Early Years Local Offer response

Learning and development

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

At Little Acorns we monitor a child progress constantly throughout every session. We monitor them by using observations, photos and the EYFS. If a key person identifies a child needing extra support they would then bring it to the attention of the SENDCO (Special Educational Needs and Disability’s Coordinator) who would then take the relevant action for that child. 

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

 All children coming into the setting are monitored using an ECAT (Every Childs A Talker) monitoring tool which allows speech and language to be split into Four areas; listening and attention, understanding, talking and social communication. Once a child has been identified as needing additional support an Individual learning plan would be created and tailored to the child’s needs, also any referals that may need to be sent to support the child would also be done with the concent from parents. and interests. The Individual learning plan works by Asses-Plan-Do-Review so that there is a continous system in place.

Links we have to other agencies

We work with many outside agencies such as; Physiotherapists, Early Years inclusion workers, Speech and language therapists, Childs psychologists, Teachers for the death and blind, MAKATON trainers. At little acorns we are happy to work with any outside agencies that will benefit and support the childs needs.

How we support children transferring to school

Transitions is staged over the period of six weeks.  For children who would benefit from a social story this could be created to help them settle in at the new setting. We would give the learning journey and individual learning plan to the new setting for them to look at so they understands the child's particular needs. Also our SENDCO would meet with the setting and help with the changeover over a period of time until the new setting and the family are happy. Our sendco would also be avalible to the school for the first few weeks to support the child and staff with a smoothe transition.

Welfare

Specialist skills or training our staff have

All staff have paediatric first aid training, basic food hygiene, Equality and diversity, Child Protection, Health and safety and Manual Handling. Other members of staff have Supporting boys with communication and language difficulties, enabling environments, Makaton, Early language development, attachment and early brain development, how to understand and manage children's behaviour, integrated working,visual support training and also Safe handling of medication in a child care setting.

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

 We work closely with Health visitors and other health professionals. we work closely with the children and their parents about making healthy choices. We also talk to the children about their bodies. We have safety week where members of the emergency services come in or we visit them and chat about safety and the emergence services. We offer a variety of healthy snacks and take regular exercise.

Ways we inform parents about how their child is being supported

We hold regular parents meeting where all information about the child is shared. The Individual learning plan is available also but to ensure the best possible links with parent all the records of the child’s progresses can be viewed at any time. The Individual learning plan is filled in whenever the child has made progress. The SENDCO is available to chat at the beginning or end of most sessions.

Our complaints policy

We have a whistle blowing policy which we would explained and give reference to on a child's induction 

Access

Alterations we have made to make our building accessible

We have adapted our setting by putting in ramps to make it fully accessible to all children and parents attending the setting. We have also adapted our role play room to have a sensory area which can have the curtains pulled round for full privacy if required. we had implemented things from training such as black outlines around our setting to aid visual impairment.

Before a child attended our setting we would risk assess and make any adaptions to their needs and constantly reflect to ensure we have made the best outcome for the child's needs

Facilities we have for personal care

We have a door on our bathroom for changing children if required. For more complex cases we can use the sensory room with a changing matt if required.

Specialist resources we have

 We have a large range of Sensory equipment including; tunnels, lights, projectors, touch and feel toys, and fidgets. We also have a range of equipment that can be used outdoors such as; wobble board, roller boards and barrels.

 

How we include all children in activities, such as trips

All children from our setting are welcome on every trip with either a parent or a member of staff on a 1-1 basis. If something wasn't accessible to a particular child we wouldn't have it available on the session the child attends if it wasn’t possible to make it accessible. Risk assessments are always done to ensure children can access resources and we deliver  inclusive activities.