Support and Advice
Index
Early Years
There are a range of services in Wandsworth for families with children under 5. Support is geared towards identifying any emerging special educational needs early on and providing children and their families with the most appropriate support.
15 hours Early education and childcare places (EECP) for 2 year olds
Families with children aged two years old, who meet the eligibility criteria, are entitled to a maximum of 15 hours per week of free early education for 38 weeks per year from the term after their child’s second birthday. This will run until the child is eligible for the three year-old nursery education funding which is the term after their third birthday
30 hours childcare for eligible working families in England available for children aged 9 months to 4 years
Find out more about the 2, 3 and 4 year old funding HERE.
Nursery provision in Wandsworth
Click HERE for the list of nurseries in Wandsworth.
Applying for a Wandsworth primary school
Click the link to find a step by step guide to the process of applying for a reception class place in a Wandsworth primary school.
Support for school readiness
Wandsworth Children’s Centres and Family Hubs
Children’s Centres across the borough provide a welcoming space where children aged 0 – 5 years and their parents/carers can play and learn. They offer spaces to play, opportunities to meet other parents/carers and provide parenting and other workshops such as getting ready for nursery. Information on many of the services in this section can be accessed via Children’s Centres. Go to the website to find one near you.
Enhanced Stay and Play sessions for children with SEND
A smaller, quieter, Stay, Play and Learn group for children, under 5, with a range of emerging needs and those with SEND (special educational needs and disabilities).
Parents and carers attend with their children.
Early Years Inclusion Advisory Service
The Early Years Inclusion Advisory Service works towards enabling children aged 3 months to five years who have additional needs to meet their fullest potential within Early Years Educational settings.
The service works with early years settings to support children with diagnosed and emerging special educational needs, however, they can also support families, particularly those new to the borough, by signposting them to the relevant services.
Portage
Portage Inclusion and Advisory Service is a home-visiting educational service for pre-school children (aged 0-4 years) with special educational needs or a disability.
Portage offers support to parents whose children have a delay in two or more areas of development, one of which is a cognitive delay of approximately 6 months or a diagnosis which is known to affect development. You can find a leaflet with more information here.
NHS CAMHS Under 5's Therapy Service
Wandsworth CAMHS Under 5’s service is a free early intervention service that supports the health, social and emotional development of children under 5. The service is based in Children’s Centres and the community.
You can find a leaflet with more information here
Speech and Language Therapy Early Help Team (Under 3’s)
This service provides advice and support to parents/carers of very young children who are concerned about any aspect of their child’s communication. Any parent, carer or professional can refer a child up to 2 years and 6 months old.
This includes speech sounds, language, attention and listening and play.
The service is based in all of Wandsworth’s Children’s Centres. Follow the link to the website to find out more.
Wandsworth Autism Advisory Service (WAAS)
Wandsworth Autism Advisory Service is a multi-agency team with professionals from education, teaching, SEND, Speech and language therapy, multi therapy team, occupational therapy and psychology service. They offer lots of advice and support for parents and carers of children and young people with autism such as support with transition to reception.
See the WAAS section in Education for links to other resources.
Best Start in Life Parent Hub
Information, advice and support regarding every stage of a child’s early years.
