Family Information and Services Hub
Local Offer

Bishops Waltham Montessori

Offering services to:
  • Children 0-5
  • Families
Supporting people with:
  • Education, training and development
Carescheme type:
  • Day nursery
For non-funded children the charge is £7.50 per hour. For children eligible 15 hours free nursery care - we ask for a voluntary contribution of £1 per hour to cover consumables such as wipes, snack, cookery, yoga, gardening etc with French and Dance being charged at £2.50 per session. Nursery hours 9-3 Monday - Friday 8am Breakfast club every day and open until 4pm on a Wednesday

Who to contact

Contact Name
Danielle Westmacott
Telephone
07979 457486 07979 457486
E-mail
bishopswalthammontessori@gmail.com
Website
www.bishopswalthammontessori.co.uk
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Where to go

Address
St John Ambulance Hall
Little Shore Lane, Bishops Waltham
Southampton
Hampshire
Postcode

SO32 1ED

View SO32 1ED on a map

Availability

Age Ranges
0 to 5 years

Inclusion Information

Special Needs provision
Yes
Details
Caters for children with special needs. Challenging behaviour,Contact service/group,Developmental delay,English as additional language,Hearing difficulties,Medical difficulties,Physical difficulties,See Website,Soc. Interaction Difficulties,Speech and lang. difficulties,Visual difficulties
Can make special cultural provisions
Yes
Details
Cultural and Spec. Diet. Needs,Relig. and Cultural Awareness

Childcare Information

Funded Places

Offers 3 & 4 year old funded places
Yes
Offers 2 year old funded places
Yes

Opening Times & Facilities

Opening Times
Opening Times
DayOpening TimeClosing Time
Monday 08:30 15:00
Tuesday 08:30 15:00
Wednesday 08:30 16:00
Thursday 08:30 15:00
Friday 08:30 15:00
Facilities
Visit & Outings
Pets
Car Parking
Messy Play Area
Sleeping Area
Outdoor Play
Computer

Local Offer

Description

How does the setting/school/college know if children/young people need extra help and what should I do if I think my child/young person may have special educational needs?

At Bishops Waltham Montessori we make it our priority to get to know our Families and children from the moment they enrol in our setting. We work in partnership with parents to ensure we provide a fully inclusive practice, we do this through observation, assessment and planning of all children's individual needs.

At Bishops Waltham Montessori we have a designated SENCO (Special educational needs co-ordinator) She is there to support our children, practitioners and families in the setting with the child’s personal developmental needs. When your child starts nursery they will be appointed a keyworker who will help your child with settling in and you will be asked to fill out a few forms to help us with this – all about me and health care form. These go towards helping us to build the foundations of a positive and open relationship between yourselves and nursery. We of course have an open-door policy and you are welcome to discuss any concerns you may have at any time.

Along with constant observations of our children, a two year check is also completed on the prime areas of the EYFS at Bishops Waltham Montessori, we will also look at your child’s settling in documents and if appropriate medical records or other childcare provider development records. With this gathered knowledge, together with parents and professional bodies we are able to decide if any child within the setting needs extra assistance in any of the areas of learning and development and an targeted individual plan can be made with your child at the centre.

How will early years setting/school/college staff support my child/young person?

As a small professional team working within a small setting, we are experienced in identifying children's individual needs and working with parents and professional bodies to ensure the very best outcomes for each child.

We keep our policies and records up to date, regularly attend SEN based meetings and update our skills. At each staff meeting we have the opportunity for staff to share any new knowledge and filter down any new SEN ideas, courses attended and for the setting SENCO to keep us informed of new regulations.

The Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum together with the Montessori ethos and curriculum allows for a wonderful and exploratory learning experience, the mixture of child and teacher led activities combines to create a holistic education for your child. following your child’s interests, we develop their knowledge and extend their learning to help each child reach their full potential. Our staff are highly skilled and work with the individual child at the forefront of their minds each and every day, our environment is ordered yet fluid so we can remain flexible to your child’s individual needs.

If your child has an additional need which has been identified by professionals prior to them attending Montessori we will work together with parents and agencies to ensure the best possible outcome for your child, providing support at every turn. That said we too will enhance our own knowledge by attending specific and targeted support meetings and seminars from other professionals as required or appropriate and also give advice or signpost parents to support groups or other agencies. Your child will have an individual plan which will be monitored and updated regularly by both the setting SENCO and their Keyperson.

How will the curriculum be matched to my child's/young person's needs?

Throughout the nursery we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)framework alongside the Montessori ethos and curriculum. These interlink beautifully, enhancing learning and development in all areas for all children. We use the EYFS as a guide to help us understand where a child is developmentally and if they are reaching the required goals at each age and stage. We track their progress and to aid us in this we use an online learning journal – Tapestry.

Our classroom is tailored for each of our children and resources are carefully chosen each week to enhance knowledge and understanding for each and every child. We also engage in various extracurricular activities such as yoga, cookery, French, gardening, animal husbandry – to name but a few - which help each child to gain a wealth of additional knowledge on a personal social and emotional level.

How will both you and I know how my child/young person is doing and how will you help me to support my child's/young person's learning?

We use an online based learning journal called Tapestry, by using this online based journal you are able to get regular updates on how your child is doing direct to your phone or laptop. We use this medium to create not only observations but termly reports and tracking each child’s development.

At the beginning and end of the day parents have an opportunity to discuss anything with us and us with you. An invaluable time to share important information on a daily basis. Each term we have parents’ meetings which are booked in for 15 minutes and is a time when you can have a detailed conversation about your child’s development, ask more questions, discuss any concerns or gain support. We have a notice board up with any new information on as well as newsletters and we also use tapestry memos.

If your child has an additional need, we will have additional meetings when we can discuss their individual plans and targets, ensuring that we agree and are working collaboratively at home and at nursery.

What support will there be for my child's/young person's overall wellbeing?

Each child’s emotional and physical wellbeing is of the upmost importance at Bishops Waltham Montessori. It is our belief that their personal social and emotional development is of paramount importance, without this great learning and development cannot happen. This process starts from the moment they enter the setting, from the initial key worker child bond to the relationships they will

form with the wider Montessori community. The settling in process ensures children feel confident and secure at the setting. This enables us to monitor and address issues of wellbeing, we contact parents to discuss concerns with wellbeing both physical and emotional.

Risk assessments are conducted at the beginning of every day. All staff are trained in first aid and a record is kept of all medications held and dosage, time of administration is recorded and signed by you. All staff are DBS checked and have attended Safeguarding training. All students and volunteers are not allowed to be left on their own or take any child to the toilet. We have individual forms for medicine that we sign on every administration by staff and then parents will need to sign at the end of each session. We also have staff trained in using an Epi-pen and to administer insulin.

We also have Individual health care plans and Allergy forms that you will complete in the initial settle session if your child has any allergies or health conditions that we need to support with. These help us to identify any needs the child may have and to make sure that procedures are put into place before the child starts, ensuring that all staff are aware and confident at dealing with it.

What specialist services and expertise are available at or accessed by the setting/school/college?

We have good links with external agencies that can help us support the individual children in our care including inclusion, Speech and Language, OT’s, physiotherapists as well as attending regular meetings and training courses.

We have an experienced staff team who aim to ensure we keep up to date with any changes and to ensure we provide a safe, stimulating and caring environment for all children.

If your child has outside agencies helping you at home then we would always recommend inviting them in to meet us and see our environment as well, it is of our belief that working together and as part of an extended team with the child at the centre provides the best outcomes.

What training have the staff supporting children and young people with SEND had? Are any being trained currently?

We have a trained SENCo that is on site at all times. All staff have behavioural training and we use positive reinforcement at the setting to promote self-esteem, confidence and role model positive behaviour. We use circle time and small group activities to promote positive behaviour and social stories

Our staff have a wealth of experience in caring for children with a myriad of additional needs including autism, language delays, emotional and anxiety-based needs, downs syndrome, hearing loss, visual impairment and complex medical conditions. They have had training in these areas and more and are updating skills and knowledge on a regular basis.

The staff have attended Makaton training and those who have gone on to extend their knowledge will filter this down ‘in house’ to others.

All staff will work with you and outside agencies to learn specific skills to support children with additional needs. When we have had children attending our setting with SEN including medical requirements all staff have been trained to provide specific care needed and information shared to help us support the child.

Our staff are able to go onto different training courses with Hampshire County Council, and have access to educare which is an online trainer who offer a variety of different types of courses to further our knowledge and keep up to date with changing legislations and updates.

How will my child/young person be included in activities outside this classroom including school trips?

We endeavour for your child to be fully included in all activities within the setting and can adapt the activity to meet a child's individual needs where necessary.

How accessible is the setting/school/college environment?

Our nursery is based in one building on one level. This gives total accessibility to all

How will the setting/school/college prepare and support my child/young person to join the setting/school/college or the next stage of education and life?

We put a great deal of effort into positive transitions as these can be one of the most important that a child can have, potentially the first time away from parents and the first step along the educational path. They can forge the way to a positive learning experience. We invite parents to stay on their first settling in session then they can either leave their child on the second session for a short while or stay with them to introduce children at a pace that they are comfortable with. The parents and children will meet with the key worker and the rest of the team, it is important that each child feels happy and secure before being left at Montessori – we want this to be a positive learning experience and a place where they ask to come even when it not their day! Families are also given a parents handbook so they can familiarise themselves with their new setting.

Transition from pre school to school is so important to us, we provide a lot of school preparation activities, stories and role play as well as each child's teacher visiting them in our setting where we can provide information verbally as well as a school leavers checklist to help with each child's transition. We will also send on any other information needed for each child to their next setting.

If your child has an additional need we may prepare to do a meeting at the school, inviting parents, any outside agencies and future teachers to meet. Meaning we can share information and come up with a way to support the child through what can be a stressful transition. This may mean additional visits to the school or more resources at the nursery to help them with this new transition.

If your child has funding at the nursery and may need additional support at school we will work alongside you to do an EHCP (Educational Health Care Plan). This involves outside agencies coming to see the child here at the nursery and us giving as much information as possible about how we currently support the child and what strategies we have in place to ensure the child is full included. An EHCP can take up to 6 months to be processed, so this is something to discuss early on during the school transition.

How are the setting's/school's/college's resources allocated and matched to children's/young people's special educational needs?

Our classroom is designed to be adapted according to our children’s needs, the resources are carefully chosen each week and designed to enhance the learning of all the children

How is the decision made about what type and how much support my child/young person will receive?

In consultation with parents, staff and where appropriate external agencies. the type and level of support will be decided on an individual basis taking all factors into account including resources and funding. We will always endeavour to provide the highest level of support we can.

We always welcome visits from other professionals to share practice in regards to individual needs of a child, whether this be a Speech & Language therapist/ Portage or a Physiotherapist.

We strongly believe that working together with other professionals and most importantly the parents, we are able to support any additional needs as a systematic approach to learning and development.

How are parents involved in the setting/school/college? How can I be involved?

From the initial show around and through the registration process we work with you as parents, the parent partnership is invaluable to your child’s learning and development. We as a setting will involve you at every step of the way, if your child needs a plan in place this can of course only happen if you as parents agree and equally this applies to external agency involvement if deemed appropriate. As parents you know what you child needs best and we want to work together for your child to reach their potential.

If your child does have an additional need, then we are here to support you as much as the child, meaning that if we have training we will invite you along and we will offer to support with any resources that we can share/recommend. We have an open door policy at the nursery and we are always free to offer guidance or advice if you have concerns

Contact Name
Danielle Westmacott
Contact Telephone
07557333276
Contact Email
info@bishopswalthammontessori.co.uk
Links
Website
Offering services to:
  • Children 0-5
  • Families
Supporting people with:
  • Education, training and development
Carescheme type:
  • Day nursery

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Last Updated: 23 August 2023

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