Developing Local Provision (DLP) in Early Years settings and schools
The Developing Local Provision (DLP) initiative, already in primary and secondary schools across the city, is now being extended to Early Years settings. Below, Dwayne Burke (Senior Inclusion Manager, Birmingham City Council Early Years and Childcare Inclusion Team) provides an overview of the initiative and approach.
The Developing Local Provision (DLP) initiative is based on Birmingham’s new SEND strategy which aims to:
Enhance the capacity of Early Years settings and mainstream schools to work together to provide for children in their local area and to plan the provision that they need
Enable more children to access high-quality provision as close as possible to where they live
Reduce reliance on high-cost specialist placements in out of city schools
Birmingham is a large authority recognising that there needs to be a range of provision, intervention and resource allocation based on the needs of district areas. In order to meet the needs of each individual child and to ensure equality of opportunity Birmingham values the district approach to SEND.
Birmingham celebrates inclusion and solution-based approaches to education, acknowledging Early Years as the starting point. Collaborative working between Early Years settings and schools embraces this ethos.
The ‘DLP’ recognises that schools and settings are stronger together when they can better understand their context and therefore their priorities. This work will further empower schools and settings to achieve solutions with support and resources.
What does this mean for Early Years settings?
The DLP initiative includes funding that is available to achieve the commitment outlined above. The Early Years DLP initiative will be delivered through the 10 District Early Years Networks as follows:
The Early Years District Steering Groups will determine the need of the district in relation to SEND, which will be informed by district-level data
The District leads will form a subgroup of steering group members to include EYC’s and setting SENCo’s (where possible)
Each district will develop a proposal to fund local inclusive arrangements and improve the skills and knowledge of the workforce in meeting the needs of children with SEND
There will be strategic governance that will oversee the arrangements and provide guidance and challenge to district groups
Parental engagement will be embedded within the arrangements
The long-term aim is to establish good quality local provision that successfully meets the needs of individual children, supporting them in their Early Year’s journey through to their chosen mainstream school where their needs will continue to be met well and achieving the following:
Meeting the needs of more children with SEND and their families through increased availability and effective use of resources
Greater inclusion and higher achievement of children with SEND in high-quality Early Years settings
Strengthened practice and innovative provision developed through partnership working and collaboration, using evidence-based and research-led approaches and strategies
A reduction in eligible children not taking up their Early Education Entitlement (EEE) place and those attending specialist provision
The next steps:
Over the next few weeks, we will be sharing more details about how you can get involved in the Early Years DLP initiative within your district. Keep an eye out for updates on the Birmingham Early Years Network Website (this website!) and via the Early Years Service updates that are emailed directly to providers from the Birmingham Early Years and Childcare Team.