Early years educational psychology

SENCOs working within early years settings should refer to the guidance and information below to support their work with early years children.

What to do when concerns are first identified

When concerns are first identified (universal, high quality teaching and SEN support):

  • The early years practitioner raises concerns with the early years special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCO) in the setting.
  • Discussion takes place with parent carers.
  • Setting staff complete a preliminary assessment as part of the graduated response (assess/plan/do/review cycle) using the early years foundation stage tracker.
  • A targeted learning plan should be developed with practitioners, parent/carers and any specialists that are involved.
    • The plan should contain:
      • specific areas for development
      • the interventions and support to be put in place
      • the expected impact on progress
    • Parents/carers should be involved in planning support and, where appropriate, in reinforcing the provision or contributing to progress at home.
    • The plan should usually be implemented for at least six weeks and then reviewed. At the review, progress should be discussed and any interventions modified if necessary, depending on need and progress.
  • The Teaching and learning toolkit: Ordinarily available provision for SEND 0-25 will be used by practitioners to support quality first teaching.

If the child's progress is appropriate:

  • Setting staff will continue to monitor progress and development using an appropriate tracking tool.

If the child's progress is still of concern:

  • With the agreement of parent carers, setting staff may request involvement from an external specialist(s), such as a specialist teacher and/or a speech and language therapist, for example.
  • The specialist(s) should be able to help identify effective strategies, equipment, programmes or other interventions to enable the child to make progress towards the desired learning and development outcomes.
  • The child's progress and response to interventions in relation to the desired outcomes should be reviewed and any interventions modified if necessary, depending on need and progress.
  • Early years practitioners could attend an EP EY SENCo group consultation meeting for anonymous case discussion utilising the expertise of other EY SENCos facilitated by an EP. 
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Lancashire Educational Psychology Service early years offer

Lancashire Educational Psychology Service early years offer includes:

  • CPD workshops for practitioners and parent carers
  • group consultations
  • providing advice as part of education, health and care assessments

The aim of the offer is to build confident communities around children during their most important years.

Our early years offer is open to all early years settings, including school nurseries, PVI, and integrated preschools.

Reception practitioners are welcome to attend our Wednesday workshops but we ask that only nursery setting SENDCo's attend our group consultations.

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Book a group consultation

Educational psychology early years SENCo group consultations

Educational psychologists (EPs) are taking a preventative approach to working with early years practitioners.

Group consultations are available online for EY settings SENDCos and childminders, focusing on problem-solving and provision (we ask school SENDCos/Reception practitioners not to attend these and instead access your district offer).

Following feedback from EY settings these will now take place online to support accessibility.

Book a place on an early years online group consultation

The purpose of group consultation

EPs work with adults to bring about beneficial change for children. Sometimes that work is carried out indirectly with the adults who know the child best.

Consultation is a way of thinking through any concerns about individual children or groups of children. This can be related to learning, emotions, their experience of their environment etc.

Through consultation, SENDCos and the EP will aim to identify a way of moving forward using solution-orientated frameworks. Strategies and approaches will be created in collaboration utilising all of the expertise in the room to create change based on psychological formulation. Next steps are agreed based upon what will work best for you and the children you are working with.

Consultations are most effective when:

  • Each person contributes to the discussion and values the thoughts and opinions of others in the room.
  • People are open-minded about what can be achieved and concentrate on finding solutions.
  • Confidentiality is maintained.
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Wednesday workshops

Collaborative journeys: reflecting and growing together in early years

Lancashire Educational Psychology Service is hosting a range of free online half-termly events via Microsoft Teams for anyone working in the early years and parent carers to support them on a range of topics that early years settings have previously identified as being areas of interest.

Once delegates sign up to a session, they will receive a handout to read in advance of the workshop, which they will also be able to disseminate to colleagues and parent carers. The workshop will then provide further information, provide opportunities for Q&As and the chance to share good practice. 

To book your place please click the links below:

Wednesday 26 November 2025 9.30 am to 10.30 am - Adult wellbeing

This session will focus on how to prioritise adult wellbeing, explore tools and techniques to support wellbeing and self-care and ways in which to support emotional resilience when caring for little ones.

Book a place: Adult Wellbeing

Wednesday 14th January 2026 9.30 am to 10.30 am - Voices before words: nurturing early communication skills in the early years

A workshop focuses on the fundamentals of communication and pre-verbal skills. We will explore key concepts such as non-verbal cues, gestures, a total communication approach and the role of play in communication development.

Book a place: Voices before words: nurturing early communication skills in the early years

Wednesday 4th March 2026 9.30 am to 10.30 am- Effective early years intervention in supporting autism

We will think about the range of evidence based interventions when supporting children with autism and strategies to foster positive learning experiences 

Book a place: Effective early years intervention in supporting autism.

Wednesday 29th April 2026 9.30 am to 10.30 am - Play matters: enhancing learning through mediation and modelling

This session is designed for those who want to deepen their understanding of the critical role that play has in children’s learning and development. Delegates will explore effective strategies for mediating and modelling play to enhance children’s engagement and learning outcomes.

Book a place: Play matters: enhancing learning through mediation and modelling

Wednesday 24th June 2026 9.30 am to 10.30 am - The power of connection: relational and trauma informed practices in the early years. 

This workshop is designed for those who want to deepen their understanding of how relationships and trauma impact child development and learning. Delegates will explore the principles of relational practice and trauma-informed care, learning how to create safe, nurturing environments that foster trust and emotional security and help children to thrive in your care.

Book a place: The Power of connection: relational and trauma informed practices in the early years.

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Parent carer events

We're also hosting a series of events for all parents/carers with child aged 0-5 in Lancashire.

We ask that practitioners do not attend these parent carer workshops. These are just for parent carers to ensure they have a space to explore, learn and reflect on child development with each other and EPs.