Nurseries in Lincolnshire and Rutland will benefit from a £5 million investment in special educational needs training, aimed at addressing the growing demand for specialist support in early years education.
The funding, provided by Lincolnshire County Council and the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, will deliver a new Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCO) Skills Bootcamp. Early years provider Realise will run the programme, which opens in 2025/26.
The training is designed for nursery staff qualified to level three or higher and focuses on giving practitioners the tools to identify and support children with a range of needs. It will cover strategies tailored to individual children and guidance on navigating referral processes for specialist services.
Most of the costs are being covered by the council and LEP. Smaller nurseries with fewer than 250 staff will only contribute 10% of the fee, while larger providers will pay 30%.
Realise expects at least 20 nursery staff across the two counties to complete the programme, with the aim of increasing the number of skilled SENCOs available to support children at the earliest stage of their education.
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