Hersden Under 5's Project

On our application form we have a space for you to tell us if your child has any Special Educational Needs or Disabilities which have already been identified, and which agencies your family is already working with. There is also a space for you to tell us if you, or your Health Visitor, has any concerns about your child’s development.

We offer a visit to your home, prior to your child starting at pre-school.  This is a good way for you and your child to meet us in a place where you both feel comfortable.  If you have indicated that your child may require extra support, the Special Educational Needs and Disability Coordinator (SENDCo) would also attend this visit.  This would be a great opportunity for you to share any information and ask any questions, which would help us to prepare the setting for your child.

We invite all new families to an initial “settling in “visit to the setting, when we would complete an “All About Me” form together, this gives us a chance to get to know your child and their particular strengths or areas where they may need extra support.  We ask about your child’s interests, so this can inform our planning.  When your child first starts, we assess their starting points using “Development Matters in the Early Years Foundation Stage” which is non-statutory guidance.

If your child is attending our pre-school before they are 3 years old, we will complete a 2-year-old Progress Check, which is a statutory assessment.  This is an opportunity to discuss any delay in development and identify the appropriate next steps for every child.

1. Every child who attends our pre-school has a key person and a buddy. Your child’s key person will be involved as soon as you have chosen your sessions, so that strong, positive relationships can be built with your family.  There are many ways in which you can be involved in how your child is being supported, including:

• Daily contact with your child’s key person or their buddy.
• Opportunities for meetings throughout the year (at your request, or the SENDCo’s request)
• Contributing to your child’s Learning Journal, which is an ongoing book of photographs and observations detailing your child’s learning and progress both at home and in pre-school.
• Attending key person meetings, which are held every term (approximately every 6 weeks) to share and celebrate your child’s progress, and further discuss any additional support your child may need.
• Working together on any extra support your child may require, such as putting targeted or personalised plans into place

The Early Years Foundation Stage is an educational framework which we use as guidance to help us plan for and assess all the children who attend our setting. Our planning system enables us to plan for each child as an individual.  We put in place extra support for individuals or groups, adapting the areas of framework to meet their needs.  There are 3 prime areas and 4 specific areas in the framework.  Here are some examples of the extra support we provide at universal or targeted level:

• Communication & Language

A language rich environment, tailored to meet the needs of the children; small group activities, such as those recommended in the “Every Child a Talker” programme; Language intervention programme “Early Talk Boost”; Providing ideas and resources for parents to use at home, including Prime Area Support bags; Following Speech & Language Therapists advice and targets; Daily “chatty time” for all children with their keyperson or buddies;

• Personal, social and emotional development

Links with local specialist provision, advisors, the Tina Rintoul Children’s Centre and outside agencies for advice and support; Attending specialist information sessions, including local forums; daily activities to promote well-being, resilience and safety.

• Physical Development

Building links with special provision; offering an accessible environment to meet the needs of our current families; demonstrating an awareness of environmental factors that have a sensory impact on children, like noise, colour and lighting which can overstimulate children; free flow during sessions giving access to out outside area; regular visits to the local school’s sports hall for PE sessions following Top Start Programme; ensuring awareness of special dietary requirements; Daily clever hands and clever fingers activities to support fine motor skills.

 Our teaching starts with a carefully planned environment, which encourages children to be confident and independent learners.  Our resources are accessible to all children and clearly labelled with words and photographs.  We have clearly defined areas for learning, which we keep clean, tidy and uncluttered.  The rooms have been painted in a neutral colour, to avoid over stimulation, and displays are in neutral colours to show the children’s work at it’s best and, again, avoid bright, overstimulating colours.  We have a quiet room, which has cushions and blankets and is designed as a calm space, where children can go if they choose

We have a wide range of resources, which are carefully chosen to complement the theme and the current children’s needs and interests.  We have resources which support all areas of learning at all levels of development.  Our SENDCo works closely with key-people and parents to ensure that we have the resources for children’s individual learning needs, and if necessary, we would consult with outside agencies to discuss specialised equipment.

 The staff team is led by a qualified teacher, and the staff team are all qualified practitioners.  The SENDCo has is highly experienced in working with children, families and outside agencies.  We follow a structured routine in pre-school, as this helps all the children to understand what is happening and have a sense of belonging.  We routinely use a visual timetable for all the children, so they know what is happening next.  We have many adult-led activities to support all children’s learning, but we also protect child-initiated time, to ensure all children can become fully engrossed in their own learning through play.  Key people plan for their own key children individually, so that children’s next steps are always appropriate to their development stage.  We use the Early Years Foundation Stage to guide our planning, as well as Best Practice Guidance to support out teaching and differentiation.  The staff team have attended extra training, to implement strategies such as Intensive Interaction, and how to support children with ASD.  All staff are willing to attend extra training to further their knowledge on specific conditions, when necessary.

We use the graduated approach which is a system that follows the assessment, plan, do and review cycle of children’s progress. We use targeted plans, then Personalise Plans to refine this approach for children with SEND. (Following Best Practice Guidance)

If your child requires extra support, we would ask for your consent to refer them to the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service, by taking their case to a Local Inclusion Team Forum (LIFT) meeting.  If the referral is successful, a specialist teacher would visit your child in pre-school to provide guidance and support.  You would be involved and consulted throughout this process.

We carefully monitor the progress of all children who attend our pre-school. The key-person is responsible for planning, observing and assessing their key children in the areas of the Foundation Stage.  This is monitored and moderated by the teacher, to ensure accuracy and that all children are making good progress from their starting points.

We hold key-person meeting every term, you will be invited to come in and celebrate your child’s progress.  Each child has their own learning journal, which we invite parents to take home every holiday, and to make continual contributions about their child’s learning at home.  We assess children 3 times per year and share this data with you.  We plan children’s next steps 6 times per year, we share their next steps and ideas for how to support these at home, with you.

There are also two statutory assessments: The Progress check at Age Two and The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile.  If your child is attending our pre-school before their 3^rd birthday, we must carry out a The Progress Check at Age Two.  This gives us the opportunity to discuss your child’s progress, including any concerns we or you may have about your child’s development and what their next steps will be.  We would encourage you to share this check with your health visitor.

We are a small friendly pre-school and we pride our selves on how we work in partnership with parents.  The key person or their buddy is readily available to chat with parents at dropping off and collecting times.  We invite parents in every term for a “Fabulous Finish” to view their child’s work, we invite parent’s in to share stories or an activity of their choosing, recently we had parents in offering face-painting to the children.

Inclusive practice is at the heart of our setting. Key people plan for their own key children individually, so that children’s next steps are always appropriate to their development stage.  We use the Early Years Foundation Stage to guide our planning, as well as Best Practice Guidance to support out teaching and differentiation.  Planned activities are always designed to meet the children’s interests, thereby motivating them to have a go and learn.  We often go on local outings within the village, such as a walk to the shops or park.  We always ensure that we have high ratios on these outings.  When we go further afield, a risk assessment is always done prior to the event.  Extra consent is gained from parents and the trip is meticulously planned.  We ensure ratios of at least 1:2, and welcome parents who would to join us.

Our pre-school is in a porta-cabin, we have done everything possible to make the building accessible to all. We have a ramp to the front door, providing wheelchair access, the doors are all wide enough to allow a wheel chair through.  There are steps down to the garden area, but this can also be accessed via a side gate.  We have accessible toilets.  Whenever possible, we will make any reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of children, parents or staff.

We understand the importance of working together with other settings and schools to ensure a smooth transition. We work closely with local schools, facilitating visits and inviting teachers to visit the children in our setting.  If extra meetings are required, we are happy to attend these, for example, with the school’s SENDCo.  We have also visited specialist schools with parent’s, to support them in making choices.  We gain consent from all parents to pass on paper work including a transition report.  We do many activities in pre-school to prepare children for transition, including talking about schools at chatty time, having uniform and school equipment in the role play area.

We are a very reflective setting, constantly reviewing all aspects of our provision in our drive for improvement. Our SENDCo leads the Send provision and assesses its effectiveness with all staff, parents and when appropriate, the children.  We take opportunities at LIFT meetings to reflect on our practice, by networking with other provisions and professionals about strategies and resources.  SENDCo forum meetings provide regular professional development opportunities, ensuring we are up to date with best practice.  Send is a fixed item on the agenda at the staff meeting, staff are encouraged to cascade any training and put forward ideas for improvement or raise any issues which need addressing.  Parents are invited in for regular key person meetings and given the opportunity to share their thought s on their child’s progress and the provision.  We do an annual anonymous questionnaire, which gives parents the opportunity to add any ideas for improvement.  Our pre-school is managed by a committee, we have parents on the committee so that can monitor pre-school at a decision-making level.  We invite new parents to join the committee at the AGM.

We welcome families in to our setting to have a look and ask any questions before they apply.  Application forms are available from the setting, on our website, or we can post one to you if you contact us.  We would advise all parents to put as much information as possible on the application form, so that we can best prepare for your child and make any extra arrangements for meetings, for example with portage.  We like to do home visits for all our families, where you can ask us any questions and share information and your child gets the opportunity to meet us in the comfort of their own home.  We settle all children at their own pace, sometimes the parent stays for a few sessions or sometimes the initial settling in visits are shorter.  If your child has Send, we would welcome visits from Portage, or any other professionals involved.

We have comprehensive policies and procedures, including a Send policy and a complaints policy. These are available within pre-school and on our website.  We are a small friendly pre-school and we pride ourselves on how we work in partnership with parents.  The key person or their buddy is readily available to chat with parents at dropping off and collecting times, the teacher or SENDCo are usually available as well.  Our annual questionnaire has space for parents to comment on what we do well, and what we could improve.