Goodrington Methodist Pre-School

SEN Information

What special education provision is available at our setting?

We have a variety of mature & young experienced staff who work at the pre-school; some staff has been here for almost 20 years and have lots of knowledge & experience of working with children with additional needs. We have had a steady flow of children on the autism spectrum and also most recently Cerebral Palsy. We have a lead staff member in speech and language. Our staff have participated in training in Thrive, Makaton, ECAT, Communication, Language & Literacy & others. We have regular meetings with the Early Years Advisory Teacher and attend half termly training meetings on new & upcoming strategies to assist us in our role. We hold frequent meetings with the parents, portage workers and other professionals to set realistic targets and help the children to reach their potential whilst in our care. We help the children in their transition to new settings and into a primary school environment.

What criteria must be satisfied before children and young people can access this provision/service?

We are an inclusive Pre-school and follow the new guidance set out in the SEND Code of Practice. We gather information from parents/carers and other professionals on the taster sessions provided and are then able to discuss with the parents on our strategies moving forward and how we can best support them as a family. Once the child is in our pre-school we continually observe their progress and hold regular staff meetings to establish how best we can support the child, through regular discussions with the parents we can initiate appropriate interventions and approach other professionals to assist us in identifying the needs and requirements of each individual child & family.

We are willing to attend further training to assist us in offering your child a place with us and will work together with you to provide the best experience for your child.

We can establish all the child’s needs at the taster sessions and will make every reasonable effort to accommodate all of these requirements before the child attends Pre-school.

How do we identify the particular special educational needs of a child or young person?

Each child has their own key person who works with them & plans for their development & their needs. This person helps to motivate them and assists them to achieve each step.

They will continually assess their progress and record it in their learning and development books & learning diary. Through this we are able to identify any concerns and will then discuss these with their parents. We hold regular meetings with staff & other professionals. We can then work out the best strategies & plans to use to ensure we achieve the best outcomes for your child and for them to reach their full potential during their time at our Pre-school.

How do we consult with parents and/or children and young people about their needs?

We speak to the parents on a daily basis and listen to what their requirements and hopes are for their child and what we are realistically able to achieve. This is also discussed on the taster sessions provided as we invite all parents to look around our premises beforehand, we are then able to gather important information on the child’s needs and what we need to provide as a pre-school to enable the child and their family to access our facilities. If the child is already being supported by other professionals or the portage team we arrange a meeting as a group to discuss any specific requirements and ensure their needs are going to be met. We pride ourselves on our highly experienced staff team & our friendly, family atmosphere and the relationships we form with the children and their families. We have an open door policy and are happy for parents to come in and help or to come in and discuss their child.

What is our approach to teaching children and young people with special educational needs?

We also have key group time in the morning where the key person & their small key group of children (usually between 5/7 children) participate in a small adult led activity. This gives us & the child time to talk & discuss what we enjoy doing or what we would like to repeat or do in the future.

How can we adapt our curriculum for children and young people with special educational needs?

We hold regular meetings with the parents, key person and other professionals involved in the care of the child and set a personalised learning plan for that child this is called an ILDP. This sets achievable targets and goals for us to work together to help achieve the child’s potential.

How will we ensure we get the services, provision and equipment that children and young people need?

We have regular discussions with the parents, staff and liase with Torbay Council Early Years and other professionals. We endeavour to provide as many resources and facilities to meet a child’s requirements and will always make every effort we can to achieve all that is required.

How is this provision funded?

We are a charity run pre-school and are registered to accept the National Education Grant (NEG) Funding for 2-5 yr olds. This gives you 15 free hours of care per week in our pre-school.

Where children who need 1/1 support with a member of staff to assist them throughout the day we are able to apply for extra funding through Torbay Councils SEND allocation.

What additional learning support is available for children and young people with special educational needs and how do they access it?

We have worked with lots of children with additional needs in the past and have a wide range of agencies and support we can access i.e Educational Physiologists, Speech & Language Therapists, Early Years Advisory Support, Portage workers, Parent Support groups and many more or where appropriate parents can attend training courses and we strongly encourage them to do so our parents in the past have attended the EarlyBird course aimed at supporting parents with autistic children and found them extremely knowledgable & helpful.

How do we support and improve the emotional and social development of children and young people with special educational needs?

Our staff are very experienced and we will enable each child to feel happy, valued and that they belong. The staff and their key person will help to develop their sense of belonging and self awareness and to meet their emotional needs, we will work with the parents to provide consistency for the child. We have a positive approach to behaviour management, promoting good relationships and our staff are consistent in its approach at all times.

How do we support children and young people with special educational needs moving between phases of education and preparing for adulthood?

We recognise that children can feel quite unnerved by new changes so here at Goodrington it is really important to us that this process is a smooth transition we ensure this by visiting the new school /pre-school/setting with the child and parents and also meeting with the staff who will take over the care of this child and explain any ILDPs in place, any difficulties or things that may upset the child and make everyone aware of all the facts. The key person will also write up a transition document explaining all the details on the child’s education and development and how the child has progressed during their time with us at Goodrington.

What other support is available for children and young people with special educational needs and how can they access it?

We signpost parents to other agencies that we think appropriate we also have a large notice board and rack where we display leaflets and advertise details on parent support meetings, local events and lots of other services that maybe of interest.

What extra-curricular activities are available for children and young people with special educational needs?

As above we signpost parents through our notice boards, leaflets and also suggest looking at The Torbay Directory for ideas on available services and support. We also have a great relationship with our parent group and are always available for parent discussions to share valuable information on local play areas and events and this is really helpful to new families who have just recently moved to the area.

How do we assess and review progress towards agreed outcomes, and how are parents, children and young people involved in this process?

Children with SEN will have an Individual Learning and Development Plan (ILDP) in place which identifies certain activities and learning and development objectives these are usually updated/reviewed every 4/6 weeks with the key person, parents and other professionals (this could be a portage worker, early years advisory teacher, speech & language therapist etc) each person being able to give their input to help in the care & education of this child and ensuring the best outcomes for that child. Each plan is individual to the child so maybe more or less frequent depending on their needs.

How do we assess the effectiveness of our special needs provision and how are parents, children and young people involved in this assessment?

Our staff group and committee members hold regular meetings to reflect on all aspects of our care, identify best practice and research and attend new developments and discuss new training available. Most Importantly we talk constantly to our parents at the beginning/end of each session to ensure our parents are happy with our provision.

We hold parents evenings twice a year in the evenings when more parents are able to attend, All our children have a Learning Diary these are freely available for the parents to look at in the entrance hall and parents regularly input family outings and photographs in these from home. The children love to look back at these over time and reflect on what they did in the past.

How do we ensure that teaching staff and other staff have the expertise needed to support children and young people with special educational needs?

Our SENco staff and other key staf attend all the SEN forums. We promote CPD for all staff using the supervision meetings to identify the needs and wants of staff, Where required we will send staff on new training to help the needs of any new children coming into the setting. The management group look at new innovations and training which will enhance our provision.

How do we keep parents informed where children and young people have special educational provision but do not have an Education Health and Care Plan?

All children are greeted coming into pre-school by a member of staff, The child’s key person is always available at drop off or at collection to share information about how the day has gone, we also provide a home book where the parents can share information with us, how they have slept, what they have done at the weekend etc.

We encourage regular conversations with all of our parents even it is very brief to see all is well, if they need to highlight anything or we can assist them in any way. Where an issue is identified , we can then decide between us & the parent what intervention is necessary at that time i.e speech therapy, behavioural issues.

How can parents, children and young people make a complaint about our provision?

We always like to think we can resolve any issues before a complaint is raised we do this by being always available to talk and listen at the beginning and end of each day, through our key person relationship, The manager is available at all times to discuss any concerns a parent may have this can be done in person or on the phone. We hope by having an open door policy our parents feel we are always approachable to discuss any issues they have. We are run by a committee run group, this group is made up mainly of parents using the provision and the management and this helps to provide a parental input into how we do things.

We have a complaints policy and the contact details of OFSTED is on display on the notice board.

How can parents, children and young people get more information about the setting?

You can contact us for a welcome pack by ringing our mobile number we offer all parents two free taster sessions to come in and meet the staff and have a show around. Please have a look at us on the family information service and look at our most recent Ofsted report on the OFSTED website.  Our building also runs a toddler group on Mondays & Friday mornings 10am until 11.30am and is run by a group of parents, lots of the parents that attend here have older siblings that attend our pre-school, it is a good place to meet up with other parents for a chat & a coffee.