Little Acorns Pre-School

When children start at our pre-school, we ask parents to fill out a registration form and welcome sheet which includes information about the child’s interests, strengths and areas of need and support.  We also offer the family a home visit which gives both the child and parents the opportunity to build up a relationship with their key person in the security of their own home. We would also use information from any transition reports, from other settings the child has attended, and any other outside agency reports i.e., speech and language, occupational therapy etc.  Depending on the child we offer settling in sessions within the first two weeks where the child comes in to the setting for a shorter period of time and the parent/carer can either stay with their child or leave.

During the first few weeks the keyperson gathers information through observations, the welcome sheet and discussions with the parent/carer to produce a starting point in line with EYFS. For children between the age of two and three a two-year progress check is completed within the first four weeks of the child starting at the Pre-school and this will help us identify any delay in development which we will discuss with the parent/carer.

All children are observed on regular, daily basis and ongoing assessment and progress is recorded and shared with the parent/carer. If we feel a child would benefit from additional support in a particular area the SENCO and Key person would discuss with the parent/carer and develop a Targeted plan. If we feel we need extra support and advice to support the child, we can ask the Equality and Inclusion team to come and give us advice. Six times a year we can attend the Early Years local LIFT (local inclusion forum team) meeting where we can get quality advice from the Specialist Teaching Service or make a referral, with parental permission, for support within the setting from outside agencies.

Many of our staff have experience of supporting children and their families, with ASD and speech and language delay.

Each child has a key person who is responsible for assessing the individual child’s ongoing development and well being.  They will seek to build a relationship with the child and their family from the very first meeting.  We encourage parents to inform us of how they wish their child to be supported in the setting.  This could be done through daily informal contact at drop off and pick up times.  Meetings throughout the year including three parent meetings where parents are informed of their child’s progress and any additional support they may need. Online learning journals show observations and photos of what the child does on a daily basis and their development through out the year. In addition a 'My Unique Story' document and progress tracker is produced three times a year to inform parents and carers of their child's progress.  If a child requires additional support, we would implement a targeted or personalised plan which would be created in collaboration with the parent/carers, key person and SENCO on a termly basis.

We treat each child as an individual “Unique child” and their key person will plan activities around the child’s needs and interests using the EYFS educational frameworks three prime areas and four specific areas.  The environment is adapted to accommodate the different children’s needs and abilities and presenting activities to ensure all children access a broad and balanced curriculum.  We have a quiet/sensory room which provides an ideal area for individual and small group activities as well as a providing a sensory area for children with additional needs.  We provide a language rich environment and our staff are experienced in working with children with speech and language delay. When a child needs additional support in this area we work in line with speech and language therapist advice, use Makaton signing, Visual timetables, now and next boards, small group activities and provide parents with ideas and resources to use at home. Our SENCO regularly attends specialist information sessions and forums, liaising with specialist support services to inform the setting of new teaching strategies and practise.

Please see previous question

Staff use simple relevant Makaton signing, wear visual keyrings to enable them to prompt children as well as Now and Next boards and visual time lines.  Quiet areas are available throughout the setting to allow children space to relax and take a break.

The setting provides additional support based on each child’s individual needs. The teaching strategies mentioned in the previous question are used to support the child and new techniques are developed when the need arises.

All our staff are encouraged to update and complete relevant training and the majority have attended an early years autism awareness course. 

When a child attending the setting has a disability that requires specialist care a care plan and personalised plan are put in place and agreed with the child’s parent/carer.

All children are observed on a regular daily basis and ongoing assessment and progress is recorded and shared with the parent/carer through the child’s online learning journal.  In addition to this the ‘My Unique Story’ document and Kent progress tracker is shared with the parents three times year.  Parents are invited to 'parent and keyperson meetings' three times a year. Parents and carers of a child that requires additional support and has either a Care Plan, Targeted Plan or Personalised plan will be invited to regular review meetings to discuss and review targets and next steps. 

As a fully inclusive setting all children are included in everything we do and the environment is adjusted on a daily basis according to the child’s needs, risk assessment and personalised plans.  If trips and outings are planned additional adults, including extra staff and parents, are available to provide a higher staff ratio. 

We have a large shared car park  two disabled bays outside the main Pre-school entrance. The pre-school is easily accessed through double doors into a large entrance hall.The outside play area is accessed down a slope and the playground is a combination of tarmac and AstroTurf.  The indoor area is set out with a wide pathway winding through the room and a mix of table top and floor activities.  Low level toilets and sinks, one with a toilet frame is available.  

A risk assesment and care plan will be put in place and agreed with the parents before a child starts at the setting.

We support all children’s transitions to a new setting by passing on as much information as possible including the My unique progress transition document.  We invite teachers and practitioners to our setting to meet the children and encourage parents to attend school transition meetings and stay and play/story time sessions at their new setting.  We provide activities like dressing up in school uniform and making the roleplay area a ‘class room’, we have story books about starting school and photobooks from the children’s new schools to share with the children.  We encourage children to be independent when putting their coats and outside clothing on and at snacktime children serve their own food and drink. We ensure that the transition for children with additional needs is well planned and we will arrange meetings with both the new teacher and SENCO to ensure all information is shared including records, plans and strategies of how we have supported the child in our care. We would also invite the new teacher or teaching assistant to additional visits so that the child will become familiar with them and include the child’s keyperson in supporting the child when visiting their new setting.

The setting SENCO regularly attends SENCO forums, LIFT meetings and training courses to keep up to date with policies and practise. All staff are encouraged to review the settings practise and put ideas forward to change things that don’t work. Staff are asked to feedback from training courses to improve good practise

Initially you would contact us by either the setting telephone number or email.  We welcome you to visit the setting with your child and once you have decided what sessions you want your child to attend, we will allocate a keyperson and arrange a home visit with the Manager and Keyperson. This gives you another opportunity to discuss your child’s needs and to let us know about any other agencies working with the family.  We recommend when the child starts at the setting, they do some settling in sessions over the first few weeks and the parents/carer will have the opportunity to have additional meetings if they have any concerns.

We have an open-door policy and always welcome constructive feedback from parents.  We  have a suggestions/comments box, send out a parent questionnaire/survey twice a year, and our complaints procedure is displayed on the parent noticeboard.