What do to first 

There are many things that families and settings can do to support your child’s development in all areas before referring to our targeted and specialist services.

Tamside’s Local offer is available to all families and professionals as a single place of access for advice, support and services for children aged 0-25 with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). 

For families and settings in Glossop, The Derbyshire local offer is also available for advice, support and signposting for childen with SEND 

Guidance for families and caregivers 

If your child is under 5 and you are worried about your  child’s development, you will be able to talk to your child’s health visitor. The health visiting teams are located throughout Tameside. You can find out more about the Health visiting team by checking out the Health Visiting Page here. For families in Glossop, Health Visiting services can be found here 

Children at school entry age can also contact the School Nursing Service. Parents and caregivers can also speak to their child’s GP  

If your child is in a setting or school, you can speak with the schools SENDCo (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Co-Ordinator) and discuss your worries or concerns  

Guidance for Settings including Early years Setting and schools  

If you are a setting and concerned about a child’s development, there are lots of resources available to start supporting the child. Schools can access the Tameside Local offer and support children using The Thrive Document.  These resources outline the local Authority’s graduated response to SEND and has been developed by Educational Psychologists in collaboration with settings, schools and services across Tameside.  

The Language and Communcation Standard  

All Early years settings in Tameside now have access to the Language and Communication  Standard.  

The goal of the standard is to create a baseline for all early years provisions to meet the needs of all children especially those with Speech, Language and Communication Needs and has been created in line with the graduated response. 

The 5 steps of the Standard will ensure that all Early Years Settings are trained and able to deliver early language enrichment activities. It will also give all Early Years settings a way of accessing support before referring to specialist speech and language services. All Early Years settings will need to show that they have followed the Standard using the evidence sheet below before a referral will be accepted.  

As part of the Standard, settings may need to refer to our locally offered Communication Groups