Lyndhurst Pre-School

Upon registration we ask parents if their child has any extra needs, the parents also have an opportunity to speak to a member of staff at the home visit and introductory session that is held prior to their child starting Pre-school to discuss any additional needs or worries.

Lyndhurst Pre-School staff are all level 2 or 3 qualified in childcare & have training in Special Educational Needs and Disability, Child Protection, Behaviour Management, First Aid, Food Hygiene, Challenging Positive Behaviour, Moving & Handling.

A key person is a member of staff who is responsible for monitoring your child’s progress, also the first person you should contact if you have any queries or concerns about your child at Pre-School.  The key person also helps to build a bond with your child to ease separation problems from parents/carers. 

The key person will give a detailed report via the Digital Learning journey at the end of each term together with their next step and the parent will have a chance to add any needs or comments.

All parents fill in a child profile at their settling in session which will give information of their child’s strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes.

The key person and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator work together to guarantee your child has the best possible support and liaises with other independent agencies and professionals (Area Inclusion Coordinator, Speech Therapist, Portage, Physiotherapists, Educational Psychologist, Occupational Therapist).

Every child is unique.  Lyndhurst Pre-School takes into consideration your child’s progress in order to plan and support the child at their own pace. The key person will work with the Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator to provide the support and activities to learn within the area of need.  Your child’s progress will be recorded in their Digital Learning journey and shared with you at any time. A Personal plan will be written to support home and school life. These assessments will highlight areas of development that may need to be focused on to give your child a sense of self-esteem and well-being within the setting and at home.

Lyndhurst Pre-school use a digital program called Kinderly to record your child’s successes through observation assessments, photos and creative work. We have an open door policy at Lyndhurst Pre-School for parents to come in and discuss their child either with the key person or Manager/Deputy Manager, Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-Ordinator (SENCO) at a mutually agreed time. Parents are also welcome to communicate via emails or Blog which will always be responded to at our earliest convenience. Newsletters are emailed out to all parents and posted on our website termly with current information.  We also have a private Facebook group where parents can see activities done at Pre-School all children in the pictures have consent to be used.

At Lyndhurst Pre School, we share information once we have consent from the parent with other Early Years settings and child minders to ensure continuity and consistency. 

Lyndhurst Pre-school will administer medicine with parental consent and correct dosage forms.  Lyndhurst Pre-school have Behaviour management, Special educational needs and disability, Inclusion and Health and Safety policies in place which are regularly updated and reviewed with the Directors. The key person will work with the Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENCO) and parents to provide the support and activities to learn within the area of need. If needed a Personal plan will be written to support home and school life.

Your child’s safety is paramount to Lyndhurst Pre School and all equipment and schooling areas are checked daily following strict Health and Safety guidelines.  We have a good adult/child ratio 1:7.

We listen to all children’s views and ideas and we enhance play according to their interests and wishes whilst maintaining their safety and happiness at Lyndhurst Pre School. We have a decking area outside which your child can use to just sit and reflect or enhance with various play equipment. We also have a cosy book area where your child can also sit and look at a book or just rest a while.  The staff who are qualified in ECAT (Every child a talker) who operate a small speech and language group where your child will be given additional support with their speech and language, following guidelines from the Speech Therapist.  All information is monitored and shared with their key person/parents.

Manager: Janet Malcom NNEB  First Aid, Level 2 Food Hygiene, Safeguarding (level 4) Officer, Moving & handling pupils, planning & Assessment, CAF completer, Tracking & Assessment.

Juliet Dunning: Deputy Manager  NVQ3 Cache Early Years Care & Education, First Aid, Behaviour Management , SENCO, Level 2 Food Hygiene, Speech and Language, Child protection (Level3), Moving & handling pupils, Special Educational needs and Disability Co-ordinator.

Liz Chick:  Practitioner -  Level 2 in childcare education, First Aid, Level 2 Food Hygiene, Health and Safety officer, Effective Safeguarding Level 2.

Charlene Gander : Practitioner - BTEC National Diploma in childhood studies, Safeguarding Level 2.

Jasmine Miller Lott - Pre School Apprentice working towards NVQ Level 3 Childcare and Education

Lyndhurst Pre School uses some Makaton signing through songs and rhymes and upon greeting your child at the beginning of a session.  Lyndhurst Pre School access the following services:

Area inclusion officer

Speech and language therapist

Health visitor

Early years advisor

Portage

Physiotherapist

Children’s centres

Social services

Head of learning – Infant schools

Manager: Janet Malcom NNEB  First Aid, Level 2 Food Hygiene, Safeguarding (level 4) Officer, Moving & handling pupils, planning & Assessment, CAF completer, Tracking & Assessment.

Juliet Dunning: Deputy Manager  NVQ3 Cache Early Years Care & Education, First Aid, Behaviour Management , SENCO, Level 2 Food Hygiene, Speech and Language, Safeguarding (Level3), Moving & handling pupils, SEAD,

Liz Chick:  Practitioner -  Level 2 in childcare education, First Aid, Level 2 Food Hygiene, Health and Safety officer, Effective Safeguarding Level 2.

Charlene Gander: Practitioner - BTEC National Diploma in childhood studies, Safeguarding Level 2.

Jasmine Miller Lott Apprentice,Working toward NVQ Level 3 -  First Aid, Food hygiene, Safe Guarding level 2 

At Lyndhurst Pre School all staff seek the necessary qualifications and ensure that all qualifications are updated regularly.

At Lyndhurst Pre School we have limited activities/trips outside of the Early years setting, however we do try to visit our local Deer sanctuary at Boldrewood where all children are welcome to attend with their parents.  We also hold our leavers celebrating trip at a fun factory which is a soft play area where again all of those children, siblings and parents are welcome to attend along with the support of the staff.

At Lyndhurst Pre School, the entrance and exit areas are fully accessible even for those who are wheelchair bound. We have a spacious outside area which the children are able to use for games, riding trikes, scooters etc. We also have a sandpit and construction area along with a wooden playhouse and reflection area. Beyond Lyndhurst Pre-School we have a ramp down to a large field and we have a delightful muddy kitchen area, where the children can explore, create and dig which is accessible to a wheelchair. We have also added a willow reading pod where children can look at books and a tepee where they can play or just sit and listen to the noises in the environment.

Inside we have a vast amount of natural lighting along with a warm and bright environment. Inside we have 2 child size toilets but no disabled toilets or facilities for changing apart from a changing mat on the floor. 

We welcome parents who have English as an additional language into Lyndhurst Pre School to teach us some of their culture.

At Lyndhurst Pre School we have some dual language books for your child to use in the sharing library, we also have Pec cards to help with our routines.

At Lyndhurst Pre School, we hold an introductory session allowing the parents and child to meet their key person and to see the setting having an hour and a half play.  The parents will also be given their welcome packs with lots of information for them to read and keep. The key person will also share information to the parents with regards to how we settle our children.  There will be a chance to buy uniform and to discuss any concerns in private with the key person or Manager.

We support transition to school by visiting Year R in the summer term and meeting the Year R teacher and Learning support assistants, they also visit our setting to meet the children on familiar grounds.  If a child is not feeding into our local school, we ask parents to give us information regarding their child’s teacher and new school.  We would also invite their teacher to come and visit your child at our setting and liaise accordingly.

At Lyndhurst Pre School, we will search for additional funding should your child require this, however, this may not be guaranteed or relevant to your child.  We would research and liaise on appropriate sites for purchasing or borrowing additional resources where necessary.  Lyndhurst Pre School Special Educational officer would also liaise with the appropriate organization to aid us in doing this such as the Area Inclusion Officer, Speech and Language therapists, Occupational Therapists or Physiotherapist.

At Lyndhurst Pre School, the key person who cares for your child would complete a 2 year progress check/settling in report upon entry and this would give us the relevant information to help us decide if we need additional support.  This information would be shared with the parents, Special educational needs and disability officer, Manager and Health visitor to enable us to request the additional support. However, if a pre-existing condition has already been diagnosed by a professional body we would liaise with them and have all additional help in place when your child starts including a Personal plan.  At Lyndhurst Pre School, we would write the Personal plan using information from the key person, Special education and disability officer, parents, child and professional bodies already involved.

We continuously monitor and evaluate progress using continuous learning and termly we would update the Personal plan taking note of what impact the support has had on your child and what should be put into place next.  This follows the long, medium and short term aims.

At Lyndhurst Pre School we are independently run by a board of Directors, who support and oversee the running of the Pre-School. We have a Fundraising Committee who raise funds to ensure the sustainability of the Pre-School and to buy resources, which every parent has the opportunity to join. At Lyndhurst Pre-school we complete termly reports for your information, you also have room to comment. The key person is also available to have a discussion about your child’s progress and development at the end or beginning of a session or at a pre-arranged time. At Lyndhurst Pre-school we have an open door policy, where you are welcome to come and spend a couple of hours reading stories, playing games, cooking, gardening etc. We also have a book lending library where the children can borrow a book to share with parents and then you would have the opportunity to comment about the book or perhaps suggest what they would next like to read.