The Early Years Coordination Team (EYCT) aims to give children aged 0 to 5 with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) access to the right services and identify their needs before they start school.  

If a child needs support from 3 or more of these services, EYCT can help to coordinate their care.  

The team is made up of professionals across different support services including:

  • Community Paediatrics
  • Neuro Developmental Clinic
  • Early Years Inclusion Service which includes:
    • SEND Early Years Keyworker
    • Early Years Area Special Educational Needs Coordinators
  • Educational Psychologists
  • Music Therapy
  • Paediatric Occupational Therapy
  • Paediatric Physiotherapy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Sensory Service Team
  • Support Team for Education in Primary and Secondary (STEPS)  
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder Outreach Team if appropriate 

Who can refer

Any professional can refer a child to EYCT if they:

  • are under 5 years old and live in Royal Greenwich
  • have complex health, developmental or learning difficulties
  • need to be known to 3 or more professional services represented on the team
  • need a joint approach to their care
  • are not attending a mainstream school nursery 

You can only refer a child if you are:

  • an early years settings, including childminders
  • a professional working with a child
  • a voluntary service working with a child

Download the referral form

EYCT and Section 23 editable.docx
DOCX ‐ 86.08 KB

A parent or carer must give their signed consent to the referral. The referral must include:  

  • details of all professionals involved
  • all related reports
  • a summary of the child’s current needs
  • background information
  • the parents’ or carers’ views
  • relevant appendices  

We cannot accept the referral if you do not include enough relevant evidence.  

It can help to include information about how you’ve tried to support the child including:  

  • evidence of targeted short-term support over and above what is provided as part of universal services and as part of the setting’s general practice
  • strategies to support the child and the outcome of this support
  • reviewed and current targets
  • reviewing reports from the early years setting and any other health services
  • Early Years Foundation Stage tracking
  • reviewing risk assessments  

You can post the referral form and any supporting information to the EYCT or email it to oxl-tr.childrenstherapies@nhs.net

Contact the EYCT

Address: 

Early Years Co-ordination Team (EYCT) 
Single Point of Access Team 
Memorial Hospital Shooter’s Hill 
London SE18 3RG 

Telephone: 020 8294 3118

If you’re a health professional, you must send us a Section 23 notification if you think a child is likely to have SEND.  

Find guidance for health professionals if you think a child may have SEND