Woodlands Early Learning

Our ethos is to provide each individual family with a safe and nurturing environment where their children can engage, explore and feel continually supported. We have created a home from home environment which we feel supports a friendly and relaxed atmosphere where children have the ability to thrive. Please see below for the ways this is translated into our nursery practice: * We have robust Policies and Procedures that are not only reviewed on a yearly basis but also throughout the year when feedback is provided. * Parents can read our Policies and Procedures on our Parents Section of our website, these polices are broken into two main elements which are ‘Nursery Practice’ and ‘Staff Practice’ * We have our onsite INCO (Inclusion Co-ordinator) who will work closely with your child and their key person to deliver any extra support that may be required. * Our INCO supports our in house training programme and regularly provides up to date training to our team. * Our nursery practice is supported by the Framework for Intervention. This focuses on looking and changing the environment as opposed to solely focusing on the child where different behaviours have been identified. * We have created strong links within our Area INCO, Speech therapists, Mobility officers and Portage as well as our local health visiting team.

At Woodlands we do not complete ‘Formal Planning’. We strongly believe that each and every child is an individual and requires the curriculum to be matched to their needs and strengths to encourage further learning. * All our children are supported by the Early Years Foundation Stage, which is accessible for all children. It takes into account that all children development and grow at different rates. The staff are regularly trained in using the EYFS and are shown ways to meet any child needs. We provide our staff with individual training if they may have children with specific needs. * Alongside our INCO (Inclusion Co-ordinator) we have an onsite Equal Opportunity Officer that spends time reviewing our setting and putting into place any resources or support that both the children and staff require. * Our ‘curriculum’ actively involves the children deciding what they would like to do as this inspires their creativity. Please see our current Ofsted report as it talks more in depth about how we deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. “Staff have an accurate understanding of each child’s learning and care needs and promote their learning and development impressively”

Parental Involvement is one of our key aims in helping our child development as well as using feedback to improve what Woodlands offer. This is done in a variety of ways both on a daily basis and as well what we have learnt over the years. They are: * Each child has their own individual learning Journeys, tracking form and next steps that are shared with you throughout their time at Woodlands. * We have a Parents Section on our Website, where we send out Alerts and information about what is going on during the week. * We have regular extra events that children are involved in to broaden their understanding of the world around them. * All of our information is there for you to see at any time and all our staff are here to help you with your transition into nursery. * Our staff are put through a robust safe recruitment policy which is continually monitored through training and assessments.

A Verbal handover is given in the morning when your child is dropped off and then followed up by a verbal handover in the evening. Your child’s key person will be present at both the drop off and pick up as we understand the importance of talking to the key person who has cared for your child throughout the day. Our under 3’s verbal handovers are supported by hand written diary sheets that have key information on for you to read at home. We can provide regular meetings with yourself and any other support network that you may already have in place. All children will receive a 2 Year check to provide yourself and your health visitor with a clear view on how they are developing in the key areas of the EYFS. Regular Risk Assessment checks are made to make sure we provide a safe, yet appropriately challenging environment for all our children.

Our onsite INCO (Inclusion Co-ordinator) has a broad range of experience and training which means Woodlands offer a great starting point. At Woodlands our INCO and management team have strong links to our local specialist services, these include: * Area INCO * Speech and Language Therapists * Mobility Officers * Community Nursery Nurses * Health and Social Services * Portage * Behaviour Support Team * Health Visitors * Occupational Health Therapists Whatever the child may need we are able to contact the specialist services and invite them into the setting to advise us on what is needed.

At Woodlands we pride ourselves on not only supporting the development of the children in our care but also training our dedicated team. We have on site trainers that action regular and continuous training all year. There is a special emphasis on Child Protection, Health & Safety, Parental Involvement and the children’s wellbeing. Each room has their own training programme that our Room Managers deliver known as the Positive Interaction Programme and the Framework for Intervention. When a child has an individual care plan not only is the Inclusion Coordinator (INCO) trained in that specific need but at the very minimum the key person and Room Manager as well. Our INCO trains all our staff with Basic SEN understanding and they also receive Professional development themselves through: * Termly INCO support meetings * INCO training * Thomas Training

>When organising activities outside of the classroom , we have a strong ethos to make sure everyone is fully involved in making any decisions about the support that will be able to put in place. This could come from a variety of sources including: * You as parents * Your child * Child’s key person * Our INCO * Our Managers * Area INCO * Any Specialist team that is involved with the child * Bulleted list item * Bulleted list item Woodlands will endeavour to purchase resources that support the child’s individual needs but we will also take into account the whole picture which includes Staffing, time out required to action any changes and the time to train staff. Regular Risk Assessment checks are made to make sure we provide a safe, yet appropriately challenging environment for all our children.

We will always make any reasonable adjustments to our setting to support our children’s needs. A full tour will be offered and during this we will discuss children's developmental needs. If adjustments need to be made we will look at all the information involved this could come from a variety of sources including: * You as parents * Your child * Child’s key person * Our INCO * Our Managers * Area INCO * Any Specialist team that is involved with the child

When joining Woodlands what should I expect as standard practice? When joining Woodlands we support and prepare both are parents and children in this big step in a variety of ways: * A full tour to see what our facilities offer * A one on one registration with a member of the management team. * Two ‘2’ hour sessions in which you will meet your key person and discuss any needs, this provides a transitional meeting to help you both acclimatise to a new environment * A meeting with our INCO if required * Your child’s specialist team can visit and make recommendations prior to starting at Woodlands. * A welcome pack to introduce our team and to inform you of what to expect from us as a setting.

At Woodlands we do not complete ‘Formal Planning’. We strongly believe that each and every child is an individual and requires the curriculum to be matched to their needs and strengths to encourage further learning. * All our children are supported by the Early Years Foundation Stage, which is accessible for all children. It takes into account that all children development and grow at different rates. The staff are regularly trained in using the EYFS and are shown ways to meet any child needs. We provide our staff with individual training if they may have children with specific needs. * Alongside our INCO (Inclusion Co-ordinator) we have an onsite Equal Opportunity Officer that spends time reviewing our setting and putting into place any resources or support that both the children and staff require. * Our ‘curriculum’ actively involves the children deciding what they would like to do as this inspires their creativity. Please see our current Ofsted report as it talks more in depth about how we deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. “Staff have an accurate understanding of each child’s learning and care needs and promote their learning and development impressively”

Every child within our care is viewed as an individual and all the decisions that are made for our children whether on an individual basis or group we will consider and discuss every angle involved. In doing so the following people will be included: * You as parents * Your child * Child’s key person * Our INCO * On some occasions depending on the decision that needs to be made: * Our Managers * Area INCO * Any Specialist team that is involved with the child

Parental involvement is one of our key aims in helping our child development as well as using feedback to improve what Woodlands offer. This is done in a variety of ways both on a daily basis and as well what we have learnt over the years. They are: * Each child has their own individual learning Journeys, tracking form and next steps that are shared with you throughout their time at Woodlands. * We have a Parents Section on our Website, where we send out Alerts and information about what is going on during the week. * We have regular extra events that children are involved in to broaden their understanding of the world around them. * All of our information is there for you to see at any time and all our staff are here to help you with your transition into nursery. * We have a member of staff dedicated to the role of parent liaison that finds ways to making sure that the parents are involved in every aspect of what we offer within the nursery. This is from the every day aspects of our care right through the big events we do throughout the year.