Early Years Local Offer response

Learning and development

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

All Children registering for a place at Preschool will receive a home visit from two members of staff. This is a lovely opportunity for the family to get to know the staff and discuss any areas of concern and also for the child to feel comfortable about coming to preschool. Each child at our preschool has a key worker. The key worker’s role is to develop trusting and sensitive relationships with parents and children to enable respectful sharing of information. If you have any concerns about your child’s development you can ask for a time when you can discuss this in private with them. Time is taken to get to know your child and a baseline assessment is completed. Following on from this, ongoing observational assessments are made and are linked to the Development Matters ages and stages of development. A summative assessment is then completed at the end of each term. This process, in some cases, identifies individuals who require additional support. These observations will be discussed with the SENDCO (Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Coordinator). If your child’s key worker has identified a possible individual need, they will discuss this with you in private, and plan together to support your child’s learning and development. Our SENDCO will offer support and advice to your child’s key worker. With your consent, she will also liaise with other professionals. These might include the Area SENDCO and Early Years Inclusion Team and/or other health care professionals such as health visitors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists or speech and language therapists. All children with an identified area of need will be assessed through our Graduated approach. This is a six weekly cycle of assess, plan, do, review where SMART targets will be set for the child and the preschool staff will implement these into the daily planning at preschool. At the end of the six week cycle, the keyworker and SENDCo will meet with you in private to create the next Independent Learning Passport for your child to enable us to track their development.

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

Before starting the Preschool we ask parents to complete an ‘All About Me’ profile. This will give you the chance to share important information about your child’s strengths and needs. If necessary, our SENDCO will explain how your child’s individual needs can be met by planning support using an Individual Learning Passport (ILP) and also with advice from the Area SENDCO. She will explain who may be involved and their roles. Observations, assessments, evaluations and sometimes specific advice from outside professionals all contribute towards ILPs. Your child’s key worker will oversee the targets contained within it. All children with an identified area of need will be assessed through our Graduated approach. This is a six weekly cycle of assess, plan, do, review where SMART targets will be set for the child and the preschool staff will implement these into the daily planning at preschool. At the end of the six week cycle, the keyworker, SENDCo and any outside professionals involved will meet with you in private to create the next Independent Learning Passport for your child to enable us to track their progress.

Our staff have received training to support specific learning needs including Makaton, Emotion coaching, Sensory integration, PECs training. We also have three Qualified teachers in our preschool room to support our staff and identify other training needs.

If we receive targets from outside agencies such as SLT, Area SENCO, OT and so on we will include these into your child's ILP.

We have embedded visuals such as traffic lights, visual timetables, spot timers and social stories into our daily practice to support all children.

We carry out small group activities and embed a sensory diet into our daily practice for any children identified with an additional need.

Links we have to other agencies

 We have work closely with the following: -Early Years Inclusion Team -Speech & Language Therapist - Educational Psychologist -Social Care -Physiotherapist -Early Years Autism Worker -Occupational Therapist -Hearing and Vision support teachers. If required, we would be able to make referrals to any of these agencies through the Early Help hub..

How we support children transferring to school

A well-established transition programme helps our children transfer successfully into school. We have a strong relationship with Nancledra School. The teacher of Class 1, Mrs Ashby, and the HLTA, Julie Goldsmith, are both members of the preschool committee and work very closely in supporting us. Throughout the year the school pupils interact with the preschool children during their morning break. In the summer term we have joint play times in the school grounds. The preschool children often visit the school for story times or music sessions and the pupils of Class 1 frequently visit the preschool for celebrations. The preschool children take part in the school Sports Day and their families are involved in annual school events such as the Craft Fair. The preschool staff have experience of working in the school and so are able to use approaches and sometimes resources that help ensure continuity and progression in the children’s learning experiences. If a child requires extra transition support we take them into their new classroom more frequently. We also invite the class teacher to the final TAC meeting before the child starts school. In July, the Preschool manager meets with the Class 1 teacher (with parental consent) to share all documentation and learning journals.

Welfare

Specialist skills or training our staff have

Members of staff have a good knowledge and experience of special needs including working as SEN TAs within the school. Their qualifications include a qualified teacher, foundation degree in Early Years Education and Level 3 in early years education. Our SENCo has recently achieved the level three nasen training. All staff are Paediatric First Aid trained. Experienced staff work closely with newly qualified staff to give them support. All staff are expected to participate in regular training. We are also able to draw on Professional Development and advice from the school. Our current training and experience includes Safeguarding, Trauma informed schools, Attachment disorder, ‘Language for Learning’, working with children with Down Syndrome, ASD & physical difficulties, Fun fit, Epipen training, asthma training, pecs, In touch with music/massage.

We have carried out directed interventions with many children including using PECS, implementing In touch with massage, Emotion coaching.

 

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

As practitioners we are welcoming and friendly and strive to help your child feel secure. We provide good role models for positive behaviour and we are consistent in our day to day care of all our children. We are flexible in our routines to provide a positive environment for your child’s needs, and we provide personal care, such as changing nappies, respectfully. Personal health care plans can be adopted if necessary and staff will be trained in giving the appropriate medication for your child if required. Risk assessments are carried out regularly. Parents and staff have copies of our risk assessment policy. We work hard at celebrating children’s achievements with staff and the other children. We work closely with parents when a child is settling into our preschool and, if required, parents are welcome to attend with their child for a few stay and play visits. We also encourage parents to share any change in circumstances at home which might impact on their child’s emotional health. This information will always remain confidential. Our Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) is Leanne Goodwin and the deputies are Sara Martin and Chrissie Berger.

Ways we inform parents about how their child is being supported

We have a responsibility to carry out 2 main assessments of the children in our care:

• the EYFS progress check at age 2, which consists of a short written summary of a child’s development when they are between 24 and 36 months

• the EYFS profile, which summarises and describes a child’s attainment in the 7 areas of learning. We have systems in place to carry out these assessments and we use them to track your child’s progress as well as to review our provision to meet their needs and interests.

Photos and on-going observations provide evidence for these assessments. Currently we record these in your child’s learning journal which is always available for you to see.  Our open door policy means that you are always welcome to tell us how your child is doing on a daily basis, and provide ongoing two way communication between us. Informal parent consultations are offered if parents are unable to bring/collect their child from preschool. We also send out newsletters to keep you up to date with what is happening in preschool.

We try to hold parents evenings regularly throughout the year, these are a good opportunity fro you to get to know your child's keyworker and other parents.

Our complaints policy

If at any time you are unhappy with an aspect of our provision or practice we would ask that you come to us to discuss the matter to see if it can be resolved. If you are still unhappy, you should refer to our Complaints policy which is displayed in the hall, and is also included in your starter pack. The Chairperson, Manager and Deputy are available to discuss any matters. OFSTED contact details are also displayed in the preschool hallway.

Access

Alterations we have made to make our building accessible

The Preschool front entrance leads off the carpark and is fully accessible via a smooth path to the front door. Door frames are wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs or walking frames.

Our outdoor area is fully accessible.

Facilities we have for personal care

Accessible toilets directly off the preschool room  and changing facilities are available. There is also an additional accessible toilet and adult toilet. All staff are DBS checked.  If a child requiring specific medical support joins our preschool we will always call in a medical professional to train staff.

We have a small step to enable toilet access for our youngest children.

Specialist resources we have

Activities will be adapted to ensure your child is able to interact fully with their environment, and we are able to provide resources to support your child’s specific needs and allow them access to learning. Resources may include visual timetables, ‘Now & Next’ boards, communication books or sensory equipment. We believe that most of our resources, if selected appropriately can be used to meet your child’s specific needs. This also helps create a more inclusive environment. If your child requires specialist equipment such as a supportive chair, writing slope etc we will access these through our links with outside agencies.

How we include all children in activities, such as trips

We will always include parents in the planning of visits off site to identify the strengths and needs of your child. We can prepare a photo book for your child so they know what to expect on the visit, and invite all parents to join us on our trip. We would carry out a risk assessment linked to the visit and the needs of all the children, including parent and supporter, prior to our trip. We would also take along any aides or medication your child may need. All visits or trips would be planned in order to include all of our children. Staff ratios are increased and we ask for support from parent helpers.