Busy Bees Preschool @ Chawton Park

When a child starts with us, we ask parents to fill in an 'All about me' form. This gives us an idea of your child's interests as well as giving you the opportunity to express any concerns or worries you may have. Staff work closely with the parents throughout all stages of the child's journey through preschool.

After around 4 weeks of your child starting, staff will complete a starting point assessment. This assessment highlights the child's strengths and gaps in relation to the Early Years Foundation Stage. This assessment can give an indication of any extra support the child may need. Development assessments and reports are carried out termly to track a child's progress. 

We strive to have an open door policy. If you ever have any concerns about your child's development, we are always on hand to help. We can arrange a meeting with yourself, the key person and one of our SENCo's. We will then decide on how to proceed, based on the individual child. 

At Busy Bees we firmly believe that each child is a unique individual and this is reflected in the way we plan our activities to follow their interests and do everything that we can to ensure that they progress whilst they are with us. Our SENCo's will liaise with you and, with your consent, any other outside agencies needed.

Individual Education Plans (IEPs) are drawn up in consultation with all professionals who are involved with your child and are incorporated in our planning process as well as being reviewed regularly. Both the SENCo's and all of the other staff in the setting are familiar with the SEN Code of Practice, and ensure they are kept up to date regarding information about your child’s learning and progress. Everyone in the setting is also aware of our SEN policy which is reviewed annually. 

The nursery SENCo's will liaise with the Services for Young Children support team and other relevant professionals; attend a termly SEN support group and coordinate transitions to school. We work closely with the team at our local SEN maintained nursery and can access a variety of their services when needed. A parent’s questionnaire is distributed each year and the feedback from this is used to make changes where necessary. We strive to keep communicating with you whilst we are working with your child and hope that any problems with our service would be addressed as soon as possible.

At Busy Bees we feel that, as your child is a unique person, it is important to allow them to explore and investigate, as independently as possible in our rich environment. Having said this, we aim to provide one-to-one support if necessary. The planning for each session is built around the children’s interests; with guidance from your child’s Key Person as to their individual next steps. We will also take into consideration your child’s progress and plan and support your child following their own pace. Our SENCo's will be on hand to help children who need extra support. The SENCo's will do this by providing the key person with advice and activities specific for your child to support the area of need. 

All of the team members at Busy Bees use an open minded & reflective approach to children’s learning and development. We ensure that we change/adapt ideas or activities to suit the needs of every individual child. Your child’s learning journey will show evidence of progress, through observations, and IEPs will be written to support learning. IEP’S will be reviewed termly to review your child’s progress.

Your child’s Tapestry Learning Journey contains observations, next steps and creative work, as well as photos and videos telling the story of your child’s progress. IEPs will also be included within the learning journey to clearly show what area of learning your child needs support in and how both you as the parent and the key person in the setting can support your child. These are updated regularly. 

At Busy Bees we encourage parents to be fully involved in supporting their child’s learning at home. We strive to have an open door policy and parents are welcome to come in at any time. Every half term we send out newsletters containing dates of events and other information. We offer parents the opportunity to Stay and Play if they would like to as this gives a good insight into the running of the session and what children experience every day.

We have an account on Tapestry called 'Today at Busy Bees'. All parents have access to this. Each morning, we will upload photo's of the activities we have on offer so parents/carers know what their children have been up to throughout the day.

The team at Busy Bees use an open minded & reflective approach and will change/adapt ideas or activities to enhance our provision. The Key Person system enables staff to build secure relationships with children and parents. The team encourages good behaviour and habits by acting as positive role models. At Busy Bees, we have policies in place to support behaviour, special educational needs and disabilities and inclusion. 

If a child is unwell during the session an adult will sit with them until a parent/carer arrives so that they are away from the other children but still have the comfort from a familiar face. Accidents occurring during the session are recorded in the Accident Book and the parent is asked to sign it when they collect their child. We review the accident books regularly and use this information to help us to ensure that our setting is a safe place for the children. 

All staff are first aid trained and this training is renewed every 3 years. If a child joins the setting with particular health needs, staff will receive appropriate training to ensure they are confident to provide lifesaving medication or intervention if needed (previously this has included epi-pens and the administration of insulin). 

All staff in the setting are DBS checked. The nursery manager is the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL). However, all staff are required to participate in regular Safeguarding training. Daily safety checks are conducted, both indoors and outdoors, before the start of a session. If required, we are able to give prescribed medicines during the session. All medication is stored in a secure place away from the children’s reach. A record book is kept of all medications held, dosage required. and the time of administration. We ask you to sign this when you collect your child.

The majority of our staff are qualified in childcare level 2 or above. In addition the Nursery manager is qualified to level 5 in Early Years and the Deputy Manager is qualified to level 6 with a BA (Hons) in Early Years Studies. The Deputy Manager is also the SENCo and holds a level 3 SEN qualification. When needed, we can access support from the Services for Young Children support team, support from our local SEN maintained nursery and Health visitors. We are also experienced in referring children to outside agencies such as the Speech & Language Therapy (SALT) team.

At Busy Bees regular training is undertaken to ensure that the staff are up to date and confident in supporting children with a range of needs and disabilities. We will also ensure that staff participate in relevant training as and when we welcome new children with SEN. All of the staff will work closely with parents and outside agencies to learn specific skills to support children with additional needs. Some of our staff members have been on Makaton training and we use this regularly in the setting.Those staff who have not yet been on the Makaton training will learn signs off of the other staff in the setting so that we are consistent in using Makaton signs. 

Busy Bees has a policy in place to ensure that all children are included in all outings or activities away from the setting. The policy includes:

• Ensuring that parents are always asked to sign specific consent forms before outings.
• Putting in place a risk assessment before an outing takes place. 
• Making the risk assessment available for parents to see. 
• Having a high adult to child ratio, normally one adult to two children, depending on their age, needs,  type of venue, and how it is to be reached. 
• Making sure that named children are assigned to individual staff to ensure that each child is well supervised, that no child goes astray and that there is no unauthorised access to children. 

All staff and volunteers are made aware of the policy before the start of the trip. Those children who have additional needs are supported by a familiar adult (usually the child’s key person). Their needs will be taken into consideration at all times and things will be put in place to ensure their safety and that they are included at all times. 

Busy Bees operates in the local Guide Association HQ.This is situated in a residential area close to the town centre and local schools. The building opened in 1997 and is purpose built. The building is all on one level providing easy access for wheelchairs and buggies. There is an accessibility toilet with nappy changing facilities. We have safe access to a large, level and secure garden at the back of the building, which is mostly laid to grass with a paved patio area. The patio area is partially covered by a canopy. There is a gently sloping ramp from the building to the garden. Guidance from specialists would need to be sought if specialist equipment is required as Busy Bees uses a community building that is also used by others. 

The Busy Bees registration form includes sections where parents can indicate festivals or events they wish us to celebrate and any other languages that are spoken at home. We support children learning English as an additional language (EAL) and our SENCo works with the families and staff to ensure effective communication.

At Busy Bees our SENCo will liaise with the Key Person and the parents to aid a smooth transition. Before your child first starts with us, we will offer a home visit. This will give you an opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have and will also give us a chance to get to know you and your child. 

Not only do we support children coming into the setting, we also support those as they move on to another setting or onto primary school. The key person and, where needed, the SENCo works with the child and their family on the transition to school. We have a good relationship with our main feeder school. Each year, we are invited to watch their Christmas performance so the children are experiencing visiting the school quite early on in the academic year. We ask parents to let us know which Primary School their child will be attending and then invite the relevant Reception class teachers to visit the children at Busy Bees. A transition meeting will be arranged with parents and teachers for any child who may need some extra support. 

At Busy Bees we offer EYE funding for 3 & 4 year old’s and we are also registered to accept children that are eligible for the 2 year old funding. It is also possible for Busy Bees to apply for Special Educational Needs (SEN) funding for your child if appropriate. A meeting is held with you and the SENCo to discuss how the funding should be spent for the benefit of your child. The majority of the time the funding would usually support your child with one to one time with their key person through the week or on other professionals coming in to support your child.

If your child has already had a diagnosis then a team around the child (TAC) meeting will be held before he /she starts at Busy Bees. Decisions are made through consultation with all parties involved with the child’s care; this includes you, specialists, as well as our SENCo's and key staff. 

If your child has not yet got a diagnosis but you have expressed concerns or the Key Person has identified a problem, then a meeting will be held with you to explore ways of supporting your child. The amount of support is dependent upon your child’s needs.

The SENCo's will draw up an Individual Education Plan (IEP) in collaboration with you and the Key Person; this is reviewed each half term. At the review the impact of the support will be assessed and moderated as appropriate. The extra support is put into place promptly and supported by all team members.

At Busy Bees parents are involved in the settling in process and we tailor this to each child’s needs. All of the children will have 3 settling in sessions. At the first session, the parents are invited into the setting to stay and play with their child. The second session allows the parent to come in with their child, play for a little while and then leave them for a little while. The third session gives the parent the opportunity to drop their child off and leave them for an hour. This helps the children to become familiar with their surroundings and the staff members at Busy Bees. Whilst we have these set settling in sessions, we can also tailor them to meet the needs of the individual child. Some children may need a longer settling in period than others.  

All children will have the opportunity to take home a 'buddy' for the weekend. The 'buddy' will be a soft toy which they are asked to look after and care for. We then ask parents to upload pictures to their child's tapestry account so we can see what fun they have been up to. This also includes a story and linked activities to share with your child at home.

We issue newsletters each half term which gives information and news about events such as the Nativity Play at Christmas and Sports Day. Parents and family members are always welcome at these events and we offer refreshments and the opportunity to stay and socialise at the end. We have a Parent’s Notice Board which we display information leaflets and any other information that we hope you will find useful. 

We encourage Stay and play sessions where you can stay for a session and see first-hand the daily running of the group. Questionnaires are distributed to all parents and carers yearly, giving you the opportunity to evaluate and comment on our performance. Your child’s key worker is available for you to speak to at both drop off and pick up time to liaise and chat with you at any point throughout the day. We offer parent consultations twice a year which gives parents and carers the opportunity to come in and discuss their child's progress and to address any concerns they may have.