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Our Local Offer for Children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities
Plume Avenue Nursery (Ofsted Reg. No. 404856)
(Please be aware that due to ongoing changes within Essex Early Years,
some of the following may be subject to alteration)
How does the setting know my child needs extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have Special Educational Needs?
At Plume Avenue Nursery each child has a key person. It is their role to develop trusting relationships with children and parents to create an environment that will allow for the 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.
Reports from health care professionals, such as health visitors, speech and language therapists etc, can help us identify your child's individual needs. We welcome and value parents and professionals sharing these reports to enable us, in partnership with you, to plan appropriately to meet these needs.
All children have on-going observational assessments made by their key person and these are linked to the EYFS Development Matters ages and stages of development. These will, in some cases, identify individual needs.
These observations will be discussed with the Nursery SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) Steve Catley. If your child's key person has identified a possible need, they will discuss this with you in private and together with you plan to support your child's learning and development.
Our SENCO will offer support and advice to your child's key person and other practitioners in the setting. He is also able to liaise with other professionals to seek advice and support in identifying individual needs if necessary.
How will you support my child?
On starting at Plume Avenue Nursery we would like you to complete an All About Me form, to help us to share information about your child's strengths, needs, likes and dislikes. This can be done either online, through the Famly Learning Journal system, or on paper - please let us know which you would prefer.
Communication is the most important part of our partnership with you as parents / carers. Please remember that you are always able to talk to us about your concerns and we will do our utmost to support you and your child throughout their time with us.
Assessment systems are in place such as the two year old check and on-going observational assessments that are linked to the EYFS ages and stages of development. Parents/carers are welcome to stay (and play) to discuss with the child's key person the progress they are making, along with review meetings of your child's One Plan carried out in partnership with you.
Your child's key person and our SENCO will work together to make sure that the environment, routines and activities support your child's needs, and they will communicate with the other practitioners to provide consistency and understanding within our team.
We will ask for copies of assessments from other professionals before your child starts, and advice from the Local Early Years Team may be sought with your permission, if necessary.
If additional needs are identified we use the All About Me form, together with further conversations with you to complete a 'One Page Profile' which will form part of a person-centred One Plan that will incorporate any extra advice and support from appropriate third parties. The SENCO will also explain who else may be involved and their roles.
Observations, assessments and evaluations will all contribute towards the One Plan and your child's key person will oversee the support and targets.
Your child's key person will generally be attending the same sessions as your child and will identify individual needs, plan next steps and access additional support from other professionals where necessary. Should the key person not be at work for any particular session there is either a deputy key person in place, the room leader or the SENCO.
The key person, with support from the room leader and SENCO if necessary, will maintain an overview of progress and will work in partnership with you, reviewing the One Plan targets, planning new ones together, and sharing ideas to use at nursery & home to support your child.
How will the setting work with us to support our child ?
In addition to the information stated above, we will take the opportunity to get to know you and your family, share details of your child's needs and the involvement of other agencies, and agree with you a consistent approach to ensure the continuity of care for your child. This can also be done in a meeting before your child starts if you prefer.
Information can be transferred between home and nursery via Famly which we find especially helpful should you not be able to collect every day. This also allows us to give you ideas of things that can be done at home to accompany the support received at nursery and for you to tell us how things are going, what activities you have done, places you have been etc as well as giving you the opportunity to ask any questions or raise concerns.
How will you support the well-being of my SEND child ?
Practitioners are expected to be good role models at all times.
We are flexible in our routines to provide a positive environment for your child's needs, and provide personal care, such as changing nappies, respectfully.
Activities will be adapted to ensure your child is able to interact fully with their environment, and visual strategies help them to understand our routines. Quiet areas are available for a child to go to if they are tired or would like some time to themselves.
Our nursery has a full risk assessment carried out on a termly basis with checklists completed daily to ensure the safety of the play areas both inside and out. We have a member of staff who oversees our policy for positive behaviour management and all practitioners follow this policy to ensure consistency for the children during their time with us. She is also able to offer advice and strategies to cope with unwanted behaviour.
Prescribed medication can be administered by practitioners, provided we have your written authority to do so. Records are kept of any medication administered at nursery and parents / carers are required to countersign these records.
Accidents and incidents are also recorded on individual forms and parents are again required to countersign these.
What experience and training is in place to support children with SEND ?
Our SENCO has attended all relevant training courses;
including the Inclusion Development Programme
* Speech, Language & Communication,
* Autism &
* Behavioural, Emotional & Social Difficulties , SEND Code of Practice (2014) and Understanding Children and Young People's Mental Health.
All staff have accessed child development and behaviour management training, and have experience working with the Early Years age group.
Staff have accessed specific training on Safeguarding, First Aid, Makaton and Speech and Language courses.
Our SENCO is able to meet with the local Inclusion Partner (formerly Area SENCO) to ensure the setting keeps up to date with the latest information and news.
We also have an ENCO (Equality Named Coordinator) who is tasked with ensuring the nursery meets the necessary requirements of a fully inclusive setting.
What specialist services and expertise are you able to access ?
As previously stated we are able to contact our Inclusion Partner for general advice and support or direct guidance regarding specific children with the written agreement of the parent/carer.
We may also contact Health Visitors, Speech & Language Therapists, Specialist Teachers, Educational Psychologists and other third parties, for further support and advice, but again only with your written consent.
What about the nursery environment ? Is it accessible to all ?
We have completed a full access audit that is available for your perusal, however, in short the nursery is all on one level with full wheelchair access. There are two accessible toilets and on-site car parking.
If you are a parent who does not have English as your first language, we can involve another family member who does speak English, or it may be possible to arrange for an external interpreter. All our documentation is available in digital formats so can be run through online translation software.
Signs and posters around the setting are used with pictures to direct children and adults.
Policies are reviewed regularly, updated as required and are available for parents in the office area or online via our website www.plumeavenuenursery.co.uk
How do your prepare children for joining the setting and when transferring to mainstream school ?
We welcome parents/carers and children to visit the nursery prior to the start date to familiarise themselves with both the environment and the staff. Parents may choose to leave their child for a short period of time, either leaving the setting or waiting outside the play areas to see how they settle without having to jump straight in to a full session.
As previously stated we ask all families to complete with us an All About Me sheet to provide us with a brief overview of likes and dislikes, areas of strength and need and we use this as a basis for those initial sessions to support the child as they find themselves in a new environment away from those whom they know best.
As the children come to the end of their time at nursery we aim to support them in their transition to mainstream school as much as we can by inviting teachers from the schools to visit us at nursery and introduce themselves to the children. We ask those schools to provide photos etc to put on our interest table for the children to look at and examples of the uniform that children will be wearing.
As part of our carpet time discussions, we are then able to talk to the children about where they are going to big school, what they might do when they get there and what they have done when they went on their school visits.
Any relevant paperwork can be forwarded direct to school or will go home with parents/carers at the end of term to be passed on.
How do you organise your resources to meet the needs of children with SEND ?
Initially the responsibility of working towards targets for a child with SEND will be with the child's key person. As practitioners will be key person to more than one child we try to ensure that each key person has adequate time to appropriately support all of their key children.
Where this becomes an issue, the key person will be able to access support from other members of the team or the nursery SENCO.
How do you decide on the level of support for children with SEND ?
Through the observation process linked to the EYFS ages and stages of development, and in discussion with you we will identify what support is required.
Extra support will be put in place if necessary with the aim of enabling your child to become independent within their environment.
Ongoing partnerships with both you and other professionals will support the decision making process.
Our SENCO will give advice on meeting your child's needs within our preschool in consultation with you, and other professionals where necessary with your permission.
Reports from health care professionals and other professionals, who are working with your child, will be used to plan support within the setting.
The One Plan will be written with you and will include how you can support your child at home.
Staff meetings within the setting will ensure all staff working with your child knows your child's strengths and needs, and how to support them.
Who do we contact for further information ?
For any more information regarding how we can support a child with SEND, please contact us and speak to our SENCO Steve Catley, either by telephone on 01206 579458 during opening hours, or by email at plumeavenuenursery@gmail.com
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