued and provided for
• The care that disabled children receive is based on joint assessment,
planning and review processes that keep parents and carers at the heart of
discussion and decision-making about their child
• Children and families experience delivery as holistic, co-ordinated and
seamless, facilitated by a key worker where appropriate
• Families experience continuity of care through different phases of their
engagement with services
• Children’s learning and development is monitored and promoted
• Families are able to make informed decisions
• Families and children are involved in shaping and developing services
• Working practices and systems are integrated
• Families can be confident that the people working with them have the
training, skills and experience required to meet their children’s needs.
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1.4.3 Flying Start
Flying Start is a Welsh Government initiative targeted at 0-3 year olds in the most
disadvantaged communities in Wales. It aims to create positive outcomes in the
medium and long term. It is a prescriptive programme, based on international
evidence of what works and offers:
• free quality part-time childcare for 2-3 year olds
• an enhanced Health Visiting service
• access to Parenting Programmes
• access to Language and Play sessions.
These are universally available to all children aged 0-3 and their families in the
areas in which it operates.
Flying Start brings together education, childcare, health and social services and
combines the voluntary, private and statutory sectors to offer preventative
interventions that influence child outcomes.
The scheme builds on and complements existing valuable work done under the
Sure Start theme of the Cymorth grant scheme. The settlement also provides for
continuing capital investment within Flying Start to make sure that facilities
support the high quality required, and that the childcare settings needed are
within the disadvantaged areas targeted.
1.4.4 Families First
Families First is a Welsh Government initiative and aims to improve family
support, particularly to disadvantaged families, by working on the structure,
design and delivery of preventative and early interventions. It sits alongside the
support offered by programmes such as Flying Start.
The initiative aims to provide integrated, intensive and local family focused
services. It is aimed at the general population but is also relevant to families with
disabled children. Families First objectives are to:-
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• Reduce the number of workless households
• Improve skills levels in low income families
• Reduce inequalities in health, education and economic outcomes for
children living in poverty
The three levels of prevention, protection and remedy are also appropriate for
disabled children and their families with a range of relevant activities and support
which could be provided under each broad heading. For example:
Preventative:
• Improve information to all families with disabled children, provide a
newsletter and website on local services and activities including
information on benefits and other sources of financial support such as
grants
• Support the development and running of local parent support groups for
families with disabled children, including family activity days
• Provide training for families with disabled children on relevant subjects
such as benefits and welfare rights, sign language, challenging behaviour
etc.
Protective:
• Invest in pre-school play by supporting local authority Referral Schemes
such as those provided by Mudiad Meithrin and Wales Pre-school
Providers Association
• Invest in short breaks and after school provision for disabled children and
young people
• Develop schemes to promote inclusion into mainstream play and leisure
activities
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Remedial:
• Increase the number of families with disabled children who have a named
keyworker
• Increase the range of short break schemes available locally
• In partnership with Health Trusts increase the availability of community
children’s nurses for children with very complex needs
Since funding associated with Families First is linked to reducing workless
households, the specific needs of families with disabled children do not fit neatly
into the criteria, and for this and other reasons the services and activities
provided are not always fully accessible to families with disabled children.
Families First will work with Local Authorities, and other agencies, to ensure that
services are coordinated to meet local needs. This will be achieved through the
Families First Fund.
Families First is currently operating across 14 Welsh Local Authorities in Pioneer
areas, and is working closely with these Authorities prior to the programme being
introduced across Wales in April 2012.
1.4.5 The Disabled Children Matter Wales campaign
The DCMW campaign was launched in 2007, coinciding with the start of the One
Wales Coalition Government. At that time there had been the announcement in
England of a three year strategy to transform the lives of families with disabled
children backed by substantial investment called Aiming High for Disabled
Children.
The DCMW campaign called for a similar plan for disabled children and young
people in Wales and for the additional £21 million allocated to Wales, as a result
of Aiming High in England, to be invested in services for disabled children in
Wales. The campaign failed to secure either of these objectives but the Welsh
Assembly Government did respond with a less ambitious programme, We Are On
The Way, in 2008 which included a series of one-off investments amounting to
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approximately £10 million over three years. This included additional funding for
short breaks, changing places facilities, play and leisure, the Early Support
programme and a benefit uptake campaign.
1.4.6 Foundation Phase
The Foundation Phase is an approach to learning for children from 3-7 years of
age in Wales. It combines early years education (for 3- to 5-year-olds) and Key
Stage 1 (5- to 7-year-olds) of the National Curriculum. ’The core principle of the
Foundation Phase supports an inclusive approach by recognizing and
understanding that the curriculum and approaches need to match the
developmental level of the individual child regardless of age’ (Module 5
Foundation Phase National Training pack: Additional Learning Needs, Welsh
Assembly Government 2007)
It is the statutory curriculum for all children in Wales between the ages of 3 and 7
years of age in both maintained and non-maintained settings that are funded for
education by the Local Education Authority (LEA).
The Foundation Phase places great emphasis on children learning by doing.
Young children are given more opportunities to gain first-hand experiences
through play and active involvement. Children are given time to develop their
speaking and listening skills and to become confident in their reading and writing
abilities.
Framework for learning
This framework sets out the curriculum and outcomes under seven Areas of
Learning. These are:
• Personal and Social Well-Being and Cultural Diversity
• Physical Development
• Creative Development
• Language, Literacy and Communication Skills
• Welsh Language Development
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• Mathematical Development
• Knowledge and Understanding of the World
There is an emphasis on developing children’s knowledge, skills and
understanding through play, experiential learning (learning by doing) and by
solving real life problems in both the indoor and outdoor environments through
these areas of learning.
One of the requirements of the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice in
Wales is the formation of an Individual Play Plan for children. It should contain
three or four short term targets, the teaching strategies that are different or
additional, the proposed resources, review date, monitoring methods and steps
taken. All targets should be SMART (Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic;
Time-based).
Settings which are not funded for education by the Local Education Authority can
still support children’s learning and development by understanding the philosophy
and ethos of the Foundation Phase and linking these to the activities they
provide.
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2. Research Objectives
1 Assess the current provision of play opportunities for pre-school children
with additional needs across Wales and the ease or difficulty of access to
such opportunities in different parts of Wales.
2 Collection of data regarding the numbers of children with additional needs
who are already in pre-school settings and information regarding siblings
of children who are in settings (children in settings without additional
needs but who have siblings with additional needs who are unable to
attend settings).
3 Report on the experience of parents who have children with additional
needs regarding inclusion in settings, or have negotiated the complex
route towards accessing play opportunities for their children.
4 Assess the support needs of staff and of Referral Scheme Coordinators
e.g. training, guidelines etc.
5 Identify any gaps in provision, barriers to inclusion and support needs of
parents and systemic issues.
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3. Methodology
The two main methods of research, the deductive and the inductive were utilized
for this research project. The deductive draws an objective conclusion and is
useful in answering questions of quantity, to test, confirm or compare results in a
different context.
It is, however, less useful when looking at the ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions that may
lie behind the quantitative results. Why do children with additional needs have
difficulty in being included in early years play settings in some areas? How can
we increase confidence and skills among staff? Here we need to use the
inductive method, with qualitative, more semi-structured approaches such as
talking to groups and individuals and discussing the issues in some depth while
allowing the discussion to go in perhaps unforeseen directions.
A combination of primary and secondary data and the qualitative and quantitative
approaches were utilised for the different stages of this research project.
3.1 Summary of Research
• Consultation with individual steering group members
• Establish an information base - desk research
• Design and pilot data collection questionnaire
• Quantitative survey of every Cylch Meithrin in Wales
• Develop interview discussion guides
• In-depth qualitative interviews with Wales Pre-school Providers
Association Regional Executive Officers
• Develop focus group discussion guides
• Focus groups with Cylch Meithrin staff
• Focus groups with parents of children with additional needs
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• Workshop with the Referral Scheme Coordinators
• Meetings with the project’s Steering Group – progress/interim report
• Analysis and final reporting to the Steering Group
3.2 Description of each element
3.2.1 Consultation with Individual Steering Group members.
Individual face-to-face in-depth semi-structured interviews took place with each of
the eight representatives on the Steering group, representing Contact a Family,
Scope, Autism Wales, Wales Pre-School Providers Association (Wales PPA).
Learning Disability Wales, Mudiad Meithrin and the National Childminding
Association Cymru (NCMA Cymru). A discussion guide was developed in order
to provide semi-structure to the interviews.
The Multi-Agency Steering Group was a key element in the research, both in
informing elements of the methodology with the individual agency's perspective
and experience, such as the design of research materials, and also in steering
and monitoring the research as a whole.
The aim of the individual interviews with Steering Group members was to collect
information about relevant issues to do with inclusion of children with additional
needs in order to inform other elements of the methodology and in particular the
desk research, the quantitative survey and the focus groups.
3.2.2 Establishing an Information Base
The aim of this stage was to conduct desk research which would provide a
picture of the current evidence, research the strategies and studies already in
existence in order to identify any gaps and to assess the current provision.
It was important that this research considered and built upon current knowledge.
Dr David Turner of Glamorgan University undertook the Desk Research element
during February, March and April of 2011, and we have also included other more
recent secondary research. Dr Turner assembled and reviewed secondary data
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from strategies and schemes and existing literature and early years material
which has influenced the provision of care and early education. Some examples
of similar developments in other areas of the United Kingdom and of Europe
were considered and some evidence of good practice was found. This stage also
proved the need for further research and developed a foundation on which to
build during the ensuing stages.
3.2.3 Design of Quantitative Questionnaire
The aim of this stage was to:
• Design the questionnaire for the quantitative survey
• Pilot the questionnaire
Following the Steering Group interview and the Desk Research stage, the data
collection questionnaire was designed, drawing on the information collected to
inform the questions.
The questionnaire was developed in full consultation with stakeholders and
partners during the Steering Group meeting. Their input ensured that the data
and evidence collected was as comprehensive as possible. It was decided after
the desk research and consultation with the Steering Group that a full definition of
Additional Needs should be included at the beginning of the Questionnaire.
However it was decided not to provide a definition of inclusion, but to ask
respondents to put in order of importance a number of different definitions.
The quantitative questionnaire was piloted with 5 Cylchoedd Meithrin and then
evaluated and adjusted in consultation with the Steering Group.
The main adjustments included:
• Simplifying language on the Introduction page - less jargon
• Clarifying some of the questions - particularly the numbering
• Sending an accompanying letter with further instructions
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The final questionnaire consisted of seven sections:
Section 1 - Geographical area
Section 2 - The meaning of Inclusion to the Respondent
Section 3 - Numbers of children and children with additional needs
Section 4 - Participation of parents
Section 5 - Staff Skills and Attitudes
Section 6 - Training
Section 7 - Funding and Support
Section 8 - Barriers and Enablers
The survey questionnaire has been included in the Appendix.
3.2.4 Quantitative Survey – Cylchoedd Meithrin
The aim of this stage was:
• to gather profiling information regarding staff, locations, number of children
and hours offered
• to gather data regarding numbers of children with additional needs in the
Cylchoedd
• to gather information regarding the skills and attitudes of staff to children
with additional needs
• to enquire which skills, assistance and support are available for the
Cylchoedd
• to gather data on services for children with additional needs
• to enquire which skills, assistance and support are required in order to
improve the provision for children with additional needs
• to establish the need for further financial help and additional support
• to establish the need for special equipment
• to assess training needs
• to identify barriers to inclusion
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The quantitative questionnaire and letter was sent by post to 400 Cylchoedd
Meithrin in Wales as a census survey in order to contact the greatest number of
potential responders. Freepost envelopes were included to maximise the number
of responses. Cylchoedd who had not responded by the closing date were
contacted by telephone and reminded about the questionnaire.
Statistical considerations
In order to reach a high level of confidence in the results of this survey we
needed to ensure a 65% response rate, or a return of 260 questionnaires out of
the 400. A response rate of 40% (160 returned questionnaires), was considered
be an acceptable level of confidence. Sampling was not undertaken since we
were conducting a census questionnaire to the entire sample population. In fact,
a response of 176 questionnaires was received, which is 44% of the total and
provides an acceptable confidence level with some caveats regarding numbers of
responses in different counties which makes comparison between counties
difficult, and also the danger posed by the fact that Cylchoedd are comfortable
with children with additional needs being more likely to respond to a survey such
as this than Cylchoedd which are less comfortable or confident. The methodology
addresses this by including qualitative work with Cylchoedd staff in the form of
focus groups. The findings of the survey on its own will therefore be
accompanied by a health warning (see Section 6).
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Details of responses
Figure 1 Response to survey per County
Total number of Cylchoedd in each County/Number and
Percentage of responses from each County
32
5 9 13 14
57
4131
1810
72
6 19
314
25 23
9 4 9 12121 3 7 3
3018
9 6 2
36
3 0 2 09 7 10 5 0 3 7
38
2033
54
21
5344
29 3320
50 50
0
22
0
64
28
4356
0
33
58
01020304050607080
Ang
lese
y
Blaen
au G
wen
t
Brid
gend
Caer
philly
Card
iff
Carm
arth
en
Cere
digio
n
Conw
y
Denb
ighsh
ire
Flintshire
Gwyn
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thyr
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fil
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mou
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h Por
t Talbo
t
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port
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broke
shire
Pow
ys
Rhon
dda
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on T
af
Swan
sea
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lam
organ
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xham
Number of Cylchoedd in each County Number of responses from each County
Percentage response from each County %
Caerphilly, Carmarthenshire, Gwynedd, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouth,
Pembrokeshire, Swansea and Wrexham are the Counties which had a 50%
response rate or higher to our survey, with Rhondda Cynon Taf and Ceredigion
following closely with higher than 40%. However care needs to be taken with the
above as the higher numbers of Cylchoedd in e.g. Gwynedd and
Carmarthenshire means that responses from just these two Counties account for
27.5% of the total responses to the survey. Also the size of Cylchoedd is a
pertinent issue e.g. Gwynedd has an average 19 children per Cylch and
Carmarthenshire has an average 20 children whereas Rhondda Cynon Taf has
an average 31 children per Cylch and Cardiff has an average 32 children.
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Figure 2: Average number of children in respondents’ Cylchoedd per County
Average number of children in respondents' Cylchoedd per
County
22
54
1816
32
20
15
21 20
5
19 19 19 18 18
31
24
16
24
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Angle
sey
Bla
enau
Gw
ent
Bridgend
Caerp
hill
y
Card
iff
Carm
art
hen
Cere
dig
ion
Conw
y
Denbig
h
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t
Gw
ynedd
Mert
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Tydfil
Monm
outh
Neath
Port
Talb
ot
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port
Pem
bro
keshire
Pow
ys
Rhondda
Cynon T
af
Sw
ansea
Torf
aen
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of
Gla
morg
an
Wre
xham
Counties
Nu
mb
er
Data management
All the data inputting, checking and processing were completed internally, and all
staff members working on the data inputting were carefully monitored.
Compliance with the Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998 and the Market
Research Society Code of Conduct were achieved, and all information dealt with
confidentially in order to protect responses to the questionnaire and that
information which belonged to the responder was not seen or used by any
unauthorised persons without permission.
Data analysis
We used SNAP Survey Software exported to Excel to analyse the survey data.
SNAP offers integrated survey software which includes questionnaire design,
data collection and survey analysis.
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3.2.5 Data gathering in-depth interviews – Wales PPA
We undertook 4 in-depth qualitative interviews with Wales Pre-school Providers
Association Regional Executive Officers. We were unable to arrange interviews
with a further two officers who could have taken part.
The aim of these interviews was:
• to gather profiling information on staff, locations, number of children using
the resources etc.
• to gather data regarding the number of children with additional needs
receiving early education in playgroups
• to enquire which skills, assistance and support are available for
playgroups
• to gather data on services for children with additional needs
• to enquire which skills, assistance and support are required in order to
improve the provision for children with additional needs
• to assess the need for the provision of transport to and from the location
for children with additional needs
• to establish the need for special equipment and finance
• to assess training needs
3.2.6 Focus groups with staff and parents
Aim:
After analysing the quantitative survey and Wales Pre-school Providers
Association interviews, a series of 6 focus groups were held, in order to probe
further into the core issues which were raised in the quantitative responses. We
collected oral and first-hand evidence from practitioners working in this field and
from parents of children with additional needs receiving early education services
and care from Mudiad Meithrin and other providers.
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It was felt that talking with groups of individuals about personal experiences
would be of benefit to this project, and necessary in order to understand staff and
parents’ needs as we moved forward. In addition to reporting the aggregate
findings of the focus groups, we have also included some Case Studies in this
report which give some insight in to how the services are experienced at first
hand by parents of children with additional needs.
Three focus groups were held with Cylchoedd Meithrin staff members, that is,
one group in each of the Mudiad’s operating regions - North Wales, Mid and
South West Wales and South East Wales. We also held three focus groups with
parents of children with additional needs receiving early education and care or
who were about to move into this key early stage – once again, one in each
region.
A total of 32 staff attended the three staff focus groups - 9 in North Wales, 16 in
Mid and South West Wales and 7 in South East Wales.
A total of 21 parents of children with additional needs attended the three parents
focus groups - 5 in North Wales, 8 in Mid and South West Wales and 8 in South
East Wales.
Each of the Focus Group facilitators were bilingual and fully trained in facilitation
and in the Market Research Society Code of Conduct. This was an important
consideration as much of the parents' discussions were particularly sensitive.
The parents and staff were initially contacted by Mudiad Meithrin Development
Officers and the focus groups took place at neutral hotel / conference style
venues with the offer of reimbursement if the parents needed to make childcare
arrangements.
All the focus groups were digitally recorded with the participants' permission in
order to facilitate detailed analysis, and flip-chart and post-it exercises were used
which also fed in to the analysis (see Appendix for Focus Group Discussion
Guides). All complied with Data Protection legislation and the Market Research
Society Code of Conduct and operating standards.
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The focus groups operated in an informal and relaxed atmosphere where
individuals’ opinions could be expressed and developed within a group dynamic,
creating an original and profound discussion.
Meetings lasted from 1.5 to 2 hours each, and were held in the language of
choice - either Welsh, English or bilingually.
3.2.7 Workshop with Referral Schemes Coordinators
Aim:
To discover the main issues regarding inclusion from the point of view of the
Referral Scheme Coordinators - strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats for the current system of Referral Schemes. This included capacity to
deal with the numbers of children with additional needs, training issues,
organisational and geographic considerations.
Why this Group?
Referral Schemes for children with additional needs work all over Wales
employing a Coordinator with responsibility for liaising with the child’s family, the
local Cylch Meithrin/Playgroup and other related statutory agencies.
The Mudiad Meithrin Director for Inclusion facilitates meetings each term for the
Referral Scheme Coordinators who come under the auspices of Mudiad Meithrin,
and there is an opportunity here for sharing good practice; receiving further
training, and working continuously on creating a consistent response throughout
Wales. This workshop was run as part of this regular programme of events.
The workshop allowed the responders to take part in a facilitated group
discussion which built on experiences and opinions as part of the group dynamic,
and utilised a specific method using flipcharts. The 21 Coordinators were split
into four groups and completed a SWOT analysis of the Referral Schemes using
colour coded responses per group. As a result we were able to build up a picture
of local issues and base a group-wide discussion on the findings which enabled a
consensus to emerge.
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Within the above structure, discussions were flexible and dynamic and allowed
group members’ responses to evolve and explore the issues raised.
3.2.8 Meetings with the Project Steering Group – progress/interim
report
Five meetings were held – one each quarter with an additional meeting at the
end of the project.
The meetings presented an opportunity for the Steering Group members to:-
• Agree the Implementation Plan
• Review and contribute to the design of data collection methods
• Report on the findings to date, including a progress report and obvious
themes
• Review of the timetable and main achievements
• Revise the techniques and implementation methods with reference to the
project developments
• Review and agree on a project Interim Report / agree any changes
• Discuss the format of the report and final presentation
• Ensure quality
• Use the report findings to inform the creation of an Inclusion Checklist for
use in all early years settings.
3.2.9 Analysis and final report
The research reports provided evidence to support the work’s main objectives;
The purpose of the reports were to draw together the interpretation of all the
information gathered during the early desk research, and from the questionnaires
and the focus groups which enabled the steering group to monitor and steer
project direction quality and deadlines.
The following reports have been produced as part of the project:-
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• Project implementation plan
• Interim Report
• Draft Final report
• Bilingual Final Report, which includes an Executive Summary, which can
be produced as a single document if required.
• A bilingual PowerPoint presentation and a presentation to the project
group.
3.3 Research Objectives and the Methodology
Research Objective Methodology
1. Assess the current provision of play
opportunities for pre-school children with
additional needs across Wales and the
ease or difficulty of access to such
opportunities in different parts of Wales
Steering group interviews, desk research,
survey, in-depth interviews, focus groups,
workshop.
2. Collection of data regarding the
numbers of children with additional needs
who are already in pre-school settings and
information regarding siblings of children
who are in settings (children in settings
without additional needs but who have
siblings with additional needs who are
unable to attend settings).
Desk Research, Survey, In-depth
interviews, Referral Scheme Coordinators
workshop
3. Report on the experience of parents
who have children with additional needs
regarding inclusion in settings, or have
negotiated the complex route towards
accessing play opportunities for their
Focus groups
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children
4. Assess the support needs of staff and of
Referral Scheme Co-ordinators e.g.
training, guidelines etc.
Survey, in-depth interviews, focus groups,
workshop.
5. Identify any gaps in provision, barriers to
inclusion and support needs of parents and
systemic issues.
Steering group interviews, desk research,
survey, in-depth interviews, focus groups,
workshop.
We believe that the above approach, utilising more than one method to look at
the same issue, provided the necessary triangulation to claim confidence in the
research results.
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4. Research Findings
4.1 Steering Group Interviews
4.1.1 Background
The Steering group included representatives of Contact a Family, Scope, Autism
Wales, Wales Pre-School Providers Association (Wales PPA). Learning Disability
Wales, Mudiad Meithrin, and the National Childminding Association Cymru
(NCMA Cymru).
The Multi-Agency Steering Group was instrumental in informing elements of the
research methodology. It also provided individual agencies’ perspective and
experience, and was also responsible for steering and monitoring the research as
a whole.
The aim of the individual interviews with Steering Group members was to collect
information about relevant issues relating to inclusion of children with additional
needs in order to inform other elements of the methodology and in particular the
desk research, the quantitative survey and the focus groups.
Therefore information was collected on:
• the area of work of the organisation they represented
• collection of relevant research and documents which would be important
to include in the desk research
• the main themes that should be included in the quantitative questionnaire
and the focus groups
• examples of good practice in the field of inclusion
• the outcomes they would like to see from the research project.
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4.1.2 Main Themes
The main themes to emerge from the interviews were:
• The need for a clear definition of ‘inclusion’ as it means different things to
different people (although it should be said that the definition varied even
among Steering Group members, underlining the point that it is difficult to
define). This was followed up as part of the Desk Research and at the
Steering Group meetings.
• The need for a clear definition of ‘additional needs’ as there is a wide
range of needs that could be included. Again this would be addressed as
part of the Desk Research.
• The need to focus on barriers to inclusion (e.g. staff confidence, skills,
over-protective parents, the complexity of the referral system, financial and
physical resources…)
• Equality issues – what are the rights of children with additional needs
compared with children generally and what is the level of take up of
services?
• How is the route to inclusion in a play setting different for children with
additional needs?
• What interventions can secure inclusion?
• The parental role from the point of view of the staff at the setting and of the
parents.
• How should the needs be assessed?
• What is the potential demand?
• What is the level of parental awareness of inclusion issues - both of
parents of children with additional needs and of other parents of children
at the setting?
• What training do staff attend at present?
• What training do they need?
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All the above themes were addressed as part of the Desk Research, discussed
at Steering Group meeting and included in either the quantitative questionnaire or
the focus group discussion guides or both. Additionally, extensive material was
collected from the Steering Group members as a result of the interviews in the
form of literature, research papers and inclusion materials, which fed in to the
Desk Research.
4.2 Desk Research
4.2.1 Introduction
Inclusion as a concept has a number of definitions, and one of the difficulties
encountered was the fact that there is no one agreed definition.
The Early Childhood Forum offered this definition of inclusion in 2003:
‘Inclusion is a process of identifying, understanding and overcoming the barriers
to participation and belonging’. (National Children’s Bureau, No Date)
‘Integration is us and them. Inclusion is us’. (Alison John 2010)
‘Inclusion is a sense of belonging: feeling respected, valued for who you are;
feeling a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that you can
do your best work.’ Miller and Katz (2002)
‘Every child has the right to the best possible start in life. When a child has
special needs, it is vital that these needs are correctly identified as early as
possible. It is equally important that effective early intervention is available for the
child, together with emotional and practical support for the parents’’. (Welsh
Assembly Government: 2004)
All educational provision, including provision for the early years, is subject to the
terms of the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 as subsequently amended.
The Equality Act 2010 (which replaced and incorporated the Disability
Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995) makes it unlawful to provide less favourable
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treatment as a result of a disability, and places an onus on service providers to
make necessary, reasonable adjustments to ensure that those with disabilities do
not receive unfavourable treatment. Brewis et al. (2006) provide a checklist for
inclusion which makes it clear that providers of early years settings need to be
proactive in thinking about inclusion when, for example, making strategic
decisions about future provision, or when buying equipment or designing
facilities. This means that it is helpful to think of inclusion from the start of any
provision as a way of providing the best opportunities for all children.
Children from the term following their third birthday have an entitlement to 10
hours of free early years education (Local Government Association, 2008).
Although the references to specific additional needs is fairly scarce in the
literature, the context of the DDA makes clear that providers must make
reasonable adjustments in order to include all children.
As the Early Childhood Forum definition stresses, this means that inclusion is not
merely the presence of particular facilities or equipment, but is a process that
should engage everybody involved in early years provision, so that they can
understand and overcome barriers to participation through long term planning.
The definition also stresses belonging, which involves openness for all involved
to be engaged in that process, and in associated decision-making.
We have collected and referred to a wide range of material that relates to
inclusive early years settings. This includes material that is specific to Wales, but
also includes resources from further afield when it offers good practice, or
suggestions as to how provision can be managed. Those resources are listed in
the Reference section as a resource for those who wish to consult them.
There is a good deal of information about the leisure and sports activities of
children and young people in Wales, but this provides global profiles for all
children and does not provide specific information about the participation rates of
children with additional needs (Welsh Assembly Government, 2008: 159).
Obviously, additional needs can have a major impact on participation in particular
activities, and the range of choice available to a child or young person.
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However, in terms of sensitising the staff who design and run early years settings
for children, there is a need to go beyond a commitment to inclusion for “all
children”, and recognise that different disabilities may require different, and
sometimes contradictory, provision. It is increasingly recognized that there is a
need to focus specifically on what is involved in making early years settings
available to all children. For example, although the NCMA Quality Standards
(National Childminding Association, 2004), mention both play, and support for
children with disabilities explicitly, and is a stimulus to reflection on issues for
practitioners, NCMA Cymru have recognized this as an area for further
development, and they produced a research report, Childcare for Disabled
Children and Young People: research for NCMA Wales (NCMA 2009), which
includes increased focus on additional needs in the early years. .
4.2.2 Additional Needs
Kate Wall has published two books which aim to give parents and practitioners
useful and practical guidance about including young children with special
educational needs in mainstream provision. Her first book (Wall, 2003) is called
‘Special Needs in Early Years: A Practitioner's Guide’ and makes relatively few
references to play. There is reference to “Playladders” from a paper published by
Mortimer (2000). There is also a reference to playgroups in the early pages of the
book (Wall, 2003: 10-16), mainly in the context of the development of voluntary
provision in the 1960s, and giving the historical development of the field.
The only explicit reference to play in the index relates to play therapy, and this
comes in a section about assessing children’s special needs through play (Wall,
2003: 100-105) and really stresses the need for trained play therapists. However,
since the section addresses setting "intended learning outcomes" for playing, it is
not clear that this section is about play, as opposed to project work.
References in the volume include a source for ten reasons for including all
children with special educational needs in mainstream schooling (CSIE, no date)
There is also reference to a book by Hanley, Atkinson and Howard (1997) which
reports a survey of the attitudes of teachers and parents to children with special
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needs, and in particular their sense of the need for special protection from
exposure to risk.
Kate Wall's second book (Wall, 2004), entitled ‘Autism and Early Years Practice’,
deals specifically with autism, as the title suggests. Play is discussed mainly in
the context of the absence of “imaginative” play being an indicator of autism, and
in the context of two instruments to identify autism in early childhood.
These works by Wall (2003, 2004) make reference to a range of generic
approaches for identifying disabilities and additional needs, and also stimulate
thinking about possible approaches to additional needs. However, a single
approach will not suit all children and the key is to find a supportive environment
for each child. For example, while the child with a sensory impairment or physical
disability may develop confidence through increased exposure to social play
without adult intervention, a child with autistic spectrum disorder may not be in a
position to develop social play without substantial adult intervention. Inclusion will
only be achieved if each child is provided a setting that is individually matched to
his or her needs.
4.2.3 Barriers to Inclusion
There is a clear imperative to ensure the safety of all children engaged in early
years settings. This covers both the provision of special equipment and the
management of routines. Excessive expense on special equipment does
constitute justification for less favourable treatment, but the impact on inclusion
must be considered when purchasing any new equipment. Thus it may not be
necessary to buy special equipment for an individual child, but it is a legal
requirement to consider all reasonable adjustments when planning new
provision.
Inclusion will need to take into account a range of possible additional needs, from
physical conditions that make it more likely that a child will be harmed in normal
activity (skin easily bruised / torn, brittle bones, lack of sensitivity to pain), that a
child will need special help to undertake an activity (help with actions requiring
dexterity or strength), to the routines that operate, so that unreasonable demands
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will not be made of a child. The barriers, and therefore the means of overcoming
them, must be specific to the particular disabilities.
The Equality Act 2010 makes it clear that providers must make reasonable
adjustments for those disabilities that they know about, but are not under an
obligation to make adjustments for disabilities that they cannot possibly know
about. However, if a parent has made one member of staff aware of a child’s
disability, the organisation is deemed to be aware of it. It is therefore a
responsibility of the organisation to have information handling routines that will
ensure that all members of staff coming into contact with the child are in a
position to make reasonable adjustments (Brewis et al., 2006) It is therefore
important that organisations dealing with the inclusion of children should have
appropriate means for handling information so that poor communication cannot
become a barrier to inclusion.
The institutionalisation of provision, and hence both the barriers and ways of
overcoming them, vary from Local Authority to Local Authority. A useful starting
point for examining the different organisation of play can be found at PlayWales
(no date).
As noted above, the instinctively protective attitudes of parents, carers and
teachers can, on occasion, become a barrier to inclusion, and may lead to a child
not being allowed to take part in an activity that would be beneficial.
There are three classes of barriers, as noted here, that must be overcome:
Environmental barriers – aspects of the physical environment that disadvantage
the child with additional needs, such as difficult access or small print in books;
Attitudinal barriers – attitudes that prevent children with additional needs from
taking risks that would be appropriate for other children, or that they should be
feared or pitied; and
Organisational Barriers – policies or practices that are not inclusive.
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The general concern that there is inequality of access to early years settings for
children with additional needs is reflected in the paper Equal Access to Early
Years Childcare Provision for Disabled Children (NDCS 2009), where inequality
of access to childcare provision for disabled children compared to their non
disabled peers in Wales is highlighted as a key issue.
4.2.4 Involvement of Parents and Carers
This question of attitudes leads naturally to the need to engage parents and
carers with the process of inclusion. In this respect, providers of early years
settings will need to be aware that parents/carers themselves may have
additional needs as a consequence of having a child with disabilities in the family.
Most obviously, the parents/carers may have additional physical and emotional
strains and attendance at early years settings on a regular basis may provide
respite for the parents/carers.
Nash (2010) refers to the positive benefits for fathers of accepting the limitations
of their children with learning disabilities. She also noted that fathers who accept
their children’s behaviour have a more positive view of the future, although she
did not report whether the study had gone on to examine whether this had a
positive influence on the outcomes for the children. The provision of inclusive
early years settings can therefore be the start of a virtuous cycle through which
parents can learn about the capabilities of their children, and encourage them to
attempt more.
More obviously, the engagement of family members in the process of early years
provision can provide a sense of security for the child with additional needs and
make the process of leading them into social play more productive. At the same
time the parents/carers are an invaluable source of information about the needs
of the child and the ways in which any early signs of distress can be spotted.
For all these reasons, and for the benefit of all concerned, the engagement of the
family in decisions about inclusive provision is crucially important. A range of
tools for preliminary assessment of needs, such as Playladders (Mortimer, 2000)
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are available for parents and play leaders to use, although these should be seen
as tools for general identification and as signalling the need for specialist
attention and diagnosis. Other methods for identifying autism for example can be
found in the references (Baron-Cohen et al., 1992; Schopler et al., 1980).
‘Early Support’ is a Welsh Assembly Government initiative that puts the needs of
families with young disabled children first and was launched in September 2009
(WAG, 2011). It is designed to ensure that all services provided for families with
young disabled children engage with families and are well coordinated and
responsive to their needs.
The principles and approach that define Early Support are reflected in a set of
materials and resources that can be used by families and professionals. The
materials have all been developed after close consultation with families and
professionals working in both the statutory and voluntary sector e.g. Family File;
Developmental Journals; Information Booklets etc. but Early Support emphasizes
that it embodies more than the resources alone.
4.2.5 Training
Training is needed at two levels; general sensitivity in observing children and
listening to family members, and specific awareness of the additional needs of
children who are using a resource at present. Given the wide range of different
specific additional needs which a professional could meet in the course of a
career, it is not reasonable to expect that all the necessary training could be
given at once. A more practicable plan would be to provide general training and
an awareness of the more common disabilities and barriers to inclusion for all
professionals, with access to more specific training as the need arises.
Scope (no date) provides useful guidance on how to conduct a needs
assessment for training in council supported centres.
General guidance on how to improve the level of inclusion can be found in a
number of the sources cited (Action for Children, no date; Bevan Foundation,
2010; CSIE; no date; and Geraghty and Sinclair, 2007a)
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There are also sources of information on specific needs. For example, Nash
(2010) gives a reference to the Learning Disabilities, Autism and
Neurodevelopment Research Network (LDAN):
(http://www.ldancymru.org.uk/research.php.en?menu=6&catid=8766&subid=0).
The Network has projects on “Understanding anxiety in children with Autism
Spectrum Disorders (ASD): An awareness-raising module designed to integrate
new research evidence into practice in schools”, and “Population-based
investigation of behaviour problems and parental well-being in children with
autistic spectrum disorders”, which may be relevant to the present study.
Other literature dealing with specific aspects is included in the references
(Brewis, et al., 2006; Cumine, et al., 2000; Wall, 2004).
Early Support provides training for parents and professionals e.g. Early Support
Multi-agency Planning and Improvement Tool (WAG, 2010).
Also the Foundation Phase in Wales provides information and training on
inclusion for children with additional needs (Foundation Phase National training
pack Module 5 – additional learning needs, WAG 2007)
4.2.6 Level of Need
It is difficult to be precise about the exact level of need, as the published literature
is not very precise. It is, however, possible to make some rough estimates. The
population of Wales is approximately 3,000,000, which means that in any one
year cohort there are between 30 and 35 thousand children. Rates of special
educational needs and disabilities range from 0.2% for visual impairment to 5%
for ADHD or autistic spectrum disorder, and other sources estimate that 7% of all
children are disabled (Improving the life chances of Disabled People, Cabinet
Office 2005).
If we take the estimate to be between 5% at the lower end of the estimated range
and 10% at the highest end, this means that something between 3,000 and 6,000
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children in any age group will have special needs when it comes to their inclusion
in mainstream early years settings or education.
This provides a baseline against which the level of provision can be considered.
Obviously one cannot simply add the percentages of all disabilities, as there will
be many children with multiple disabilities. For example, it is estimated that half of
those who are visually impaired will also have other impairments which will
require special support.
A study of toddlers with disabilities in Ohio, USA, indicates that the vast majority
of families are unaware of special provision, and instead rely on family members
for care outside the home (Niergarth and Winterman, 2010). A study in England
and Wales suggests that there are similar patterns in the UK (National Centre for
Social Research: 2011), with many parents wishing to use additional hours of
childcare if suitable provision was available. This suggests that Local Authorities
would be aware of only a tiny fraction of the needs of children with additional
needs in the community. This makes surveying the level of need of primary
importance.
The Child Care Sufficiency Assessments that each Local Authority across Wales
has a duty to undertake every three years, as outlined in the Children’s Act
(2006), provide generic data regarding childcare needs but they do not
specifically highlight the needs of parents with children with additional needs.
While there are general policies for the whole of Wales (Welsh Assembly
Government, 2006, 2008a, 2008b) there is a marked absence of detailed and
specific information about the numbers of children in the early years who would
need adjustment for specific additional needs in specific areas or regions.
Local Authorities have plans covering play provision for young children, and there
is good practice at local level (e.g. Caerphilly Children and Young People’s
Partnership, 2011), however the plans are rarely detailed enough to give a sense
of the extent of the need, even at local level.
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4.2.7 Desk Research Conclusion
There is a large amount of literature in the field of children’s access to play but in
one sense the findings from the research are rather negative, in the sense that it
is very difficult to see any clear estimate of the level of need, the level of take up,
and perhaps most importantly, the extent of unmet need for provision in the
community in Wales. On the other hand, those problems are clearly identified in
the literature, and a range of tools for estimating the need, and for enhancing
provision, have been found. Also much of the literature reviewed addresses the
needs of children of all ages while there is little which looks specifically at the
early years.
The references point to a range of organisations, Local Authority schemes,
government plans and regulations, and the legal framework within which
inclusive early years settings and play facilities should operate, but often do not.
Quantifying what is already described qualitatively in the literature is the
challenge for the present study.
There are competing and overlapping initiatives which complicate the picture and
make it difficult to assess the level of need. This in itself highlights the need for
further research in this field.
4.3 Quantitative Survey
As detailed in the Methodology section (Section 3 above), a quantitative survey
was conducted with Cylchoedd Meithrin across Wales and a breakdown of
responses per county is also provided in the Methodology section (Section 3
above).
4.3.1 The Meaning of Inclusion
Following on from the desk research and the interviews with Steering Group
members, it was felt to be important not to provide a definition of inclusion but
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rather to ascertain what respondents meant by inclusion, as this could be an
important issue in how to achieve this in early years setting.
Figure 3: Meaning of Inclusion to Staff
What does inclusion mean to you?
70
69
40
67
43
24.22
23.88
13.84
23.18
14.88
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
1 Making sure that the child with
additional needs in the Cylch is safe and
happy even if they don't join in all
2 Making sure that the child with
additional needs is able to join in all
activities of the Cylch?
3 Making sure that the other children in
the Cylch accept and include the child
with additional needs in play?
4 Making sure that the activities are
planned so that each individual can be
included?
5 Making sure that each child with
additional needs receives one-to-one
support at all times?
Sta
tem
en
t
Percentage / Number
Number %
Of roughly equal importance to inclusion are statements 1, 2 and 4 – a
combination of safety, joining in activities and making sure all activities are
planned so that each individual can be included. One to one provision is of
slightly less importance in this response, but all the statements seemed to strike
a chord with the respondents. A selection of the comments added is given below
which reflect the main thrust of this response:
"Perhaps the child with disability cannot join in everything at Cylch but all efforts
will be made to enable this. I don’t believe that all children with additional needs
should have 1-1 support at all times, it’s important to integrate them and the other
children and not make them different, if possible”.
“It’s important that each child has the same opportunities and that there is plenty
of funding available to receive 1-1 support”
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"Do not have one to one support at all times due to shortage of money“.
"It isn't always physically possible for children with additional needs to join in all
the activities but we try our best to make sure that they feel part of it and make it
fun“
“Each child must be happy and enjoy in their own way in order to develop”.
4.3.2 Numbers
Numbers attending
One of the research objectives was to try to estimate the demand in terms of
children with additional needs who attend or could attend early years settings.
Figure 4: Total number of children and number of children with additional needs attending
respondents’ Cylchoedd per County.
Number of children and children with additional needs in each
County
263
54 61115 98
607
281190
122
11
691
570 38 0
164 135
311
860
50
167
13 0 2 0 1 15 18 8 5 145
3 0 1 0 19 0 13 1 0 1 40
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
Angle
sey
Bla
enau G
went
Bridgend
Caerp
hill
y
Card
iff
Carm
art
henshire
Cere
dig
ion
Conw
y
Denbig
hshire
Flin
tshire
Gw
ynedd
Mert
hyr
Tydfil
Monm
outh
Neat
Port
Talb
ot
New
port
Pem
bro
keshire
Pow
ys
Rhondda C
ynon
Taf
Sw
ansea
Torf
aen
Vale
of
Gla
morg
an
Wre
xham
County
Nu
mb
er
Number of Children in each county Number of children with additional needs in each county
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Figure 5: Average number of children in the Cylch per County
Average number of children in respondents' Cylchoedd per
County
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Angle
sey
Bla
enau
Bridgend
Caerp
hill
y
Card
iff
Carm
art
hen
Cere
dig
ion
Conw
y
Denbig
h
Fflin
t
Gw
ynedd
Mert
hyr
Tydfil
Monm
outh
Neath
Port
New
port
Pem
bro
keshire
Pow
ys
Rhondda
Sw
ansea
Torf
aen
Vale
of
Wre
xham
County
Nu
mb
er
Average number of children in respondents' Cylchoedd per County
It is evident from the above that Gwynedd and Carmarthenshire represent the
highest numbers in the survey and have an average of 19 and 20 children per
responding Cylch respectively. However it is noteworthy that although Rhondda
Cynon Taf represent 211 children in the survey, that their Cylchoedd have an
average of 31 children. The one Cylch who responded from Blaenau Gwent
seems to have a very large number of children at 54.
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Figure 6: Numbers of boys and girls in the Cylchoedd and numbers of boys and girls with
additional needs.
Number of boys and girls in the Cylchoedd
16761825
110 40
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
1800
2000
Boys Girls
Nu
mb
er
Number of boys and girls in the Cylchoedd
Number of boys and girls with additional needs in the Cylchoedd
6.5% of boys in the responding Cylchoedd have additional needs and 2.1% of
girls have additional needs with a total 4.2% of all children having additional
needs, representing 150 children across Wales. In addition 22 children with
additional needs were reported to be on waiting lists to join Cylchoedd and
respondents were aware of a further 8 who could be attending but did not for
various reasons, giving a total of 180 which is 5.1%.
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Number of hours attended
Figure 7: Average weekly hours children attending Cylch
Hours offered by Cylchoedd
5
99.5
54
11.56
46
22
20
20
40
60
80
100
120
1-5 hours 6-10 hours 11-15 hours 16+ hours
Nu
mb
er
of
Cy
lch
oe
dd
Number of Cylchoedd
Number of Cylchoedd open for childen with additional needs
It is clear from the results in Figure 7 that significantly fewer Cylchoedd are
available for 6 hours or more per week for children with additional needs than for
children without additional needs.
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Who brings the children to the Cylch?
Figure 8: Adults who accompany the children to the Cylch
How many children come to Cylch with:
74.5
4.7
14.2
4.42.2
76.1
1.3
14.2
3.9 4.5
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
Parent Childminder Grand
parent
Other
family
member
Other
Perc
enta
ge
Children Children with additional needs
Most children are brought to the Cylch by their parents with similar results across
the graph for children with additional needs as for other children.
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Family Language of Children at Respondents’ Cylchoedd
Figure 9: Family language of children and children with additional needs at the Cylchoedd.
How many children come from:
29.025.0
43.3
2.7
17.1
30.6
47.7
4.7
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
Welsh-
speaking
families
Mixed
Language
families
Non-Welsh
speaking
families
Other
Language
families
Perc
en
tag
e
Children Children with additional needs
Most children (68%) across the survey come from either non-Welsh-speaking
families or mixed language families (Welsh and English), with 29% coming from
Welsh speaking families. When compared with the family language of children
with additional needs it is worth noting that significantly fewer children with
additional needs came from Welsh speaking families, although this finding must
carry a health warning as numbers are very small in this survey.
4.3.3 Participation of Parents
Parents have a key role to play in this survey as important players in the
Inclusion story. As such the survey sought to ascertain parental participation in
Cylchoedd activities.
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Figure 10: Parents’ Participation levels
How often do parents and carers of children
participate in playing activities within the Cylch?
26%
63%
10% 1%
Never Sometimes Quite often Very often
A relatively low percentage of parents are often or very often involved in activities at 11% although a further 63% report that they sometimes participate.
The 25% who report that parents never participate seems surprisingly high.
Participation levels by parents generally are explored further later in this report.
Figure 11: Participation level of Parents of Children with Additional Needs
How often do parents and carers of children with
additional needs participate in play activities
within the Cylch?
28%
28%1%
39%
4%
Never Sometimes Quite often Very often No response
This seems to be a low level of engagement with only 5% participating very often
or quite often.
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Figure 12 : Expectation of Cylch for parents to participate in Cylch activities
Are parents / carers of children expected to
participate in play activities at the Cylch?
12%
83%
5%
Yes No No response
Most respondents reported that they did not expect parents to participate in
activities, but typical comments added were:
"We don't expect them but they are always welcome to participate",
"We encourage parents to join in our language and play sessions"
“We send an invitation to parents once a term – ‘Come to play’ – for two hours
during a session”
The following comments added by respondents give an idea of the difficulty of
participation when paperwork such as CRB(Criminal Records Bureau) checks is
required, and also because many parents are working during the Cylch hours.
“We ask parents, but most think we are providing a ‘service’ that they are paying
for therefore they don’t think there is a case”’
"Some have CRB’s and help out if staff are ill"
“No – most are working”
"Only on school trips" and “Special days. Parties, outings."
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It is evident that parents are not required to participate, but are encouraged to do
so and that their participation is in the main appreciated.
Figure 13: Expectation of parents of children with additional needs to participate in Cylch activities
Are parents/carers of children with additional needs
expected to participate in play activities in your
Cylch? 9%
63%
28%
Yes No No response
This question had a much lower level of response with 28% of respondents not
completing the question. It is possible they felt they had included children with
additional needs in their answer to the previous question.
Clarifying comments included the following:
"As they are parents and all parents are asked to help"
“Parents are encouraged to take an interest e.g. raise money, help out as support
staff when someone is absent”
"They are not expected but we do encourage parents to participate in play
activities“.
"All parents are treated equally".
In the main respondents wished to emphasize that parents were encouraged to
participate rather than be expected to do so.
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4.3.4 Staff Skills and Attitudes
Experience
Figure 14: Cylch Leaders’ Experience
Cylch Leaders' Years of Experience
52
36 36
46
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0-2 years 3-5 years 6-10 years 11+ years
Range
Nu
mb
er
of
Lead
ers
For the purpose of this research it is worth noting that almost 30% of Cylchoedd
leaders in our survey have under 2 years experience.
When asked about the skills learned by working with children at the Cylchoedd,
the main skills mentioned by staff in response were soft skills e.g.
Patience - 23 mentions
Treating children as individuals - 20 mentions
Understanding/empathy -15 mentions
Observation - 7 mentions
Managing behaviour - 6 mentions
Listening - 5 mentions
Confidence - 4 mentions
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Some more specific skills were mentioned e.g. Childcare, Child development,
Foundation Phase.
When asked what skills had been learned by supporting children with additional
needs, the responses also mention soft skills but also had a significantly greater
emphasis on specific skills than the responses for children generally:
Speech and language (including sign language and Makaton) - 18 mentions
Patience - 15 mentions
Understanding/empathy - 6 mentions
Treating children as individuals - 6 mentions
Listening - 2 mentions
Attitudes
Figure 15: Reaction of respondent when a child joins the Cylch
When a child joins the Cylch which of the following best
describes your reaction (you can tick more than one if
you wish)
31.8
67
80.1
9.7
8
5.7
0 20 40 60 80 100
A challenge
A chance to learn new skills
A chance for the children to mix with
and learn about other children with
The possibility of disruption to the
established routine
Anxiety on behalf of the child in terms of
health and safety
Anxiety for the other children in terms of
health and safety
Sta
tem
en
t
Percentage
%
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A positive response was received here regarding reactions of staff with over 80%
stating that it is a chance for children to mix with and learn about other children
with different needs, and 67% stating that is is a chance to learn new skills. Some
further comments included:
“Hope they’ll be happy and settle quickly”
“The opportunity to get to know the individual”
There were some anxieties expressed:
"How are the other parents going to react this time?”
"A bit of anxiety. Hope the child/children enjoy"
Figure 16: Reaction of respondent when a child with additional needs joins the Cylch
When a child with additional needs joins the Cylch what
best describes your reaction (tick more than one if you
wish)
33
69.3
71.6
11.9
17
10.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
A challenge
A chance to learn new skills
A chance for the children to mix with and
learn about other children with different
The possibility of disruption to the
established routine
Anxiety on behalf of the child in terms of
health and safety
Anxiety for the other children in terms of
health and safety
Sta
tmen
t
Percentage
%
Responses were broadly similar to the previous question regarding children
generally but with more anxiety noted regarding health and safety of the child
with additional needs than in relation to the other children. (27.8% compared to
13.7% for the previous question).
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Other comments included:
"Anxiety for other children dependent on the additional needs of the child“
“Hope that 1-1 help is available for all that need it, so that everyone is safe”
“Worry more about the reaction of some of the parents (from experience)”
"There are no worries about children with additional needs
"New learning experience for everyone."
Figure 17: Reaction of other staff when a child joins the Cylch
When a child joins the Cylch, what best describes the reaction of
other staff in the Cylch (you can tick more than one)
32.4
69.3
73.9
9.7
8.5
6.8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
A challenge
A chance to learn new skills
A chance for the children to mix with and learn
about other children with different needs
The possibility of disruption to the established
routine
Anxiety on behalf of the child in terms of health
and safety
Anxiety for the other children in terms of health
and safety
Sta
tmen
t
Percentage
%
Again this was broadly similar to the response regarding the respondent’s own
reaction when a child joins the Cylch.
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Figure 18: Reaction of other staff when a child with additional needs joins the Cylch
When a child with additional needs joins the Cylch, which of the
following best describes the reaction of other staff in the Cylch?
36.9
61.2
65.3
15.3
13.6
8.5
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
A challenge
A chance to learn new skills
A chance for the children to mix with and learn
about other children with different needs
The possibility of disruption to the established
routine
Anxiety on behalf of the child in terms of
health and safety
Anxiety for the other children in terms of health
and safety
Sta
tem
en
t
Percentage
%
Respondents are less confident about the reaction of other staff when a child with
additional needs joins the Cylch with a lower percentage for the positive reactions
(chance for the children to mix with and learn about other children with different
needs, and a chance to learn new skills) and a higher percentage noting more
anxious responses such as health and safety, the chance of disruption to routine
and a challenge (which could be positive or negative of course).
"Anxiety for other children dependent on the additional needs of the child“
“Hope that 1-1 help is available for all that need it, so that everyone is safe”
“Staff also think the same as the leader – worry more about the other parents’
reaction (from experience)”
"There are no worries about children with additional needs
“We change to suit the children”
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Confidence
Figure 19: Confidence of respondent in their ability to include children in all activities in the Cylch
How confident are you in your ability to include
children in all activities in the Cylch?
0 0
22.7
73.9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Not confident
at all
Not very
confident
Fairly
confident
Very confident
Response
Perc
en
tag
e %
From this response it appears that respondents were unanimous in either stating
that they were fairly or very confident in their ability to include children in all
activities in their Cylch.
Figure 20: Confidence of respondent in their ability to include children with additional needs in all
activities in the Cylch
How confident are you in your ability to include
children with additional needs in all activities in
the Cylch?
0 1.1
39.8
51.1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Not confident
at all
Not very
confident
Fairly
confident
Very confident
Response
Perc
en
tag
e
%
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There was a shift in this response from very confident to fairly confident with a
very small response to ‘not very confident’.
Figure 21: Confidence of other staff in their ability to include children in all activities in the Cylch
In your opinion, how confident are other staff in
your Cylch in their ability to include children in all
activities in the Cylch?
0 1.7
34.7
59.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Not confident
at all
Not very
confident
Fairly
confident
Very confident
Response
Perc
en
tag
e
%
This response indicates that there is a slightly lower confidence in the ability of
other staff being able to include children in all activities in the Cylch, compared
with confidence in the respondent’s own ability to do so.
Figure 22: Confidence of other staff in their ability to include children with additional needs in all
activities in the Cylch
In your opinion, how confident are other staff in
your Cylch in their ability to include children with
additional needs in all activities in the Cylch?
03.4
44.941.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
Not confident
at all
Not very
confident
Fairly
confident
Very confident
Response
Perc
en
tag
e
%
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There is a marked shift here in the confidence levels of other staff (in the
respondent’s opinion) in ensuring inclusion for children with additional needs.
Skills and Knowledge
Figure 23: Skills and Knowledge of the respondent to support children with additional needs
Do you believe that you have the necessary skills
and knowledge to support children with additional
needs in your Cylch?64.2
21
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Yes No
Response
Perc
en
tag
e
%
Figure 24: Skills and knowledge of other staff to support children with additional needs
Do you believe that other staff in the Cylch have
the necessary skills and knowledge to support
children with additional needs in your Cylch? 62.5
22.2
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Yes NoResponse
Perc
en
tag
e
%
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The two responses above are very similar and the percentage of negative
responses, although a minority, is nevertheless a significant minority and should
be noted.
4.3.5 Training
When asked what training the respondent had received (accredited and non-
accredited) in working with children with additional needs, the majority (82%)
either named specific courses or stated that they had attended courses run by
Mudiad Meithrin, the Referral Scheme, the local Council and others. 32
respondents (18%) either left this question blank or replied 'none' to this question.
The most frequently mentioned courses were:
• Specific conditions affecting children with additional needs e.g. Autistic
Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Down’s Syndrome, Asthma, Allergy
Awareness and the use of an Epi-Pen, Haemophilia, Hearing difficulties,
Speech and Language difficulties, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Epilepsy, Braille,
Asperger's Syndrome (31%)
• Speech and language issues, including courses run by Speech and
Language Therapists e.g. sign language, language and play, Makaton,
Elklan, language and communication. (23%)
• Special Educational Needs, which includes responders who had attended
courses on the role of the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator
(SENCO) at the Cylch (17%)
• Behaviour management 10%)
• Inclusion (7.5%)
• Other courses mentioned included First Aid, Child Safety, Child Care,
Manual Handling, Child Protection and Administration of Medicines.
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Figure 25: Willingness to undertake additional training to support children with additional needs
Would you be willing to undertake additional
training in order to be able to support children
with additional needs if required?
99%
1%
Yes
No
Respondents have given a resoundingly positive response to further training.
When asked what training other staff at the Cylch had received (accredited and
non-accredited) in working with children with additional needs, a smaller majority
(63%) either named specific courses or stated that they had attended courses
run by Mudiad Meithrin, the Referral Scheme, the local Council and others. 65
respondents (37%) either left this question blank or replied 'none' to this question.
The most frequently mentioned courses were:
• Specific conditions affecting children with additional needs e.g. Autistic
Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, Asthma, Cochlear Implant, Deafness,
Epilepsy, Use of an Epi-Pen in case of severe allergy and Asperger's
Syndrome ( 21%)
• Speech and language issues including courses run by Speech Therapists
e.g. sign language, language and play, Makaton, Elklan, language and
communication. (15%)
• Special Educational Needs, which includes training for Special
Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCO) at the Cylch (14%)
• Behaviour management (9.5%)
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• Inclusion (3.5%)
• Other courses mentioned included Paediatric First Aid, Child Safety, Child
Care, Manual Handling, Child Protection and Administration of Medicines.
Figure 26: Willingness of other staff to undertake additional training to support children with
additional needs
Would other staff in the Cylch be willing to undertake
additional training in order to be able to support
children with additional needs if required
99%
1%
Yes
No
Again a resoundingly positive response was received.
68 Respondents chose to add comments regarding the type of training they felt
they and other staff at the Cylch needed. Comments were notably similar - most
requested training in the specific needs of the individual child at the Cylch who
had additional needs:
"Specialist training depending on the needs of the child.“
“Each child is different and skills and information is needed to support each
child”.
“The answer depends on the child with needs. Perhaps will need to do more
research and speak with the person who looks after the child”.
"It depends on what the child’s additional needs are"
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"More training on different additional needs."
"Each child is different and skills and information is needed to support each child"
"Depends on needs which arise with particular children"
4.3.6 Funding / Support
Three open questions were asked of the respondents regarding funding and
support:
Figure 27: Source of funding/support received by the Cylch for children with additional needs?
What funding or support does your Cylch receive for
children with additional needs?
55
15
20
36
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Referral Scheme Mudiad Meithrin Other None
Support or funding type
Nu
mb
er
It would appear that the Referral Schemes and the Mudiad Meithrin centrally are
the main source of funding or support for many Cylchoedd with 70 mentioning
them in response to this question. ‘Other’ included reference to Flying Start and
the Local Authority. A significant number reported that there was no funding or
support, but it should be noted that not all Cylchoedd had a child with additional
needs and would not therefore receive any funding/support.
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Figure 28: Level of funding or support in 2011-12 compared with 2010-11
Is there the same level of funding in 2011-12
compared with 2010-11?
26 24
2
56
72
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Same Less More Don't know Did not
answer
Response
Nu
mb
er
of
Resp
on
ses
It is significant that 56 respondents did not know whether the level of funding was
the same as last year or not. Of those that could answer this question, the great
majority reported that levels of funding were either the same or less than last
year.
Figure 29: Additional financial cost of providing support to children with additional needs
Is there an additional financial cost to the Cylch in
providing support for children with additional
needs? (additional hours of support in addition to
those funded by the Referral Scheme
46
58
16
56
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Yes No Not applicable Did not answer
Response
Nu
mb
er
of
Resp
on
ses
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A significant 46 Cylchoedd reported an additional cost to themselves for
supporting a child with additional needs, over and above the additional support
provided by the Referral Scheme.
We also asked those who confirmed that there was an additional cost to give an
estimated figure for the average additional cost. Only 28 responses were
received to this question of which 9 didn’t know the extra cost and a further 9
knew that there was a further cost mainly relating to paying staff for extra hours
or topping up wages in order to attract staff. 10 responders were able to put a
cost for their Cylch in supporting children with additional needs, and they ranged
widely from £4,000 per year to £6 per week. It is therefore not possible to give an
average extra cost from these results.
4.3.7 Inclusion: Barriers and Enablers
Inclusivity
Figure 30: Inclusivity of Cylch to children with additional needs
How inclusive to children with additional needs is
your Cylch in your view?1%
3%
43%53%
Not inclusive at all Not very inclusive Fairly inclusive Very inclusive
The great majority (96%) either felt that their Cylch was very or fairly inclusive to
children with additional needs.
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Figure 31: Ability to offer the same level of play activity to children with additional needs
Are you able to offer the same level of play
activity to children with additional needs as to
others?
89%
11%
Yes No
Again the majority felt they were able to offer the same level of play activity but a
higher (although still small) minority felt they were unable to do so.
34 respondents (19% of the total) chose to add comments to their answers and
of these 10 (5.68%) cited a lack of specialist equipment as the reason why they
could not offer the same level of play activity to children with additional needs as
to others and 4 (2.27%) cited inadequate facilities such as toilets or lack of ramps
for wheelchair access. Only one respondent mentioned lack of training as being
the reason why the same level of play activity was not offered.
When asked for details of any specialized equipment available at their Cylch, 24
gave details of play equipment such as sensory-visual equipment, speech and
language equipment, specialist toys and games, and several mentioned that they
received resources from the Referral Scheme. 10 responders said they had
wheelchair access and disabled toilets. 82 responders said they had no
specialized equipment and 55 did not respond to this question.
49 respondents stated that they did not know where to access specialized
equipment, and 77 said that they did, with 30 citing the local Referral Scheme, or
other local organisations such as a local Children's Centre, Local Authority,
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Flying Start, Early Years Childcare Partnership or specialists such as Educational
Psychologist, Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist .
Barriers
Figure 32: Barriers to Inclusion by type
Are there barriers to inclusion in your Cylch and if so what kind
of barriers are they?
35.8
1.1
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Practical barriers
Negative attitudes
Organisational
barriers
Ba
rrie
r
Percentage
%
The main barriers to inclusion by far according to the staff responses were
practical barriers e.g. aspects of the physical environment that disadvantage the
child with additional needs (difficult access, no specialist play equipment etc). 31
respondents reported difficult access and 35 reported having no specialist play
equipment. No respondents felt that there were organisational barriers (e.g.
policies or practices that are not inclusive), and there was a very low perception
of any attitudinal barriers (e.g. attitudes on the part of others that children with
additional needs should not take risks that would be considered appropriate for
other children or that they should be feared or pitied).
The majority (63.1%) stated that there were no barriers to inclusion.
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Enablers
Figure 33: Enablers of Inclusion - order of importance by type
In your view, how important are the following in order to be able to offer
the same level of activity to children with additional needs as to other
children? 1 = not at all important; 2 = fairly important; 3 = important; 4 =
very important
4
6.8
3.4
13.1
0
4
7.4
14.2
11.4
0
12.5
23.3
20.5
23.3
0
73.9
56.8
56.3
46.6
0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Good interpersonal skills e.g. listening, empathy,
patience
Training e.g. in play skills, communication,
awareness of additional needs, manual handling
Access to support and advice
Having ways of accessing funding
Other
Sta
tem
en
t
Percentage
1 2 3 4
Again, interpersonal skills were deemed to be of the greatest importance, 'A 1-1
practitioner with good skills is the best resource you could give a child – the
problem is that the salary nor the contract of employment do not offer good
enough conditions to attract qualified staff very often'. Other comments which
were added suggest that there was also a concern that adequate and appropriate
resources should be available depending on the needs of the individual child,
and the importance of good communication with the parents, as 'they know
exactly what their child’s needs are and what they can do'.
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Figure 34: Support Agencies/professionals/individuals facilitating inclusion
Which agencies / professionals / individuals currently offer support to
your Cylch which facitilitate inclusion for children with additional
needs?
75.6
48.9
60.8
30.7
62.5
42
22.7
3.4
0.6
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Mudiad Meithrin Staff
Parents
Health professionals (e.g. health visitor,
occupational therapist etc)
Educational professionals (e.g. educational
psychologists)
Referral scheme co-ordinator
Speech and language therapists
Social Services
Other voluntary organisations
Other
Su
pp
ort
Percentage%
Mudiad Meithrin staff and the Referral Scheme Coordinators and Health
professionals are the most frequently cited agencies to offer support to facilitate
inclusion. Specific professions such as Speech and Language Therapists, and
Educational Psychologists would only be called in to support children with
specific conditions.
Other voluntary / statutory organisations named include SNAP Cymru, Flying
Start and the Portage Adviser.
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4.4 Interviews with Wales Pre-school Providers Association
Regional Executive Officers
Four semi structured telephone interviews were conducted with Wales PPA
Regional Executive Officers. The main findings were:
• There is a lack of consistency in the operational models of the Referral
Schemes in different counties, and also in the way Wales PPA is funded
(apart from contributions from the National Children in Need scheme).
This can create inconsistency from area to area, and supports the findings
above regarding the complexity of the support system.
• A low participation level by parents of children with additional needs in
day-to-day playgroup activities is a general pattern across the country.
CRB requirements and the regulations and minimum standards for child
care can pose difficulties when involving parents. However these are not
the main difficulties, but rather the parents of children with additional
needs experience a lack of free time and see the group as an opportunity
for a break from the heavy work of caring for a child with additional needs.
This also supports the findings of the Mudiad Meithrin survey.
• Physical barriers – the nature of the building, lack of appropriate
equipment, although equipment can be shared or borrowed.
• Geographical barriers – inability to travel to a group because of lack of
money or transport particularly in the rural counties.
• Financial barriers – there is no funding to support children in all counties
on every occasion.
• Parental attitudes/fears – sometimes parents and other family members
are reluctant to give the child a label so early in their life; also there is a
lack of confidence by the parent to bring the child to the group.
• It is evident that training is an integral part of Wales PPA’s culture and
there is a relationship with other organisations to share training e.g. the
Local Authority or third sector bodies e.g. Diabetes Cymru or Autism
Cymru.
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• Several examples were given of close and effective co-operation with
other bodies when needs are identified e.g. Education and Social Services
Departments of Local Government, the Health Trusts, Child Development
Centres and Third Sector bodies.
• The officers believed that more funding is required for specific elements
e.g. 1 to 1 support, staff training, employing people while staff are training
and one specific comment namely funding for dedicated Early Support
Key Workers to work with families in order to lead them through the maze
of organisations and support systems.
• Some parents want their children to attend more than the two funded
sessions and the groups or the parents pay the additional costs in order to
avoid discrimination, which can put financial pressure on groups and
parents. This supports one finding of the quantitative survey where
equality and inclusion is not facilitated by the funding system.
4.5 Focus Groups
4.5.1 Parents’ Focus Groups
Three focus groups were held with parents of children with additional needs, in
North, Mid and South Wales. Most were sending their children to Cylchoedd
Meithrin, and some in the South Wales group were sending their children to
English-medium playgroups, nurseries or other settings. The children concerned
had varying additional needs e.g. deafness; complex and severe disability all of
which required a range of support and interventions.
Experience of Cylch/ Playgroup
Parents were in the main happy with the experience they had had with their
Cylch Meithrin. In fact one parent reported that it was Cylch staff who had noticed
that their child might have Autistic Spectrum Disorder and suggested making an
application for support. Many parents wanted to express that from their
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experience their children were and are being included well within the Cylch and
were very thankful to the Cylch for incorporating their child into the activities and
for ‘designing games to suit their childs needs’. Sending their child to the Cylch
was described by some as a ‘worry free task’ as the children had enjoyed or
were presently enjoying this period in their lives.
However some criticism was expressed of certain aspects of early years settings.
Some parents in one area were critical of the difficulty of finding a suitable setting
for their children, some having tried several before finding a suitable setting. The
words ‘prejudice’ and ‘insensitivity’ were used more than once and one parent
described her perception thus: “A lot of early years settings don’t really want
children like ours”.
The mother of one child at a day nursery said there was hyper-sensitivity
regarding the child’s multiple disability, although the main issue was
developmental not physical: ‘We can’t cope with **** – she needs more help than
we can give her’. She kept dropping toys on the floor and the staff wouldn’t put a
table in front of her as there had been no risk assessment, and after the risk
assessment was done, the reason given was that no staff had been trained to
use the table. This again points both to a lack of confidence on behalf of the staff,
and a lack of awareness of their responsibility in ensuring inclusion for children
with additional needs.
Some parents felt there was an over-reliance on the part of some setting staff on
outside professionals (e.g. Portage) to help with ideas for play and equipment.
They felt this again was a lack of confidence on the part of the staff to cope on
their own.
Some parents felt that staff were too quick to telephone them to say there is a
problem and to ask them to take the child home. Again they felt this was a
confidence issue and also points to a lack of consistent and ongoing
communication regarding the child’s needs and the best way to deal with them.
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One parent reported the upset experienced by their child when the child was
taken to another part of the building when the other children were singing and
therefore excluded from the activity.
One to one support
The main issue highlighted in all three focus groups was the quality and
availability of 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) for the children who needed
it. Some parents also felt that there were occasions when the setting relied
heavily on the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) so that if one was not
available to support the child during all sessions they were requested not to bring
their child to the setting. They questioned whether the setting could have
supported the child with the existing staff ratio at the setting.
In one case, three afternoons of 1-1 support were funded but the setting could
only provide a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) on two afternoons. Although
they initially said they could cope without a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands)
on the third afternoon, they rang to say that the child could not attend any more
on the third day. This was not a funding issue, but a combination of not being
able to find a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) and a lack of confidence to
cope on their own in a setting where there were three staff to ten children.
Another setting refused to make up the shortfall in funding for a 1-1 Support
Worker (Helping Hands), so the parents found another setting where their
experience has been much more positive and they report that the quality of the 1-
1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) has been excellent.
Several parents identified a problem with the quality of the 1-1 support. They felt
the role of the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) was a key factor in facilitating
inclusion but they felt that often they were young, inexperienced and untrained. A
major problem is the fact that the wage is low and no payment is made if the child
is absent (which occurs frequently because of the nature of the additional needs).
In addition the basic wage for the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) can be
set at the minimum wage level.
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Staff turnover is also an issue – lack of continuity affects children with additional
needs disproportionally as they lose contact with a familiar person. One parent
with a great deal of experience of the system owing to having an older child with
additional needs as well, stated that the only time she worried about her child
was when the member of staff who looked after her child at the setting, who was
experienced with children with additional needs and had been in the profession
for years, was replaced with a newly qualified member of staff with no experience
of working with children with additional needs. She felt uneasy with her lack of
training, knowledge of the child and generally felt that she was out of her depth.
Generally, she did note that the member of staff tried her best but needed and
should have had more training.
Experience of Other Support/Services
A consistent theme in the focus groups was that parents have to do a lot of
groundwork themselves in finding a suitable setting for their children where there
is adequate support. They are used to this because of having to negotiate a
range of medical and other specialist services as part of the diagnosis and
treatment of their child’s condition/s. Some examples of this include having to
battle for Welsh-medium services particularly for such specialisms as Speech
and Language Therapy. Parents felt they were being pushed in to English
medium services and made to feel a nuisance because of asking for Welsh-
medium services and sometimes told they were not available when in fact they
were. Examples were given of professionals advising parents to put their children
in English medium pre-school provision as the lack of other specialist services in
Welsh would mean a lack of consistency for them. Parental confidence in
insisting on fair and equal treatment is crucial in many cases in accessing
inclusion in early years setting.
One theme was the frustration of parents that professionals don’t listen to them
regarding day-to-day development / tendencies and any changes in behaviour /or
their child’s condition. “They should realise that our input is a very important part
in moving forwards”.
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One family who moved from Cheshire to Flint found a deterioration in support
and that there was a constant battle to ensure that her son was given the best
possible support in their language of choice (Welsh as they are passionate Welsh
learners).
Funding
Funding is more of an issue in some areas than others and the perception is that
of unfairness when provision is there in one Local Authority but not in the next.
The setting or the parents themselves sometimes have to make up the shortfall in
funding but if this is not forthcoming, the child does not get an equal opportunity
for play with other children in a setting. The system has recently changed
according to one parent, with funding available if the parents work but not if they
do not work. As some parents have to give up working because of the additional
needs of the child, this was perceived as unfair.
Training
Parents felt that training was extremely important and the 1-1 Support Workers
(Helping Hands) were often untrained or required further training in relation to
their child’s needs. New staff in the setting could also lack training and
experience in dealing with children with additional needs.
Some parents expressed concern that training takes a long time and in the
meantime the child’s needs are not fully met. “By the time the staff member is
fully trained it’s time for the child to go up to the Primary School”.
Communication
Progress sheets with targets are often unsuitable for children with additional
needs such as developmental delay but some staff continue to give them to
parents month after month. Parents felt this showed insensitivity on the part of
staff. Others felt that well-completed Individual Education Plans were crucial if the
child was to make a successful transition to school.
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Communication between staff and parents can be poor. One child was not
settling in, but this was not reported to the parents and therefore the child’s
needs were not being met.
A positive suggestion was to make a Home-Setting Link book an integral part of
the communication process. The parents would complete a section on progress
at home and tips on how to deal with the child, and staff would complete a
section on progress and activities at the setting, any concerns etc. Patterns of
behaviour could be monitored more effectively this way. A booklet ‘All About Me’
is available but not in Welsh, which was a concern for some parents. Staff will
gain in confidence and experience as they deal with the child with parental
support. However, some parents are naturally very protective and do not give
staff a chance, so parents also need support in order to be able to trust the staff
to deal with the child.
Parents appreciated the discussion and suggested that discussion groups of
parents of children with additional needs would be a good support network. This
was available in some areas but not others.
Benefits to children with additional needs of attending early years settings
Parents felt that children with additional needs and other children benefit equally
when a child with additional needs joins a setting. The child with additional needs
gains in confidence and learns to socialise, play and share. Other children get the
chance to become used to children who are different from themselves and learn
to be accepting. Acceptance is the most important thing for the child – not to be
treated differently from the other children.
One of the main benefits is that the early years experience provides a stepping
stone to school, as separation anxiety (for both parent and child) is dealt with
gradually, and this helps them to settle in to school more quickly. The child also
learns independence and makes educational and developmental gains. One
parent described her child learning to put things in a box by copying the other
children, where she had been unable to teach her child to do this at home.
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However it was also suggested that there should be more time spent in preparing
both the child and the school for the transition to take place successfully.
Parents also felt that attending an early years setting increases the tolerance of
the child of other people, children and other stimuli. Pushing the boundaries and
daily challenges of what the child can tolerate is seen as hugely beneficial. This
again emphasises that inclusion is key, and that the child is not left to sit on his or
her own with a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands), although they may be
perfectly happy doing so but encouraged by the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping
Hands) to take part in the activities.
Benefits to parents of their children attending early years settings
Most parents felt that the main benefit was having a break from the relentless
burden of all the therapy and to have some time to themselves and peace of
mind for a short period. This helped them to cope better and in some cases to
return to work. It also helped the parent to trust someone else to do things for
their child, as they are naturally very protective. Separation anxiety is a very real
experience for the parent also and the early years setting can help with this in a
gradual way.
Building links with other parents is a benefit too, as they can feel quite isolated.
One parent reported that she felt very proud that her child had been invited to a
party. ‘You feel you have allowed them to be a child’.
Other Parents
Although many parents are very accommodating, not all focus group participants
had good experiences to report of other parents. In many cases other parents
don’t know how to react when they find out there is a child with additional need in
the setting. Some parents in the focus groups reported getting ‘looks from other
parents’ because they perceive that they get favourable treatment such as being
able to enter the setting first in the queue out of the rain. There was a great deal
of sensitivity to the perception that they were being blamed for the child’s
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condition – that they were badly behaved rather than having a condition such as
Autistic Spectrum Disorder. However, some other parents in the groups felt that
this was understandable, “If my child was on the receiving end of what he dishes
out, I’d be protective too. When you are in the ‘special needs’ world, you’re more
tolerant of other children”. Good communication was suggested as the way to
overcome anxieties and the perhaps misguided perceptions of other parents.
According to the focus groups, other parents at the settings were generally less
forthcoming than their children and tended not to ask anything about the child
with additional needs for fear of causing offence or upset. A suggestion to tackle
this issue was for the parents of the child with additional needs to seek the early
years setting’s permission to share printed information about the child’s condition
with the other parents. They suggested that doing this could overcome the barrier
of not having a relationship with other parents.
Parental Fears
The greatest fears of parents are:
• That the child would not make a successful transition to school owing to a
lack of continuity in the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) and lack of
understanding of the child’s needs at school.
• The child being laughed at and excluded
• Whether the child would continue to be accepted as they grew older and
other children became more aware of difference, and that their child would
not understand the change in attitude.
• The child feeling frightened
• The child not reaching his/her potential because his/her individual needs
are not being met by the play/education setting
• Lack of funding
• The child wanting a voice and not being able to communicate
• Fears for older siblings of children with additional needs – they need
support too.
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Parents’ View of how to achieve inclusion
• Funding – adequate and consistent funding without geographical
boundaries to enable equal opportunities for children with additional needs
to attend early years settings
• Consistency of best practice and support throughout Wales. It should be
looked at from the point of view of the child – they should have the best
care and not be dependent on a postcode lottery.
• A trained pool of staff. It was suggested at more than one focus group that
a trained pool of staff for the area should be established. This would give
the parents confidence in leaving their child and address worries whether
nursery staff were administering therapies correctly. The pool of staff could
then raise awareness of the other staff in the setting, and train them to
cope with children with additional needs.
• A central pool of resources for children with additional needs. This
happens in some areas but not all
• Greater monitoring to ensure staff employed in the setting are meeting the
child’s needs.
• 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) should be trained, monitored and
assessed more often (one example was given of a 1-1 Support Worker
(Helping Hands) at a school-based early years setting being taken out half
way through the session to be a dinner lady). They should also keep pace
with the child’s developmental needs
• Flexibility to go outside of area to access good early years settings
• Increase awareness of staff members both of the particular needs of
individual children and of how to achieve inclusion.
• Ensure that all children are taking part in all activities wherever possible
and that they are treated the same as other children
• Empower and involve parents more, e.g. via discussion after a session
and via a link book which staff and parents share.
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• Staff to take the initiative in sharing information about the child with
additional needs with other parents, in order to break down barriers (with
the parents’ permission).
• Consistency of funding
• Appropriate targets should be set for children with additional needs taking
into account any developmental issues and progress reported to the
Primary School in the Individual Education Plan
• Greater use of Referral Scheme Coordinators
• A reactive and quick system for accessing support
• All settings should have to prove inclusion of children with additional
needs, and this would include how they react when approached by
parents with a child wanting to join the setting. A checklist proving
inclusion is needed and should be monitored.
• All the above should be done with a smile and not treated as a burden.
4.5.2 Staff Focus Groups
Three focus groups were held with early years settings staff, in North, Mid and
South Wales. Around half of the attendees currently had children with additional
needs in their settings.
The Meaning of Inclusion
Staff felt that inclusion meant being able to give the child the opportunity to reach
their full potential, and that they are treated as far as possible in the same way as
other children. They felt that it involved hard work to achieve this and to adapt
everything they do to enable inclusion. They felt that all children needed to be
treated as individuals and support tailored to their needs, and not for the children
to have to fit in to the support that was available.
However, different children have different needs. This can sometimes mean
having to understand that they’re not going to be able to do certain activities. A
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balance is necessary between encouraging and developing a child’s potential
through challenging them constructively but being mindful of not setting them up
to fail.
Inclusion is also as much a learning curve for the other children in the Cylch and
for the staff as it is for the child with additional needs. When children with
additional needs are included, everybody benefits because staff and other
children do not see the child with additional needs as being different but rather
embrace that child for his/her individuality. Inclusion means everyone is
accepted for who they are, and not defined merely by their disability.
The belief was expressed that every setting should be inclusive and that no child
should be turned away. Staff felt that children should be given the opportunity to
find themselves, to be themselves and to have their needs identified and met.
Some staff noted that they did not believe that this was being achieved on every
occasion within their area.
Sometimes staff found that they had to identify the problem themselves,
communicate this to the parents and also get external agencies involved.
External agencies Working with the Cylch
Cylchoedd staff can work with a variety of external agencies, e.g. the Referral
Scheme Coordinator, the Portage Worker, the Speech and Language Therapists,
Special Needs Health Visitors, Physiotherapists, Psychologists, county SENCO
(Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator), Specialist Teacher for Deaf Children,
Occupational Therapists.
Staff seemed to be aware of the support available from Referral Schemes and
felt it was valuable although some felt that the Referral Scheme Coordinator did
not have enough capacity to offer all the support that was needed.
The complexity and slowness of the referral and support mechanism in some
areas was a cause of concern for staff. Some Referral Schemes are unable to
receive direct referrals from parents or settings and in these situations a referral
could only be received from a Health Professional e.g. a Health Visitor, who in
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some areas is unable to refer the child to the Referral Scheme until they have
received a referral from the Educational Psychologist. Staff felt that this process
caused unacceptable delays in ensuring the child with additional needs receives
the support they require in the setting.
One member of staff noted concerns regarding the long delay in arranging
support for a child with a severe sensory impairment. Another noted the
difficulties in their area of ensuring that the child receives Welsh medium speech
and language therapy.
The difficulty in finding a Welsh speaking Speech Therapist was again
mentioned.
Parental Involvement
Staff reported that parents who have already had their child referred and have
accepted that their child has additional needs before he/she starts attending the
setting, are usually supportive and helpful.
However, much concern was expressed at all three focus groups that some
parents, particularly of children who have not yet been identified as having
additional needs, can on occasion be indignant, defensive and unable to accept
that their child has difficulties. Staff further noted that another problem was that
some parents of children with additional needs, who have not accepted that their
child has difficulties, avoid engaging with them, for example avoiding eye contact.
This difficulty in engaging with parents was described by some staff as one of the
main barriers to inclusion for the child. In one case it resulted in the child being
withdrawn from the Cylch because the parents would not accept that their child
was experiencing difficulties. Staff suggested that in such cases, someone from
outside the Cylch e.g. from Mudiad Meithrin or a health professional, should
come to the Cylch to talk to the parents, and that the staff require more support in
these difficult situations.
Parents can view the child’s time in the Cylch as a chance for a break and it can
sometimes be difficult to involve them in activities.
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When the child is first introduced to the Cylch – the parents are encouraged to
share information about their child’s development so that the staffhave a baseline
of the child’s development which assists the staff to monitor the child’s progress.
Staff believed that there should be a better partnership between staff and
parents. This is not always possible as not all pertinent information is able to be
disclosed to staff for confidentiality reasons. ”Some partnerships fail –for example
32% of our children are on the child protection register, and quite a few of them
are with additional needs also, but because of the confidentiality issue services
are not allowed to disclose that information to nurseries, and it’s our main
barrier”.
Another example was given of a child who had severe communication difficulties.
The parent did not inform the staff that his child was already receiving treatment
before joining the Cylch. As a result the child was at the Cylch for some weeks
before an educational professional contacted the Cylch to ask how the child was
getting on. Once the staff realised this, they were able to provide enhanced
support for the child; the parent and the family.
An example of good practice was described where a specific form was completed
as soon as a child is registered. It noted any areas of concern and explanation
and advice by parents and by the Cylch. This is used as a communication tool
between Cylch staff and parents and this monitoring strengthens the relationship
between the Cylch and parents and gives the staff confidence.
Staff Training
Some staff at the focus groups reported that they had Personal Development
Plans which are reviewed each term, with related targets such as developing
resources for a specific child that they are currently working with. However other
staff felt that they had not received enough training, and that this made them feel
anxious and overwhelmed.
Staff felt that a major problem was a lack of consistency between counties and in
particular between different Cylchoedd. Funding is another key factor where
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several of the smaller Cylchoedd do not have access to funding and therefore are
unable to attend different courses or further training.
There is also a significant difference between self-funding Cylchoedd and Flying
Start Cylchoedd. Self funding Cylchoedd can struggle to pay staff salaries and
do not have enough resources to fund training for all staff. Sometimes they are
only able to send one staff member for training.
One suggestion was that a key member of staff should go to the relevant training
to increase knowledge and understanding of a child’s specific condition and
practical ways in which to support and engage with the child, and then cascade
the knowledge to the other staff at the setting. This increases the confidence of
staff at the setting to be able to be pro-active in ensuring inclusion and doing their
best for the child.
As a setting approach, all staff should be aware of the needs of all children in the
setting so that if one member of staff is absent the other staff members are able
to support and include the child with additional needs. Children with additional
needs should always be included in the setting in every way possible and not be
solely dependent on the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands).
Training in how to deal with the behaviour associated with certain conditions, as
well as the condition itself, was viewed as crucial to ensuring inclusion. Also
training to increase confidence among staff is seen as necessary, not only in
working with the children but also in order to work in partnership with parents.
Developing the necessary interpersonal skills to deal with sensitive and difficult
situations with parents was seen as vitally important.
The point was made that staff should receive regular training to further best
practice and to ensure their knowledge is current and up to date. It was felt that
training should be organised at a time when it does not clash with the setting
opening hours as this could create a staffing problem at the setting.
Enhanced input from Development Officers, and the use of an Area Mentor were
suggested who would be able to go to a setting when a child with additional
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needs joins the setting. This could help the staff help to identify what they need in
terms of skills and knowledge, policies, equipment etc, and how to go about
accessing these. This should preferably be done at the setting so that practical
and specific suggestions could be discussed.
A forum for sharing best practice between setting staff was suggested either at
county or national level. This would also be an opportunity to learn more about
funding sources and how to access these. Staff made the point that they had
really appreciated the opportunity to take part in the focus group as it had allowed
them to network, to discuss the issues and learn from others. They would like to
have facilitated meetings as a regular event in order to share best practice.
Another suggestion was maximising the use of the online resource centre (WIKI).
Other Issues
Some staff felt that paperwork was onerous, as was the background work of
finding out all they need to know about a child’s specific condition and trying to
source the right support. This was especially the case with staff who were
inexperienced with children with additional needs, and this caused anxiety.
During discussions, some staff noticed that other settings had better resources
and funding than their own. This, they felt made a significant difference to the
level and quality of the service they could offer children with additional needs.
A member of staff stated that children with additional needs, funded through
Flying Start have an abundance of support compared to other children outside
Flying Start areas, noting in particular the difficulties in ensuring a child receives
input from the Speech and Language Therapist outside Flying Start areas.
Staff also made the point quite forcefully that the quality of 1-1 support is crucial.
‘I feel strongly that the 1-1 or the helper needs to have knowledge….they have all
this responsibility to nurture the child but they haven’t always got the background
or the knowledge’’. They all felt that this was absolutely necessary in order to
provide the best possible service for each individual child.
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Barriers to Inclusion
• Lack of consistency from area to area leading to inequality
• Inadequate funding
• Complexity of funding and support mechanisms leading to inequality
• Inadequate training/information/support for staff
• Lack of confidence of Cylch staff
• Lack of good communication with parents
• Poor pay and conditions of 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) causing
difficulty in recruitment and retention
Facilitating Inclusion for children with Additional Needs
• Good background information about the child and his/her needs is vital if
staff are to meet those needs. Staff felt that there is currently not enough
sharing of information by agencies because of confidentiality issues.
• The right specialist equipment was considered to be of great importance
e.g. ‘’a hydraulic chair which the child could make lower or higher to give
him more access to things and become more involved – he could sit at the
table and it made him feel that he was the same as everybody else and at
the same level.’’ Also mentioned was a special cover for a balloon so that
children with additional needs could catch it. Specialist equipment is
expensive however and staff suggested that a bank of such resources
could be built up so that all settings could access them on a free to loan
basis.
• Adjustment of the setting space e.g. thinking through the colour options on
walls, noise etc because that has an impact on some of the children,
particularly children who have autistic spectrum disorder., ‘They don’t like
bright colours so having a bright orange Sali Mali in the corner isn’t
something that would suit them, so we have a dark den as well, so they
can calm themselves down’.
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• Support Pack put in place for the child with additional needs which
includes all pertinent information, e.g. the development plan, suitable
activities, and information about the condition.
• Specific skills such as sign language e.g. Makaton for the hard of hearing
or PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) for children who
have difficulty speaking.
• Include the other children in specific activities with the additional needs
child. Other children are always interested and want to see what’s going
on.
• Availability and input of specialists such as Speech and Language
Therapists and health professionals
• Constant monitoring and observation and assessments to measure
developmental progress
• Good communication with parents. Working with parents to learn more
about techniques to use with the child and to prepare the child’s Special
Educational Needs plan. Also a Home-Cylch Link book which would be
completed regularly by staff and parents was suggested.
• Review progress – an opportunity to reflect and discuss
• Staff skills training. This should be about more than showing DVDs
explaining about e.g. autistic children, but training on what they should be
doing to nurture children with additional needs and seeing techniques in
practice would also be useful.
• Visits to specialist schools, shadowing, funding to allow them to see hands
on how to work with the child practically.
• Sharing best practice
• The right 1-1 support. It can be very difficult to find a good 1-1 Support
Worker (Helping Hands) owing to the pay and conditions.
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4.6 Workshop with Referral Scheme Co-ordinators
Referral Schemes support the early years settings through advice, training,
funding of specialist equipment or if necessary funding for additional support in
the form of 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) to provide inclusive play
opportunities for all children.
Operational models for Referral Schemes differ from county to county, with
Mudiad Meithrin leading on many, Wales Pre-school Providers Association
leading on others, Mudiad Meithrin and Wales Pre-school Providers Association
either working in partnership in some areas or leading their own Referral Scheme
in the same area, with yet others led by the Local Authority. Five counties do not
operate a Referral Scheme at all, but directly fund settings to facilitate inclusion.
Some organisations, such as NCMA Cymru, operate their own referral system.
Figure 35: Number of Children receiving support from Referral Schemes and reporting figures to
Mudiad Meithrin
Number of children received support from Referral Scheme
3344
59
10491
2311 13
105
35
129
11 9
39
18 14
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
Angle
sey
Caerp
hill
y
Card
iff
Carm
art
henshire
Cere
dig
ion
Conw
y
Denbig
hshire
Flin
tshire
Gw
ynedd
Mert
hyr
Tydfil
Neath
Port
Talb
ot
Pem
bro
keshire
Pow
ys
Rhondda C
ynon
Taf
Vale
of
Gla
morg
an
Wre
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County
Nu
mb
er
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A facilitated workshop was carried out with 21 Mudiad Meithrin or MM/WalesPPA
partnership Referral Scheme Coordinators from across Wales, which produced a
SWOT analysis of the current Referral Scheme situation.
Strengths
• There is a dedicated team of Referral Scheme Coordinators
• Mudiad Meithrin is efficient in managing/running the schemes
• Referral Scheme Coordinators can identify additional needs
• Cooperation between Mudiad Meithrin and Wales PPA
• A bilingual service is offered
• Many successful results in terms of inclusion
• Regular team meetings
• The Referral Scheme Committee includes a variety of professional
agencies
• Cooperation between Development Officer and Cylchoedd Special
Educational Needs Coordinators
• Children able to attend cylchoedd with support
• Support/help for Cylch staff
• Regular training/ meetings for Coordinators hosted by Mudiad Meithrin
Weaknesses
• Funding – not enough money for the children who meet the criteria in
many areas
• Cooperation between other agencies could be improved
• Speech Therapists not always able to work through the medium of Welsh
• Children not always able to be placed immediately after they have been
referred
• Not enough courses and training for Cylchoedd and parents
• Geographical constraints – should be able to work more widely
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• No flexibility or consistency in service across Wales
• Different set-up/funding/lead in different areas.
• Lack of fairness – depends on start date of child whether the money is
available
• Illogical and inflexible rules for funding leading to children missing out and
too much funding left in other pots.
• Flying Start – 12.5 hours until 3 years of age and then nothing if there is
no place at the school.
• The scheme offers 10 hours support only – Cylchoedd are open for longer.
Inequality issue
• The Local Authority offers 10 hours of education to children who are three
years and one term, but not always with extra support for children with
additional needs
• Lack of funding
• Have to prioritise who receives support
• If the child is absent the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) does not get
paid – this leads to recruitment and retention issues and lower quality of
one-to-one support
• Level 2 qualification – more 1-1 Support Workers find this very difficult
because of the limited hours of the job
• Criminal Records Bureau checks take a long time to come through
• Slowness of early intervention by Educational Psychologists in some
areas
• Difficulty of getting support for children with behavioural or language
difficulties
• Delays in paperwork for the school/unit
• Lack of funding for training
• Need for national consistency – financial/strategic. Equal opportunity for
all.
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Opportunities
• Equal opportunities
• Integration
• Prepare for school
• Develop skills
• Respite for the family
• Independence
• Confidence for the child and the family
• Early intervention
• Co-operate with other agencies
• Offer information to Cylchoedd and families
• Training
• Contact with other children – playing together
• Opportunity for parents to discuss their anxieties with agencies
• Individual attention for the child – ensure they receive the best possible
experiences by attending the Cylch
• Individual Play Plans are pre-school evidence of where the child has
received support
• Preparation for further integration – structure/community provision for the
child and the family in a natural way
• Professional – facilitating the child’s progress
• Cooperation with Education on courses.
Threats
• Shortage of funding
• Difficulties in recruiting 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) because of
low wages, irregular and minimum hours e.g. no payment if the child is ill
• Lack of status for a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) post
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• Employment terms and conditions for the 1-1 Support Workers (Helping
Hands)
• Lack of awareness of the Referral Scheme
• Lack of consistency across geographical areas (funding and also how the
Scheme is run)
• Some Management Committees are more effective than others – lack of
consistency
• Lack of working hours for Referral Scheme Coordinators – loss of skills
• Lack of SENCO funding
• Attitude of staff at some settings
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5. Main Themes
5.1 The Meaning of Inclusion
Inclusion can mean different things to different people but a general consensus
was given in the survey and focus groups that at its best, ensuring inclusion
means planning activities and the environment in order to enable the child with
additional needs to safely join in all activities where possible. This will sometimes
involve the support of a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands), but this is not
always necessary if the staff have the right training and experience. Inclusion
also means including the other children in activities planned for the child with
additional needs.
There was a consensus that inclusion is not always achieved for a variety of
reasons and these are given below.
5.2 Numbers
5.2.1 Numbers of Children with Additional Needs
Numbers of children with additional needs are very difficult to ascertain
accurately owing to the varied nature of additional needs and the young age of
the children, many of whom either have additional needs which have not so far
been identified or are not attending play settings for some reason. However the
survey indicates that something in the region of 5% of children attending or on
waiting lists for Cylchoedd Meithrin are known to have additional needs, which is
at the lowest end of the estimate indicated by the desk research at 5%-10%. A
significant difference was seen in the percentage of boys and girls with additional
needs with 6.5% of boys and 2.1% of girls already in Cylchoedd, having
additional needs, and this reflects the fact that in general, boys are more prone to
having additional needs e.g. autism, than girls. An indicative percentage figure for
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Wales PPA provision would appear to be between 2% - 4% based on responses
during interviews with their Regional Executive Officers. Figures obtained from
Referral Schemes regarding children with additional needs supported in
Cylchoedd indicate a 6% level. The nature of the methodology of this research
would make the survey figure of 5% the most accurate in terms of comparing
numbers of children with additional needs with total numbers of children.
If we take this conservative percentage estimate, which does not include children
who could attend but are not or children whose additional needs have not yet
been identified, and which is at the lowest end of the estimated level of demand
suggested by the desk research of between 5% and 10%, we are still looking at
3,250 children over a two-year cohort of approximately 65,000 pre-school age
children across Wales.
5.2.2 Number of Hours attended at Cylch
It seems clear from across the methods employed by this research that children
with additional needs attend Cylchoedd and other settings for fewer hours than
other children. Funding is given as the root cause of this, as children with
additional needs often need support either from a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping
Hands) who is not funded for sufficient hours per week to enable the child with
additional needs to attend for the full hours. This can be qualified by the fact that
staff can sometimes tend to have an over-reliance on one-to-one assistance
when it is perhaps not always necessary, but it is still a significant factor and has
highlighted one of the main findings of this report – that children with additional
needs do not currently have equality of access to pre-school play settings with
other children.
5.3 Parents
Parental participation in Cylchoedd activities is lower for parents of children with
additional needs than it is for parents of other children, although both figures are
low. Reasons include parents working (it should be remembered that funding
may be linked to parents returning to work, education or training), not having
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CRB checks and the fact that parents are in general not expected by the setting
to participate in day-to-day activities. Another factor was that the few hours that
their children were at the setting provided a respite from the caring
responsibilities for parents, which many parents at the focus groups felt was one
of the main benefits for parents of their children attending a play setting, as this
helped them to cope better and in some cases to return to work.
Parents are in general not expected to participate in Cylchoedd activities but are
encouraged to do so in most cases, and many do sometimes participate.
Staff at the focus groups identified a reluctance by some parents to acknowledge
that their child had additional needs, and this on occasion caused them to
become disengaged from involvement with activities in the settings.
Communication between parents and the setting is seen as key to successful
inclusion of a child with additional needs, and although there are examples of
good communication, this is not always the case. Many parents in our focus
groups related examples where they had encountered difficulty either in
communicating with staff at the setting, or with other parents, or with
professionals. In the case of staff, it was put down to lack of confidence, lack of
awareness and training, and a fear of causing offence in other parents.
Parental confidence in overcoming communication problems and other barriers
was seen as key in gaining successful inclusion. There was a strong desire
among parents and staff at the focus groups to have good two-way
communication between parents and staff at the setting.
Staff confidence in approaching parents is also seen as crucial in facilitating good
two-way communication.
In the main, parents reported good practice and a desire to do the best for the
child at the setting. However there were some more negative examples
particularly when trying to find a suitable setting for the child.
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5.4 One to one support
A central issue for staff, parents and Referral Scheme Coordinators highlighted in
the research was the lack of availability of good quality, trained 1-1 Support
Workers (Helping Hands) to enable children with additional needs to have equal
access to play opportunities in the early years. Inadequate funding leading to
poor pay and Terms and Conditions for 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands)
were identified as the main causes of difficulty in recruiting, retention and
consequent high turnover and lack of continuity in personnel. Owing to the
perceived lack of value of the job reflected in the poor pay and terms and
conditions, good experienced and trained 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands)
are difficult to obtain, and this is at the root of many of the inclusion problems
discussed. Parents also wished to express their view that some staff at early
years settings tended to rely too much on one-to-one help for children with
additional needs, although this was not always necessary.
The qualities noted as being of value in a 1-1 Support Worker by parents were
experience, training and continuity. According to parents, 1-1 Support Workers
have a crucial and challenging role in developing a trusting relationship with very
vulnerable young children and in enabling inclusion and they should be valued
and paid accordingly.
Parents agreed that a pool of trained staff who could cover an area would be a
good way of beginning to address the problem but felt that this needed to be
backed up by adequate funding and a review of Terms and Conditions.
5.5 Geographical Considerations
The complexity of support arrangements and mechanisms, as well as inflexibility
in the system, in the field of children with additional needs in the early years is a
major theme in this report. It appeared in the desk research, and is reflected in all
aspects of the methodology. Funding is led by Local Authorities and can lead to
many examples of people who live near each other but in different counties
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having different levels of funding and support for their children, and this causes a
strong perception of unfairness. In one case a mother who lives in one county
and works in a neighbouring county could not get funding for her child to attend a
nursery near where she works, which makes it extremely difficult in practical
terms for the child to attend nursery. The structure of Referral Schemes differs
from county to county and not all areas in Wales is covered by a Referral
Scheme. Even where there is a Referral Scheme, such as Powys, the fact that
the two Coordinators supporting Cylchoedd Meithrin are trying to cover a very
large area in only 2 hours each per week. This makes it virtually impossible to
offer the kind of support necessary, given that it can take almost two hours to
drive from one end of the county to another. There is concern also that an
increasing focus on targeting low-income families and deprived areas, with
laudable initiatives such as Flying Start and Families First, could exacerbate this
geographical inequality. Parents are faced with having to make up for shortfalls in
funding themselves, or relying on the setting to make up the difference from their
funds. Funding which is available for working parents can be seen to discriminate
against parents who are forced to give up work owing to the complex, severe and
profound nature of their child’s additional needs. Indicators of poverty are always
income-based not expenditure-based and therefore do not acknowledge the
additional financial pressure faced by parents of children with additional needs.
The complexity and limited criteria of the funding and support infrastructure are
seen as inflexible to the point of militating against the rights of children with
additional needs to access play and education opportunities as stated in the
Children’s Act 2004.
The concerns regarding geographical complexity and difference in funding levels
can be summed up as a lack of national strategic coherence in the field of
inclusion for children with additional needs.
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5.6 Language issues
Most children attending Cylchoedd Meithrin come from either non-Welsh
speaking homes or mixed language (Welsh and English) homes with a minority
from Welsh speaking homes. However a significantly smaller percentage of
children with additional needs come from Welsh speaking homes. This could
need further investigation – why are there fewer children with additional needs
from Welsh speaking homes presenting in this research? Given that the overall
percentage of children from Welsh speaking homes who have additional needs
should be similar to the general population, are these pre-school children
attending English medium settings, bearing in mind the fact that the survey was
done exclusively at Welsh-medium Cylchoedd Meithrin settings? Even with the
health warning of working with very small numbers, this is an interesting finding
although one which unfortunately cannot be explored further within the remit of
this research.
Parents and staff alike reported a difficulty in obtaining Welsh-medium specialist
support e.g. Speech Therapy. Parents felt they were being pushed in to English
medium services and made to feel a nuisance because of asking for Welsh-
medium services and sometimes told they were not available when in fact they
were. Examples were given of professionals advising parents to place their
children in English medium pre-school provision as the lack of other specialist
services in Welsh would mean a lack of consistency for the child. Parental and
staff confidence in insisting on fair and equal treatment is crucial in many cases
in accessing inclusion in early years setting. In fact there is a responsibility on all
public services to offer those services to citizens in Wales in their language of
choice, under the Welsh Language Act 1993
LUKE’S STORY
Luke and Sarah are four year old twins and Luke has bi-lateral profound hearing loss
and Crouzon’s Syndrome. The family moved to North Wales recently from England and
Luke’s parents are learning Welsh. They are also very keen that Luke and Sarah should
be able to speak Welsh and saw the Cylch Meithrin as the natural first step on the path
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to Welsh medium education for the twins. Luke was accepted and integrated well with
other children and also received 1-1 support at the Cylch.
Luke’s father feels that Luke benefitted greatly from attending Cylch Meithrin, as it was
through the medium of Welsh and meant that Luke was able to attend the same setting
as his twin sister who does not have additional needs. It also enabled Luke’s parents to
forewarn the primary school that their intention was to send him there, so the school had
time to make adequate provision.
The main barrier for the family has been from some support services which are either not
available in Welsh or they have not been given the option of having them in Welsh e.g.
Speech Therapy and Teacher of the Deaf (although the latter is now through the
medium of Welsh). Luke’s parents have had to battle with the support services who
pressured them to put Luke through English medium education that would ensure
consistency with the language of the support services. Also, it is much harder to access
support in Wales than it was when the family lived in England – they noticed a big
difference.
However their experience of the Cylch has been very positive and having won their
battles to date, they are now getting the support that Luke needs.
Names have been changed to protect confidentiality
5.7 Staff Skills, Attitudes and Training Issues
There is slightly more concern for health and safety among staff when children
with additional needs join the Cylch and this can sometimes lead to an over-
reliance on 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) and specialist staff. This is seen
by parents as a confidence issue, which could be addressed by training.
However the majority feel that this gave them a chance to learn new skills, and
was also a chance for all the children to mix with other children with different
needs.
Confidence levels among staff in their ability to include children with additional
needs are lower than for other children, and this, together with the fact that
slightly more than one fifth of staff in our survey reported that they did not believe
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that they had the necessary skills and knowledge to support children with
additional needs sends out a strong message that there is a need for more
training to increase skills and confidence levels among staff. A willingness to
undertake more training in inclusion and additional needs was very marked at
over 90% of respondents. Training needs to be responsive and needs to happen
in a timely fashion – parents had experience of staff undertaking training which
they had not completed by the time the child was ready to move up to school.
Staff expressed a desire for training in the specific disorders that affected
children in their Cylch, and to have that training provided at the setting in order to
help with practical application, while the research as a whole also points to the
need for more general training in how to facilitate inclusion, and how to improve
communication with parents and professionals.
BETHAN’S STORY
Bethan, now aged three and a half, was starved of oxygen at birth suffering severe brain
damage. This has left her with global developmental delay and cerebral palsy and she
can not walk or talk.
Bethan’s mum, Wendy, works part time in the neighbouring county – she could not
return to work full time when Bethan was 14 months as she could not access suitable
childcare and the Referral Scheme funding does not start until the child is two and a half,
and is only available during term time. Although there is funding available for working
parents, when Wendy first returned to work, this funding was not available..
The family’s first experience of trying to access a suitable setting for Bethan was not a
positive one. Wendy managed to get a day nursery to take Bethan for one day a week
on a trial period but they were unhappy about taking her without any additional support.
Even though she was fourteen months old at the time, Bethan was developmentally like
a 6 month old. She had no complex medical needs - she was eating mashed and
chopped foods and drinking from a beaker with some thickener added to the liquid.
However, she could not sit unaided and could not crawl. Although normal 6 month old
babies at the nursery had the same needs and only needed a 1 to 3 staff to child ratio,
the nursery kept saying that Bethan needed additional help. They seemed unable to
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treat her according to her developmental age rather than her actual age.
The staff would sit her in a baby seat and give her toys to play with but as soon as she
dropped them out of reach she would get frustrated. Wendy arranged for Bethan’s
Occupational Therapist to visit to see if she could help and she gave the nursery a little
table that had built up sides to be used with the baby seat. This meant that toys would
stay on the table within Bethan’s reach. The Occupational Therapist phoned Wendy after
leaving Bethan to say how much happier she was with the table. She was able to play
better and it allowed her to use her left hand (which is a bit weak). When Wendy went to
collect Bethan the table was nowhere to be seen but the staff said they had put it away
while the children were having their snacks. The following week when Wendy dropped
Bethan off there was still no table. Wendy was told that it needed to have risk
assessment completed on it before it could be used. The following week there was still
no table. Wendy asked whether the risk assessment had been completed and was told
that it had but that the staff had not yet been trained in how to use the table!!
Then, when Bethan reached two and a half years of age, she joined the local playgroup
who are very supportive and eager to be doing the best for Bethan in whatever way they
can. It was a relief for Wendy to be able to hand the responsibility of some of Bethan’s
therapies over to someone else and she seems to respond better to input from
professionals.
Bethan also attends a new day nursery one day a week with a 1-1 Support Worker
Helping Hands) funded by the Referral Scheme. Wendy is very pleased with the day
nursery - they have had previous experience of supporting children with additional needs
and are also receptive to new therapy ideas. Bethan benefits enormously from attending
playgroup. She loves having normal social interaction with other children her own age
and she is able to model her learning on the other children.
For a whole year as part of her therapy Wendy had been trying to get Bethan to put
objects in a box, with no success. On her first morning at playgroup when in a group with
other children, all of whom were taking it in turns to put toy figures into a ship, Bethan put
her figure in the ship!
Bethan built her first tower of bricks at playgroup. They have helped enormously with her
sensitivity to certain textures because she watches other children painting or playing with
plasticine and she does it too.
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The other children also help with Bethan’s therapies. One part of Bethan’s physio
involves trying to get her to lay on her tummy over a “V” shaped pillow. This is a huge
struggle at home but in playgroup the other children lay next to her and they all look at
books together.
The first day nursery where Bethan was taken on a trial basis and her new day nursery
are near to Wendy’s work. It was sometimes difficult to get Bethan’s professionals to visit
the nurseries because they live in a town in the next county and the nursery is not within
their working boundaries. Since Bethan started school for three days per week, the
professionals are unwilling to visit her at the day nursery or the playgroup on the other
days.
Bethan is much more vocal since attending playgroup, her fine motor skills are improving
and she is making friends.
Names have been changed to protect confidentiality
There are obviously great benefits to Bethan and to her mother from attending a
good inclusive setting and interacting with other children of her own age, but this
story also highlights some of the difficulties in accessing the right setting - both
the organisational barriers of bureaucracy and geographical inflexibility, and the
barrier of staff skills and attitudes leading to lack of confidence. Luckily, Bethan’s
mum has the confidence to take on and overcome these barriers with the help of
her Referral Scheme, but this is not always the case with other children
5.8 Funding and Support
There was strong support for the Referral Schemes in our research, from staff
and parents. In cases of good practice, they provide a vital link between parents,
the Cylch/setting and professionals and know how to access the available
funding and support.
A strong finding in this research is that the complexity of funding and support
mechanisms together with insufficient funding for children with additional needs
leads to inequality of access to pre-school play settings. Funding has generally
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either stayed the same or decreased in the current financial year (2011-12)
compared with last year according to the staff survey.
Both staff and parents believe that there is inadequate funding to support
inclusion for children with additional needs in early years settings.
The low awareness of Cylchoedd staff of funding levels and sources was another
interesting finding and could perhaps be explained by the complexity described
above. However there is often an additional cost to the Cylch in accepting a child
with additional needs as they have to or decide to make up the funding shortfall.
Unfortunately it was not possible to give an estimate for this additional cost from
the survey because of the low response to this question indicating a low
awareness of the funding issues.
MASON’S STORY
Mason and Lily are two and a half year old twins. Mason has cerebral palsy which
means that although he needs help with the physical side of things such as being lifted
and going to the toilet, he is perfectly able mentally.
The Cylch were very supportive and a Health Visitor referred Mason to the Referral
Scheme in the county in order to ensure that a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) was
provided for Mason while he was at the Cylch. A meeting took place between Mason’s
father, the Cylch leader, the Referral Scheme Coordinator and the Health Visitor to
discuss Mason’s needs, hours of attendance at Cylch and any training or resources that
might be needed to make the setting as suitable as possible for the child.
Mason now attends the Cylch and enjoys playing with Lily and the other children his own
age. He is not overly dependent on the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) but is
allowed to try to join in as many activities as possible on his own, with facilitation.
Mason’s father, the 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) and the Cylch staff have a
good relationship and Mason enjoys his experience at the Cylch.
However, because of the lack of adequate funding for the Referral Scheme in the county
where Mason lives, he only receives funding for six hours per week of one-to-one
support, and this means that he can only attend for this period, while his twin sister Lily
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and the other children attend for 10 hours. Mason’s father believes that he would benefit
greatly from having equal access to the Cylch as his sister, but owing to the
unavailability of funding, Mason has to stay at home while his sister attends the Cylch for
the additional hours.
Names have been changed to protect confidentiality
5.9 Inclusion – Barriers and Enablers
Barriers
Most of the staff in our survey reported that their Cylch is either very or fairly
inclusive to children with additional needs and a similar number thought they
could offer the same level of play activity to all children.
According to the survey, the main barriers to inclusion are practical barriers such
as difficulty of access or no specialist play equipment.
However, taking the research as a whole, including the survey, interviews, focus
groups with staff and parents, and the workshop with Referral Scheme
Coordinators, other barriers were identified and included:
• Inadequate funding
• Complexity of funding and support mechanisms
• Inconsistency of support and funding from area to area
• Slowness and complexity of referral mechanisms
• Lack of confidence among some staff
• Inadequate/inappropriate training
• Lack of communication between staff and parents
• Lack of skill/experience and difficulty of recruitment of 1-1 Support
Workers (Helping Hands)
Some parents also felt that they had faced barriers in finding a suitable setting for
their child, with some staff reluctant to take on a child with additional needs.
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Enablers
Great emphasis was placed on good interpersonal skills of staff as an enabler to
inclusion and there was a general consensus that good two-way communication
between staff and parents was the best way to successful inclusion of the child in
the setting.
Other enablers are:
• Good background information about the child and his/her needs is vital if
staff are to meet those needs
• A Home-Setting Link book completed regularly by staff and parents.
• Good planning including a development plan and play plan
• Good resources and specialist equipment – although there are good
resources available such as the Early Support Information Booklets, they
do not always find their way into the settings.
• Good one-to-one support where appropriate
• Training of staff
• Supportive parents
• Staff confidence
• Sharing best practice
• Availability and input of specialists such as Speech and Language
Therapists and health professionals
• Monitoring and observation to measure developmental progress
5.10 Ideas for improving Inclusion
Some suggestions were made as to how to facilitate inclusion, including a Link
Book for the Cylch and the Home and area-wide facilitated discussion groups
which include parents and staff.
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Strategic/National
• Funding – adequate, simple, consistent and reactive funding mechanisms
without geographical boundaries to enable equal opportunities for children
with additional needs to attend Cylch/Nursery/Playgroup
• Referral Schemes to be adequately funded in order to improve capacity to
support the need
• Consistency of best practice and support throughout Wales.
• Flexibility to go outside of area to access good early years settings
• Greater monitoring to ensure staff employed in the setting are meeting the
child’s needs.
• Appropriate targets should be set for children with additional needs taking
into account the stage of development rather than age of the child and
progress reported to the Primary School in the Individual Education Plan
• All settings should have to prove inclusion of children with additional
needs, and this would include how they react when approached by
parents who are requesting that their child joins an early years setting. A
checklist proving inclusion is needed and should be monitored.
Regional/County level
• The role of Referral Scheme Coordinators to be strengthened and
adequately funded
• A trained pool of staff.
• Area mentors to go to the early years setting as necessary to support staff
with information, best practice regarding inclusion and practical and
relevant methods to use with the child with additional needs
• A central pool of resources for children with additional needs.
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Local
Good background information about the child and his/her needs when he/she
joins the setting
• Support Pack put in place for the child with additional needs which
includes all pertinent information, e.g. the development plan, suitable
activities, and information about the condition
• 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) trained, monitored and assessed
more often
• Communication between staff and parents – increase parental
involvement e.g. via discussion after a session and via a link book which
staff and parents share.
• Communication between parents of children with additional needs and
other parents - staff to take the initiative in sharing information about the
child with additional needs with other parents (with the parents’
permission), in order to break down barriers.
• Appropriate specialist equipment
• Adjustment of the setting space e.g. colour options, noise etc
• Training for staff in specific skills e.g. Makaton for the hard of hearing or
PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System) for children who have
difficulty speaking
• Training in general confidence and inclusion and what setting staff should
be doing to nurture the children’s development
• Monitoring, observation and assessment to measure developmental
progress
• Review progress – an opportunity to reflect and discuss
• Visits to specialists schools; funding for shadowing experienced members
of staff.
• Sharing best practice – a regular facilitated discussion forum
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• Ensure that all staff use appropriate interpersonal skills at all times –
everything done with a smile!
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6. Conclusions
The results of this research have largely proved the perception that pre-school
children with additional needs in Wales do not have equality of access to play
and educational opportunities as other children.
The research highlights the fact that there is no Wales-wide strategic approach to
funding and support in order to ensure equality of opportunity for all pre-school
children and their parents/carers. This leads to geographic inequality which
exacerbates the difficulty that parents of pre-school children with additional needs
already face in accessing inclusive play and education settings for their children.
In addition to the geographical inequalities, staff, parents and Referral Scheme
Coordinators who took part in this research believe that the funding is inadequate
to support inclusion for children with additional needs in early years’ settings. As
a result, children with additional needs are not able to attend a pre-school setting
for as many hours as other children. However, despite the lack of consistency in
operational models at county level, there is much good practice which could be
disseminated and adopted in many parts of Wales, and this is detailed in the
report.
In terms of demand, the survey indicates that somewhere in the region of 5% of
children attending or on waiting lists for Cylchoedd Meithrin are known to have
additional needs, which is at the lowest end of the estimate indicated by the desk
research at 5%-10%. The research therefore estimates that we are still looking at
a minimum of 3,250 children with additional needs over a two-year cohort of
approximately 65,000 pre-school age children across Wales. This is a significant
number of children, and given that successful inclusion of children with additional
needs at the pre-school stage leads to an increased likelihood of inclusion at
primary and secondary school level, training and even employment, investment
at this early stage to support inclusion would seem to be a cost-effective method
of minimising the higher costs involved with lack of inclusion at later stages.
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This research has sought to consult with parents of children with additional needs
via focus groups and the author wishes to thank all those who participated in
North, Mid and South Wales. The honesty and integrity of mostly young parents
who are facing and dealing with the sometimes heartbreaking conditions of their
children were profoundly impressive, and this research benefits from the first-
hand accounts of their experiences in trying to achieve inclusion for their children
at a pre-school setting. Whilst being realistic in their expectations for their
children, nevertheless their insights and suggestions on improvements which can
be made both at strategic and at a local level are invaluable.
Communication between parents and the setting is seen as key to successful
inclusion of a child with additional needs, and although there are examples of
good communication, there is room for improvement and this is addressed in the
Recommendations of this report (Section 7).
Staff have resoundingly confirmed their willingness to attend additional training
and are keen to improve confidence and skills in working with children with
additional needs.
A coherent and consistent funding system would enable more training to take
place which would in turn increase the confidence of staff to work with children
who have additional needs. The positive attitude and dedication of most staff
came through strongly, but again there is a lack of consistency which would
benefit from a mechanism to prove inclusion at any particular setting, with regular
monitoring. Also good quality, trained 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) are
essential to enable children with additional needs to have equal access to play
opportunities in the early years and the difficulties involved with achieving this is
seen as a major barrier to inclusion as detailed in Section 5.4.
An interesting finding in this research, and a cause for some concern, is the
reported pressure by health professionals and others on Welsh-speaking parents
of children with additional needs to send their children to English-medium
provision to provide language consistency, as there is little or no provision of
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specialisms such as Speech and Language Therapy through the medium of
Welsh in some areas.
A child’s right to play should not be affected by family, geographic or bureaucratic
considerations. The complexity of support arrangements and mechanisms, as
well as inflexibility in the system and inconsistency in Local Authority prioritisation
of their Equality duty in the field of children with additional needs in the early
years is a major theme in this report, and points to a lack of strategic coherence
on a Welsh national level. This is evidenced by the Referral Schemes which at
the moment receive funding from a variety of different sources such as Flying
Start, Social Services, Health Trusts etc, all with their own criteria. The Referral
Schemes in the main provide excellent support with often scarce resources, but
would benefit greatly from having a reliable and simpler source of funding and a
consistent organisational model across Wales.
Given that achieving successful inclusion in early years settings increases the
likelihood of inclusion at later stages in primary school, secondary school, training
and employment, there is an urgent need to address the inequality currently
being experienced by the families of over 3,500 children in Wales and the
recommendations in section 7 set out the necessary actions if this is to be
realized.
IFAN’S STORY
Ifan’s mum, Leanne, had noticed by the time that he was a year old that Ifan was slow in
sitting and walking, but at the time thought that his muscles had just not developed
enough yet. He had been born with an extra thumb and at fourteen months, had an
operation to have this removed as it was stopping him from gripping properly. During the
physiotherapy after the operation, the physio noticed that he was not walking and
referred him to a consultant who diagnosed Cerebral Palsy. He has recently been further
diagnosed with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy
Ifan then received physiotherapy to address the problems caused by his condition and
when he started at Cylch Meithrin, his physio visited regularly and gave him a
programme to follow.
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‘The staff at the Cylch have been fantastic’ says Leanne. The Cylch Leader in particular
noticed that I was nervous about leaving Ifan at the Cylch, and told me to come and talk
to them at any time and to let them know if there was anything I or Ifan needed. After
about a week I was totally relaxed about Ifan going to Cylch’.
As Ifan’s speech is also delayed, he received speech therapy. This was originally in
English but as the family are Welsh-speaking they asked for Welsh language speech
therapy to provide consistency for Ifan, and this was then provided.
Ifan was given a 1-1 Support Worker (Helping Hands) at the Cylch which was funded for
four days per week, so Ifan was able to attend equally with the other children (apart from
one day when he goes to the hydrotherapy pool). The 1-1 Support Worker (Helping
Hands) is great according to Leanne, ‘’sitting with Ifan at the beginning but gradually
standing back more and allowing Ifan to do things for himself and join in the activities
with the other children’’.
Ifan now attends primary school and Leanne says that the fact that he had such a good
experience at the Cylch Meithrin ensured that Ifan’s transition to school was smooth,
with no separation anxiety for Ifan or Leanne. He knows many of the other children at
school as they were at the Cylch with him, and they know him and accept him and even
help out, as do their parents. Ifan has settled in well at school and his speech in
particular is now developing quickly. The family are however anxious that when Ifan has
to go through the assessment for statementing at school, that he will continue to receive
the level of support that he has experienced during his pre-school education.
Names have been changed to protect confidentiality
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7. Recommendations
Based on the findings of this report the following indicative recommendations are
made, to be discussed and developed in detail by the relevant organisations.
7.1 Strategic/National
Recommendation 1
Strategic Direction
Inclusion in the early years for children with additional needs given strategic priority at
Welsh Government level in order to provide simplicity and consistency to the funding and
support mechanisms across Wales, and above all to ensure equality of opportunity to
children with additional needs to access and experience inclusion in early years settings.
Recommendation 2
Referral Schemes
Referral Schemes to be given strategic priority (see 1 above), a consistent organisational
model across Wales, and adequately funded in order to provide a consistent and
comprehensive service and to improve the capacity of Coordinators to support the need.
Recommendation 3
Funding
Adequate funding to support equality of opportunity for early years children with
additional needs to attend pre-school settings, with flexibility in the funding system to
allow parents to access settings appropriate for their child’s condition outside the
designated area, and recognising the additional expenditure incurred by families of
children with additional needs. Funding should follow the needs of the child and not the
constraints of geography or parental circumstances.
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Recommendation 4
Proving Inclusion
All settings to have to prove inclusion of children with additional needs via the inspection
and regulatory systems e.g. Estyn (Inspectorate for Education and Training in
Wales).and CSSIW (Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales).
Recommendation 5
Early Support Website
Raise awareness of the resources available on the Early Support website ensuring
increased use.
7.2 Local
Recommendation 6
Referral Scheme Co-ordinators
Availability of well resourced Referral Scheme Co-ordinators with the capacity to meet
demand and to ensure inclusion in each area.
Recommendation 7
Improve staff-parents communication
7.1 A Home – Setting Link Book
This would begin with completing relevant sections about the child by the parents when
the child first joins the setting. This would include information regarding the child’s
condition, advice from the parent about techniques that work with the child etc.
Subsequently the setting practitioners and the parents would complete a weekly diary of
the child’s activities/development/behaviour/any incidents etc in the Link Book which
could be shared. This would lead to better sharing of information and improved
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communication. There are many good examples of this which could be emulated in other
areas.
7.2. Appropriate targets should be set for children with additional needs in their
Individual Education Plan/Individual Play Plan taking into account their stage of
development. This vital information regarding the child’s progress should be shared
during the transition process to the Primary School.
Recommendation 8
Practitioner Training
Reactive training to take place at a time not clashing with setting hours. Training in
general inclusion (which involves facilitating communication with and between parents),
training and information about specific conditions and visits to other settings, specialist
schools or shadowing other practitioners at other settings.
Recommendation 9
Practitioner Mentors
Use of experienced and trained Mentors in a local/county area who are working in early
years settings with children with additional needs to support other setting practitioners
who are less experienced. Area Mentors to go to settings as necessary to support
practitioners with information, best practice regarding inclusion and practical and
relevant methods to use with the child with additional needs.
Recommendation 10
Inclusion Checklist
An Inclusion Checklist, including self-audit activities, to be used at every setting. This
can be used by the setting practitioners to prove inclusion. This should be monitored
regularly.
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Recommendation 11
Networking
Regular facilitated meetings for setting practitioners to review progress, share good
practice and discuss concerns – at local/county level
Recommendation 12
Online Information Tool
Use of Online Resource Centres in order to share good practice and information.
Recommendation 13
1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands)
A trained pool of 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands) covering a wider area.
Consistent training monitoring and assessment of 1-1 Support Workers (Helping Hands).
Recommendation 14
Pool of Resources
A central pool of specialist toys, equipment and other resources in each area for children
with additional needs – free to loan basis. This could either be organised by the Referral
Scheme Co-ordinators or by the Umbrella Organisations involved e.g. Mudiad Meithrin,
Wales PPA, NCMA Cymru etc
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8. References
Action for Children (no date) Deprivation and risk: the case for early intervention (London: Action for Children) available at http://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/uploads/media/36/9432.pdf accessed 11 March 2011 Alison John Associates (2008) Disability Discrimination Act: Introduction available at http://alisonjohn.com/introductionToDDA.html accessed 27 April 2011 Baron-Cohen, S., Allen, J., and Gillberg, C. (1992) “Can autism be detected at 18 months? The needle, the haystack, and the CHAT”, British Journal of Psychiatry,161, 839-843 Baron-Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Cox. A., Baird, G., Charman, A., Swettenham, J., Drew, A., and Doehring, P. (2000) “The early identification of autism: The Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT)”, Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine,Vol. 93, 521-525 available at http://www.autismresearchcentre.com/docs/papers/2000_BCetal_CHAT.pdf accessed 17 March 2011 Bevan Foundation (2010) Fair Play for Disabled Children and Young People in Wales (Ebbw Vale: the Bevan Foundation) available at http://www.bevanfoundation.org/resources/Fair+Play+Summary+E.pdf accessed 11 March 2011 Beyer, J. and Gammeloft, L. (2000) Autism and Play (London: Jessica Kingsley) Brewis, L., Hewitt, C. and James, J. (2006) Inclusion Checklist: Thinking through the process of including children with cerebral palsy into early years settings for 3–5’s (London: Scope) Caerphilly Children and Young People’s Partnership (2008) Caerphilly Children and Young People's Plan 2008-2011 (Caerphilly: Caerphilly Borough Council) available at http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/pdf/Education_learning/children-and-young-
peoples-plan-2008-11.pdf accessed 16 March 2011 Caerphilly Children and Young People’s Partnership (2011) Draft Caerphilly Children and Young People's Plan 2011-2014 (Caerphilly: Caerphilly Borough
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Council) available at http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/pdf/Education_Learning/cypp_2011_14(draft).pdf accessed 17 March 2011 Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE) (no date) “CSIE's Inclusion Charter relaunched” http://inclusion.uwe.ac.uk accessed 17 March 2011 Children’s Commissioner for Wales (2008) A Happy Talent: Disabled children and young people’s access to play in Wales 2007: a review of local authority strategies (Swansea: Children’s Commissioner for Wales) available at http://www.childcomwales.org.uk/uploads/publications/54.pdf accessed 11 March 2011 Cumine, V., Leach, J. and Stevenson, G. (2000) Autism in the Early Years (London: David Fulton) Disabled Children Matter Wales (No Date) Reading List Disabled Children Matter Wales (2008a) Funding Proposal: Referral Schemes in Wales unpublished paper Disabled Children Matter Wales (2008b) Access to play, leisure, sporting and cultural activities: Task Group paper Disabled Children Matter Wales (2009) “Equal Access to Early Years Childcare Provision for Disabled Children”, unpublished paper, produced for Rights into Action for Disabled Children and Young People Task Group Geraghty, T. and Sinclair, R. (2007a) The daycare needs of disabled young children in Northern Ireland (London: National Children’s Bureau) Geraghty, T. and Sinclair, R. (2007b) The daycare needs of disabled young children in Northern Ireland: Research Summary (London: National Children’s Bureau) Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations (no date) How Can We Help You Play? (Newport: Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations) available at http://www.gavowales.org.uk/Children_and_Families/Play/Report%20-
%20English%20Version.pdf accessed 11 March 2011
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Hornby, G., Atkinson, M. and Howard, J. (1997) Controversial Issues in Special Education (London: David Fulton) Local Government Association (2008) Making the free early years entitlement work: Good practice case studies of partnership working (London: Local Government Association and National Day Nurseries Association) Miller, Frederick A. and Katz, Judith H. 2002. The Inclusion Breakthrough: Unleashing the Real Power of Diversity. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers Mortimer, H. (2000) Playladders (Lichfield, Q.Ed) on sale at http://www.qed.uk.com/nurseries_and_early_years.htm#Playladders accessed 17 March 2011 Mortimer, H. (2001) Special Needs and Early Years Provision (London: Continuum) Nash, Susie (2010) “Research: What’s going on in Wales?” in Llais, No.97, pp.14-15 National Centre for Social Research (2011) Take-up of formal childcare is high, but disadvantaged families are still missing out (London: National Centre for Social Research) available at http://www.scotcen.org.uk/media/686114/nc438_findings-
childcare%20challenge%20web.pdf accessed 27 April 2011 National Childminding Association (2004) NCMA’s Quality Standards: A workbook for childminders (Bromley: National Childminding Association) National Childminding Association (2009) Childcare for Disabled Children and Young People: research for NCMA Wales (Bromley: National Childminding Association) available at http://www.ncma.org.uk/news_and_events/news/july_to_december_2009/care_for_disabled_children.aspx accessed 11 March 2011-03-11 National Children’s Bureau (No Date) Participation and Belonging in Early Years Settings - Inclusion: Working towards equality (London: National Children’s Bureau and Early Childhood Forum) NDCS (2009) Early Years Childcare Provision for Disabled Children
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Niergarth, L. M. and Winterman, K. G. (2010) “Out of Home Care for Infants and Toddlers with Medical Handicaps”, in International Journal of Applied Educational Studies, Vol. 9, No.1, pp.41-51 PlayWales (no date) “Overview of Regional Infrastructure Projects” available at http://www.playwales.org.uk/page.asp?id=466 accessed 17 March 2011 - a useful resource for organisation at the public service level for Wales PlayWales (2007) “Inclusive Play and Disability” available at http://www.playwales.org.uk/downloaddoc.asp?id=233&page=256&skin=0 accessed 22 March 2011 Schopler, E., Reichler, R.J., DeVellis, R.F. and Daly, K. (1980) "Toward objective classification of childhood autism: Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS)"in Journal of Autism Development Disorders Vol.10, No.1, pp.91–103 Scope (no date) Liverpool City Council Children’s Centres (London: Scope) Scope (2010) Moving Up (London: Scope) Wall, Kate (2003) Special Needs and Early Years: A Practitioner’s Guide (London: Sage) Wall, Kate (2004) Autism and Early Years Practice: A Guide for Early Years Professionals, Teachers and Parents (London: Sage) Wall, Kate (2007) Education and Care for Adolescents and Adults with Autism: A Guide for Professionals and Carers (London: Sage) Welsh Assembly Government (2004) Children and Young People: Rights to Action (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government) available at http://wales.gov.uk/topics/childrenyoungpeople/publications/rightstoaction/?lang=en
Welsh Assembly Government (2006) Play Policy Implementation Plan (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government) available at http://wales.gov.uk/dcells/publications/policy_strategy_and_planning/early-
wales/playpolicy/implementationplane.pdf?lang=en accessed 17 March 2011 Welsh Assembly Government (2007). Foundation Phase National Training Pack Module 5 Handbook - Additional Learning Needs. Play Learn Grow Foundation Phase 3-7 (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government)
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Welsh Assembly Government (2008a) Children and Young People's Well-being Monitor for Wales (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government) available at http://wales.gov.uk/about/aboutresearch/social/ocsropage/2008monitor?lang=en accessed 17 March 2011 Welsh Assembly Government (2008b) Play/Active Learning Overview for 3 to 7-year-olds (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government) available at http://new.wales.gov.uk/dcells/publications/policy_strategy_and_planning/early-wales/whatisfoundation/foundationphase/playactivelearning/playactivee.pdf?lang=en
accessed 17 March 2011 Welsh Assembly Government (2010) Early Support Multiagency Planning and Improvement Tool: Background mapping document (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government) available at http://www.earlysupportwales.org.uk/materials/ma-materials accessed 17 May 2011 Welsh Assembly Government (2011) Early Support in Wales (Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government) is the website of Early Support in Wales and can be found at http://www.earlysupportwales.org.uk/ accessed 17 May 2011 Resources cited in PlayWales (2007) above: Children's Commissioner's Office in Wales adopted play as one of its themes for 2007 and is focussing attention on inclusive play. Find out more at http://www.childcom.org.uk Children’s Play Information Service (2006) Inclusive Play Factsheet Douch, P (2006) The Busker’s Guide to Inclusion. Eastleigh: Common Threads Children and Families Directorate, Welsh Assembly Government (2004) National Service Framework for Children in Wales. Cardiff: Welsh Assembly Government http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/home.cfm?OrgID=441 Contact a Family (2002) Everybody Here? Play and leisure for disabled children and young people. London: Contact a Family available at http://www.cafamily.org.uk/leisure.pdf Department for Education and Skills and Disability Rights Commission (2006) Implementing the DDA in Schools and Early Years Settings. London: DfES Douch, P (2006) It Doesn’t Just happen – Inclusive Management for Inclusive Play. London: Kids. Ward, F, Elliott, C and Day, C (2004) I Want to Play Too. London: Barnardos
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Dunn, K, Moore, M and Murrary, P (2003) Developing Accessible Play Space. A good practice guide. London: Office of the Deputy Prime Minister John, A and Wheway, R (2004) Can Play, Will Play: disabled children and access to outdoor playgrounds. London: National Playing Fields Association Kids (2004) All of Us - inclusion checklist for settings. London: Kids http://www.kids.org.uk Kids (2006) Planning for Inclusion - making your play strategy inclusive. London: Kids http://www.kids.org.uk Lenehan, C, Morrison, J and Stanley, J (2004) The Dignity of Risk: A practical handbook for professionals working with disabled children and their families. London: National Children’s Bureau The Playwork Principles can be found at http://www.playwales.org.uk Welsh Assembly Government (2002) Play Policy Welsh Assembly Government (2006) Play Policy Implementation Plan http://www.learning.wales.gov.uk/pdfs/play-policyimplementation-plan-e.pdf
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APPENDICES