Buttercups Nursery School Ltd

Our special educational needs co-ordinator (SENCo), Hazel Scott, will work with you and your child’s key person to develop an individual educational plan (IEP). This sets out what help will be provided and how, who provides the help, your child’s targets, how often progress will be assessed and what help you can provide at home. The SENCo will monitor your child’s progress and ensure the plan continues to meet your child’s individual needs. The SENCo works within the guidelines set out in the SEN code of practice to identify, assess and provide help for children with special educational needs. She will also liaise with other external agencies, as appropriate, to ensure there is a consistent approach from everyone one working with your child. The SENCo liaises with Services for Young Children Area Inclusion Coordinator ( InCo) who can support to identify children who may need additional help, advise on referral to other agencies if required and provide training through termly SENCo support groups. You will be kept fully informed and involved at all times. Your child’s key person and the SENCo will work with you to ensure the individual needs of your child are met. Staff have completed training in Makaton and Positive Interaction Programme (PIP). We have all had experience in supporting children with speech and language difficulties, hearing impairment and physical disabilities.

We value the uniqueness of every child and encourage high expectations for development, learning and participation. The interests and needs of all children inform the planning for the activities to support learning and development. We follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) and all children will develop at their own pace within this framework. We ensure that your child’s IEP is designed for activities to be carried out within everyday activities of the group where possible, fostering participation and minimising barriers. We encourage the active involvement of all children in their learning and play, building on their knowledge and experiences at home. You will be involved in all stages of the assessment, planning, provision and review of the IEP to ensure that we have a holistic perspective of your child’s learning and development and therefore provide a curriculum that meets your child’s individual needs.

You will be fully involved in the learning and development of your child. During your child’s time at Buttercups a learning journey is created, which includes observations, assessments, photographs and examples of work and collated in a “Learning Journal”, which shows the progress your child is making. This is readily available for you and your child to contribute to. These contributions and the observations made by staff inform the assessments made by the key person. Ongoing, day to day contact is maintained not only by talking with the key person but also through a home link book which our parents find really useful. We hold meetings each term to discuss the progress in the learning and development of your child. This is very much a joint meeting where you can share achievements from home and together with the key person, next steps will be identified with help and ideas shared for you to support learning at home. If your child has additional needs an Individual Education Plan (IEP), developed with you, will ensure all your child’s needs are met and ensure progress in their learning and development. This will be reviewed with you every six weeks. You will also be able to talk with your child’s key person or the SENCO at the start or end of any session or if more convenient, you can book an appointment to see either of them. In addition can also contact staff members through the website on parent mail.

The well-being of everyone at Buttercups is extremely important and we work hard to provide a positive emotional environment where everyone feels welcome, safe and secure. This is underpinned by including, Safeguarding, equal opportunities, behaviour management, administering medicines which are reviewed by the team regularly and made available to you through our website. Risk assessments are completed and reviewed along with all accident and incident logs to ensure the highest standard of safety at all times. We involve the children in our risk assessments and support them to recognise and manage their own risk. Your child will be supported emotionally and physically and kept safe. With your consent we carry out any personal care routines that your child may require. There will be a care plan in place so that there is clear documentation, which is reviewed regularly and shared with the team to provide clear and accurate communication about the individual needs of your child. Staffs are first aid trained and all staffs hold Criminal Records Bureau (DBS) disclosure certificates and regular checks are made to ensure they continue to be suitable. Staffs work with parents to support children with behavioural needs. We listen to the children, allowing them to have a voice at Buttercups through a variety of methods that accommodate the children’s preferences and abilities. We observe their behaviour and actions as they interact with the resources and environment; they review the activities and resources with us and contribute to the planning.

We work with and can contact a wide range of specialist services and professionals that provide support. This includes Health Visitor, Portage, Speech and Language Therapist, Inclusion Coordinator, specialist advisory teachers and the local children’s centre. The staff have experience of supporting children that have had speech and language difficulties, hearing impairment and physical disabilities.

The staff team has a wealth of experience between them. Four practitioners hold a level three qualification and one member has a foundation degree and is currently working towards a BA(hons) degree. Our SENCo attends regular training through the SENCo support group meetings. Recent training has covered behaviour management, toileting and makaton, which is cascaded to the whole staff team. We are always happy to work with parents, outside agencies or other organisations to update our knowledge and gain the skills required to support children with additional needs We have recently had support from external professionals to enable us to meet the needs of children attending who have speech and language difficulties, hearing impairment and physical disabilities.

>We ensure all children can access and be involved in the activities, through sensitive adaptations that minimise the barriers to inclusion and 1-1 support if required. We regularly use the resources available in the local community such as the woodland and shops. Additional risk assessments would be carried out to identify any increased measures needed to be in place. This may include a change to the staff: child ratios or a change to our route. For trips and outings that are organised away from the local community, we have parent volunteers in addition to the staff team and you would be welcome to join us if you wish.

The community building and our nursery is fully wheelchair accessible. There is an accessible toilet in the community building. We are happy to work with parents and external services to identify and address any particular needs. However as we are in a community building any changes to the physical environment would need approval of the community centre committee. We support the children visually through the use of makaton and group and individual visual timelines. Our main activity room is carpeted which helps to minimise the noise in the room. We also have a quiet room, which is used for reading, looking at books, small group work and as a cosy retreat for those that want to get away from the main activities for a while. We can access support for children with English as an additional language through the Ethnic Minorities and travellers achievement Service (EMTAS). We use the library service for dual language books and work closely with parent.

Before your child starts at Buttercups Hazel Scott, Manager and your child’s key person, will visit you and your child at home. We gather information such as individual needs and interests so we can prepare for your child’s first day. We will bring a book bag, shoe bag, T Shirt and sun hat for your child as well as a toy and a book for you to borrow. There are photographs in the parents pack to help with familiarisation of the nursery along with a wealth of information. You will get a personalised invitation to visit the nursery. Our induction process is flexible to meet individual needs. We will work with you and your child to ensure the transition from home is a smooth as possible. To help with the transition further we ask if you can provide a photograph of your family to be kept at the nursery. We will ensure the transition to a new setting or school is also as smooth as possible by working with you, any external professionals involved and the new setting to ensure clear and accurate communication. We invite the new setting or schoolteacher to visit and we organised visits to the new setting/school. We have photographs of the local school which works well and could be replicated with other settings if your child is not attending the local primary school. We support the children through their play and include uniforms and book bags from a range of schools in our role-play area.

All children are entitled to access 15 hours a week of free early years education from the term following their third birthday. If appropriate, additional Special Educational Needs (SEN) funding is available. This funding will be spent to benefit your child. You will be involved in the discussion of the allocation of the funds through meetings with the key person, SENCO and any external professionals.

You will be fully involved the meetings to decide the type and support your child receives. You will be invited to attend meetings with the key person and SENCO initially. Further meetings will include the Area Inclusion Coordinator, and any other external professionals or agencies supporting your child. These meetings will be to discuss the individual needs of your child. We will monitor the effectiveness of the support we have implemented, through regular observations and reviewing the targets on the IEP. These will be discussed with you at meetings with the key person and the SENCO.

We welcome and encourage parental involvement and it is something we are continually developing through various means. We have an active parent group, Friends of Buttercups who are involved in nursery events and fundraising, offering many opportunities to bring the staff and families together. We have regular days when we invite members of the family in to the nursery. These include our Happy Hour, Dad’s Days and Grandparent Days. We also encourage parents and other family members to join us in the nursery and share their professional expertise or special interest.