Little Flyers Pre-School

Staff are trained in a variety of areas which includes Speech and Language and behaviour management. Staff update their training regularly. Your child’s key persons approach involves planning around your child’s individual needs, interests and stage of development. Your key person will track your child’s progress and discuss with you at a review meeting. We can also give daily updates so you can hear how your child’s day has been and you can also keep us updated of any changes to your child’s needs. We track your child’s progress through an on-line journal called Tapestry. We update this regularly so that you can see how your child is progressing. The Supervisor or Key person for your child will give you a personal log in for you to access this at home. Little Flyers Pre-School send home a Parents Questionnaire to gather opinion on our provision and support we provide to children and their families. The results are used to inform changes where needed. The Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) is familiar with the SEN code of practice and monitors, records and ensures they are kept up to date regarding information about your child’s learning and progress. Our SENCO establishes and maintains positive relationships with parents, ensuring the staff are familiar with the SEN policy and reviewed annually. Our SENCO supports staff with children who have a special educational need. They also liaise with The Services for Young Children Area Inclusion Coordinator, other Professionals and attend the SEN support group.

Little Flyers Pre-School use The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum as a guide for your child’s development. Each child is different and we understand that they all learn and progress at different stages and at their own pace. Your child’s Key person, with the support of our SENCO, will provide your child with activities for your child to learn within the area of need. Observations are taken of your child and an assessment is made, which will highlight areas of development that may need to be focused on. Planning will then be made within these areas and progress will then be evidenced in the On-line Learning Journal. We would also use an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) to target certain areas of learning that may need particular attention. These are written and agreed with you to support further learning at Pre-School and at home. IEP’s are reviewed termly to view your child’s progress.

Your child’s progress through observations and assessments are tracked on their on-line Learning Journal’s through Tapestry. You will have direct access to this in your own time from home. You can also add to this with any progress and observations from home, including uploading photos. You can also comment on anything added by your child’s Key person, such as photos or observations. We also use the learning Journal’s to track your child’s progress according to the Foundation Stages of Learning. This tells us if your child is learning according to the expected levels of development for their age group. Each child learns at their own pace and often have stronger areas than others. You as parents are your child’s first educator, and we encourage you to be involved in your child’s learning and development at home. Little Flyers welcome visits at any time and your child’s key person will discuss your child’s progress daily or through a home link book and termly meetings will focus on how your child is developing in the areas of learning. You will also be involved in planning the targets for an Individual Education Plan (IEP) so that you can also help to achieve the goals set at home. Regular newsletters for all parents keep you informed of any changes and keep you updated on things going on within the Pre-School. We hold coffee mornings on occasions and we always welcome parents to social occasions, such as Christmas Dinner, Summer Fete’s etc.

Staff can administer Prescribed Medicine with parental consent. Your child’s needs are the most important thing and we aim to help and support your child by being included in all Pre-School activities. All staff have Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check to ensure they are suitable to work with children. We also have set Policies and Procedures that all staff must adhere to. A copy of these are available for parents to view at Pre-School. All staff can attend to a child’s personal needs where needed, with consent. We ensure your child is safe at all times. We have a keypad entry system and gates to the outside area are always locked. Children are constantly supervised. We have designated First Aiders to carry out emergency care if required. We have a designated Behaviour Co-ordinator. They will ensure your child has their needs met through the use of the Individual Education Plan (IEP). We work alongside the Area Inco service and outside professionals such as Portage, to ensure consistency in the management of behaviour difficulties and to ensure your child receives the amount of support needed. Your child’s views and opinions are important to us. We plan our play around your child’s interests and individual needs. We regularly ask the children what equipment or toys they would like to see purchased next. They are very involved in the setting and how they would like to spend their time with us. There’s a lot of choice for play throughout the day.

Staff at Little Flyers Pre-School hold a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 3 or above in Early Years childcare, or are working towards one. All staff are also First aid trained and also have attended Advanced Safeguarding Training. Little Flyers SENCO (Special educational needs co-ordinator) has also attended SENCO induction training and attends regular SENCO network meetings which contain important information about changes, legislation and new ideas and resources to support children with SEN. Some of our staff have also attended Behaviour management courses and we have a designated member of staff with whom takes responsibility for overseeing the behaviour management of our children. This Person is our Behaviour co-ordinator (BECO). The Pre-School staff have also had some basic Makaton training and use some signs with the children through songs and rhymes. Little Flyers staff work closely with other professionals when needed to support children with SEN and/or behaviour difficulties and also children with English as an additional language. We have strong links with Portage, the Early years team, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, local children’s centres and social workers to help support children with SEN and also their parents. These professionals visit the Pre-School and we work together to ensure all children have the support, resources and equipment needed to participate and access all areas

Little Flyers Pre-School currently employ 5 members of staff with which most of them hold an NVQ Level 3 or above in Early Years Childcare or are working towards one. Our Manager/Supervisor and Deputy Supervisor have also completed some elements of the Foundation Degree in Early Years (level 4). They have also completed Behaviour management courses. We have 2 SENCO’s that share the role and both have attended SENCO induction training and attend the SENCO network meetings once a term. Most of our staff currently have up to date First aid training and all have attended Advanced Safeguarding training and Health and safety. All training is regularly updated, at least every three years by all staff. Staff are encouraged to widen their knowledge further and attend any courses they feel relevant.

>Trips and outings outside of the Pre-School are planned in advance with the children. A letter will go home to all parents to advise of the outing with details on. We would choose an outing suitable for all children’s needs where possible so that all children are able to attend. A risk assessment at the outing location would be carried out prior to our visit. We would advise you of any part of the outing we thought may be a risk/hazard so we are prepared in advance of any difficulties we think we may have and we can discuss about any actions you/we feel need to be put in place. We would encourage you and all parents to come along with your child if possible so that we had a high child to adult ratio. All of our staff attend the outings and are on hand to help and support children and parents where needed. Visual timetables and discussions with pictures/photos beforehand are used to prepare your child in advance and explain what is going to happen. We would also encourage you to do the same at home. This will enable your child to feel comfortable at all times when out of the Pre-School.

Our Pre-School is fully wheelchair accessible. Our outside area has also recently been resurfaced with a rubbery safe surface. We have use of a Disabled toilet room and we also have a toilet frame and steps in our Pre-School Toilets for support. There is adequate space in both toilets for the use of changing on a mat if needed. We have music players accessible to all children to use and we use a variety of flash cards, timers, photos, symbols to support your child. Each member of staff supports their key group and is there to support your child when needed. We also set up a sensory area in a dark covered corner of the room at times to help stimulate your child’s senses. Throughout the session, your child will have access to all parts of the Pre-School, including dual language books and stories in their own language. We would encourage parents who have English as an additional language to become involved in learning with their child if possible and share experiences. We would use visual evidence to show what your child has been doing, such as photos or drawings. We would also have access to an interpreter if needed to communicate with parents/carers. If your child has equipment to help participate in activities, such as supportive seating, wheelchair, mats, cutlery, scissors, pencil grips etc, then all of these would be kept safe and secure and checked by staff on a daily basis to ensure they are correctly used.

We invite new children and their families into Pre-School to attend some settling in sessions. This involves time spent in the Pre-School prior to your child starting and you will have an opportunity to talk to the manager/supervisor and your child’s key person to discuss any concerns and make plans for settling them in. Information about the Pre-School will be shared with you during these visits and you can have as many visits you feel necessary to help support your child’s transition. We have a uniform, which is optional to wear. We do find that children benefit from wearing this as they associate where they are going, by what clothes they are wearing. When your child will be moving onto Primary School, we will support you and your child. We would arrange visits to the School with you and with us, and also prepare them by talking about it and showing pictures and photos of where they are going. If needed we can help to arrange a meeting with the new teacher and other professionals involved for a ‘Team around the Child’ meeting (TAC) to ensure anyone involved with your child knows what your child needs when moving on. We invite your child’s new teacher to visit them to get to know your child before they start. We would ensure all progress your child has made will be available for the new School and let them know what procedures we have in place to ensure your child settles smoothly.

Special Education Needs (SEN) funding is allocated to your child where appropriate. We would discuss with you how the funding would best benefit your child. The main area of funding would be to ensure your child receives a one to one support if needed to access all activities safely and to have the level of support needed. We would also fund some resources that may help support your child’s learning whilst at the setting.

Your child’s key person will observe your child and make a decision on whether they feel your child would benefit from some additional support. The Key person would discuss this with the settings manager/supervisor and SENCO. We would also always involve you in the discussion and get your views as to whether you feel additional support is needed to help your child’s learning. Extra support is then promptly put into place straight away. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) would then be drawn up with your input to target the main areas of support needed and the best way to help and support your child achieve small manageable goals. We would then review this an a termly basis with your input to learn what impact the support has had on your child and to make new goals where necessary. If your child has various other professionals involved, such as an Occupational Therapist, then they would also have small manageable goals that they would like us and you to work on specifically to target fine and gross motor skills. We would incorporate these in your child’s IEP.

Your child’s key person and you work closely together to plan your child’s learning and development. Your opinion is always important to us. We review your child’s progress together on a termly basis and your key person is always available daily to talk over any questions or concerns you may have. We like to involve all parents by inviting you in for play sessions, coffee mornings, for outings, sports day,to help with fund-raising events and also we like to see if you can contribute in all our children’s learning by talking about an area of expertise to all of them. We also value your thoughts and suggestions. We like new and fun ideas from parents that you have maybe seen or used and would like to see it at your child’s Pre-School.