First Steps Pre School

At first steps the management team and the key person is the point of contact for the parent to share any concerns they may have about their child's development, they can then discuss with our SENCO.
The SENCO will talk to parents and make referrals to outside professionals when we have concerns about a child. These referrals may include:
Childrens' Services
Inclusion Team
Speech and Language Therapy
Educational Psychologist
Portage

We believe every child is unique, and we take great care to consider the individual needs, strengths, likes and dislikes of the child when planning strategies for their support. Our SENCO will create an IEP (Individual Educational Plan) by liaising with the child's Key Worker, outside professionals and the child's parents. The plan will be flexible, with adjustments being made to suit the child's needs. Strategies will be discussed with the team to ensure every member of staff is following the same approach so the child receives consistent support.

Our curriculum is child-led, the adults plan activities for the children as invitations to play. They follow the child's lead and look for teachable moments within their play. This approach, and our open-ended environment, provide the ideal opportunity for children with SEND to fully express themselves and take some control over how they learn. The staff are experienced and knowledgeable and understand that some children may need a little more direction than others, and adapt their approach to suit those children's needs.This may include one to one time with their key person, working in small focussed groups and on specific targets or implementing strategies to support their development. We work together with all agencies involved as well as parents, recognising that they know their children best, to achieve a consistent approach that allows the child to make the best progress.

We use wow moments to monitor children's learning and development.Our Key Worker buddy system also allows the staff to identify if there are any areas of difficulty through their relationships with the children. Our staff work hard to build strong and positive relationships with their Key Children, and are able to access support where needed to determine the best approach for supporting the child's development.We work with our parents to advise them of sources of support for them and their child, and provide them with ideas and opportunities for learning at home.The whole staff team reflects monthly on how the children are learning together and changes are agreed for group learning

Our Key Workers are very good at identifying unhappiness in their Key Children, and work with them, and their families, to support them and find strategies for improving their well-being, such as small group games or social and emotional activities to help with friendships and sharing their feelings with others. We particularly like reading stories and have a huge variety of books as well as a membership to the Petersfield library. We find books such as 'The Color Monster' wonderful, we use our story spoons as it supports the development of emotional intelligence by encouraging children to identify their feelings and express them appropriately.

We work closely with the Inclusion team at Hampshire County Council and health teams, including; SEN inclusion HUB practitioners, Portage, Occupational therapists, Speech & Language Therapy Team, Specialist nurses & welcome the support of other agencies. It develops our team's understanding, knowledge and confidence in dealing with all children. As part of our induction training team members complete training on supporting children with SEND and inclusive practice.We regularly review company training needs and identify gaps in knowledge and access training to support professional development or to support a child's specific needs e.g. Makaton training, autism awareness.

We work closely with the Inclusion team at Hampshire County Council and health teams, including; SEN inclusion HUB practitioners, Portage, Occupational therapists, Speech & Language Therapy Team, Specialist nurses & welcome the support of other agencies. It develops our team's understanding, knowledge and confidence in dealing with all children. As part of our induction training team members complete training on supporting children with SEND and inclusive practice.We regularly review company training needs and identify gaps in knowledge and access training to support professional development or to support a child's specific needs e.g. Makaton training, autism awareness.

We plan for our ratios to allow for an extra member of staff to act as a one-to-one in extreme circumstances, which would allow extra support to be provided for a child with SEND when attending outings or trips. All trips are risk assessed and where needed adapted to ensure all children are able to take part. We are committed to ensuring that all children have equal access to enhanced opportunities

Our environment is an old victorian school which has step free access available, has disabled facilities and disabled parking spaces available.

The resources we use at first steps are carefully considered at the start of a new school year, and then reviewed monthly as team members reflect on how children are learning, and when new children join the nursery. We take information from parents about a child's interests and needs
If we receive any funding towards the support of a child with SEND, this money would be spent in a way that benefits the child and considers their individual needs. We will discuss this with the parents, and ensure any resources purchased are suitable and will benefit the child's learning and development.

Any decisions about support for a child will be made with input from the child's parents, Key Worker, the SENCO and any other professionals who are involved with the child.

We welcome parents to be as involved as they would like to be. We share photographs and wow moments through whatsapp and encourage parents to share with us what their children are doing at home. This gives a much more holistic picture of the child's development. 
All parents are welcomed to be involved as much as they would like to and we have previously supported parents with placements to develop their own professional career pathways.  We are happy to be flexible to meet around working commitments and can always facilitate a discussion with the key person, Manager, Lead educator or SENCo. We also hold termly parents consultants to offer an opportunity to discuss all children's development. We believe the best approach is when all parties involved are working together so will collaborate with parents and all other agencies working with the child to ensure there is consistency in the approach.