YMCA Fairthorne Manor Day Nursery 110056

Who does your service provide for?                                                                                                                                                                        

YMCA Fairthorne Manor Nursery is a day care setting providing childcare for children ages 4 months to 5 years.

Where is your service located and what area does it cover?

YMCA Fairthorne Manor Nursery is located on a large 94 acre woodland site on the outskirts of Southampton, in Botley. We support families from all around and in the local area. 

How can I start to use the service?

We encourage families to contact us via email or telephone to discuss and arrange to come and visit. Upon your visit we will welcome you into our setting and show you around the whole nursery, giving you an opportunity to see what we offer and ask questions. You will be given a prospectus and registration form at the end of the visit, to complete and bring back if you feel we are right for you. Should you choose to start with us, we will book in some settling visits for you and your child to attend and meet the key person, team and share information about the child. You will be offered a minimum of 2 visits before your start date. During this time, it allows you to get a feel for the nursery, ask any questions and make sure the setting is right for you and your child.  If more settling in sessions are required, we can arrange these and accommodate where necessary. 

How are decisions made about who can use your service?

We are a fully inclusive setting and welcome all children and families from all around to our setting. We aim to work together to ensure we get a clear picture of the child's developmental needs. We offer flexible sessions to accommodate needs of different families. Should you require any additional information or want to find out more about us, call or email on the information above and we would be happy to help.

How do you communicate with service users and how are they involved in the decision making?

We are an inclusive setting and welcome all families to contact us and come and visit. We use a programme called Iconnect, which is an inclusive online learning journal, where we upload pictures and developmental assessments. We encourage parents to use this amazing tool to share experiences and achievements at home with us as we create a picture of your child’s early learning journey.

We welcome feedback from all our families, keen to gather your ideas and opinions to help us enhance our service and support everyone equally. 

What training are the staff supporting children and young people with SEN and disabilities had or are having?

Staff are offered inhouse training to support children with SEND. For example- Makaton training, ECaT training,

Every staff member has access to online Educare training which offer a variety of courses to support all children. There are SEN specific courses such as – supporting behaviour, autism awareness, working with others, promoting language.

 We offer over and over training on Bucket Time, use of visual aids, now and next boards, visual routines, social stories, BLAST training to name a few.

As an organisation we have regular SEN meetings/inhouse training with all the SEND leads in the organisation to share knowledge, updates and ideas. The information and training shared is then filtered down to the whole staff team to enhance everyone’s knowledge.

How will I know my child is safe?

The safety of all our children is paramount and at the hearts of everything we do. The whole staff team have regular safeguarding training to ensure their knowledge is current and up to date. As a setting we ensure all of our Room Lead Practitioners are trained to be Designated Safeguarding Leads at level 4, through various county council training courses. This enhanced training makes sure there is a Designated Safeguarding Lead onsite at all times.

We operate a password system when other family members or carers are collecting, to ensure authorisation to do so.  Our staff team are Paediatric First Aid trained and have regular training in all areas that we operate in onsite.

We aim to work closely with our parents and families at all time to build strong and positive relationships with you, so you feel at ease whist your child is in our care and feel happy to come and talk to us.

How does the early years setting know if children need extra help and what should I do if I think my child may have special educational needs or disabilities?                                                                                                                                                                        

 YMCA Fairthorne Group has vast experience of supporting individual children.  We have significant expertise and specialisms in a diverse range of aspects of child development.  At Fairthorne Manor Nursery we welcome many families onto our site each year.  The nursery benefits hugely from being part of this wider organisation. 

Specifically in the nursery we have a talented staff team who work closely with parents, carers and other professionals.  The nursery operates a Key Person system in which a specific member of staff is responsible for charting the progress of the individual child.  Key people are supported by the Leadership Management team to ensure consistency and quality.  The Key Person communicates with parents and carers and ensures that all staff are aware of the individual's needs. 

Before you start with us you will attend settling in sessions where you will meet your key person and share all information about our child. This is a great opportunity to express your concerns to the member of staff. We will together discuss developmental milestones of your child and use to complete a baseline assessment.

As your child starts their learning journey in the setting, staff continually observe and interact with children to monitor, record and identify the individual child’s learning styles, patterns of play and preferences.  Whilst staff understand that all children are individuals and will learn and grow at different rates, we are however experienced enough to recognise potential areas that may need additional support and encouragement

 The SENCo completes various referrals where necessary- Speech and language for example. We have many effective systems in place to monitor patterns in behaviour and use ABCC chart to identify any patterns or trends. We then use the information observed to identify areas of support we can put in place, work closely with parents and ensure the child’s needs are met.

If you believe that your child has additional needs you should talk to us and share your thoughts and observations.  We will be very receptive and will listen to you.  We will use your experiences to guide how we observe your child and will discuss our observations with you.  Together we will learn about your unique child and plan how we can best meet their and your needs.

2.             How will early years setting staff support my child?

When your child begins their journey with us they will be allocated a Key person who will know everything they need to know about you child and continue to observe and monitor development. The key person will plan next steps and activities that are appropriate and cross reference across all 7 areas of learning.

The nursery has a designated Special Educational Needs Coordinator often known as a SENCo. They champion the needs of all children but specifically coordinates the YMCA’s approach to meeting each individual’s additional needs.  The SENCo works closely with key people to ensure that every experience is tailor made to your child’s needs.  The SENCo then works behind the scenes, with your consent, to contact any relevant services who may further support you and your child.  This may include for example an Inclusions Setting Support Officer (ISSO,) who is employed by the county council.  Their role is to work alongside us and they are best placed to formally contact or request additional support from other agencies. 

The SENCo communicates with agencies such as Portage, Speech and Language therapists and Health Visitors to ensure that any strategies that are put in place in the home are mirrored within the nursery.  This provides a constant approach for your child. The SENCo works alongside you to ensure that you are up to date with information and that your views are heard and acted upon.

3.             How will the curriculum be matched to my child’s needs?

The YMCA uses a very simple PLAN, DO, REVIEW approach.  This enables us to view each individual child’s needs and interests and plan activities around this.  The YMCA’s approach is to focus on developing your child’s strengths rather than continually focussing on any weaknesses.  By accelerating their strengths, we find their weaknesses or areas of development naturally improve.  If we simply focus on weaknesses, your child’s natural talents may be suppressed or ignored.  

The Early Years Foundation Stage is the statutory curriculum for children in the early years age group.  The YMCA adheres to this framework and is able to demonstrate how your child is meeting its expectations.  We achieve this through regular monitoring by the key person, which captures individual learning experiences. Learning journals are regularly shared with parents. We then plan appropriate activities and strategies. Where an additional need is identified an Individual Education Plan (IEP,) can be introduced with small steps targets which are reviewed regularly.

The exceptional outdoor environment at Fairthorne Manor is a huge asset in supporting your child’s development.  The space, resources and diversity maximises your child learning opportunities and enhances the curriculum.

4.             How will both you and I know how my child is doing and how will you help me to support my child’s learning?

In addition to the areas already highlighted we also hold regular parents evenings and informal opportunities for parents to meet both staff and other parents.  Progress reviews enable us collectively to plan future opportunities for your child both at nursery and whilst at home.   Day to day a comprehensive ‘handover’ is given to share information with you when you collect.   Specific arrangements are made to communicate with you especially if you are unable to collect your child and rely on extended family or friends.   Ultimately we are always here and available to discuss your child’s needs.

We use online Iconnect on a regular basis to keep you up to date on what you child’s progress and their developmental journey. You have continuous access to this and we promote our families to contribute too.   

5.             What support will there be for my child’s overall well being?

The wellbeing of the children in our care is our number one priority within the setting. The Nursery team are experienced and well trained.  All staff complete safeguarding, child protection and paediatric first aid training.  If your child has any specific needs with regards to medication, personal care, behaviour management or mobility, individual staff members will be trained to accommodate these needs.  The YMCA has robust policies, procedures and risk assessments and the nursery benefits from being part of a leading children and young people's charity.  We are able to draw on considerable expertise from other departments within our organisation.  The organisation has Designated Safeguarding Leads in all rooms and the nursery manager who has had comprehensive training through the local county council.

Every child has a key person who is responsible for your child’s emotional wellbeing and their main point of contact, as well as the rest of the team. The nursery SENCo will also support where required. The key person will plan each child’s next steps and monitor development regularly to ensure they achieve the most throughout their time with us. We regularly use our Iconnect, online learning journal, to share your child’s development and special moments. We are keen for you to participate and add your special moments too.

More widely your family will have access to a superb range of family focussed programmes and activities.  This means that you can share new experiences with your child.  This we believe can significantly add to the wellbeing of your family. 

6.             What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the early years setting?

We are a general needs organisation providing services to all families. The Nursery does not provide specialist provision for children with special needs. However, we are prepared to be trained to accommodate all the needs of the children who do attend our nursery. For example, undertaking Visual impairment training to support a child with a visual impairment. We have an inclusive attitude an being part of a larger organisation allows us to draw upon the varied and extensive experience and training other departments have to offer.

Our nursery SENCo attends regular training sessions, in-house and from our county council training offers. The training is then filtered down to the whole staff team and knowledge is regularly updates. The SENCO supports referral processes where necessary and builds strong relationships with other agencies and local schools.

When necessary, we will ask for help to support ourselves and all children in our care. Agencies we have worked alongside to deliver a better provision include our Inclusions Setting Support Officers, Portage, Speech and Language Therapist, Visual Impairment Advisory Teacher, Health visitors and educational psychologists.

7.             What training have the staff supporting children with SEND had or are having?

Our nursery SENCo has received inclusion, behaviour management and attends regular network meetings building upon this knowledge and filtering back through training sessions to the rest of the team.

All staff attend regular training sessions to up date and build upon their knowledge already acquired. These include First aid training, administering medication, Makaton training, Bucket Time, BLAST Training, ECaT training supporting speech and language and listening and attention.

We work with our local authority to outsource different trainings for our staff, ensuring their knowledge is kept up to date.

8.             How will my child be included in activities outside the early years setting including trips?

All children are included in every aspect of the nursery.  Fairthorne Manor is a very unique setting as it has 94 acres of woodlands and open parkland.  Therefore, every day children are offered activities that would be deemed ‘a trip’ at most other settings.  Being out and about in the open air is in our DNA and so this is an everyday aspect of a child’s time with us.  We can therefore readily make any adaptions needed to include your child.  The YMCA has some specialist equipment which includes all terrain buggies, sensory equipment and adapted play park.  Furthermore, we have an attitude to ‘make it happen’ so if an activity needs to be adapted to ensure all children have an opportunity to participate at a level appropriate to them, then the nursery team will ensure this occurs.

9.             How accessible is the early years setting environment? (Indoors and outdoors)

At Fairthorne Manor Nursery we pride ourselves as being an outdoor based nursery. Our indoor and outdoor spaces often blur into one with all age groups spending as much time outside as possible which is freely accessible for all children, via our ramp down to the playground.  Our nursery has access to our own gardens as well as being able to use all the outdoor space Fairthorne Manor has to offer. Moving around the site, either following the flat paths or ‘off roading’, means the children can experience the different environments within this one space. For example, following the path through the orchard in spring brings life to bluebells, daffodils and the apple blossom in the trees. In Autumn this same route allows us to collect the fallen apples ready to cook and eat. Alternatively, the open field gives a great sense of freedom to explore. We can follow the flat paths all round site as well as steps to access all areas. We have access to inclusive buggies for children for all ages to promote inclusive participation in all activities.

The rooms within the manor are open planned with high ceilings which make them bright and welcoming. These rooms also allow the children to flow from one space to another, keeping then stimulated and engaged whilst offering a sense of independence and choice. We have extendable tables in our rooms to adjust the height to promote access for all.  Our teamwork alongside all children enabling them to access all aspects of our indoor and outdoor environments, allowing opportunities which are appropriate and individual to their needs and interests.

Our nursery team use Makaton, visual picture cues such as the picture exchange communication system(PECS), now and next boards and label equipment to encourage all children to feel valued and involved in the daily routine of our nursery.

We have a fully inclusive accessible disabled toilet in the nursery for all to use when required.

When families come to view us we will openly discuss what we have to offer and how we can accommodate all children’s needs to make us the right choice.

10.          How will the early years setting prepare and support my child to join the early years setting, transfer to a new setting / school?

As part of our settling in process we offer a minimum of two settling in visit before starting, depending on the need of the child. On your first visit you will meet the key person and have an opportunity to ask and answer questions based around routines, likes and dislikes and experiences. During this time your child can interact with new friends and familiarise themselves with the room. In the following visits your child will spend time with their new key worker building a bond and beginning to feel comfortable and safe with us.

The transition from one room into another the same process occurs. The current key person will liaise with your child’s new key person, organising visits, sharing information and introducing you and your child to the new key person.

When considering school selection, if your child required specialist support we would liaise with you and help support you through the entire selection process. We would consider completing an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) which is a document promoted to help support the child and apply for the additional support at school. We will support in the completion of this document where needed.  When moving onto school you will inform us of which school you child has been accepted into. Schools have their own transition process they follow but once we have heard from all parents the School Liaison Officer contacts the schools to invite them in to meet your child. The key person and SENCo will organise a TPA (transition meeting) with you and the school to discuss your child’s needs, how they have been met at nursery and how is best to aid their transition into school. From here additional visits and supporting resources will be arranged and shared between each other to ensure a smooth transition. The SENCo may accompany them on several visits to the new school to help support their transition and feel at ease with the changes.

Staff from the preschool will attend transition events with schools in local areas to hand over information about your child and tell the teacher everything they need to know to ensure a smooth and positive transition. All school teachers will be invited to come and visit the children at the setting to see you child in an educational environment with peers. Here the key person will talk with the teacher and the child are share relevant information.

11.          How are the early years setting’s resources allocated and matched to children’s special educational needs?

All children aged 3 and 4 are entitled to 15 hours free funding, which they are eligible for the term after they are 3 years old. The government now offer an additional 15 hours free funding which, has a criteria to be able to access, dependent on house hold income. Some children are also eligible for EYPP (Early Years Pupil Premium) which can be claimed in addition to the 15 or 30 hours funding. This funding is specifically for the child who it is claimed for and used to promote development, allocate resources specific to areas of learning.

We also welcome children who receive 2 year funding, this again is based on a criteria that you can find put if you are eligible on the County council website.

At times children with SEND receive additional funding which can be used to support the individual child’s developmental needs as well as possible 1:1 support where required. We will ensure to meet the needs of all children to the best of our ability.

12.          How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child will receive?

We will be ensuring there is continuous communication between you the parent, nursery manager, SENCo and key person regularly to ensure the right support is in place, putting the needs of the child are the centre. Where necessary the nursery SENCo will liaise with outside agencies for advice, with your permission and apply for funding should this be required.

We pride ourselves on the partnership we have with parents/ carers and will always keep you involved in conversations and next steps regarding your child. We value your opinion.

13.          How are parents involved in the early years setting?  How can I be involved?                                                                                                                                                       

Our door is always open for you to come in and talk to us about at any time.  We welcome any feedback, happy to discuss progress and any other concerns you may have. Every day you will receive a personal face to face handover about your child’s day. This will mainly be with your child’s key person or one of the fantastic member of staff in the room. The whole team get to know all the children and takes an interest in all of the children. We use I connect, which we update regularly, with your child’s development and special moments. We post pictures, information and use this resource to communicate with you any home learning too. We encourage you to engage with us and share any comments, moments and achievements. 

We release via email, a nursery Newsletter once a month. This has updates on room developments, achievements, dates for the diary and events.   

Throughout the year we hold various events with which you are invited to attend. Such as parents evenings or pre school graduation. Alongside the Nursery  the grounds of Fairthorne Manor we have The Family park and campsite. There are many family fun activities for you to attend throughout the year such as a spooky trail, Christmas trail, family camping and bonfire night to name a few.

14.          Who can I contact for further information?                                                                                   

Search for our nursery at www.ymca-fg.org  to find information about us and watch our video to get insight in to our day through the eyes of a child.

We welcome you to call and contact us to organise and visit or discuss any questions you may have.

Contact details-

fmnnursery@ymca-fg.org

01489 772222