Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
EYFS: 31.6, 1.7,
2.3, 2.5, 3.20, 3.27, 3.28, 3.67, 3.73
Statement of intent
At Brookdale Day Nursery we are committed to the inclusion
of all children. All children have the right to be cared for and educated to
develop to their full potential alongside each other through positive
experiences, to enable them to share opportunities and experiences and develop
and learn from each other. We provide a positive and welcoming environment
where children are supported according to their individual needs and we work
hard to ensure no children are discriminated against or put at a disadvantage
as a consequence of their needs.
We believe that all children have a right to experience and
develop alongside their peers no matter what their individual needs. Each
child’s needs are unique, therefore any attempt to categorise children is
inappropriate.
We are committed to working alongside parents in the
provision for their child’s individual needs to enable us to help the child to
develop to their full potential. We are committed to working with any child who
has a specific need and/or disability and making reasonable adjustments to
enable every child to make full use of the nursery’s facilities. All children
have a right to a broad and well-balanced early learning environment.
Where we believe a child may have additional needs that have
previously been unacknowledged, we will work closely with the child’s parents
and any relevant professionals to establish if any additional action is
required.
Where a child has additional needs, we feel it is paramount
to find out as much as possible about those needs; any way that this may affect
his/her early learning or care needs and any additional help he/she may need by:
Liaising with the child’s
parents and, where appropriate, the child Liaising with any
professional agencies Reading any reports that
have been prepared Attending any review
meetings with the local authority/professionals Observing each child’s
development and monitoring such observations regularly.
All children will be given a full settling in period when
joining the nursery according to their individual needs.
Aims
We will:
Recognise each child’s
individual needs and ensure all staff are aware of, and have regard for,
the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice on the identification and
assessment of any needs not being met by the universal service provided by
the nursery Include all children and
their families in our provision Provide well informed and
suitably trained practitioners to help support parents and children with special
educational difficulties and/or
disabilities Develop and maintain a
core team of staff who are experienced in the care of children with
additional needs and identify a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
Co-ordinator (SENCO) who is experienced in the care and assessment of
children with additional needs.
Staff will be provided with specific training relating to Special
Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and the SEND Code of Practice Identify the specific
needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and
meet those needs through a range of strategies Ensure that children who
learn quicker, e.g. gifted and talented children are also supported Share any statutory and
other assessments made by the nursery with parents and support parents in
seeking any help they or the child may need Work in partnership with
parents and other agencies in order to meet individual children's needs,
including the education, health and care authorities, and seek advice,
support and training where required Monitor and review our
practice and provision and, if necessary, make adjustments, and seek
specialist equipment and services if needed Ensure that all children
are treated as individuals/equals and are encouraged to take part in every
aspect of the nursery day according to their individual needs and
abilities Encourage children to
value and respect others Challenge inappropriate
attitudes and practices Promote positive images
and role models during play experiences of those with additional needs wherever
possible Celebrate diversity in all
aspects of play and learning.
Our nursery Special Education Needs and Disabilities
Co-ordinators (SENCO) Esther Meechan and Natasha Byrne.
The role of the SENCO is to take the lead in further assessment of the
child’s particular strengths and weaknesses; in planning future support for the
child in discussion with colleagues; and in monitoring and subsequently
reviewing the action taken. The SENCO should also ensure that appropriate
records are kept including a record of children’s SEN support and those with Education,
Health and Care plans. The practitioner usually responsible for the child
should remain responsible for working with the child on a daily basis and for
planning and delivering an individualised programme. Parents should always be
consulted and kept informed of the action taken to help the child, and of the
outcome of this action (code of practice 2015).
She/he works closely with all staff to make sure there are
systems in place to plan, implement, monitor, review and evaluate the special
educational needs practice and policy of the nursery, always making sure plans
and records are shared with parents.
Methods
We will:
Designate a named member
of staff to be Special Educational Needs and Disability Co-ordinator
(SENCO) and share his/her name with parents Undertake formal Progress
Checks and Assessments of all children in accordance with the SEND Code of
Practice January 2015 Provide a statement
showing how we provide for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and share this with
staff, parents and other professionals Ensure that the provision
for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is the
responsibility of all members of staff in the nursery Ensure that our inclusive
admissions practice includes equality of access and opportunity Ensure that our physical
environment is as far as possible suitable for children and adults with
disabilities Work closely with parents
to create and maintain a positive partnership which supports their
child(ren) Ensure that parents are
informed at all stages of the assessment, planning, provision and review
of their child's care and education Provide parents with
information on sources of independent advice and support Liaise with other
professionals involved with children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities and their families, including transfer arrangements to other
settings and schools. We work closely with the next school or care setting
and meet with them to discuss the child’s needs to ensure information
exchange and continuity of care Use the graduated response
system (see explanation below) for identifying, assessing and responding
to children's special educational needs and disabilities Provide a broad and
balanced early learning environment for all children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities Provide differentiated
activities to meet all individual needs and abilities Use a system of planning,
implementing, monitoring, evaluating and reviewing Individual Educational
Plans (IEPs) for children with special educational needs and/or
disabilities and discuss these with parents Review IEPs regularly and
hold review meetings with parents at this time Ensure that children with special
educational needs and/or disabilities and their parents are consulted at
all stages of the graduated response, taking into account their levels of
ability Use a system for keeping
records of the assessment, planning, provision and review for children
with special educational needs and/or disabilities Provide resources (human
and financial) to implement our SEND policy Ensure the privacy of
children with special educational needs and/or disabilities when intimate
care is being provided Use the local authorities Assessment
Framework (see details below) Provide in-service
training for practitioners and volunteers Raise awareness of any
specialism the setting has to offer, e.g. Makaton trained staff Ensure the effectiveness
of our SEN/disability provision by collecting information from a range of
sources e.g. IEP reviews, staff and management meetings, parental and
external agencies’ views, inspections and complaints. This information is
collated, evaluated and reviewed annually Provide a complaints
procedure and make available to all parents in a format that meets their
needs e.g. Braille, audio, large print, additional languages Monitor and review our
policy annually.
Effective assessment
of the need for early help
Local agencies should work together to put processes in
place for the effective assessment of the needs of individual children who may
benefit from early help services.
Children and families may need support from a wide range of
local agencies.
Where a child and family would benefit from coordinated
support from more than one agency (e.g. education, health, housing, police)
there should be an inter-agency assessment. These early help assessments, such
as the Common Assessment Framework, should identify what help the child and
family require to prevent needs escalating to a point where intervention would
be needed via a statutory assessment under the Children Act 1989.
The early help assessment should be undertaken by a lead
professional who should provide support to the child and family, act as an
advocate on their behalf and coordinate the delivery of support services. The lead
professional role could be undertaken by a General Practitioner (GP), family
support worker, teacher, health visitor and/or special educational needs
coordinator. Decisions about who should be the lead professional should be
taken on a case by case basis and should be informed by the child and their
family.
For an early help assessment to be effective:
·
the assessment should be undertaken with the agreement
of the child and their parents or carers. It should involve the child and
family as well as all the professionals who are working with them;
·
a teacher, GP, health visitor, early years’
worker or other professional should be able to discuss concerns they may have
about a child and family with a social worker in the local authority. Local
authority children’s social care should set out the process for how this will
happen; and
·
if parents and/or the child do not consent to an
early help assessment, then the lead professional should make a judgement as to
whether, without help, the needs of the child will escalate. If so, a referral
into local authority children’s social care may be necessary.
If at any time it is considered that the child may be a child
in need as defined in the Children Act 1989, or that the child has suffered
significant harm or is likely to do so, a referral should be made immediately
to local authority children’s social care. This referral can be made by any
professional.
Working together to safeguard children 2015
Special Educational Needs and Disability code of practice
The nursery has regard to the statutory guidance set out in
the Special Educational Needs and Disability code of practice (DfE 2015) to
identify, assess and make provision for children’s special educational needs.
The nursery will undertake a Progress Check of all children
at age two in accordance with the Code of Practice. The early years provider will also undertake
an assessment at the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage (in the final term
of the year in which a child turns 5) to prepare an EYFS Profile of the child.
The Code of Practice recommends that, in addition to the formal
checks above, the nursery should adopt a graduated approach to assessment and
planning, led and coordinated by a SENCO. Good practice of working together
with parents, and the observation and monitoring of children’s individual
progress, will help identify any child with special educational needs or
disability. The nursery has identified a member of staff as a SENCO who will
work alongside parents to assess the child’s strengths and plan for future
support. The SENCO will ensure that appropriate records are kept according to
the Code of Practice.
Stage 1
Where a practitioner or SENCO identifies a child with
special educational needs, the nursery will assess and record those needs and
provide a number of key actions to help the child. As part of this process the
nursery will consult with parents and seek any additional information from external
professionals. The targets for the child, any teaching strategies or changes to
provision are set out in an Individual Education Plan (IEP). The plan will be
continually under review in consultation with the child and his/her parent(s).
This stage will involve a cycle of assessment, planning and review in
increasing detail, with increasing frequency, to identify the best ways of
securing and maintaining progress.
Stage 2
This is where a practitioner or SENCO, in consultation with
the child’s parents, decide external support services are required usually
following a review of the IEP. The nursery will share its records on the child
with those services so that they can advise on any IEP targets and appropriate strategies
to help the child.
Statutory assessment
If the help given through an IEP is not sufficient to enable
the child to progress satisfactorily, it may be necessary for the nursery, in
consultation with the parents and any external agencies already involved, to request
a statutory assessment by the local authority. This may lead to the child
receiving an education, health and care plan.
This policy was
adopted:
Signed on behalf of
the nursery
Date for review
May 2016
Esther Meechan
May 2017
