Starting Strong
Starting strong - Kent’s guide to ordinarily available provision for early years
Starting strong for early years children in Kent is a guidance document designed to support all early years providers in developing their Ordinarily Available Provision (OAP).
Ordinarily Available Provision refers to the support and resources that mainstream early years providers are expected to offer to all children, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
The starting strong guidance offers a framework for delivering consistent, high-quality universal practice. It is flexible and can be adapted to reflect each provider’s unique culture, context and the needs of the children and families they support.
This guidance is underpinned by key legislation, including:
- The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
- The SEND Code of Practice.
It is also shaped by Kent’s SEND Strategy and Countywide Approach to Inclusive Education.
Starting strong for Early Years Children in Kent (PDF, 3.1 MB) supporting document.
Starting strong can be used:
- As a practical tool for planning, reflection and continuous improvement
- To evaluate current provision and identify areas for development
- To support professional development and facilitate team discussions.
The Starting Strong Audit Tool (PDF, 334.0 KB) can help providers identify priorities for development and ensure funding is used effectively to maximise outcomes for children. The audit focuses on the foundations that help children build secure relationships, communicate effectively, regulate their emotions, develop independence, and access high-quality learning experiences. It encourages practitioners to consider the experiences of all children, including those with emerging or identified SEND, speech, language and communication needs, sensory differences, and social and emotional needs. This audit tool is intended to be used as a whole-team reflective tool. Effective inclusion is everyone's responsibility, and meaningful improvements are most successful when leaders, practitioners, childminders and support staff work together to evaluate strengths and identify priorities for development. This audit tool can be used in many different ways, and not all sections need to be completed in a particular order or at the same time.
The Starting Strong Resource Guide (PDF, 113.3 KB) provides suggestions intended to support providers in selecting resources that enhance inclusive practice across all areas of learning and development. They are not a prescribed ‘shopping list’, but examples of high-quality universal provision. In line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s guidance, resources alone do not improve outcomes; it is the skilled use of those resources, alongside responsive interactions and effective pedagogy, that has the greatest impact. By making purposeful, well-informed decisions about resourcing, providers can continue to develop enabling environments where every child experiences a genuine sense of belonging, is supported to reach their potential and is able to flourish.
For further information or guidance on starting strong, please contact your Early Years Quality Adviser or Childminding Quality and Sufficiency Adviser.