Hollytree Community Pre-School

Hollytree has a Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) who would liaise closely with outside agencies such as the Services for Young Children Area Inclusion Co-ordinator service (Area Inco), Portage, Speech and Language Therapists (SALT), Occupational Therapists (OT’s), Outreach or Educational Psychologists (EP’s). This helps us to establish the best way to support your child. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) would be devised by the Special Education Needs Co-ordinator (SENCo) in consultation with parents, the key person and any outside agencies who are involved. Your child’s key person would work with them to ensure they are making progress. This may be on a 1-1 basis or as part of a small group. Great value is placed on the relationship between your child and their key person. Regular staff meetings are held to discuss children’s progress and next steps for development. Each member of staff works closely with their key children but this ensures they also have an overview of all the children in the setting and how best to support them.

Every child is unique and we recognise that all children develop at their own pace. We complete ‘next step’ sheets for every child to ensure that activities are planned to enable them to progress. The next steps are identified by the observations that have been made. They are completed every two to three weeks and are used to feed into future planning. Staff meetings are held where each child’s next steps are shared and how best to support them. General plans are completed by the Supervisors and each member of staff is responsible for differentiating activities for each of their key children. Progress is recorded in the Learning Journeys and shared with parents each term. During these meetings ways you can support your child are discussed. Children with additional needs also have progress recorded on their individual education plans and these are shared and discussed with parents each half term. Children who participate in the language group also separate records kept of their progress.

Hollytree keep detailed records of children’s progress and development. These are in the form of the two year old progress check, their Learning Journeys and also termly tracking sheets. The tracking sheets are a summative assessment which shows the progress made for every area from one term to the next. It clearly shows staff the progress made by each of their key children. Areas where little progress has been made can be easily identified and measures put in place to address it. Your child’s progress is shared termly and ways to support your child are discussed. All of the staff at Hollytree are very approachable and they are available to speak to at the beginning and end of every session. They would always be happy to discuss any questions or concerns you may have. In situations where your child is brought a collected by someone other than yourself we keep a diary so we can share information between home and Pre-school. Parents are encouraged to support their child’s learning and each week we display a bank of ideas for things you can do at home. We also display the activities that will be taking place at Hollytree each week. Newsletters informing you of learning that will be taking place are sent home each half term and this information can also be found on the website.

Every child’s safety and overall well being is our priority at Hollytree. Your child’s relationship with their key person enables them to settle and feel secure Children are supported to stay safe and follow routines through praise and encouragement. The Supervisors share the role of Behaviour Co-ordinator and support staff in promoting positive behaviour. Daily risk assessments are carried out. All staff are trained in first aid and the Supervisors are trained in Epipen administration. All medication is stored in a secure place. A record book is kept of all medications held and the dosage required. The time of administration is recorded and signed by you. All staff and members of the Committee are DBS checked. The Supervisors and Deputy have attended the Safeguarding Level 4 training and all other staff level 3. All staff are regularly updated with safeguarding training by the Safeguarding Officer. The pre-school has policies on behaviour, child protection and Special Educational Needs. All of these areas have a member of staff who has overall responsibility for them. We have a mobile phones and photographic images policy. We do not allow photographic devices at events unless all parents and carers have given their consent. Children are not shown on our website without signed parental consent.

We have worked with SALT, EP’s, Lanterns Outreach, Area Inco’s, our local children’s centre and the Early Year’s Advisory Team to support children in our care. If we do not currently have links with a service your child needs to access we would ensure we develop links with outside agencies or specialists your child needed. Our aim is to ensure they are receiving as much support as possible.

Hollytree Pre-school is run by two qualified teachers. Throughout their teaching careers they have had experience of teaching children with Autism, Asperger’s, Down Syndrome, Speech and Language delay and Emotional and Behavioural difficulties. They are also experienced in liaising with outside agencies to support children. Our Deputy has received training from the area Inco on running a language group. The language group takes place daily and has been hugely successful for children with Speech and Language Delay as well as children who need to develop their confidence. If a child had additional needs we did not feel we were experienced with a member of staff would attend relevant training in order to support them.

>We regularly go on outings to our garden area at the Infant School, the park, the field and the local library. You are asked to give permission for local outings when your child starts. Risk assessments are carried out prior to any outing to ensure everyone’s health & safety. When going out we consider staff ratios carefully, allowing for a child to be supervised 1-1 if necessary. We go out either as one group or as two smaller groups. We have an annual outing and parents are invited to accompany their child. The place we visit varies and is chosen to accommodate all of the children.

The Pre-school is situated in the Community Centre. It is a large well lit room with kitchen facilities and a disabled toilet. We have the facilities for nappy changing. The building is wheelchair and pushchair accessible. The building can be accessed by a ramp as well as steps. The outside area is small but secure and can be accessed in a wheelchair. We would be very happy to adapt the environment to suit a child’s needs wherever possible. English as a second language is catered for by the Ethnic Minorities and Travellers Achievement Service (EMTAS) http://www.hants.gov.uk/education/ema.htm who help with translation of information for parents.

We invite you and your child to come for visits prior to your child starting at Hollytree. This gives your child an opportunity to meet their key person and to become familiar with the new environment. It also provides you with an opportunity to share information and ask any questions you may have. When your child starts we encourage you to stay until you feel happy to leave them. This varies for all children, for some it may be the first time they have parted from their parent. Completing the ‘All About Me’ booklet is a good starting point for sharing information and builds the relationship between the key person and you and your child. We have strong links with the local Infant School. We have regular cluster meetings where transition is discussed. The Reception teachers come to Hollytree to meet the children who are due to start school and to discuss the best way to support them. Induction afternoons are held at the Infant School in the second half of the Summer term and Hollytree staff accompany the children to these sessions. Reception teachers for children attending schools outside of the area are warmly welcomed to come and visit. For children with SEND we would arrange a transition meeting to ensure the school have all the information they need to support your child. Staff complete detailed reports for each child on every area of learning and a copy of this goes to the school as well as the parent.

All children receive up to 570 hours per funded year of free early years education from the term following their third birthday. The pre-school is approved to offer places for funded two year olds. This funding is offered to families on low income. Additional funding can be claimed for children with special educational needs (SEN). A meeting is held with you, the SENCo and the key person to discuss how the funding would best benefit your child. This may be purchasing specific resources but the majority would be likely to go towards funding one to one time for your child and their key person.

The level of support required would be decided based upon a child’s individual needs. If your child has been diagnosed with a SEND this may be decided through a Team Around The Child (TAC) meeting. This would involve parents, SENCo and any outside agencies who are involved. The Individual Education Plan would clearly outline the level of support and would be closely monitored to ensure it is having a positive impact.

We encourage the involvement of parents in all aspects of their child’s early education. We welcome parents in to help whenever they can and offer weekly ‘Stay and Play’ sessions. We are a Committee run Pre-school and are always looking for new members. We hold craft mornings at Easter and Christmas which parents are invited to attend. In the Summer we have a sports morning followed by a family picnic and at Christmas our Nativity. We have a comments box which parents are invited to write down any thoughts or suggestions. We send out a parent questionnaire once a year and collate all responses and share them with parents.