The Additional Support Needs (ASN) Outreach Service consists of experienced staff working in a range of teams, to support children and young people with additional support needs. One of these teams is the Complex Needs Early Years (CNEY) Team.
CNEY teachers: Andy Lang, Margaret Ross, Colette Steven, Joanne Stuart, Katie Graham
CNEY Support for Learning Assistant: Lisa Currie
The Complex Needs Early Years Team
The CNEY Outreach team work as part of a multi-agency team around the child, supporting young children who have a high level of complex needs.
The team consists of teachers, senior early childhood educators (SECE) and a support for learning assistant (SLA) providing educational support to children from birth to the start of their primary education. An ASN Co-ordinator manages the work of the team and may be contacted for further information or any complex needs early years discussion.
Who do the Complex Needs Early Years Team work with?
The CNEY team will give support to children from birth to primary one, who are experiencing learning difficulties which impacts on their educational development.
These are often associated with the following:
• Motor difficulties
• Diagnosed conditions e.g. Autism
• Communication and language difficulties
Requests can be made for support from the CNEY team, if appropriate, following discussion with the team around the child or through referral from Educational Psychologists/Allied Health Professionals. The decision to request support can be made at a Staged Intervention meeting. If the request is agreed, a Complex
Needs Early Years teacher will join the existing team around the child in planning appropriate support.
The CNEY team work together with:
• Families
• Colleagues in early years’ establishments and primary schools.
• Educational Psychologists
• Speech and Language therapists
• Occupational Therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Health visitors
• Other ASN Outreach Service teams
What will the Complex Needs Early Years Team do?
• Support parents, carers and early years educational establishments through consultation, advice and direct teaching.
• Participate with a number of other agencies in the planning and implementation of provision.
• Visit children in various educational settings to support their learning.
• Provide a home visiting teaching service (if appropriate).
• Provide ongoing assessment and intervention.
• Develop teaching materials to promote learning in an appropriate context.
What might support from the Complex Needs Early Years Team look like?
The support planned might involve the team in a variety of different ways, which may include:
• Working with parents on home-visits
• Consulting and working with staff in early years establishments
• Developing strategies and approaches for home and school
• Working with children in a small group or 1:1, often using play-based
activities to promote learning and development
• Liaising with other agencies to develop appropriate support packages.
• Offering training, in working with children with additional support needs, to
early years establishments
• Attending meetings and contributing to Individual Educational Plans (IEPs) as necessary
• Supporting early years establishments with ASN processes and paperwork
• Running small group sessions to support the early development of motor skills, social skills, communication and other skills for learning.
• Consulting with children on their learning and their needs for support.
