Maples Day Nursery

Your child’s key person will observe your child on their learning and development, they will plan activities based on their current interests and learning requirements and these assessments will then identify if your child needs additional support. The nursery will hold meetings with you and any outside agencies such as the Local Inclusion Setting Support Officer ISSO to support your child while they are attending the setting. These meetings allow us to plan and implement strategies that meet your child’s individual needs and learning requirements.

Maples Day Nursery supports children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) by identifying the specific needs of your child and we will then meet those needs through a range of SEND strategies.

We work in partnership with you as parents and other agencies in meeting your child’s individual needs, monitoring and reviewing our policy, practice and provision and, if necessary, make adjustments.

Maples Day Nursery caters for the wider community children with English as an Additional Language, and if needed, we can work in partnership with parents and EMTAS (Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service) who support the nursery and their families. We offer a range of supportive aids to help your child communicate such as Books, Cd’s and Visuals in their home language.

Your child will be supported by their key-person who works with you to plan and deliver a personalised plan for your child’s well-being, care and leaning and will act as the key contact for you and has links with other carers involved with your child, such as a child-minder, and co-ordinates the sharing of appropriate information about your child’s development with those carers.

The nursery designate a member of staff to be the Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator (SENDCO) and give his/her name to you. The SENDCO is responsible for ensuring they are familiar with the SEN Code of Practice and attending regular SENDCO meetings and courses to keep their knowledge on legislations and practices up to date. The setting uses a graduated response system for identifying, assessing and responding to your child’s specific educational need and will work closely with you to create and maintain a positive partnership. They will monitor, record and review this plan to ensure they are kept up to date regarding information about your child’s learning and progress as well as ensuring that you are informed at all stages of the assessment, planning, provision and review your child’s progress.

Each child should be seen as an individual with their own needs and interests and this is taken into consideration, observing, planning and assessing your child’s progress and then planning any support they may require. The nursery implements the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (EYFS) as a guide for a child’s development and we ensure we have a balance between adult and child initiated learning so your child can explore their own interests and ideas. Pebbles also has a ‘Free Flow Policy’ where your child has access to both the indoor and outdoor environments.

Your child’s key person will monitor and track your child’s progress in accordance with the EYFS in an informative Learning Journal and each term they will complete a Development Summary. The nursery will plan meetings with you to discuss your child’s progress and we hold a parents evening every term.

Maples Day Nursery’s SENDCO will also provide you with information on sources of independent advice and support and will liaise with other professionals involved with your child such as Services For Young Children Inclusion Setting Support Officer (ISSO) and other professionals; the SENDCO will also support you and your child alongside these professionals during transfer to other settings and schools.

There are two qualified SENDCO’s within the setting and training is delivered to the rest of the team to ensure that they are confident with fulfilling the child’s targets on their Individual Education Plan (IEP).

The nursery’s Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinator (SENDCO) support those children who need extra support, their role is also to provide your child’s key person with support and activities they need in order for your child to learn within the area of need. Your child’s progress is evidenced in their Learning Journal and the SENDCO will work with the key person in implementing an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) which is written to support learning in the nursery and home. The SENDCO will work with other agencies to identify strategies that will support the child so that they can reach their full potential both educationally and personally.

Your child’s key person will plan activities for your child that focuses on their interests and which will meet a specific learning goal and observations and assessments of your child’s progress are kept on their online Learning Journal alongside tracker sheets (this is a guide of how children should be developing against the Early Years Foundation Stage) along with any creative work and photos. Between the age of 2 and 3 years, the setting will complete a Two Year Old Progress Check on your child and this is used to assess and monitor how your child is progressing and to adapt any targets to maintain and challenge a child’s development process. It will also highlight any difficulties your child is having so we can plan and implement strategies to support them and arrange for any help from outside agencies. A termly Newsletter is sent out to all parents to inform them of future events and topics that will be covered in the nursery.

Maples Day Nursery works closely with all the families that attend and strongly values Parent Partnership. You as a parent are your child’s first main educator and we value any information you can share with us. Our families are encouraged to add to their child’s online learning journal, e.g. wow moments and experiences so that we can bridge the gap between home and nursery, focussing on their interests. We hold termly parents evenings to discuss your child’s development. Each session your child attends, a member of staff is on hand to discuss your child’s day, where possible this will be the key person, for a consistent parent partnership.

1. Maples Day Nursery has a number of Policies in place where we will agree to administer medication as part of maintaining your child’s health and well-being or when they are recovering from an illness. For children with a long term medical condition and that require ongoing medication, a risk assessment is carried out for your child. For some medical conditions key staff will have training in a basic understanding of the condition as well as how the medication is to be administered correctly. A health care plan for your child is drawn up with you the parent; outlining the key person’s role and what information must be shared with other staff who care for your child.

Maples believes that children flourish best when their personal, social and emotional needs are met and where there are clear and developmentally appropriate expectations for their behaviour. The setting has a ‘’Behaviour Management Policy’ as well as a ‘Supporting Children with educational Needs Policy’ and a ‘Valuing Diversity & Promoting Equality Policy’.

We have a named person, the settings Behaviour Co-ordinator who has overall responsibility for our programme for supporiting personal, social and emotional development. Maples Day Nursery provides your child with quiet areas where your child can sit and relax in both indoor and outdoor environments; we also implement a free flow policy. The nursery encourages the children to make their own choices by ensuring we have a balance between child and adult initiated learning.

The setting is well supported through the Hampshire ISSO who is reached via phone or email and can provide the nursery with information and resources to help support your child; they can assist the setting in accessing training, support groups and funding for your child.

All practitioners and volunteers have access to a range of training though the Nursery and the nursery raises awareness of any specialism the setting has to offer, e.g. Makaton trained staff.

If you and your family have English as an additional language, we can work with Agencies such As EMTAS (Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement service) to support your child.

Maples Day Nursery have three staff members who are fully qualified in National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level 3 in childcare as well as two of the Nursery Staff being SEN trained. We have one Nursey Apprentice who is completing her NVQ level 3 currently. All staff hold a Paediatric First Aid certificate and have attended Safeguarding courses.  The staff also have access to online training that is specific to childcare and follows OFSTED & DfE guidelines.  In house training is also provided to ensure we are up to date with all relevant training.

The staff have had training in supporting children with English as An Additional Language and where appropriate, visuals can be implemented and displayed around the setting in the appropriate areas to support your child’s communication skills.

Maples Day Nursery works in collaboration with local and national agencies such as the Portage service to promote the well-being of children; procedures are in place for sharing of information about children and families with other agencies.

At Maples Day Nursery we require parents to sign a general consent form on registration for their children to be taken out as a part of the daily activities of the setting.

This general consent details the venues used for regular outings and the nursery staff ensures a risk assessment for each venue is carried out, which is reviewed regularly.

Parents are always asked to sign specific consent forms before major outings.

The settings adult to child ratio is high, normally one adult to two children, depending on their age, sensibility and type of venue as well as how it is to be reached.

Named children are assigned to individual staff, normally your child’s key person, to ensure each child is individually supervised.

To help children with walking and to be recognised when out on a nursery outings, we have fluorescent jackets and one member of staff will be responsible for first aid and will carry a first aid kit with them along with emergency contact numbers.

Maples Day Nursery has close links to the community and local schools which allows us to ensure each child has a smooth transition to their new Infant School. Teachers will come to the setting to visit your child and speak personally to your child’s key person

Maples is situated on a residential street with easy access to and from the main road, the nursery has chair access and can be adapted to meet specific needs of each individual child; the setting has a disabled toilet on the ground floor and access to the outdoor area via a ramp.

The nursery has a free flow policy and the room is designed to be open and spacious so your child can move freely and comfortably, accessing a variety of equipment and activities.

Maples Day Nursery will ensure that information about our nursery is accessible in written and spoken form and, where appropriate, in more than one language. Where necessary, we will try to provide information in Braille, or through British sign language. We will provide translated written materials where language needs of families suggest this is required. In some circumstances we will look to provide access to an interpreter.

Maples Day Nursery has a wonderful courtyard garden with different surfaces and experiences on offer, with a range of equipment and resources so your child can go and explore and be active.

The nursery has a sheltered area so your child can access the garden in all weather conditions, a decked area which boasts opportunities for art and gardening as well as an area that is covered in Astroturf, where they can access equipment such as slides, see saws and climbing frames which are supervised closely by the staff.

1. Maples Day Nursery will invite you and your child to the setting to attend Pre-Visits where they get to play and experience their new nursery for the first time. The nursery will allocate a key person before your child starts and they are responsible for the induction of the family and for settling your child into the Nursery.

The pre-visits allow you and your child to create a bond and they will be your child’s secure base to go to for reassurance and comfort, they will also monitor and track your child’s learning and development throughout their time at Maples.

Maples Day Nursery has close links to the community and local schools which allows us to ensure each child has a smooth transition to their new Infant School. Teachers will come to the setting to visit your child and speak personally to your child’s key person

Before your child leaves for Infant School, we have a big celebration and Graduation Party for you and your child. They receive certificates for Graduating Maples and being star learners, we also hold a School Leavers Parents Evenings where your Key-worker will sit with you and go through their School Transition Report and to hand over their Learning Journals.

The nursery has a means to ensure all parents are included – that may mean having different strategies for involving fathers or parents who work or live apart from their children.

The setting consults with all parents to find out what works best for them and Maples will ensure ongoing dialogue with parents to improve our knowledge of the needs of their children and to support their families.

Maples Day Nursery will inform all parents about how the Nursery is run and its policies through access to written information and through regular informal communication, the nursery will check to ensure parents understand the information that is given to them.

The nursery’s SENDCO will hold a meeting with you and your child’s key person to discuss your child’s needs and what needs to be put into action to help support them in the nursery environment. This may include additional funding for purchasing specialised equipment or requesting a lesser ratio to cater for their needs. The SENDCO will then contact the ISSO to discuss what Special Educational Needs (SEN) Funding is available; they will also be able to offer advice on using the funding and have responsibility for monitoring how the setting uses the funding. The nursery will complete a monitoring form termly to indicate how the funding is being used which will be passed on to the ISSO.

Your child’s key person will be your first point of contact and who is available to discuss any concerns or questions you may have about your child’s learning and development throughout their time at Maples. The nursery has 3 Early Years Practitioners all qualified to an NVQ Level 3 and a nursery apprentice who will also have a role in your child’s education. The setting has two SENDCO’s , Naomi Brown & Becky May who are available to talk to and approach for information on services available for you and your child and can be reached on the nursery’s phone number , 01256 333113

The Maples Day Nursery uses an online journal to share with you your child's experiences and development.  We ask parents to be involved with this by adding photos/experiences so we can bridge the gap between home and nursery and gain knowledge of the child's needs and interests, providing from them holistically.

Parents/guardians are also asked to complete a parent questionnaire termly to recommend any improvements and review all areas of the nursery.  We pride ourselves on excellent parent partnerships and have an 'open door' policy where parents can raise any concerns or questions with our team.   We arrange a parents evening once a term after the children's progress checks are completed.

Any other queries such as looking to book a place for your child, you can reach the nursery by phone on 01256 333113 or by Email : maples@naturallycuriouschildcare