Folkestone St Mary's CE Primary Academy

On admission, we ask you to complete an ‘All About Me’ form which gives us a chance to get to know your child and their particular strengths and areas where your child may need extra support. We invite you into the nursery for ‘Stay and Play’ sessions where you can meet your child’s key person and start to build positive relationships and talk about your child’s interests.

All staff are highly trained with excellent knowledge of the EYFS and continuing to track your child to be able to identify any difficulties early.

The nursery follows the key person approach and they will be involved with you and your child right from the start so that strong and positive relationships are built. You will be invited in for regular parent meetings with your key person and SENCO if needed and you are welcome to request a meeting anytime throughout the year. A learning log will go home each week to keep you informed of what your child has been doing each week and you are welcome to write about your time with your child and ask any questions.

Your child will have a Learning Journey which include photos and observations of how your child is developing. We have an open door policy and the staff are available to discuss things on a daily basis.

You will be involved in any extra planning we put in place, for example a targeted or personalised plan.

The nursery follows the EYFS, which is an educational framework for early years. We observe, assess and plan for your child in three prime areas and four specific areas. We would adapt the prime area in the following ways:

Communication and Language – we provide ‘language rich’ environments specific for your child’s needs. We work in line with speech and language therapy advice and have close links with them receiving weekly visits. We use Makaton signing and ‘Communicate in Print’ to support communication and understanding. We work in small groups or 1-1 to support language skills.

Personal, Social and Emotional – we work with targeted skills groups to promote well-being and resilience. We have excellent links with the local specialist provision, advisers and health sector for advice and support. Your child will have access to the forest school where we promote independence, resilience and well-being.

Physical Development – There is access to the outside at all times. This includes the playground, field and forest. We have excellent links with specialist therapists like occupational therapists to help support your child. We provide a healthy snack throughout the day and promote a healthy lunchbox.

Characteristics of Effective Learning –

The child’s key person will adapt adult led activities to suit the needs of all the children and a child who is supported via a targeted plan will have their needs met through a range of adapted activities and the support of the settings SENCO.  If specific equipment is required to help support the child’s needs, the setting uses available funds and resources to achieve this.  We would also consult with outside agencies about any funding or equipment that may be accessed to provide everything the children need.

We will use now and next boards which will show your child what is happening now and then what is coming next. This helps them understand the routine and know what to expect next.

We use ‘Communicate in Print’ to provide visual prompts and aids for your child to understand and communicate with others. All staff are Makaton trained which enables them to use signing to support communication.  We use the Best Practice Guidance document to support our teaching. This document has been written by the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service and sets out a range of teaching strategies which can be used to support children.

Environment – Our teaching starts with planning for the environment to improve the conditions that will enable children to listen and give full involvement to their learning. The room benefits from natural light, the walls and boards are all natural to promote a sense of calm. This is further enhanced by soft furnishings and rugs to minimise noise and encourage a sense of well-being. We provide calm quiet areas to relax and reflect. We have a range of resources available to access independently.

We will use all the teaching strategies we have mentioned previously and personalise them for each child. If your child is making insufficient progress through a targeted plan, the SENCO and your child’s Key Person will discuss with you the need to refer to other services, such as speech and language therapy. If your child receives support from outside agencies, the targeted plan would change to a personalised plan.

If required, we would refer your child to the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service through the Local Inclusion Team Forum meeting which is held 6 times a year. We would receive consent from you and if the referral is accepted a specialist teacher would visit your child and give support to them, you and the setting to help your child progress.

All staff have specific training to help support any child with SEND, for example we have recently received Makaton training. As a result all staff can sign simple single words to help children understand what is being said and support instructions and directions. There are 2 staff members who are Early Years SENCO trained in our setting.

Your child’s key person is responsible for guiding, monitoring and supporting the physical and emotional development of children in our care and this is especially important when children have special or additional educational needs. Your child’s key worker will invite you in to look through your child’s learning journey and discuss your child’s progress. Your child will be assessed against development matters three times a year and progress will be shared with you during parent meetings after the assessments have be completed. You are informed verbally by your child’s key person or nursery supervisor of any significant progress they have made throughout the week.  

Every 6 weeks you will receive a focus child form to complete. This helps your key person plan around the child’s interests and abilities that week.

All staff write observations to cover all areas of the EYFS weekly and will have regular reviews of any targeted or personalised plans.

We are committed to inclusive practice in our nursery, which enables your child to be included in every part of nursery life. Your child’s key person will ensure that any activities are suitable and adapted to meet your child’s needs. Our environment is natural and calming to support all children in nursery and does not overwhelm the children. This helps children to keep focus for longer and does not distract them as much. All staff have awareness of every child’s needs, which enables them to adapt any activity that is needed. If your child has a targeted or personalised plan, this supports staff to know their strengths and areas for support.

We complete health and safety risk assessments before any trips or outings and your child will receive a 1-1 ratio to ensure their safety and inclusion.

Our nursery is set on one floor, with wide doorways for easy access for a wheelchair. We have disabled toilets in the nursery and on school premises. Our changing facilities are accessible for all children.

The nursery inside and outside is open plan with lots of room for children to move. The site is ramped or flat for easy access. There are disabled parking bays and a lift to the main reception if needed.

When your child leaves our Nursery and moves to their new school, we ensure that the new Reception class teacher visits your child in their nursery. During this time, we are able to discuss your child with the teacher to ensure they all well informed as to how your child accesses their learning, their likes and dislikes and other key information we fell will be beneficial to your child’s new team. We will also complete a record of transfer that will inform you and your child’s new school where your child is currently accessing the EYFS Curriculum.

We provide your child with a school uniform that they are able to wear and dress up in during their time in Nursery to help prepare them with going to school.

Early years SENCO’s go to regular LIFT meetings to discuss appropriate provision for children and have opportunities to receive advise from the Specialist Teaching and Learning Service. We attend SENCo forum meetings to discuss our provision.

Parents have the opportunity to complete questionnaires and surveys yearly to gain parent voice and we evaluate and put next steps in place.

We receive regular visits from Specialist teachers and SENIF practitioners to support us and your child to meet their needs.

We hold regular parent meetings with your child’s key person and provide parent workshops and training.

You can contact the school or nursery directly to speak to the nursery team or fill in an interest form. You can also complete an interest form on the school website or send an email. We can offer additional settling-in sessions with you and the SENCO/key person to ensure your child gets the best support. We will arrange meetings and assessment for additional funding including SEN Inclusion Funding or Disability Access Funding, which will support the nursery and your child to give specialist support.

Our SEND policy provides the context for supporting children through the graduated approach and our complaints procedure is available on our website along with all our policies.

Your child will receive a Learning Log each week sharing what your child has been doing during the week and any questions or comments can be made in this book too.

We send out regular surveys and questionnaires to listen to your views and opinions. We welcome constructive feedback.

We have an open door policy where you can ring or email at any time.