Early Years - Portage Service

This service is for families with children who have complex additional needs and is a home visiting teaching service based on a portage model for children from birth to 3 years.

We aim to

Help families and children learn together
Provide strategies and targets to support children’s development
Provide ideas for play/teaching activities to support parents/carers in stimulating their child’s development
Support parents/carers in developing their knowledge regarding special educational needs processes and procedures

We do this by

Supporting parents in understanding the developmental and educational needs of their child.
Identifying and understanding behaviours so that appropriate interventions and strategies can be implemented at home, which will promote the child’s individual learning.
Working closely with parents/carers and if appropriate liaise with relevant professionals to ensure a positive outcome for the child.
Planning for a successful transition into both an early years setting and school
Inform parents of the range of educational provision available in Wokingham so that they can make informed choices regarding the appropriate early years settings and schools when considering their child’s need.
Signposting parents to other services and if appropriate make direct referrals to other services
Offer advice on local and statutory processes to support children with complex SEND including the Education Health and Care needs assessment process.

Contact information

Website: SEND Local Offer - support for pre school children
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Contact Name: Christine Broughton
Contact Position: Early Years Inclusion Teacher
Telephone: 07899063372 07899063372
E-mail: christine.broughton@wokingham.gov.uk

Location

Address: Wokingham Borough Council
Shute End
Wokingham
Berks
Postcode: RG40 1BN; View RG40 1BN on a map

Costs and Fee Information

Service/Activity is Free
How is the service funded: Local Authority

Complaints Procedure

Complaints procedure notes

For further information contact our Complaints Team

Call: 0118 974 6620/6350
Email: customerservice@wokingham.gov.uk

Website: Children's services complaints

Accessing this service

Age Ranges

Birth to 3 years

Eligibility Criteria

The Portage service is accessed through Wokingham’s multi-disciplinary Early Years Support Panel. Children are referred into the service by a health professional, Area SENCO or specialist teacher.
The Early Years Support Panel meets monthly in term time, in order to discuss the needs of the children referred and to agree the most appropriate support and intervention to be offered. The criteria it applies to all those referred to the panel is as follows;

The child resides in Wokingham Borough
Referred by health professional, Area SENCO, specialist teacher or sensory consortium
Child is aged between 0-3 years
Child shows signs of a significant need in at least 2 areas of development one of which must be cognition, or a known medical condition or syndrome which impacts on a child’s learning
parents are willing and able to engage with the Portage model of intervention

Referral

Referral required

Referral notes

Referrals via:

Health professional, e.g. Pediatrician, GP, Health Visitor, Physiotherapist, Speech and Language Therapist, Occupational Therapist
Early Years Area SENCO
Early Years Educational Psychologist
Dingley's Promise Staff
SEND Team
Sensory Consortium Service Teachers

Provision For

Supporting people with: Neurological conditions
Sensory Impairment
Autism Spectrum Conditions
Emotional Needs
Visual impairment
Children with Additional Needs
Behavioural
Learning and Communication
Mobility problems
Multi-sensory impairment
Medical
Physical impairment
Other long term conditions
Hearing impairment