Busy Bees Day Nursery at Canterbury

The setting works closely with children and their families and will always take into account their views and any concerns that they may have. Regular checkpoints are completed within the setting use the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum and where this highlights that a child is meeting age related goals then a meeting will be put into place with the parents, key person and Manager to discuss actions to move forwards. We operate an open door policy and parents are always welcome to approach us in the office if they have concerns about their child. Additionally, every child will have a key person and this is a point of contact for the parent and they can identify any concerns to the key person during handovers. If we have concerns regarding a child's development in any way a meeting for discussion will always be arranged and then moving forward we may carry out observations with parental permission to gather evidence. 

Each room in our setting has a core staff team and your child and your family will become familiar with these adults. Your child will also have a key person who will liaise with you regularly to ensure that you are involved in your child's development. The staff team will carry out the Curriculum ensuring it is broad and stimulating and using the Early Years Foundation Stage. All planning by Key People is completed on a teaching and learning plan and you can ask to see this at any time. We will regularly share photos and observations of your child's learning and development via Parentzone which is our online communication app. 

Where an additional need is highlighted the Senco team complete Individual support plans for the children that you will read and sign and these will include targets that your child is working towards. Progress towards these targets will be evidenced following them being carried out each week. When children are allocated specialist teachers, speech and language therapists and Portage the targets and opinions of these professionals are always included. 

We use a graduated approach at the setting to ensure the needs of all the children are met. We focus on the child and their abilities and then highlight achievable next steps for them in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. Where necessary we will use other tools such as milestone checklists to identify development needs as these are often not as broad as the Curriculum itself. Every child is planned for individually and all activities are tailored to children's interests making them much more likely to engage. 

We carry out observations on the children regularly and these are shared with you via our online Parentzone app alongside photographs of your child engaged in a range of activities. These observations will highlight which areas of the Curriculum your child is developing and whether they have achieved or are working towards certain goals. We also carry out development checkpoints which will give a more indepth understanding to a child's development at an age related point i.e. every 3 months up until 18 months and then yearly. 

We use visuals within the setting alongside our activities and in the general environment allowing more children to access the resources and activities and communicate their own preferences and needs. 

All children with additional needs or learning difficulties will have an individual support plan in place identifying specific targets and their key person will work on these targets with them each time they are in. The targets will be small manageable steps and achievable for each individual. These are reviewed every 6 to 12 weeks.

We highly value Parents views and input and welcome this. Please share any concerns you may have about your child's learning but also share achievements and things you are working on at home as this can all be Incorporated into learning here. 

All support for children is individual and specific. We put in place child specific risk assessments where necessary that outline the needs of each individual and the actions that should be taken in a range of circumstances i.e. administering medication to a child, keeping a child safe whilst they play or ensuring a child has regular meals.

All staff within the setting undergo an enhanced DBS check and are not responsible for carrying out any personal care until this is complete. Only Senior staff in the setting are trained in our administering medicine policy and will be the only staff to administer. Where training is needed to administer medication this will be put in place before the child is due to start. 

We fully support children who may show challenging behaviours and have a range of strategies that we aim to put in place to integrate them fully into the setting including identification of triggers, social stories, role modelling, buddies to name a few. We will always work alongside Parents to support the children.

All children with additional needs or learning difficulties will have an individual support plan in place identifying specific targets and their key person will work on these targets with them each time they are in. The targets will be small manageable steps and achievable for each individual. These are reviewed every 6 to 12 weeks.

We also carry out development checkpoints which will give a more in depth understanding to a child's development at an age related point i.e. every 3 months up until 18 months and then yearly. 

Where necessary we may attend a LIFT meeting with permission to discuss a child and their needs and they may be allocated a specialist teacher who will work alongside the setting to put in place targets for the child to move their development forward and carry out progress reviews. 

Busy Bees, Canterbury is an inclusive setting and we see all children as equal and will take reasonable adjustments to ensure that all children can participate fully in the activities we offer. 

Any trips we undertake are fully risk assessed and this includes looking at the children who will be accessing the trip and assessing what needs they may have and then adjustments put in place to ensure that they have enough support for the trip.  This could include a social story about the trips, a 1:1, reins to ensure their safety to name a few. 

The building is fully accessible for wheelchair users and for those who have mobility difficulties. These children will be able to access all activities at the setting. 

We have a strong transition process to both new settings and schools. We will liaise with new settings and speak directly with the key person/teachers and SENCO to share all information that we have on your child including their academic achievements, any targets we are working towards, current struggles and successes. We welcome new settings and schools to come and meet the children in the setting as this is familiar to them and supports the transition well. We are happy to share social stories from future settings with the children whilst here. 

We have a strong transition programme in place for all children leaving for Primary School. 

Where necessary we are able to support the EHCP process. 

We have 3 SENCOs working within the setting and we regularly meet to evaluate the provision that we have in place. We always welcome feedback from Parents and have an open door policy. We are able to engage in nursery reviews with Specialist Teachers and Inclusion Officers to ensure that our SEND provision offers everything to the children it should and take on ideas of how we could improve this. 

We review our children's targets every 6 to 12 weeks and ensure that our children are making progress against these as this is reflective of the provision we have in place. 

If you would like to register for a place at the setting, all of our enrolments are done through our webpage Busy Bees, Canterbury. Once on the age you can book a visit to come and look around the setting or you can phone the enrolments team for an application form to go onto our waiting list. The Manager will then be in contact with information about when we will be able to offer a place and discuss the adjustments your child may need so that we are able to ensure that we can meet these needs and put the necessary actions into place to ensure we are ready for the time your child starts the setting. All information regarding adjustments is shared with our send helpdesk and our Health and Safety team who will support in writing risk assessments, identifying if additional insurance is necessary and that any training that is needed is carried out. 

We operate an open door policy at Busy Bees, Canterbury and welcome feedback including compliments and complaints verbally, in person or over the telephone and in email. 

We will always pass compliments onto our team and likewise are willing to take on constructive criticism of changes that could be made to improve the experience at our setting.

All concerns are taken seriously and once reported are investigated and documented.