When schools talk about “school readiness”, the conversation often focuses on children arriving able to sit, listen, communicate and cope within a busy classroom environment.
But for some children with SEND, those foundations are not developmental milestones that simply emerge over time. They are skills that need to be carefully nurtured through specialist support, therapeutic understanding and consistent early intervention.
Long before a child walks through the school gates, specialist early years providers are doing the quiet, complex work of helping children learn how to communicate, regulate emotions, build relationships and feel safe enough to learn.
And as needs across the sector become increasingly complex, that work matters more than ever.
Across the country, early years practitioners are supporting growing numbers of children with significant communication difficulties, sensory needs, emotional dysregulation and social anxiety.
Underneath the anxiety was a child who clearly wanted connection
Many children are still awaiting assessment pathways or specialist input. Families are often exhausted, isolated and deeply worried about what the future may hold.
The need to connect
At Springboard Opportunity Group, staff work with young children during the earliest stages of development, helping them build the foundations that make later learning and inclusion possible.
One little girl, referred to here as N, arrived after her parents were signposted by speech and language therapists. She had moderate hearing loss, no spoken language and found group environments overwhelming.
Noise caused distress and she preferred to isolate herself with an adult away from other children. Emotional dysregulation was frequent and intense.
Yet underneath the anxiety was a child who clearly wanted connection.
“She had so much to say but couldn’t,” staff later reflected. “Lots of facial expressions and gestures were used.”
At first, the goals were intentionally small. Not academic targets or formal learning outcomes, but the building blocks that underpin later access to education:
- developing trust with an adult
- engaging in shared play
- learning to communicate wants and needs
- beginning to tolerate turn-taking
- reducing distress
- feeling safe alongside peers
Practitioners used highly responsive strategies tailored to N’s individual profile.
Language was reduced. Instructions were sung rather than spoken as demands. Visual supports and Makaton were embedded consistently. Favourite activities were repeated predictably to build confidence and understanding.
One simple activity, “what’s in the box?”, became a breakthrough moment.
N’s natural curiosity motivated her to engage, copy sounds and gradually begin communicating intentionally. Staff tapped out syllables, paused during nursery rhymes to encourage participation and used objects of reference to support understanding.
To an outside observer, these moments may have looked like ordinary play.
In reality, they were carefully structured therapeutic interactions grounded in specialist knowledge of communication development, sensory processing and emotional regulation.
Progress is not linear
N struggled when peers approached her play. Sharing felt intolerable. Noise could quickly overwhelm her nervous system. At times she screamed, cried or withdrew entirely.
Staff responded not with punishment, but with calm co-regulation, predictable boundaries and emotionally attuned support.
Over time, the changes were remarkable.
Single words emerged, followed by phrases and eventually sentences. Visual choices became verbal requests. Episodes of distress reduced significantly in both frequency and intensity. Most importantly, relationships began to grow.
The child who once avoided peers now has close friendships and engages in imaginative play. The child who could not tolerate group environments can now participate socially with increasing confidence.
By the time N left Springboard, she had made substantial progress across communication, relationships, listening, attention and self-management.
Making sense of a child’s needs
Across the country, Reception teachers are supporting increasing numbers of children arriving at school with complex communication, sensory and emotional needs.
At the same time, many families describe long waits for assessment, uncertainty about where to seek help and growing anxiety about whether their child will cope within a busy school environment.
The early years are a period of enormous neurological development and opportunity
For some parents, specialist early years provision is the first place where they feel truly understood and supported. Alongside helping children develop communication, confidence and emotional security, skilled practitioners are also helping families make sense of their child’s needs, navigate systems and begin to feel hopeful about the future.
Stories like this are not unusual within specialist early years provision.
What is often overlooked, however, is the wider impact this support has not only on children and families, but on schools themselves.
Specialist early years settings are doing vital preparatory work before school entry: helping children develop communication systems, emotional regulation strategies, sensory tolerance, confidence and social understanding.
Transition challenges
For many children with SEND, the transition into school is not simply about adapting to a new environment. It involves navigating communication demands, sensory challenges, group expectations and separation from familiar adults, often while still developing the fundamental skills that make these experiences manageable.
Specialist early years provision helps children begin building those foundations early: the ability to communicate needs, regulate emotions, tolerate shared spaces, form relationships and feel secure enough to engage with the world around them.
This does not “fix” children for school. Rather, it gives children, families and schools a stronger starting point from which inclusive education can grow.
The early years are a period of enormous neurological development and opportunity. Timely support during this stage can alter trajectories not only for children, but for families and schools too.
If we want schools to succeed in meeting increasingly complex need, early years expertise must sit at the heart of SEND reform.
And for many children and families, that support at the very beginning can shape not only how children start school, but how they experience learning, relationships and inclusion long into the future.
*A version of this article was first published in the Summer issue of SENDsational Futures magazine.
