Back to school: supporting confident transitions for children with SEND

As families prepare for the start of a new school year, the transition into school is a significant milestone for every child. For children with complex health needs, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and those who may be autistic, this step can require extra planning, timely communication and joined-up support.

The Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) is delighted to publish its newly updated Good Practice Point, Transition to School for Children with Complex Health Needs / Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), to support health visitors in their role of helping children and families prepare for school. This resource highlights that successful transitions are built on partnership working during preparation, transition and follow-up.

Bethany Smith, Acting Deputy Head Teacher and Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo). Glan Llyn Primary School, Newport, South Wales, said:

“Health visitors play a vital role in supporting children and families from birth, making strong communication with schools essential when a child starts school. They bring valuable knowledge of a child’s development, family circumstances, and any additional learning needs (ALN).

“Effective collaboration between health visitors and schools ensures consistency and continuity of support, helping families feel understood and reducing the need to repeat information to multiple agencies. By working together, all professionals can keep the child’s needs at the centre of decision making and provide a smoother, more successful transition into school.”

Bethany Smith, Acting Deputy Head Teacher and Additional Learning Needs Co-ordinator (ALNCo). Glan Llyn Primary School, Newport, South Wales

The health visitor’s role varies on a case-by-case basis and across health visiting service models, so it is essential that health visitors understand their responsibilities for each child to ensure support is appropriate, tailored to individual need and aligned with the wider multi‑agency context.

The need for a timely coordinated approach is clear. More than 1.7 million pupils in England have Special Educational Needs (SEN), and the number of pupils with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) continues to rise. Autistic spectrum disorder is the most common primary need among pupils with an EHCPs, while speech, language and communication needs are the most common for pupils receiving SEN support.

For many families, the year before school entry brings key questions into focus. Although September 2027 may seem a long way off, services will already be preparing and planning for children due to start school then. This Good Practice Point encourages health visitors to begin with positive, strengths‑based conversations that recognise each child’s attributes, build on what helps them thrive, and involve parents fully in decision‑making every step of the way.

Amanda Holland, iHV Professional Education, Learning and Development Lead, and lead facilitator of the iHV Changing Conversations: Autism and Supporting Behaviour Ambassadors Training Programme, commented:

“Health visitors play a vital role in preparing children to be ready for school and supporting the family and child through transition. We are delighted to share this updated GPP, especially as many children will soon begin their school journey. Effective transition for children with complex health needs and SEND begins in the autumn term (September–December) ahead of school entry the following September. This updated GPP aims to support health visitors to work in partnership with families and collaborate across agencies throughout preparation, transition and follow‑up. Health visiting models, roles and responsibilities vary across the UK, however, we all share a commitment to ensuring every child has a successful, well‑supported start to school.”

This back‑to‑school period offers an opportunity to strengthen confidence across the health visiting workforce in supporting children with SEND and their families. Our updated GPP forms part of a suite of resources for iHV members – it is also aligned to iHV’s Changing Conversations: Autism and Supporting Behaviour Ambassadors training – equipping health visitors to support families and children who may have SEND and ensure they feel heard and included during this important period of transition.

Transition to school is a shared, multi-agency responsibility that works best when families are active partners and every professional understands their role. For health visitors, this means using their universal reach, family-centred approach and knowledge of early child development to identify needs early, coordinate support and promote continuity of care.

We encourage health visiting teams to use this newly updated Good Practice Point alongside local pathways and iHV’s Changing Conversations: Autism and Supporting Behaviour Ambassadors training and resources to support thoughtful, timely and inclusive transitions. With the right preparation and partnership, children with SEND and complex health needs can be supported to start school feeling better understood, better planned for, and better able to flourish.

For all iHV members:

Access the new Good Practice Point Transition to School for Children with Complex Health Needs / Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) here

Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only.

The iHV is a self-funding charity – we can only be successful in our mission to strengthen health visiting practice if the health visiting profession and its supporters join us on our journey. We rely on our membership to develop new resources for our members. 

If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.

For anyone wanting to further enhance your knowledge and skills:

Find out more information about the iHV’s Changing Conversations: Autism and Supporting Behaviour Ambassadors Training Programme here

For information about iHV’s Motor Development Training Programme see here

iHV GPPs for Down’s syndrome updated and ‘open access’

Thanks to generous funding from the Leieune Clinic for Children with Down Syndrome, the Institute of Health Visiting has updated, and made ‘open access’, its Good Practice Points (GPP) for health visitors supporting children with Down’s syndrome and their families.

People with Down’s syndrome have a genetic variation. Whilst they share some common features, it must be emphasised they are all individuals with their own abilities, needs, interests and aspirations. Down’s syndrome is not a disease and people who have Down’s syndrome are not ill.

The evidence base of what families with babies and children with Down’s syndrome value from health and related services has increased in recent years and should be acted upon in the design of services including health visiting. In November 2022, the iHV submitted evidence for the Department of Health and Social Care’s Down Syndrome Act 2022 guidance: call for evidence.

Colette Lloyd, Trustee of the Lejeune Clinic for Children with Down Syndrome, says:

“It is so important that all children, including children with Down Syndrome, are given the support they need to live happy and healthy lives from an early age. Therefore, we wanted to ensure that health visitors had access to the latest information on the additional support that children with Down Syndrome benefit from. We are delighted to partner with the Institute of Health Visiting to make these Good Practice Points available to all.”

There are two GPPs in this series:

The iHV developed these resources using co-production methods, with Down’s syndrome charities and parents with lived experience. As part of our scoping, families reported a postcode lottery of support – the quality of the service that they receive, and the skills of the staff that deliver it, really does depend on where they live. These GPPs are designed to address this gap by providing a summary of evidence-based information to support quality improvement in health visiting practice.

Like all children, children with Down’s syndrome are all different and will benefit from early intervention that is personalised to their identified needs. Personalised support should be in place as soon as the early signs are detected – for Down’s syndrome, this is likely to be at the antenatal screening when a ‘high chance’ of Down’s syndrome is detected. All parents are different and will respond to the diagnosis in an individual way. It is therefore extremely important that professionals take their lead from the parents. The Good Practice Points provide guidance in the specific areas of: growth, infant feeding, child development, managing minor illnesses, tailored support, and language/ terminology, as well as signposting to other resources for babies and young children with Down’s syndrome.

Go to GPP – Supporting children with Down’s syndrome and their families

Go to GPP – Supporting children with Down’s syndrome: growth, feeding and development

Updated resources

We are delighted to share 5 updated Parent Tips (providing advice for parents and families) and an updated Good Practice Points resource providing up-to-date evidence and references for our members.

Updated Parent Tips

(advice to share with parents and families)

Updated PT - Childhood Immunisations Part 1

Updated PT - Childhood Immunisations Part 2

Updated PT - Routine baby screening reviews at 6-8 weeks

Updated PT - Supporting breastfeeding for everyone and issues relating to breastfeeding during COVID-19

Updated PT - Coping with a crying baby

Updated GPPs

Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only – do remember to sign in to access them:

Updated GPP - Managing childhood illnesses

Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only.

If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.

So do join us now!

The vital role of health visitors in supporting families with SMA type 1

Health visitors play a vital role in listening to and supporting parents or carers when they have health or developmental concerns about their children. Health visitors also play a vital role in observing and detecting the early signs of complex conditions and disabilities in infants and children.

They are well placed to observe infants who may have Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (SMA Type 1) for example, which, although is a rare condition, is incredibly important to spot early as this improves the outcomes for infants.

We are delighted to launch our new Good Practice Points (GPPs) on SMA Type 1. The aim of this GPP is to support health visitors to recognise the early and important signs and symptoms of SMA, and optimise on all their contacts with young infants and their families. Early recognition is important as it speeds up the diagnosis and treatment which can make a significant and life-changing difference to outcomes and prognosis.

There are 3 very specific symptoms to be aware of in infants and these are:

An infant who cannot raise their head when on their tummy
An infant who has floppy arms and legs
An infant who is not reaching for things.

Health visitors should look out for these signs when reviewing gross motor development in young babies, and refer to a GP for review and referral to a Paediatric Neurologist if an infant presents with any of these specific symptoms. There is more information on SMA Type 1 and the other types of SMA in the GPP.

Go to GPP - Identifying, referring and supporting infants with Spinal Muscular Atrophy – type 1

We are grateful to our authors and funders for writing this GPP to equip health visitors. It originated from the awareness by Paediatric Neurologists of the vital role that health visitors have in early detection of SMA and the difference that their intervention can make to a young infant. We are currently working with our authors and will involve parents in creating a resource for parents and carers on SMA.

Click here for more information about symptoms of SMA Type 1

Calling all health visitors: We invite you to find your inner warrior and share your stories on social media. How have you made a difference to babies, children and families? Support the #TurnOffTheTaps campaign and raise the profile of health visiting so every baby can get the best start in life. Together we are stronger. #InvestInHealthVisiting

Find out more about the #TurnOffTheTaps campaign

Updated resources available

We are delighted to share 5 updated Good Practice Points, providing up-to-date evidence and references for our Associate members, and an updated Parents Tip.

Updated GPPs

Updated GPP – Working with families when a Hearing Loss is Suspected

This GPP outlines the principles of hearing loss and key points for HVs supporting families in suspected hearing loss in their child.

Updated GPP – Working with families when a Hearing Loss is Confirmed

This GPP sets out what health visitors need to know about advising parents who have a child with a confirmed hearing loss.

Updated GPP – Sleep and the older Child

This GPP sets out what health visitors need to know on supporting sleep issues in the older child and the importance of doing a thorough assessment to support families.

Updated GPP – Managing Reflux

This GPP provides up-to date-evidence and references on the signs and symptoms and treatment options for reflux.

Updated: Parent Tips – How to help if your Baby has Reflux

These updated Parent Tips provide tips and advice for parents on reflux.

Go to Parent Tips – How to help if your Baby has Reflux

Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only.

If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.

So do join us now!

More new iHV member resources launched this week

Working in a pandemic has brought many challenges to both families and the health visiting service – but, unsurprisingly, the health visiting service in many areas has risen to these challenges with great professionalism, developing many innovations and workarounds to ensure that children and families receive the support that they need.

But you can’t pour from an empty cup and it is still important for health visitors to have time to reflect and learn during this pandemic which may continue for many weeks. To help you, we are pleased to publish today a bundle of five fabulous Good Practice Points, as well as hold our first virtual online iHV Member Event tomorrow (Thursday) on “COVID-19 in children and managing minor childhood illnesses”.

As a Centre of Excellence, the Institute supports the development of universally high quality health visiting practice so that health visitors can effectively respond to the health needs of all children, families and communities, enabling them to achieve their optimum level of health, thereby reducing health inequalities. To achieve our aim, we are constantly working to improve and develop benefits for our health visitor Associate and Student members, and our Friend members who work closely with health visiting services.

We know through feedback from our membership surveys that our Good Practice Points (GPPs) are the resources most valued by our members. We try to write Good Practice Points that are relevant to health visitors and where there might be gaps currently. We write GPPs with the help of authors that are experts and informative, give the evidence base and enable health visitors to be better equipped in their clinical practice.

Good Practice Points (GPPs) are available for members of the iHV; and Parent Tips (PTs) are available to parents who access our website or via health visitors sharing them – we work with parents to develop our Parent Tips.

New resources

Today, we are pleased to publish a selection of new GPPs to support our members in practice. These are:

GPP - Enhancing maternal recovery following caesarean birth

GPP - Managing Cradle Cap

GPP - Working with parental substance misuse (illicit drugs)

GPP - Atopic eczema in children from birth up to the age of 12 years

GPP - Helping parents and carers manage children’s behaviour

Any new GPP/PT Topics or would you like to be involved?

We would really love to hear from you if you have any specific topics that you think would benefit from having a GPP and/ or PT created, or if you would like to write a GPP or PT, or if you would like to be involved in our peer review process. Peer reviewers look at all GPPs and PTs during our production process and we feed their comments back to the author.

Please contact [email protected] if you would like to find out more about getting involved or with your thoughts and ideas of new GPPs and PTs.

Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only.

If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.

So do join us now!

Updated resources on childhood immunisations during COVID-19

As part of World Immunization Week 2020, our resources on childhood immunisations have been updated with the latest information and advice during the current COVID-19 pandemic – two Parent Tips and one Good Practice Points for Health Visitors.

The two updated Parent Tips:

one providing some basic information on the childhood immunisation programme, explaining how vaccines work, how they are regulated and why it is important to ensure your baby receives all the recommended immunisations
the second, provides answers to “Frequently Asked Questions” and has been written by leading national experts. It covers getting your baby immunised and what to expect, including information on things such as soothing your baby
during and after vaccinations, and what to do if they are poorly on the day of their appointment.

Just to reassure you that despite the current COVID-19 pandemic, it is still recommended that your child receives their vaccines as this protects them against other serious diseases that can still cause them harm.

Parent Tips - Childhood Immunisations 1: An introduction to childhood immunisations

Parent Tips - Childhood Immunisations 2: Frequently Asked Questions

These updated Parent Tips, together with those published last week and yesterday, can be found in our **Parenting Through Coronavirus (COVID-19)** webpage

The Good Practice Points for Health Visitors:

The immunisation programme is a key component of the Healthy Child Programme. It is important for health visitors to be aware of current research and practice to promote immunisation uptake and know where to go for information. Uptake of childhood vaccines in the UK is is generally high, although uptake of the MMR is a concern and the UK lost its ‘measles-free’ status last year. There are also concerns about the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on immunisation uptake.

Go to GPP - Promoting the Uptake of Childhood Immunisations

COVID-19 webpages

For Health Visitors– This updated GPP is available in our GPP resource section of our website and can also be found on our COVID-19 (coronavirus) guidance for health visitors webpage – https://iHV.org.uk/COVID-19
For parents and families– These updated Parent Tips are available in the Families Parent Tips section of our website as well as our Parenting through Coronavirus (COVID-19) webpage – https://iHV.org.uk/ParentingCOVID19

We have waivered our usual restrictions on resources for members and the COVID-19 sections of our website are “free access” to all to support the national response to this pandemic.

New Good Practice Points on Supporting children with Down’s syndrome

The iHV is delighted to share two new Good Practice Points providing up-to-date evidence and references for our members.

Many thanks to our expert parent panel who have offered their advice to health visitors working with families with children with Down’s syndrome in these GPPs.

These two new Good Practice Points were developed in partnership with parents with children with Down’s syndrome who are “experts by experience”: Colette Lloyd, Angie Emrys-Jones and Pippa Cusack; and health visiting advisor Karen Afford. Infant feeding advice was provided by Sarah Edwards from the Breastfeeding Network.

Go to GPP - Supporting children with Down’s syndrome and their families

Go to GPP - Supporting children with Down’s syndrome: growth, feeding and development

Please note that these GPPs are available to iHV members only.

If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.

So do join us now!

Updated Healthy Weight Health Nutrition resources

We are delighted to share updated Good Practice Points and Parent Tips, published in support of our updated Healthy Weight, Healthy Nutrition training programme.

Updated Parent Tips

(advice to share with parents and families)

Updated GPPs

Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only. Electronic versions of these updated Good Practice Points (providing up-to-date evidence and references for our members) are available to our members on the links below – do remember to sign in to access them:

Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only.

If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.

So do join us now!

Updated mental health GPPs for #iHVPIMH19

iHV is delighted to share updated Good Practice Points (providing up-to-date evidence and references for our members) in support of our multi-agency Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Conference taking place tomorrow, Tuesday 10 September in London.

Perinatal and Infant Mental Health: Relationships Matter! Conference is being held in collaboration with the Maternal Mental Health Alliance. If you were not able to get a ticket before they sold out, please do follow the day’s conference proceedings on the hashtag #iHVPIMH19 on Twitter!

Printed copied of these updated Good Practice Points (GPPs) will be available to conference delegate members tomorrow – so do pop along to our Training & Resources stand to pick up your copy.

Electronic versions of these updated documents are available to our members on the links below – do remember to sign in to access them:

Go to GPP - Understanding Mothers’ Mental Health & Wellbeing (updated August 2019)

Go to GPP - Understanding Fathers’ Mental Health & Wellbeing (updated June 2019)

Go to GPP - Engaging with Fathers (updated August 2019)

Go to GPP - Postnatal Psychosis (updated August 2019)

Please note that GPPs are available to iHV members only.

If you’re not a member, please join us to get access to all of our resources.

So do join us now!