West End Pre-School

Before your child even starts at West End Pre-School you will have the opportunity to discuss with their Key Person any concerns you may have about their development or any special needs they may have. The key person will talk to you about your child’s interests, routines and current level of development. The key person will use this information to form your child’s starting points and set their next steps in the prime areas of learning. If appropriate the Key Person will involve the Special Education Needs Co-coordinator (SENCo) straight away.

From the first day your child starts their key person will build on their starting points by observing them in pre-school.

On or around 6 weeks after your child has started at preschool your child’s key person will arrange to meet with you to discuss their development. At this point if there are any concerns the Key Person will discuss these with you in conjunction with the SENCo (if appropriate) to agree a way forward. Likewise if you have any concerns we will be able to discuss these.

We are keen to provide your child with a consistent approach to dealing with any concerns and therefore we would work closely with you and any child minders or other nursery or pre-school your child attends.

We work with many outside agencies and are able to refer or arrange referral for your child to these if necessary.
These include but are not limited to:
• Area Inclusion Service (AInco)
• Portage
• Speech and Langauage Therapists (SALT)
• Occupational Therapist (OT’s)
• Educational Psychologists (EPs)
• Audiology
• Physiotherapists
• Early Help Hub

We have experience in dealing with children with a diverse range of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities. These include but again are not limited to:
• Downs Syndrome
• Cerebral Palsy
• Autism
• Hearing Loss
• Speech Disorders
• Speech Delays
• Hypermobile joints
• Visual impairment

While we have this experience we recognise that each child’s needs are individual to them and so we would encourage you to contact us to ensure you are happy with how we would meet the needs of your child.

At West End Pre-School we have a curriculum which can be easily differentiated to ensure every child can access every activity in a way and at a level which is suited to their needs.

We have an experienced and proactive SENCo who is responsible for planning and overseeing all additional support your child may need. In conjunction with you and your child’s key person she will determine what support your child needs, how we will deliver this support and how often it will be delivered. This information will then be included in your child’s individual plan. This plan is regularly reviewed by all parties to ensure your child is making progress, to recognise their successes and to write a new version to move them forward further.

The SENCo also works closely with external agencies to ensure we provide the best support we can in the setting.
• We have a speech therapist that comes on once a term to assess the progress the children with speech and language difficulties are making and to provide us with information on how to support them in their next steps.
• We request the support of the Area Inclusion Co-ordinator (Area INCo) when we have a child with needs we have not dealt with before and she can provide us with pointers to strategies to support the child or links to people who can.
• Where we have a child with physical disabilities we can draw on the expertise of Specialist Teacher Advisors, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists among others to ensure your child is properly supported within Pre-School.

We pride ourselves on our openness and effective communication so if at any time you wish to discuss your child or would like more information or support we encourage you to:
• Chat informally with either the SENCo or Key Person
• Request a meeting with your child’s Key Person
• Request a meeting with the SENCo
• Visit the setting and observe how we are working with your child and the progress they are making.

All our staff are able to Makaton sign and this can be an extremely useful tool in supporting children with many different needs.

We ensure all staff are kept up to date with the needs of any children with additional needs by regular documented updates and discussion at our staff meetings. This ensures a consistent approach when dealing with your child.

At West End Pre-School we believe that every child has the right to access activities in a way and at a level which is best suited to their needs.

Our planning for individual children always includes activities to encourage their development in all areas of the curriculum while using activities which interest them. We aim to stretch each child to achieve their potential while creating appropriate next steps so they regularly experience success.

Our planning for groups of children always ensures activities can be differentiated to meet the needs of every child whatever their level of development or ability.

At West End Pre School we are keen to have very open channels of communication. When your child first starts we make every effort to update you on how they are settling and discuss what they have been doing in a session. After your child has been with us 6 weeks your child’s Key Person will arrange to meet with you to discuss how they have settled and their levels of development. This is intended to be a two way process as children often perform very differently at home than in Pre-School.

We are always available for you to chat informally with either the SENCo or your child’s key person about the progress they are making. Sometimes a quick chat is not long enough and then we would arrange a meeting where we will have much longer to discuss any concerns and progress. We also have twice yearly parent consultations.

Every child at West End Pre-School has an individual learning plan (ILP). These plans are regularly reviewed to monitor progress and we also complete a summative assessment each term where we record the current levels your child is working at. Any areas where progress is not as expected will be targeted for additional support the next term. We discuss every child’s progress with their parents twice a year at our parent consultations however if we have concerns about any aspect of your child’s development we would discuss this with you immediately.

All children have an on line Learning Journal which parents can access anytime. It records the highlights of your child’s time in pre-school and contains details of the next steps they are working towards and their current levels of development. We actively encourage parents to contribute to the learning journal and each week we share home learning activities which you may like to work on with your child at home.

Our aim is that no parent should feel they need to wait until a formal parent meeting is arranged to understand how their child is developing and nor should they wait to discuss any concerns. If there are any concerns the sooner we know about them the quicker we can hopefully deal with them and offer your child the support they need.

At West End Pre School we are an inclusive setting where everyone is welcome. Every child is unique and we recognise and encourage them as individuals. We understand that in order to flourish every child needs to feel safe, secure and valued and these are the standards we work to.

If your child has specific medical or personal care routines then these will be discussed with you and a care package drawn up so these needs are met timely and sensitively. If these needs involve us undertaking routines we are not familiar with we would ensure we received the appropriate training to enable us to perform these safely.

We have well established procedures in place for the administering of prescribed medicines which require parents to authorise us to give the medicines to their child and detail how often and at what dose they should be given. All medication is administered by two members of staff to ensure that all doses are correct.

All our staff are checked by the Disclosure & Barring Service and we aim to ensure staff have relevant first aid training and that all staff have completed safeguarding training relevant to their role.

Our Behaviour Co-ordinator (BeCo)/SENCo work closely with staff and parents in supporting children with behavioural needs. We aim to put strategies in place to support them and the other children in the setting and include them in activities in an appropriate way. These children may have a behaviour plan put in place which would outline the support they will be given. This is regularly discussed and reviewed with parents.

We work with many outside agencies and are able to refer or arrange referral for your child to these if necessary.
These include but are not limited to:

• Area Inclusion Service (AInco)
• Portage
• Speech and Language Therapists (SALT)
• Occupational Therapist (OT’s)
• Educational Psychologists (EPs)
• Audiology
• Physiotherapists
• Early Help Hub for Behaviour issues
• Specialist Teacher Advisors

If your child requires support from an outside agency or specialist we do not currently work with we would ensure we accessed this support as our aim is always to provide your child with the appropriate support while at West End Pre School.

We have an experienced and proactive SENCo who has completed her SENCo training and has also attended many training courses on Speech and Language development and Makaton.

Our SENCo attends regular support meetings held by the Area Inclusion team who supply valuable advice and resources to help support our children and their families. The Area INCos are also available on request to enable the SENCo to discuss any concerns about our children that she may have.

All staff within West End Pre School are able to Makaton sign and we regularly extend the range of signs we use by introducing new signs to the children. We also sign many of our Nursery Rhymes.

At West End Pre School we aim to ensure all our activities are differentiated so all children can access them in their own way and at a level appropriate to them.

We would never take a child on an outing which we deemed was unsafe for their age and stage of development.

When we go on outings outside of Pre-School we carry out a full risk assessment beforehand to ensure the safety of all children and this includes assessing the needs of the children who will be going on the outing. We then set our adult to child ratios to ensure all children are adequately supported and that we can fully meet their needs.

There may be occasions when we feel your expertise as your child’s primary carer would enable them to better participate in the outing and we would the discuss this with you to see if you could come with us on the trip however you would always be welcome to join us on any outing if you would like to.

West End Pre School is located in a building which has a ramp to enter the front door and double doors which can be opened to allow wheelchair access. Our internal space is all located on one level.

We have a disabled toilet which has space for a wheelchair if necessary and space for changing nappies.

Our internal space is quite restricted but we endeavour to accommodate mobility issues within the constraints of the physical building and make this space accessible to all.

The access to the outdoor play areas of West End Pre School is via a single door which has a step up to it. We then have a steep slope down to the play areas and children with mobility issues generally need support to get down the slope. Wheelchair users may well also need supporting coming down the slope as the steepness could make it unsafe.

Once outside our outside space is almost entirely on one level and therefore largely accessible.

We would always be happy to discuss the accessibility of our Pre-School for your child’s needs and where possible we would endeavour to adapt our environment to meet these.

We have well established procedures in place to support children when they join West End Pre School and when they transfer to a new setting or school.

We encourage parents to visit our Pre-School as many times as they feel their child needs prior to starting and we fill out forms with you to help establish ways to encourage them to settle and their likes and dislikes. We are able to loan you a book with photos of West End Pre School, if you feel it would help, which you can look at with your child at home and talk about the things they could do. We also ask you for photos about your home and family which we can put into a book to keep at Pre-School and look at with your child.

When children are transferring to school we encourage school related role play such as dressing up in school uniform and we aim to support the children on their visits to their new schools.

For children with SEND we may well already have completed an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) e. For other children we will complete a Transition Partnership Agreenent (TPA). In either case we will liaise with the school and the SENCo of the school to ensure they fully understand how we have been supporting your child so as to provide continuity of care. This may include a transition meeting with the parents, Pre-School Key Person, Pre-school SENCo, School class teacher, School SENCo and any relevant professionals. This meeting would outline the specific needs of your child and the support they would need. It would also give the school time to put in place anything specific for your child before they start.

Our resources are such that they should be accessible to all children in a way which is relevant to their age and stage of development.

Where a child with Special Educational Needs requires specific resources we do our best to fund the purchase of these from either our budget or from available grants or we look for ways to possibly borrow them.

Your child’s key person, SENCo, Area INCo, Portage and any other outside agencies will discuss with you what support is appropriate for your child’s needs. There is not a one size fits all approach as every child is unique and has needs specific to them. Where appropriate we hold regular Team Around the Child meetings throughout the year with all parties involved to ensure consistency.

Once support is in place this is closely monitored to ensure it remains relevant and appropriate. We do this through observation, assessment of progress, reviewing of targets and discussion with you as parents.

Some children need additional support for just a short while whereas other children may need support for the whole time they are with us. Our aim is always to ensure that support is appropriate, timely and necessary.

Our aim at West End Pre School is to work in partnership with parents. Parents are actively encouraged to be as involved in West End Pre-School as they would like.

We are a committee run Pre-School so some parents may choose to become part of the committee helping make decisions on how the pre-school is run and raising much needed funds towards new equipment.

Some parents have a specific skill which they could come in and share with the children. They may play an instrument and could come and show this to the children. They may be a Dr, Nurse, Dentist, Lollipop Person etc and could come in and talk to the children about their jobs.

Some parents like to support us by offering to make play dough or by washing the tea towels for us.

We welcome parents to put their name down and come and help/play with the children in a session. If you are unable to stay for a whole session perhaps due to work commitments we would welcome you to come a few minutes early at the end of a session and perhaps read a story to some children.

We have regular fundraising events throughout the year and you may be able to donate a raffle prize or come along and support the event.

We send out a parent questionnaire on a yearly basis and you can help shape the future of Pre-School by completing this.

We are grateful for any help and support you are able to offer so please speak to a member of staff to find ways to be involved.