Early Years Local Offer response

Learning and development

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

When starting to plan the admission of a child to pre school we discuss sessions with the parent/guardian and if a child has any experience of being in a setting or away from main care giver. Opportunities are given for any questions, worries or uncertainties a parent may have and they can be discussed with the Manager in these earlier stages. We know what a big step it can be for many families when their child starts at a setting. We are aware of the impact still being felt by the Covid pandemic and consider not just concerns around the child and their development, but also any anxieties or worries a parent may have. We value our parent/setting relationship and will happily make time to talk with parents, listen to their views and experiences and then discuss our tools and techniques from our wide knowledge and experience as early years professionals. We know how much working with parents can help a child's development and settle them into a new environment.

We offer children home visits and/or visits and/or settling sessions. We do not work on a 'one plan fits all' approach at any stage of a child's pre school journey and will tailor a transition into the setting depending on the needs of individual children and their families and the children in our care.

We encourage parents to share our contact details with any professionals involved with the child.

Every child is allocated a key worker who will work with that child and get to know them and track their development in all areas of learning. A 2 year check is done on all 2 year years in the first 6 weeks of being in the setting. After observing and working with each child for a few weeks, targets are set and each child is tracked according to their stage of development and their age. This enables us to clearly identify if a child needs any extra support. Parent contact is always our first port of call if we feel a child needs extra support in any area of their learning or development. This can then lead onto either some focused, targeted progression internally within the setting, or with parent consent some external support from professionals who specialise in key areas of learning eg speech and language.

We work on the assess-plan-do-review cycle and practice this when observing, work with and reflecting on our children and their needs and  development.

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

Each child has a key worker who spends time each week working towards an individual target. This person will identify the child's needs and with support from the SENCO will plan for their next steps. All staff input into each child's development and we will discuss how best to support each child in staff meetings. Any concerns or successes are shared with parents regularly. 

Links we have to other agencies

In the past we have worked with the area SENCO and their team , various speech and language therapists , GPs and consultants, specialist nurses for different conditions , educational psychologists , Occupational Therapists , Teacher of the deaf ,  Family Support workers , Health Visitors and Portage.  We would seek to access any agency that would support and develop a child with consent from the parents of the child.

How we support children transferring to school

All children transfer to school in different ways. We are happy to work with each individual school with transition. Teachers are welcome from each school to visit in the summer term to see children transitioning to their setting and talk to the manager/senco/key worker about these children.

We will actively support a child who has a higher level of need with an enhanced transition to school and work with their allocated school to do this. 

We will information share to school with parents consent any IEPS (Individual Educational Plan to support learning) and tool and techniques we use within the setting to support the child. This could be things such as 'now and next' boards, spotty times, makaton, repetition. As well as likes/dislikes, areas of concern and next steps.

All children (with parental consent) no matter their level of need will have any areas of support (whether great or small) fed back to their allocated school. As well as things that help them feel safe and secure, likes/dislikes and any information felt will be beneficial to the child's transition. 

We have focus sessions in pre school in the summer term where we talk about what happens in big school, look at books and photos of school. We have a uniform box we get out with school jumpers, summer dressers etc in a range of school colours for the children to dress up in. We role play and practice a school environment like registers and lining up. We talk about the many similarities to pre school, like bring a water bottle and hanging up you coat.

We gain where possible a photo of the school(s) and teachers our children will be transitioning to. 

Welfare

Specialist skills or training our staff have

ALL staff must have training in Safe Guarding and update this regularly without exception. We have a Designated safe guard lead (DSL) and a Deputy DSL who undertake more advanced training in this area on top of the basic safe guarding training the rest of team does. 

Our pre school is led by level 3 or above staff. All key workers will be level 3 trained or working towards. As a team trainig will have been done on visuals, behaviour management and supporting children with speech and language issues training.

All staff have a paediatric first aid certificate and food hygiene certificate. We also attend regular SEN cluster meetings and locality cluster meetings to keep skills and knowledge up to date.

The SENCO will be trained as an Early Years Special educational needs co-ordinator using Cornwall Council' training directory.

All staff attend training from Cornwall Council's early years training directory over the academic year to update, refresh and develop their skills. 

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

Parents are always our first point of contact.

As a universal provision we use emotion coaching and have lots of tools and techniques we have developed ourselves to help children learn about, process and understand their feelings and emotions using language appropriate for their age and ability. We share these methods on our Tapestry App with parents so we can have an all around approach to supporting children. We have puppets and characters which help children learn and make sense of their own emotions and well being. We support parents to learn about and understand how a child's brain develops and why and how young children can react to certain things. We help support parents to see things from a child's point of view and how inputting certain methods can help children and parents well being.

We promote oral hygiene in our setting and share information from the local authority and health professionals with parents.

Ways we inform parents about how their child is being supported

We have an App called Tapestry where photos, information and progress is sent to parents. This is a 2-way interactive app.

We hold parent meetings and encourage parents to message us at any point in the year if they wish to touch base with the manager or their child's key worker.

Children who have an IEP work on a 6 weekly cycle and parents have the opportunity to see this and discuss targets, progress and any family priorities. 

 

Our complaints policy

If a parent has a worry or concern they should first approach Mrs Dark. If the problem cannot be solved through this then a letter can be written to the trustees - please see our full complaints policy (see our website for how to contact the Clerk to the Trustees).

Access

Alterations we have made to make our building accessible

Our building is all on one level and is fully wheelchair accessible. It is a modern purpose built new build built in 2009. The building is accessible to all and hosts a toilet for disabled access. 

Facilities we have for personal care

We have a separate accessible toilet area and a nappy changing unit.

Specialist resources we have

We have an accessible toilet area with a higher toilet and bar. We have various sensory toys. 

How we include all children in activities, such as trips

Any activity we do has all our children's enjoyment and safety at the heart of it.

Staff meetings and parent discussion are the first point of call to identify any obstacles and then a risk assessment and further planning can be put into place as required for individual children or groups.