What to Expect: Early Years

Community Children's Services - Managing On-Going Health and Development Needs

Early Years SEND Advisory Team

Initial contact is made by the Early Years SEND Advisory Team for all preschool-age children who live in Barnet within 3 weeks from referral, within school term time, and may be longer in holiday periods.

The Early Years SEND Advisory Team provides regular contact for families and visits regularly in the early weeks and months. They are a point of contact for ongoing support and help you liaise with other professionals. Sometimes in the early weeks, it can be very overwhelming, and there are numerous medical appointments. However, as the appointments lessen and things settle, the community team will continue to support you and encourage you to meet other families, particularly through our local Down Syndrome hub at Underhill Children's Centre.

What to expect from the Early Years SEND Advisory Team:

• A comprehensive assessment of need.
• Discussion and information on local services.
• Support and review at key transition stages if required.
• Liaison and referral to other services as needed:
  • Children Centre 0-19 support.
  • Barnet Mencap.
  • Family health visitor.
  • GP.
  • Community paediatricians.
  • Health Visiting and School Nursing (for child transitioning to school).
  • Speech and Language Therapy.
  • Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy.
  • Community Paediatrics.
  • Nutrition & Dietetics.
• Provide families with the new parent pack from Down's Syndrome Association: You and your baby - Down's Syndrome Association.
• Ensure families have this Down Syndrome combined care pathway and have received the Down Syndrome insert for the red book.
• Information and invitation to the DS Hub (the BIG-DS Barnet Integrated Group for Down Syndrome). The DS hub gives families opportunities to meet up and supports their child's developmental needs with early intervention. Families can see a variety of professionals there, who work closely with the Early Years Advisory Team at the hub, e.g. paediatricians, speech therapists and feeding specialists, dentists, physiotherapists and more. The Early Years SEND Advisory Team will give families information about this and together work out when best to access these groups. These groups are held every Wednesday (term time) at Underhill Children's Centre (Mays Lane, London EN5 2LZ. Tel: 0208 349 2423).
• Signposting to additional support services as required, e.g.:
  • Down's Heart Group - Children facing congenital heart surgery.
  • Information Sheets - Down's Heart Group.
  • National Down's Syndrome Association.
  • Barnet Local Offer.
  • Early Years Education Services.
  • Benefits advice:
    • Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children: Overview - GOV.UK.
    • Carer's Allowance: How it works - GOV.UK.

The Early Years SEND Advisory Team will continue to work with families until the child has successfully transitioned into school.

If an older child is referred in, i.e. school-aged and moved from abroad or moved into Barnet, they will not see the Early Years SEND Advisory Team but will have input from community paediatricians and the school nurses, school-based SENCo's and therapists.

Contact Information

Barnet Early Years SEND Advisory Team:

• Address: Early Years Centre, Oakleigh Road North, London N20 0DH.
• Tel: 020 8261 2456 ext 1.
• Email: admin@eysend.barnetmail.net.
• Website: Barnet Early Years SEND Advisory Team.
• Website: Early Years SEND Advisory Team Down Syndrome information.

Early Years SEND Advisory Team Resources

• Oakleigh School - Resources section.
• Pre-School Live - Recordings of our 4 Pre-School Live sessions.
• Parent/Carer Workshops Training - Videos linked to our Early Communication parent/carer workshop.
• Activities for children with Social Communication differences.
• Activities for children with Global Developmental Delay.
• Activities for children with Sensory and Physical needs.

Children's Integrated Therapy (CIT) Services

Physiotherapy, Occupational therapy, Speech and Language therapy and Paediatric Dysphagia teams are all based together and contact information here:

• Address: Whittington Health NHS Trust, 3rd Floor, Westgate House, Edgware Community Hospital, Burnt Oak Broadway, HA8 0AD.
• Tel: 020 3316 8900.
• Email: whh-tr.barnetcit@nhs.net.
• Website: Barnet Children's Integrated Therapies (CIT).

Children's Integrated Care Liaison Officer

• Email: whh-tr.barnetCIT.ciclo@nhs.net.
• Referral information and forms (See Barnet Child Development Team Referral).
• Website: Barnet Children's Integrated Therapies (CIT) (whittington.nhs.uk).

Accessing the Services and Referral Forms

• Accessing CIT.
• Child development service referral information.

All the therapies (physiotherapy, SLT, OT and the dysphagia team) form the Barnet Children's Integrated Therapies.

Community Paediatrics

(See Down Syndrome Checklists according to age).

Community paediatricians routinely review children at the following time intervals:

• 3 months.
• 6 months.
• 12 months.
• Yearly after this until transition to adult services, which takes place once a child has left full-time education.

Additionally, from 14, they also have annual enhanced reviews with their GP.

The hospital paediatrician will also review, as planned, within 3 months at Barnet Hospital, children's outpatients.

Routine reviews can be more frequent if needed.

Contact Details

• Address: Child Health HQ, 3rd Floor, Westgate House, Edgware Community Hospital (EGH), Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware HA8 OAD.
• Tel: 020 7794 0500, followed by extension:
  • Deputy office manager and medical secretary: x26457 or x26382.
  • Audiology secretary and appointments: x82398 (DD: 020 3758 2398).
  • Clinic coordinator: x82420 (DD: 020 3758 2420).
  • Office manager: x26217.
  • Medical and SEN secretary: x26272.