Ofsted highlights outstanding work with disabled children

Called Children in Need in Childcare, the report aims to provide useful advice to childcare providers on improving the way they support children with special needs.

The experiences of 25 childcare settings, which have all been judged as good or outstanding by Ofsted, were looked at for the report.

Common themes to emerge were ensuring providers worked closely with parents. One private nursery gave staff a pocket-sized card to show to parents detailing key events of their child's day.

Giving over space to therapists was another common theme, with one pre-school group staging a regular therapy session for children with speech and language problems.

Providers in the report also had a strong focus on self-evaluation and looking to improve access and support for children with disabilities. Flexibility by management to swiftly make changes, such as making more space available for wheelchairs, was another common theme to emerge.

Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert said: "This report shows how the best childcarers are giving children in need a vital step-up in life and the best opportunities to learn and develop. It is important other childcarers learn from these examples of best practice."

Five childminders were among those childcare providers looked at for the report.

Andrew Fletcher, joint chief executive of the National Childminding Association, said: "I hope this important report will illustrate to local authorities the benefits of investing in specialist childminders and childminding networks to help disabled children and their families."