Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) 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) Carole
Croft 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 updated:
Signed
on behalf of the nursery
Date
for review
Jan
2020
Susan
Walker
Jan
2021