Bright Horizons Fleet Day Nursery and Preschool

We have a nursery SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator) that has been trained through the local authority and Bright Horizons Fleet to support the Key Person, child and families to ensure that the child’s individual needs are met. Your child’s Key Person will work with you and your child to ensure a good relationship is formed and that knowledge concerning your child and their development can be shared. Through continual observations, we can plan for your child including accessing additional support from other professionals where appropriate. We have robust policies and procedures in place which are reviewed regularly ensuring our resources and environment are suitable and accessible for all.

It is important that a good relationship is formed between Parents and the setting, Parent’s communication is valued and the Key Person will work together with the parents to ensure that every child’s learning is supported. We have an open-door policy and you are welcome to speak to us at any time or by arranging a meeting at a time that suits you.  

The nursery SENCO will liaise with other professionals (with parent’s consent) such as the Local Authority Early Years Team, Health Visitors to either gain advice or make an appropriate referral that would benefit your child. We will include parents in all decisions made and implement any strategies and advice offered as necessary. The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) attends local training as well as in house training.

Each child that requires additional support has an Individual Support Plan. During the planning stage, outcomes that we will be working on to support your child will be written on the plan and will be based on their individual needs and interests. The environment that your child plays in will be appropriate for their needs and additional support and resources will be supplied if necessary.

Our assessment tools provide us with a monitoring tool that enables us to identify any additional support required. We encourage parents to work together with the Key Person completing observations and activities for the home to keep them informed of new interests so that this can be incorporated in the activities that are planned for that child. Each child that requires additional support will have an Individual Support Plan which with the Key Person, SENCO and parents involvement will be updated regularly. In addition, the parents will be invited to review meetings so their child’s development can be discussed. We hold annual Parents Evenings across the whole nursery. Parents have access to the Family App which provides them with their child’s developmental progress during their time with us.

Before starting at the nursery, your child will have settling in visits to familiarise themselves with the setting. We will also discuss any support your child will need and their daily routine, including care routines. We have detailed policies and procedures in place to ensure we support your child’s wellbeing, including the administration of medication. We have a policy which supports children who have English as an Additional Language. We also have a SENCO procedure that is in line with the SEND Code of Practice.

The nursery SENCO will liaise with other professionals (with parent’s consent) such as the Local Authority Early Years Team, Health Visitors to either gain advice or make an appropriate referral that would benefit your child. We will include parents in all decisions made and implement any strategies and advice offered as necessary. The Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCO) attends local training as well as in house training.

All staff continually receive and refresh their training through our in house training, The SENCO attends the Local Authority Early Years SENCO Forum’s to remain up to date with current policies and procedures and will access any additional training that will support them in their role e.g. Autistic Spectrum & access to organise Makaton Training.

Risk assessments are carried out in full to ensure the safety of all children and staff. Permission is always obtained by the parents. Where necessary we will liaise closely with parents to make reasonable adjustments to support inclusion of organised activities. We have opportunities for outside visitors to attend the setting to provide the children with different activities.

Bright Horizons have a range of different nursery layouts and all nurseries are unique. The Nursery Manager, Key Person and SENCO can work with the parents to provide the best-fit room for your child to ensure they can access appropriate resources and activities every day to meet their needs. Here at Fleet nursery we have a lift within the nursery which gives access to the rooms on the upper floor, there is double doors in the rooms downstairs for access out into the garden and wide corridors. There is a car park outside the nursery which parents can use for pick up and drop off and a slope up to the entrance from the car park.

With parental permission if your child attended another setting before starting with us, we will communicate with them to discuss your child’s development and requirements/needs. Transitions are a key time for any child, the Key Person will ensure that these transitions are well planned and supported. When a child moves to another room throughout their time with us, the Key Person works with the new Key Person to relay and hand over relevant information for that child and spends time getting to know them. When your child is ready to transition to School we will complete a report and contact the school to invite the new teacher into the nursery to ensure smooth arrangements take place for all children.

The nursery will deploy staff where required based upon standard Ofsted ratios and will apply if necessary for any relevant Local Authority funding (typically the Local Authority only provide funding term time for 38 weeks irrespective of the child’s attendance) to support smaller ratio sessions/resources.

Meetings will be held with parents, your child’s Key Person, Nursery SENCO and other professionals can be invited to these meeting as well e.g. a speech and language therapist. The SENCO and the child’s Key Person will meet to agree appropriate next steps for the child to work towards. The decision is made through ongoing detailed assessments. Individual Support plans will be monitored and regularly reviewed with parents and other professionals. We would involve the Local Authority Early Years Team, with parental permission, asking them to advise us on any additional support they consider necessary.

We have an open door policy and you are welcome to speak to us at any time or by arranging a meeting. Our assessment tools provide us with a monitoring tool that enables us to identify any additional support required. Feedback is shared with parents via the Family App which parent can add observations on anything new their child has achieved. We can also offer a communicate book to communicate between nursery and parents. We welcome parent’s feedback every year in an online survey giving opportunity for parents to comment on the service we provide.