Barton Pre-School

At Barton Pre School your child is allocated keyperson whose role it is to get to know them, ensure they are happy and settled and to plan for their learning and development through observations and assessments. These will be carried out on a regular basis and cover all areas of their learning and development and will be shared with you. They allow the keyperson to track your child’s progress and to assess this against expected levels for a child of their age. If through these observations, the keyperson has any concerns about your child, they will initially raise these with you and if needed seek further advice and guidance from the settings Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (Senco). Once we have all the information we need and with your consent, the Senco can liaise with several different outside agencies if needed. This could be the Inclusion Setting Support Officer, Portage (who would support your child in the home environment), Speech and Language Therapists or Educational Psychologists. If you have any concerns about your child, however small, then please do speak in confidence to their keyperson. Knowing about your concerns will enable us to ensure that your child receives the correct level of support that they may need.

The Senco will work with your child’s keyperson to plan how to provide the additional support that your child may need. They may use an individual education plan that will focus on a specific aspect of your child’s development. Your child may be supported through either small group activities or perhaps on a one-to-one basis. The plan will be shared and agreed with you and will usually be reviewed at least once every six weeks. Your child’s progress will be monitored to ensure the right target was set and, again with your agreement, the plan may be continued, or if sufficient progress has been made, it may be that no further plan is needed. The keyperson will however continue to assess your child’s development to ensure that they continue to progress as they would be expected to. If any outside agencies are involved, such as Speech and Language Therapists, we would ask that you provide us with copies of their reports to ensure that we are focusing on the same aspects as they are and which will allow us to offer the appropriate support to your child.

The pre school follows the Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum which covers your child’s development from birth to the end of their first year at infant school. For further details of this please go to https://foundationyears.org.uk/2023/09/policy/ and view the information specifically designed for parents. Every child within our pre school is different, with their own needs and interests. Through observation and assessment your child’s keyperson will know where your child is within each area of their learning and development. This will allow them to then plan activities and learning opportunities based on your child’s specific needs, which enables us to adapt and differentiate activities to ensure that they are able to participate and make progress in all areas of their learning. These observations form the basis for your child’s Learning Journal which shows their development during their time with us. This will also highlight any areas that we need to focus on and allow us to plan how we will support them. The Special Education Needs Co-ordinator will work with your child’s keyperson in supporting your child within the setting and will share with you their plans and ideas for how you could support them at home.

At Barton Pre School we strongly value the relationship between the parent, child and keyperson and will work in partnership with you to support your child’s development during their time with us. Their keyperson is usually available to speak to you both at the beginning and end of the morning or alternatively, an appointment can be made for you to speak to them in confidence.
Their Learning Journal will contain both written and photographic evidence of their progress and the next step in their learning. This will be shared with you on a regular basis by their keyperson who will be able to explain how the observations are used to monitor their progress and to plan for their learning. They can also provide you with ideas of how you can support their learning within the home. We also welcome your contributions to this so that we have a complete view of your child’s development both at home and within the setting. We are also able to arrange information sharing sessions on subjects such as the Early Years Foundation Stage to provide you with an understanding of how this is implemented within the setting and how we can work with you for the benefit of your child’s learning and development.

At Barton Pre School we look at all aspects of your child’s needs and wellbeing, their emotional and social development and their health and care needs. We have staff that are responsible for certain areas such as behaviour, first aid, safeguarding and health and safety. Should your child have an ongoing medical condition that requires specific treatment we would seek further training to ensure the safety of your child. The staff can administer medicines with your written consent. This is all detailed in the Administering Medicines policy, a copy of which is available within the setting. We aim for all staff to have a Paediatric First Aid qualification and ensure that at least one qualified person is present each morning. Any personal care is in an area that is located away from the other children to always ensure their privacy.  All staff have received training in Safeguarding and behavioural matters. The setting has policies which detail how we will support children with Special Educational Needs and Promoting Positive Behaviour. The setting will use different strategies to help your child deal with their emotions and feelings, such as small group discussions or activities. We may also use a behaviour plan which will outline the support we will give them and this will be agreed with you. The children’s ideas and opinions are listened to by the staff when planning activities to support their learning and we work with them on deciding the settings boundaries on their behaviour towards one another.

Our Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (Senco) has several years’ experience working in their role. They can seek guidance and support from the Inclusion Setting Support Officer who will be able to suggest how the child can be supported within the setting and advise which other outside agencies or specialists your child could be referred to. If we do not currently have links with a service that your child needs, we would look to establish this to ensure that your child is receiving as much support as necessary and always work in conjunction with their parents. For further information for parents about how your child can be supported please go to
https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/childrenandfamilies/specialneeds

The Senco has attended training covering a range of different special needs and Speech and Language training. They attend termly meetings that provide up to date information about changes in legislation, training opportunities and new ideas or resources to support children with special needs. They have attended Enabling Environments training that will help develop a range of strategies for creating an environment that is inclusive and stimulating and that will support children's learning and development. All staff have undertaken Positive Approaches to Challenging Behaviour course. We aim for all staff to have Paediatric First aid training and all staff are familiar with the requirements that form the Special Educational Needs, the Diversity and Equality, Behaviour and Safeguarding policies. We would seek to obtain training for a specific condition so that we could support your child within our setting if needed.

When planning activities and learning opportunities for the children, we consider all the children’s different needs and how we can adapt these to ensure that all children are able to participate in them. When we take the children on short walks around the local area, we begin by carrying out a risk assessment to ensure that the route is suitable and that the children will be safe. We lower the adult to child ratio to adequately supervise the children and can provide 1:1 support if necessary. We can use a visual timetable to prepare and explain to your child what is going to happen on the walk to help them feel comfortable and at ease when away from the setting. These walks are often decided upon on the day but if planned in advance, we will advise you and you are welcome to come with us so that you can be reassured about how these walks are carried out and supervised.
For outings and activities that take us further away from the setting, again a risk assessment would be carried out but we would also ask for additional support from parents again for the children’s safety.  We welcome parents’ ideas for both activities within the setting and for outings.

Barton Pre School is fully wheelchair accessible. The building is on one level with double doors at the entrance and leading into the main hall. The hall is large and arranged to allow children to move easily between the different areas. There is a single door to the smaller side room and to the outside area which would be wide enough for a wheelchair. Although the outside area is small it is entirely on the flat and should be accessible to all children with staff providing additional support if needed. The area is set up daily which again will allow the staff to adapt it to the children’s needs. We have facilities for your child’s personal care and there is also an accessible toilet. We can use a visual timetable, using photos and signs, to help your child understand and follow the routine of the morning. Photos can also be used to give your child choices in what activities they would like to take part in. For families with English as an additional language, we can provide written information in their home language and will seek support and advice from the
Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS) details of which can be found at
https://www.hants.gov.uk/educationandlearning/emtas

Shortly before your child is due to start with us, we will offer you the opportunity for a home visit. The manager will complete all the necessary paperwork with you whilst the keyperson will play with your child. This helps to begin to build the relationship between them which is so important to help your child feel safe and secure within the setting. You are also welcome to visit the pre school prior to your child starting as this will help familiarise them with the setting. You can stay with your child for either all or part of their first few sessions until you feel they are happily settled.
If your child is due to move to a new setting/school, we will work closely with them to ensure that transition is as easy as possible for your child. We would invite them to come and visit your child in the setting and arrange for your child to have several visits to their new setting where possible. We will provide them with as much information about your child as we can and will also share with them your child’s learning journal. We may also need to arrange a transition meeting with their new setting/school depending on your child’s individual needs to ensure the new setting knows what they may need to put in place so that your child receives the appropriate support. Within the setting, we can prepare your child for the transition through role play, activities, and stories and by providing photographs of their new setting to help them understand what it will be like for them.

The setting is based in one large room with specific spaces that cover the different areas of the curriculum. The resources that are provided cover different ages and stages of development and can be adapted to ensure that children of all abilities have opportunities to learn and develop. For children with special educational needs, we look at each child on an individual basis and will look to reduce the ratios of adult to children accordingly. We will also look at any additional resources they may need. If we need to apply for additional funding for resources, we can approach the local authority about this.

Your child’s keyperson will have observed and monitored your child’s progress and raised any concerns they may have with the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator. The setting will seek advice from the Area Inclusion service and any other outside agencies to discuss what support may be appropriate for your child. By looking at your child as an individual, we can then observe and assess how they cope and what progress they are making. The decision about what support is needed is made through a partnership with parents, staff and outside agencies all working together for the benefit of your child.

At Barton Pre School we encourage parents to become involved in the setting as much as they can be. We welcome your contributions to your child’s learning journal and work with you to support your child’s learning. Throughout the year you are welcome to join the staff and children, who play an active part in the services, in the church for Harvest Festival, Nativity Service and Mothering Sunday. The pre school is a charity and we need to fundraise to allow us to buy new resources and this is one aspect where the parents can really help.  In the summer term we hold our sports day in the gardens at the local church  which our families are invited to attend. The children always enjoy having visitors, so we may ask parents to come and share any skills or talents they may have with the children or tell them about what they do for a living. We also encourage parents to participate in our “Stay and Play” sessions, which will allow you to see how the setting is run daily. You will be able to see how your child spends their time with us and how the staff support your child in their learning. We strongly value the relationship we have with our families and are always trying to develop and encourage this further.