Growing Places @ Oakmeadow

Your child’s key person and the nursery SENCo, with information from you, will plan and oversee your child’s education programme. The key person will take the lead, however all staff will be aware of the child’s individual education plan (IEP). The SENCo/BeCo will liaise with any outside agencies along with the parent to develop the plan and ensure that the key person is confident in the opportunities that need to be offered to the child. The SENCo shares information with all other staff at the half termly planning meetings and reviews the IEP with the key person termly to ensure that progress is being made. The key person will discuss information with the parents/carers informally on a daily basis. The key person evaluates the targets and developmental stages monthly in consultation with parent/carers and others involved for a consistent approach to your child’s learning and development, and makes any changes needed. Your key person will share information with you, the parent/carer, at least termly following an initial shared summary which is linked to the seven areas of development. Our trustees ensure there are robust policies and procedures in place to support all children’s needs and they review these regularly or when government legislation changes. The staff team share information in half termly meetings to discuss all children and any additional individual support that may be needed and how that support will be put in place.

At Growing Places @ Oak Meadow we work alongside the statutory framework for The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). For more information please see the EYFS leaflet on [http://growing-places.org.uk/ our website]. We adapt the environment, resources and opportunities on offer to support individual children’s needs and interests. Frequent observations are made of all children and the children’s development is evaluated regularly to ensure any next steps in development are planned for each individual child. We have specific approaches to supporting children’s learning styles. This has proven to be particularly beneficial for boys. In providing regular planned, focused physical opportunities linked to their interests, children’s communication and language, physical and personal, social and emotional skills are advanced. For more information see [http://growing-places.org.uk/ our website] or ask a member of our team for a leaflet. The level of support given to the children is adapted depending on children’s individual needs. This ensures that as they progress every child is able to engage and enjoy developing at their own pace.

Using the ‘All about me’ information on ‘Tapestry’( completed on your initial visits), a ‘Shared Summary of Development’ is written as the starting point of your child’s future needs. An IEP (Individual Education Plan) may be introduced which will work alongside the next steps planned for your child’s development. Our policy is to encourage parents/carers to approach any team member at any time. More formal discussions may be arranged. Your key person tracks your child’s progress through recorded observations, planning and assessments which are shared regularly with you. This information is added to an overall progress tracking sheet which is reviewed by the SENCo and manager regularly. Developmental stages are shared with parents alongside any targets set from outside agencies. Progress is discussed informally daily and more formally at least termly. Children’s daily routines including mealtimes and sleep times etc. are recorded. A home link book for sharing information is available on request. If your child’s care is shared with another setting we will implement a sharing information book. Parents views and opinions and these help the key person plan your child’s next steps of development. We suggest similar opportunities to offer at home to add to your child’s development. Parents are encouraged to be as involved with the nursery as they wish. We hold social/ fundraising events organized by our parent committee, Friends of Growing Places. A parent workshop programme supports parents/carers involvement and confidence building as they network, leading to supporting each other as they share their skills.

Using the ‘All about me information’ ( completed on your initial visits), a ‘Shared Summary of Development’ is written as the starting point of your child’s future needs. An IEP (Individual Education Plan) may be introduced which will work alongside the next steps planned for your child’s development. Our policy is to encourage parents/carers to approach any team member at any time. More formal discussions may be arranged. Your key person tracks your child’s progress through recorded observations, planning and assessments which are shared regularly with you. This information is added to an overall progress tracking sheet which is reviewed by the SENCo and manager regularly. Developmental stages are shared with parents alongside any targets set from outside agencies. Progress is discussed informally daily and more formally at least termly. Children’s daily routines including mealtimes and sleep times etc. are recorded. A home link book for sharing information is available on request. If your child’s care is shared with another setting we will implement a sharing information book. Parent’s views and opinions and these help the key person plan your child’s next steps of development. We suggest similar opportunities to offer at home to add to your child’s development. Parents are encouraged to be as involved with the nursery as they wish. We hold social/ fundraising events organized by our parent committee, Friends of Growing Places. A parent workshop programme supports parents/carers involvement and confidence building as they network, leading to supporting each other as they share their skills.

The key person ensures your child’s holistic needs are met, including care, welfare and development. Our robust policies and procedures safeguard all children, these are reviewed by the trustees regularly to ensure the safety of all children in our care is paramount. Daily routines support children’s self-care and understanding of their own needs. Policies and procedures can be found on [http://growing-places.org.uk/ our website]. There are individual care plans for children with ongoing medical needs. These are shared with all team members and updated regularly with parents. Medicine may be given, with your written permission. Administration of medicine is witnessed, recorded by staff and verified by parents. Any accidents in the nursery are recorded by witnesses and shared with parents. A record is kept of any previous injuries shared by parents/carers. This information is reviewed at least termly by the manager to identify any concerns or changes necessary. Individual plans are set to minimise potential negative behaviour triggers. A consistent approach is agreed when outside agencies are involved so no confusion occurs. Different strategies are introduced and reviewed as necessary to help minimise the need for exclusion. All children are encouraged to express their views/opinions in small group activities, pod times (family grouping) active listening, observations and conversations with parents. A member of staff is named as Safeguarding officer in the setting and is qualified to Safeguarding level 4.

The company has a Lead SENCo who works with the nursery SENCo / BeCo ( qualified to at least level 3) and has the responsibility to keep updated and informed of any changes and new initiatives. This is supported by the Hampshire Services for Young Children SENCo Support groups. We also have a ‘Physical Leader’ who supports the key person to develop individual plans for children with specific needs. The Physical Lead is qualified to level three or above in Child Care and has a focus on improving behaviours and dispositions for learning of individuals through enhanced physical opportunities. We access a number of specialist services such as, SALT, portage, and riverside outreach. If we do not currently work with a service your child needs to access we will develop links to ensure they are receiving as much support as possible.

>Our nursery SENCo has completed the required SENCo training and attends regular support groups. The SENCo and/or key person attend specific training linked to children’s individual needs, e.g. Thomas Training (to support children with Autism), enabling environments, bereavement training, Makaton training, I-Can training (with the speech and language therapist assistant) and positive approaches to challenging behaviour. Specific training is accessed where a specific need is identified. The training is shared with the other staff members and used in the setting consistently.

We have a ramp to the nursery and low sills to outside areas. There is a good amount of space indoors and we can make limited adaptations according to individual requirements including accessing specialist equipment such as standing frames. As part of our inclusive policy we make every effort to make sure all children can access all opportunities on offer, including outings. Advice is sought from parents/carers or outside agencies to identify if any adaptations are needed during the outing to facilitate your child’s attendance at events. We have our own company minibuses which provide transport for all children. Staffing levels are increased on outings to ensure all children are safeguarded at all times. Risk assessments are carried out prior to all outings and reviewed following the trip to make any necessary changes. We encourage parent participation on our outings. Parental consent is sort prior to outings – giving information on where the trip is going to be, when the children will be leaving and returning, who will be going and how they are going to get there. An outings form is filled out with all these details including what the children are wearing. One member of staff is responsible for taking a nursery mobile phone with details of children’s emergency contacts and an emergency bag containing a first aid kit.

Growing Places @ Oak Meadow is on the site of Oak Meadow Centre. The car park ( Nashe Way) has 2 accessible spaces and the entrance has automatic doors. If you require wheelchair access please use the entrance via Tewkesbury Avenue, there is accessible parking space and a ramp to the nursery door. Gardens are on one level and the main area of the nursery is open plan. There is one accessible toilet in the nursery and 2 further accessible toilets in the children’s centre. We can access the Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (EMTAS) to translate forms and documents that may be needed for families with English as an additional language. We ask parents with English as an additional language to share key words so we can incorporate them into their child’s routine e.g. toilet, play, garden etc. Makaton is used in our nursery to support the language of all children. Pictures from home and events are displayed in the Family Pods. We use visual prompts for children who are hearing impaired and timelines to support daily routines for all children. For children who are visually impaired we will set areas for the children so they can be aware of boundaries. We also have auditory prompts supporting the daily routines – such as a tidy up song. Our environment will be enhanced with specific sensory resources to support development according to children’s individual needs. Additional resources or equipment will be secured through the use of in-house and external funding.

All children have access to all the resources within the setting. Different levels of adult support will be available depending on individual developmental needs. If specific resources are identified as needed for individual or groups of children these will be purchased. Funding is accessed to provide specialist equipment/training or one to one support for the child. The manager ensures the funding is used to best support your child. SEND resources are sourced as appropriate and shared through the company. We have a library of resources and cascade knowledge through in house training.

We will discuss your child’s needs before offering you a place to ensure they can be met. We will ask for support and advice from any agencies you may already be working with and any we feel would be able to support us. If your child requires more support than we feel we can offer during our normal day we will hold a meeting with you and the agencies most involved in your child’s care. At that meeting we will discuss what is required to be put in place and any extra support or resources necessary. We will review your child’s development and welfare regularly with you and any agencies involved to ensure his/her needs continue to be met. We will access enhanced funding for someone to one support for your child. If at any time you feel more support or changes are necessary to your child’s plan we are happy to discuss this with you.

From the beginning parents/carers are encouraged to be as involved as they want to be. They are encouraged to stay and play with their child or come in at different times of the year and share their skills. Parents and Carers are invited to join the parent committee. Some parents/carers are invited to join the Board of Trustees who govern the nursery. Parent’s input is encouraged at various events during the year including father’s day teas, mother’s day and graduation. A variety of social and fundraising events are organized throughout the year. There is a calendar of parent’s workshops throughout the year offering various home craft skills. We involve parents/carers in specific challenges throughout the terms e.g. reading challenges. We have a supply of home learning packs for reading, rhymes and physical development that are shared between the children. Parents/carers are encouraged to contribute to their child’s learning journey on our online development tool ‘Tapestry’. We formally offer surveys to all parents/carers annually to find out their views on all aspects of the nursery, including setting procedures and transition procedures.