After nearly 30 years in education, I have come to a simple conclusion: many of the challenges we associate with later childhood – anxiety, disengagement, behaviour, fractured relationships with school, and a reduced sense of belonging – often begin much earlier than we realise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the early years, these challenges may already be visible, but they do not always look the same. They may present as the child who cannot sit still, the child who lashes out when routines change, the child who runs, hides, refuses, withdraws, struggles to join the group, or whose attendance begins to decline because the relationship between home, setting and child has started to break down. At this point, children can be excluded from the very spaces and relationships that should be helping them to feel included.
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Too often, children are labelled \u2018difficult\u2019 long before they are properly understood. As a teacher, Headteacher, founder and lead consultant of the Nursery Inclusion Project for All (NIPA), I have become increasingly convinced that one of the most important questions we can ask is not, \u2018How do we manage this behaviour?\u2019 but, \u2018What is this child trying to tell us?\u2019
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For many children, behaviour is communication. It may be the first visible sign of an unmet speech and language need, a sensory need, a social communication difference, developmental delay or emerging SEND. If we only manage the behaviour, we risk missing
the child behind it. This is why early intervention matters. Children should not have to fail before they are helped, families should not have to fight before they are heard, and schools should not have to wait for crisis before support arrives.
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This belief sits at the heart of NIPA, a multi-disciplinary early intervention model designed to identify and support children with emerging SEND and SEMH needs at the earliest possible stage.
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NIPA began with a simple but powerful question: what would happen if specialist support came earlier, sat closer to the child, and worked alongside the adults who know them best?
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Over the past seven years, NIPA has evolved from a single locality pilot into a borough-wide initiative working across 18 early years settings and supporting more than 100 children each year. Eighty-three percent met or partially met their communication and language targets, and seventy-nine percent met or partially met their personal, social and emotional development targets. Over the past five years, we have also tracked children beyond the programme through to Year 2, looking at EHCP outcomes, Early Years Foundation Stage Profile data, Good Level of Development and phonics outcomes. This has helped us understand not only what changes in the moment, but what early support can make possible over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet the real impact is not only found in the percentages. It is found in the child who can now join the group, the parent who finally feels believed, the practitioner who sees need where they once saw defiance, and the setting that feels equipped rather than overwhelmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lesson is clear: when we get it right early, we improve outcomes and change
trajectories.
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In my wider work supporting schools around behaviour, attendance, SEMH and exclusion, I have seen how many later concerns are rooted in needs that were visible much earlier. The signs were often there in nursery or reception, but the support was not always close enough, early enough or joined-up enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These themes were powerfully explored through the Creating Inclusive Pathways event, which brought together educators, leaders, practitioners and organisations committed to strengthening inclusion across the education system. A recurring theme throughout the
discussions was the intersection between behaviour and SEND, and the need to move beyond viewing behaviour in isolation. Instead, we must develop a deeper understanding of the factors that influence how children communicate, regulate emotions and engage with learning. Events such as these are important because they create opportunities to challenge assumptions, share effective practice and continue shaping a more inclusive approach to policy and provision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unmet SEND needs are too often misread as behaviour problems. A child with limited language may hit because they cannot explain. A child with sensory needs may run because the classroom feels overwhelming. A child with social communication differences may appear rude, resistant or withdrawn. A child who cannot manage transition may be seen as non-compliant, when in fact they are anxious, overloaded or unable to process what is happening around them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When adults understand the need beneath the behaviour, the response changes. We move from sanction to support, from frustration to curiosity, and from asking \u2018How do we stop this?\u2019 to asking \u2018What is this child trying to tell us?\u2019
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That shift is transformational. It does not remove the need for boundaries, routines or high expectations; inclusive practice is not about lowering the bar. It is about removing barriers so children can reach it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Through NIPA, we have seen that powerful change happens when settings, families and specialists work together around the child, not in separate conversations, not through delayed reports, and not only after escalation, but early, collaboratively and with shared
responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For leaders, this means creating cultures where staff feel confident to ask better questions about behaviour. For teachers, it means noticing patterns, listening to families and adapting provision before needs escalate. For families, it means being treated as partners, not problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the wider system, it means recognising that waiting is not neutral. Delay has consequences. Every missed opportunity for early support risks a child becoming further misunderstood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we are serious about inclusion, we must stop seeing early intervention as optional. It is central to improving behaviour, reducing exclusion, strengthening attendance, building belonging and improving long-term outcomes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While early intervention begins in the early years, it cannot end there. This is why the work of organisations like PGS-Educators is so important in supporting pupils at key transition points, particularly in Years 5 and 6, where emerging needs can become more pronounced and the move to secondary education can present additional challenges. Targeted intervention during these years helps strengthen resilience, develop self-regulation, build positive relationships and ensure that vulnerable pupils do not fall through the gaps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Getting it right early is not only an early years priority. It is a whole-system responsibility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because the child who is understood early is far less likely to be excluded later, and the child who belongs early is far more likely to thrive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After nearly 30 years in education, I have come to a simple conclusion: many of the challenges we associate with later childhood – anxiety, disengagement, behaviour, fractured relationships with school, and a reduced sense of belonging – often begin much earlier than we realise. In the early years, these challenges may already be visible, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":2078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[64,58,20,22,23,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belonging","category-continued-professional-development","category-early-intervention","category-primary-education","category-send-inclusion","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n