Little Barn Owls Pre School

Little Barn Owls opened its doors in September 2017.We are a fully inclusive setting, passionate in delivering high quality care and education for all the children.

 Children at Little Barn Owls are identified as needing extra support in a variety of ways including the following

• From observations
• Results from monitoring tools such communication and language tool kit 
• Two year old progress check
• Starting point assessments
• Discussions and meetings with parents/carers
• Concerns raised from outside agencies

 From our initial contact we strive to build a strong working partnership with each family. We do this by introducing each child/family to their own key person and co-key person to enable them to form a strong bond and share information.

If the parent already has concerns or a diagnosed condition then a care plan, with the support of the parents and any other agency involved, will be put into place before the child’s first day.

If you have any concerns at all you can speak with either speak your key person, the settings Special Educational Needs and disability Coordinator (SENDco) or the Pre School manager.

The child key person will be that “first port of call” for you and your child, and by working in partnership with you will ensure all your child’s needs are being met.

Our SENDco oversees all support and progress of any child requiring additional needs, in turn she supports the child’s key person and family to ensure progress is being made. The SENDco and key person will meet with the family on a regular basis to discuss needs, support and progress. The SENDco will advise and support parents if additional services are needed i.e. speech and language therapy, Portage, Paediatrician .

Little Barn Owls staff have completed and passed the attachment and trauma sensitive schools bronze award giving the practitioners the tools they need to support children to express their feelings in a safe and secure environment.

Little Barn Owls Pre School is an inclusive setting. We adhere to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and adapt this to suit each child’s individual needs. To support this we carry out observation, assessment and planning (OAP) processes and devise Individual Education Plans (IEP). IEP’s are assessed using SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time scale) targets. These are regularly reviewed with you.

We endeavour to keep parents/carers informed by regular meetings, reviewing targets as well celebrating successes. The key person will also speak to you daily about your child’s day. If for whatever reason the key person is off the co key person will step in. If you are unable to collect your child we can telephone or send home written information regarding their day. The pre-school manager and/or the team leader are always available for friendly chats.

We also hold parents evening twice a year, where we discuss progress as well as offering, if required, additional support if not already identified.

The wellbeing of every child at Little Barn Owls is our priority. We celebrate diversity and strongly believe that the role of the key person is of the utmost importance to the child’s well-being. We follow our policies and procedures at all times and these are readily available for parents/carers to access, these policies include behaviour management, administering medication and first aid procedures.

All staff, students and volunteers hold a current Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and are given an in-depth induction training programme prior to starting. The staff undertake various training courses throughout the year and are required to share this information with their colleagues. Our staff hold a variety of early year qualifications ranging from level 3, level 5 Foundation Degrees and Level 6 Degrees. The setting also employs an apprentice. 

All of our staff are Paediatric First Aid trained and have undergone Safeguarding training. There are several members of staff who have completed training in ‘Positive approaches to challenging behaviour’ and strategies from this training have been implemented within the setting.

We have a member of staff who is qualified to support SEND as well as working closely with outside agencies such as speech and language, portage and health visitors. OurSEND practitioner hold the level 5 qualification in early years.

There are parenting courses as well as the health visiting team who deliver services from the building the pre-school in situated who can offer support and signpost to other services.

The SENDCos have relevant training to carry out this role as well as attending termly SENDCo support meetings.

All staff in the setting attend appropriate and essential training and have regular supervisions to enable them to give the children the best possible care. The Staff attend various training courses including Makaton, Safeguarding, Managing Behaviour, Equality and Diversity and Inclusion.

The company has three staff training days a year; the whole staff team receives training on a variety of topics, for example; Attachments and trauma training, observation planning and assessments, Tracking progress, first aid and food hygiene.

When planning a trip we would carry out risk assessments prior to the event, from these risk assessments we would plan for children individually taking into account all needs and requirements and would include parents/carers in the decision making. On any outing the ratio of staff to children becomes 1:2, unless a 1:1 is required. We actively encourage parents to support us with planned events. We may also apply for funding to support us with any trips and outside activities.

There is a private carpark for those families that require it, which is located next to the pre-school. The building is wheelchair accessible and all on one level with a disabled toilet.

We can access support from EMTAS (Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service) to assist in supporting families with English as an Additional Language (EAL).

We use visual timelines and Makaton to support communication.

Should a family choose our setting we would then start an induction process. This involves a 'get to know you' visit between the family and two practitioners (the child’s key person and/or co key/manager.) During this visit you will be offered some settling in sessions (as many as is felt necessary) to help settle and welcome your child into the setting.

When a child leaves the setting we will support the transition period for the child and family.

If a child is leaving to go to school we offer the following

• Transition meetings with the school attended by key person and parents
• School resources for children to access (uniforms for dressing up, photo books of schools, small group time for school leavers etc.)
• Invite new teacher to visit child in setting
• Visits to new school with key person

We liaise with other professionals throughout the transition process, ensuring all relevant paperwork is passed on and all needs are discussed and understood.

All of our resources are available for all of the children to use and are adapted to suit each individual child. If specialist equipment is required this will be sourced and we would seek support and advice from outside agencies such as occupational therapists and portage.

There is funding available to support children with a SEND. This funding is applied for and contributes towards resources for the child, staff training and staffing. The funding is decided by Hampshire County Council and agreed on a needs led basis.

IEP’s are put in place for all children that require extra support. The key person and SENDco meet and together with the child parents/carers will agree the support package, outside agencies can and will be included in this meeting.

Each child will have agreed targets to meet; these are monitored by activities and observations and are regularly reviewed. Each review date is set in accordance to the child’s needs.

We actively encourage parents to be involved in the setting, we do this by..

• Information sharing
• Parents Evening
• Stay and play sessions
• Special events where parents are included
• Annual questionnaires
• Fundraising events
• Parents volunteering
• Tapestry