Early identification and notification for pre-school children under 5
Health professionals have a legal duty to tell us about any child under compulsory school age who they think may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
This ensures children receive the support they need as early as possible. It is covered under Section 3 of the Children and Families 2014 Act.
On this page you can find information for:
Parents and families
You and your child may have already met many professionals from different health services, such as GPs, health visitors and paediatricians.
A health professional may advise you that your child could need extra support when they start in an early years setting. They will inform us if they think your child's needs could impact them accessing mainstream education without additional support. This is called ‘early identification and notification’.
This early information helps us to plan ahead and make sure the right support is in place for your child.
Who can send a notification
All health professionals can send us a notification, this may be:
- maternity and neonatal staff
- health visitors
- hospital doctors
- nurses
- GPs
- audiologists
- ophthalmologists
- consultants
- therapists (speech therapist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist)
- local paediatricians.
A health professional must inform you if they believe your child may have or is likely to have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
What early identification is used for
Early identification of needs helps us:
- make sure children and young people get the support they need
- understand the future needs of children and young people with SEND
- predict the future number of places needed in our special needs schools and build specialist capacity within mainstream schools.
What happens if a professional notifies us about your child
We will contact you to discuss your child’s needs and offer advice and support.
Professionals
As a health professional, you can complete our online form to let us know of preschool children who have or are likely to have a special educational need and/or disability.
Notify us
What you'll need
You'll need to provide:
- your details: name, job role, employer and contact information
- child’s details: full name, date of birth, gender, legal status and primary address
- parent or carer details: names, addresses, contact information and any accessibility or communication needs
- information about the child’s needs, including medical conditions or pending assessments
- details of any professional services currently supporting the family.
You'll be able to upload supporting documents, such as reports and letters, if you have them.
Send us a notification
To notify us:
- the child must live in Medway
- you must have discussed your concerns with the child’s parents or carers and explained your duty to share this information with the council.
Notify us about a child with early identified needs
What happens after
We’ll send you an email to let you know we have received your notification.
Our team will review the information you have provided and get in touch if we need anything further.