Milstead Pre-School

On admission, we complete a new child profile, usually during the home visit, which helps us get to know your child & their particular strengths or any areas they may need extra support. We ask about their interests so we can use this when planning. We assess their starting points using an initial development profile based on their home activities & the DfE document Development Matters within the setting.

If applicable, we complete the Progress Check at 2 which is a statutory assessment and may highlight any delay which can be discussed & appropriate next steps identified. Your child’s key person may target a specific area of development e.g. social skills & plan additional opportunities for your child to gain further experience in this area. This would be written & shared through a targeted plan

Our Special Educational Needs & Disabilities Co-ordinator or SENDCo is Cheryl Tomsett. She ensures that families have the best support & resources to help with the development of your child & this includes managing behaviour.

The SENDCo role involves ensuring staff attend relevant training, working in partnership with parents, supporting key persons to review children’s progress, completing observations & relevant paperwork, liaising with the local Equality & Inclusion Team, making referrals with parent/carer consent & attending Local Inclusion Forum Team (LIFT) meetings to gain advice & make referrals to the Specialist Teaching & Learning Service

The key person approach has become a cornerstone of early years settings.

Your child’s key person will be involved from the very beginning to ensure strong & positive relationships are built with your child & you. You will usually be introduced at the home visit. We value your involvement & input regarding the support offered through:

• Daily informal chats
• Opportunities for meetings at your request throughout the year
• Detailed Learning Journey with photos & observations of your child’s development & progress through the year & the opportunity to share this 3 times a year & discuss any additional support they might need
• Collaboration with you on any extra planning put in place e.g. a targeted plan

The EYFS curriculum allows a key person to plan activities specific to your child’s stage of development & interests. We observe, assess & plan in 3 prime areas & 4 specific areas.

Adaptions can be made in the prime areas by:

Communication & language

Using targeted small group activities such as ‘Every Child a Talker’

Working in line with speech & language therapists

Providing ideas & resources for parents to use at home

Personal, social & emotional development

Linking with local specialist provision, advisers & health & voluntary sector providers for advice & support

Targeted small group or individual activities to promote well-being & resilience

Physical development

Building links with other professionals such as occupational therapists

Minimising environmental impact on children’s senses from noise, colour, lighting etc.

Staff are trained in early years practice & have also attended training on Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Working with individuals with Learning Disabilities, Signing & Visual Support & Makaton. We use the Best Practice Guidance document to support our teaching. Written by the Specialist Teaching & Learning Service, it sets out a range of teaching strategies that can be used to support children e.g. the use of visual resources. The book is divided into universal, targeted & personalised levels to enable us to support children across the 4 broad areas of need, identified in the SEND Code of Practice as :

• Communication & interaction
• Cognition & learning
• Social emotional & mental health
• Physical/sensory difficulties

Our SEND policy sets out the graduated response we use to support children.

If your child is making insufficient progress through a targeted plan, the SENCo or your key person may discuss options to refer to other services such as speech & language therapy. When receiving support from outside agencies, the targeted plan is replaced with a personalised plan.

If appropriate, your consent would be obtained to refer to the Specialist Teaching & Learning Service through the Local Inclusion Forum Team (LIFT) meeting, held termly. If the referral is accepted, the specialist teacher will visit your child & provide additional advice & guidance & may make further referrals to other services e.g. health to aid your child’s transition to school. At all stages, you would be consulted.

If appropriate, we will seek & source training & information & may be able to access funding to provide 1:1 support or specialist resources.

Our staff & team of key persons are responsible for guiding, monitoring & supporting the development of all children in our care but this is especially important when children have special or additional educational needs.

We make an overall assessment of your child’s progress 3 times a year & you will be invited to see your child’s Learning Journey & hear about their progress: this also provides an opportunity to talk about any concerns. More regular meetings will be held if your child has a personalised plan.

We are committed to ensure all children are able to access a varied curriculum. At staff & supervision meetings, your child’s key person will ensure any planned activities are suitable or adapted to meet your child’s needs-this is called differentiation e.g. we place children in smaller groups to aid listening & attention

We carry out risk assessments for any new activities or places visited & will always seek your input on these.

The setting has wheelchair access & a disabled toilet, as well as changing facilities. The environment is on one level with double door access, as well as emergency exits. The field used for outside play is also on one level. We have a large car park.

We use the Unique Progress/Transition report on the KELSI website which incorporates information about the characteristics of effective learning & share this with settings such as reception classes, with consent. We share any relevant paperwork such as Progress Check at 2, personalised plans & speech & language reports, again with consent. We plan activities such as role play, school uniform shop & ‘This is me’ books. We welcome transition visits from our feeder school teachers or will visit them.

We are always reviewing our systems, procedures & policies across all areas and use LIFT meeting experiences, SEND forum meetings, staff meetings & supervisions, annual parent surveys and parent/carers feedback to assess how effective our SEND provision is.

You can register an interest and we will send a prospectus but strongly advise visiting the setting (subject to government guidelines) We offer home visits to help complete paperwork, meet your child’s key person & to begin to build a relationship between home & setting. Settling sessions are arranged according to individual needs & circumstances. Additional home visits & settling sessions are available, as required for example to discuss arrangements for applying for funding under the Disability Access Fund(DAF) or additional SEN Inclusion Fund (SENIF) & how this could be used.

Our SEND policy demonstrates our graduated approach & our complaints procedure outlines the protocol if parents have a complaint. We have an ‘open door’ policy & always hope parents can approach us with any concerns or queries. We also have parent reps who attend part of staff meetings to give feedback & raise any questions or queries about anything related to the setting. We have a yearly parent/carer survey but welcome constructive feedback all year round.

We have recently reviewed our ‘handover’ procedures to ensure parents/carers/staff feel comfortable & able to discuss any information to be shared.