Early Years Local Offer response

Learning and development

Systems and strategies we have in place to identify children that may require additional support

We pride ourselves in ensuring that our teams of professional and dedicated staff build strong relationships with our families. We employ strong key person systems to support your child in their learning and development. Every child undergoes a settling period with us to ensure we understand their needs whilst in our care and a baseline assessment of their development is conducted after this. These systems enable us to identify where additional help may be required and our close working relationships with our families mean that we are able to work together to plan strategies that support individual needs. We have developed strong relationships with outside agencies to provide further support for individuals with parental consent.

How we identify and support children's learning and development needs

Our settings maintain detailed observations whilst your child is enjoying a wide range of learning opportunities in rich, enabling environments. Each child has a Learning Garden (a book which contains significant moments of your child’s development) which their key person will regularly update and share with you. These observations are used to inform individualised planning, specifically designed to support your child in taking the next steps in their learning and development, according to the EYFS. Our dedicated teams take the time to understand your child and plan to their individual learning style according to the Characteristics of Effective Learning. Whenever additional support is needed our staff adapt your child’s individualised planning to ensure that the right support is on offer at the right time for them and liaise with outside professionals wherever necessary with your consent.

Links we have to other agencies

Our Settings work closely with Local Authority professionals and their Locality Inclusion Teams. Our teams have built strong relationships with a variety of outside agencies such as the Speech and Language Team, Health and Social Care team, the Child Development Centre, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists, and Educational Psychologists.

How we support children transferring to school

We ensure that our parents are supported in understanding the school application process. Our teams endeavour to make every transition for your child as easy as possible. We aim to form good communication with our feeder schools and invite class teachers to visit our school leavers at our nursery setting with parental permission. We provide our ‘school ready’ children with support to ensure that they are well prepared for the next step in their learning and development by liaising with foundation stage teachers as to what they would hope for your child in terms of ‘school readiness’.

Welfare

Specialist skills or training our staff have

Our teams have a variety of skills and training including SENCo Induction Training, Behavioural Management training, Visual support training, Makaton, and Baby Massage. Our teams’ professional development is key to the high level of practice that is expected of us. We ensure that regular training is a priority for our teams and run in-house training to endeavour to keep our practice as up to date as possible and in line with any legislative changes. For more detailed information regarding your nearest Happy Days team’s training please visit our website or contact our Head Office on 0800 783 3431

Support we offer regarding children's health and well-being

All of our settings take pride in their strong relationships with their families and the children who attend. We offer baby massage classes, at many of our settings, that have proven to be a great tool to promote children’s health and wellbeing. Our settings promote healthy eating habits and provide parents with updates on what their child is enjoying eating at their setting. Our newsletters regularly provide parents and carers with up to date information on current events or activity days that are available throughout the local area.

Ways we inform parents about how their child is being supported

At Happy Days we ensure that our communication with our parents and families is a top priority. We believe in a shared approach to your child’s development and learning and welcome feedback and input from our families at all times. All parents receive feedback at every session as to what their child has enjoyed doing with us that day. We provide our parents with written information such as newsletters and information in parent areas to help your understanding of what your child’s time with us looks like, how they access the EYFS and how you can support that development at home. Our settings offer times to have 1:1 meetings with your child’s key person throughout the year to ensure that you are able to be kept up to date with your child’s development and next steps. Our keypersons provide written summative assessments of your child’s learning experience throughout their time with us.

Our complaints policy

We take all complaints extremely seriously and endeavour to resolve any issues with efficiency and care. We follow statutory guidelines and procedures which can be found in our complaints policy within any of our settings.

Access

Alterations we have made to make our building accessible

None required. All our settings already adhere to the strict legal requirements in regard to accessibility.

Facilities we have for personal care

Our settings provide private nappy changing facilities as well as individual toilets for the children in our care. Separate adult toilets are also available including those with disabled toileting needs. The children have access to sleep and cosy areas whenever they feel the need to rest or have some quiet time.

Specialist resources we have

We ensure that the children in our care have access to a wide range of specialist equipment that meets their needs such as sensory resources or visual aids. We endeavour to accommodate any resources that are provided by Health and Social Care teams, Physiotherapists or Occupational therapists.

How we include all children in activities, such as trips

At Happy Days we aim to include all children within any activities we offer. Individual needs will always be considered and discussed with our parents whenever necessary.