The Flying Start Inclusion Team
The Flying Start service has a dedicated Inclusion Team to help families whose children may have additional or emerging needs. Our aim is to make sure every child can access their childcare entitlement and get the right support.
The Inclusion Team can:
- Support childcare settings with training, advice, and guidance so they can meet the needs of all children in their care.
- Visit families at home to talk through your child’s needs and plan together before they start childcare.
- Work closely with childcare staff to identify any additional needs early and make sure the right support is in place.
- Help create an Individual Development Plan (IDP) if your child has been identified as having Additional Learning Needs (ALN) that require extra support.
- Provide continuity of support from your child’s very first day in childcare, right through to preparing for nursery and getting ready for school.
Starting Flying Start Childcare
We know that starting childcare is a big step, especially if your child has additional needs. Our Inclusion Team is here to make the transition as smooth and positive as possible for both you and your child.
We will work with you (and any professionals already involved with your child) to gather important information about your child – such as how they like to communicate, what makes them feel safe and happy, and what helps them thrive.
From this, we’ll create a special “All About Me” profile that captures what’s most important about your child. This will be shared with their new setting before they start, so staff understand how best to support your child and give them the very best start in their new setting.
Creating an accessible inclusive environment
All children should be able to be included in their local Flying Start setting. Where children require additional or particular support to meet their needs, care is taken by the setting to identify and implement this both inclusively and sensitively within their current provision. This means that every child, no matter what their barrier to learning or play, will have equal access and the same opportunities to succeed.
The Inclusion Team provides the following services to Flying Start settings:
- Gathering information through a child centred approach to ensure that the child’s needs are planned for to ensure a smooth transition into setting.
- Focusing on the child’s stage of development and their next steps rather than the expectation for a child of that age and offer advice to settings on how to meet a child’s developmental needs.
- Offer guidance and resources to settings to enable them to make reasonable adjustments to the environment and play opportunities to include all children.
- Offer training and advice in inclusive practices to enable settings to meet the needs of children with additional needs so they are valued as individuals and can thrive
Your Child’s Healthcare needs
Some children may have medical or physical needs that require a little extra care while they’re in a childcare setting. If your child needs any healthcare procedures, we’ll make sure everything is carefully planned and supported.
Together with you, the setting staff, and the right health professionals, we’ll create an Individual Healthcare Plan. This plan will outline your child’s needs and the best ways to support them.
The Flying Start Inclusion Team will also work closely with health services to make sure staff receive the right training, advice, and support from medical professionals. This means you can feel confident that your child’s needs are understood and managed safely, so they can take part in childcare just like any other child.
Additional Provision
At Flying Start, most children are fully supported within the setting’s inclusive provision. However, a small number of children with more significant or complex needs may require extra support to help them access the setting successfully.
In these cases, the Local Authority will decide if a child meets the criteria for having an Additional Learning Need (ALN). If so, they may provide additional resources or a tailored support package. This extra help is known as Additional Learning Provision (ALP) and will form part of the child’s Individual Development Plan (IDP).
The Inclusion Team will be there to support you at every stage of the process – from the very first conversations and assessments, through to creating and reviewing plans, and making sure the right support is in place. We’ll work closely with you, your child’s setting, and any professionals involved so you feel supported and informed throughout.
Our aim is always to make sure every child has the opportunity to take part, feel included, and thrive.
