Little Shipmates Day Nursery

As a Group we use Tapestry for our online Learning Journals. With this system we put all our observation on for the children, which we then track their progress, and any gaps in development. Any gaps identified we will look at resources in the room and look to see if we need to introduce a Individual Education Plan and have a meeting with the parents to discuss this, which should help to narrow any gaps. We would closely monitor this and have regular meeting with Parents and Key person, if needed we would then call on outside professionals for support. If you have any concern with regards to you children we have an open door policy where you can come in to talk to your child's key person and/or the SENDco for advise and support for you at home. We also hold parents evenings each term to talk about the progress of each child with their parents. 

Each child has an allocated key person, who will plan and assess their own key groups. The key person will look at the individual children and their interests and bring these into the setting to help with their learning and development.

On starting at the setting the key person will do a baseline assessment on each child to find their starting point of development in all 7 areas of learning. The key person will then plot each child's progress on this each term, after the summative progress reports have been written to make sure there is progress being made. Settle in session are organised to help the child settle into the setting and the room. These start of with the parent staying for some of the settle in's then we ask the parents to leave their child for a short time for us to get to know the child on their own. 

We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) at our setting which cover 7 areas of learning.  Whilst we use this to link the child's development to , we use the In The Moment Planning which incorporate the children interest in the here and now and the staff will use provocations and enhancements to extend the child's base knowledge and understanding. 

Parents are given an unique login for their child's  Tapestry account which they will receive updates to their child and see the observations that the key person has completed, this will also allow parent to upload information and comments on for the key person to see and respond to too.  

We hold parents evenings every term once the staff have completed the children summative assessments. 

Each month once the key persons has completed your child's planning the key person we show you what they have been doing and what they have achieved each month. 

If we have a Individual Educational Plan in place we will meet every time this needs reviewing which may be every two weeks or four weeks depending on the targets. 

At the end of each sessions that the child's attend the key person will give each parent a daily feed back on how the day has gone for the child and what they have eaten and any relevant information from the day. 

As a setting we can administer prescribed medication with permission from the parent, the medication will then be administered by a senior member of staff and witnessed by another staff member.

The rooms each have allocated toileting areas which allows children to have the privacy they need, however still ensuring that practitioners can still see and be seen by other members of staff. The toilets are junior loos so that the children can access then with minimal help. 

We have a child lead environment which allows the children to follow there interests and encourages their independence within the room and their learning. 

On site we have a trained SENDco who over sees the the children with special educational needs and development. Our SENDco attends regular support groups help by Hampshire county council and the area INCOs. We also have a online training scheme that the staff can access training for different areas for childcare environments from Understanding Autism to Encouraging positive behavior. 

Depending on the support the child needs we have access to many out side agencies that we and refer to with the consent of the parents. The staff have worked with many agencies such as Physiotherapy, Speech and Language, area INCOs and advisory teachers. 

The staff on site are Level 3 or above, With some training towards their Level 2. 

Each staff member will be trained in First aid, Food Hygiene and manual handing.  

We also have an online training software that the staff can access as and when they need to update they knowledge on a variety of areas such as, Special Education Needs.

Our outside area is split into three areas, grass,  AstroTurf and a safety surface. access to these areas either have slopes to them or ramps for wheelchairs to use. 

With outings, we like to walk the children to explore and interact with the local community, we visit the village and our local care home to engage in activities with the residents. We would adjust our ratios to accommodate this. Before we set off for these outing the staff we complete a risk assessment to ensure the routes and environment are safe for the children in our care. 

We have a ramp as well as steps into the front of the nursery with onsite parking. our rooms are designed so that they are an open and bright environment. The furniture and equipment in the rooms are designed for children in the early years. We have quieter areas with in the rooms for children who need a quieter area. We are a setting over two floors with our Babies (3m - 2yrs) on the second floor, with this in mind we are able to carry the children up the stairs if needed, and when going to the garden. 

We offer all new starters to the setting settle in sessions. These are from one hour to two hours long and can be extended if needed. we ask the parent to stay for the first session to give them time to talk to the key person and our nursery SENDco. Other settle in session are then arranged where the child is left in our care for the two hours. 

When a child is ready to move to the next room in the nursery, we have three rooms in total 0-2yrs, 2-3yrs and 3- 5ys, we arrange in house settle ins where the child's key person would move down with the child for two - three hours during their normal session, we would also arrange for the parent to meet the team in the next room and the new key person. 

When the child transfers to Primary / Infants schools we will arrange a TPA Meeting (Transitional Partnership Agreement) where we will meet with the school's SENDco and Parents to discuss how the transition to school will go ahead and any special arrangements that may be needed or support and / or strategies they will help with this transfer.   

as a group we do not have a SEND budget, how ever we can apply for extra funding from the local authority depending on the needs of the individual. if funding is approved we would look to see what the settling needed to help support the child, this could be some 1 : 1 support or additional resource or equipment. 

The settings Sendco we discussed with the nursery manager about the individual child and what support they need. A meeting would be held with the parents for consent to talk to outside agencies if needed. 

The setting would continue with the IEP's alongside any targets given from outside professionals. this would be reviewed on a regular basis. 

The setting offers parents evenings each term and daily handovers to the parents. We have a suggestion box for parents to use as well as a question of the month for parents to answer too, these can be found in the entrance hallway.