We make sure, and are committed to, all children within our setting having access to our services, feel welcome and activities which promote inclusive practice and individual development. At Small World Nursery we have two Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinators (SENDCos), with one working in the Daffodil room (Theresa O’Shea) and the other working in the Sunflower room (Susie Durrant). If your child already has an identified special need then the SENDCos will work with your child’s key person to assist in supporting and monitoring the child’s development through the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework. Your child’s key person is there to build a secure and positive relationship with the child as well as the parents. In addition, they help a new child to settle into the nursery and monitor your child’s development through the EYFS framework and writing observations. If observations highlight any concerns to the key person then they will be shared and discussed with the parents. Any concerns that you may have about your child can be raised to your child’s key person, the SENDCos or any other member of staff. We will then work with you to monitor your child’s development and also any other professionals, such as health visitors and speech and language therapists, to ensure that any additional support that might be needed is given to your child.

The two SENDCos will support your child by assisting the child’s key person with providing the appropriate facilities, activities and play opportunities for your child. Our SENDCos at the setting also attend regular training and make sure that they not only work closely with you and your child but also any other professionals who are involved in your child’s life. Your child’s key person will plan activities for your child based around their specific needs and will write observations for their learning journal which is then cross-referenced and highlighted on a child’s individual EYFS sheet. Every term your child’s development is tracked and reviewed to identify any gaps that there might be.

In the Buttercup and Daffodil room daily key sheets are given to parents which inform them on what their child has been doing. In the Sunflower room, and in addition to the daily key sheets in the Buttercup and Daffodil rooms, staff will have an informal chat with each parent every day when they come to collect their child from the nursery about how their child is doing. If you wish to discuss your child’s progress further then you can contact us by telephone, email or in person. We can then arrange a meeting with the child’s key person where you can see your child’s learning journal. Furthermore, Small World Nursery holds regular parents evenings and gives you termly summaries, written by your child’s key person, which inform you on how your child is progressing, further areas which they are aiming to work on with your child and a space for parents to write some feedback. We also provide a translator for parents with English as an additional language.

In the Sunflower room, everyday each member of staff plans for their key group via an adult-led activity, which is based on next steps from previous observations on their key children. Staff differentiate their activities based on individual children within their group. For example, a child with SEND might need a different resource than others to still participate in the same activity and be accessible to all children. In the Buttercup and Daffodil rooms, planned activities are based on previous observations from individual children. Staff will also adapt activities in order to support your child’s needs and then recorded via observation to then plan for future activities. Small World Nursery also welcomes other professionals to advice on how to support a child with particular needs.

We consider ourselves as providing a safe, secure and caring environment which allows children to achieve and develop. We have a behaviour management policy which focuses on positive reinforcement (e.g. praise and encouragement) and providing children with a consistent set of boundaries. This is done by visual images on lanyards, such as images of a stop sign or a thumbs up to indicate that a child has done something well, which staff in the Daffodil and Sunflower rooms wear at all times. In the Sunflower room there are ‘golden rules of the week’ (e.g. walking feet, taking turns) which staff talk to the children about and are praised when a child follows one. In addition we use a visual timetable to help the children to understand the routine of the day as well as providing structure for them. Some of the staff have also had behaviour management training. Small World Nursery has policies and procedures in place for the safeguarding of all children within our setting and there is a designated safeguarding person. In addition, all staff have had safeguarding training as well as paediatric first aid training and can administer prescribed medication with permission from the parents. Risk assessments are carried out and reviewed regularly in each room.

Small World Nursery have good links with our children centre and have worked with a wide range of other professionals and agencies, such as speech and language therapists, autism advisory teachers and health visitors. We also have good relationships with the local schools and provide a link book between the school, nursery and parents to all communicate with one another. In addition, we collect children from local schools and walk them to our nursery if they attend both. All staff are trained in safeguarding and five members of staff have food hygiene certificates. We also have a fully trained health and safety officer.

Theresa O’Shea has had 20 years experience of working with children and has worked with children with a wide range of needs. The two SENDCos go on regular termly training courses to update their training. All staff (males and females) have had experience working with children with SEND. Some of our staff are multilingual or bilingual with languages in Spanish, Urdu, Polish, Arabic and Persian.

All children, regardless of their individual needs, can participate in outings. Full risk assessment will be carried out before going outside of the setting and this will include consideration of any children with individual needs. We will discuss with you before the outing about your child attending and you will not have to accompany your child while they are on an outing.

We understand and value the knowledge that you have about your child and therefore, wish to work closely with you in order to enhance your child’s learning. In each room we have a parent contribution board which parents can write something about what their child has done at home. We also give out ‘All About Me’ forms when a child is new to the nursery so we understand a child’s likes or dislikes and plan appropriately for them. You can also always talk to the child’s key person or arrange a meeting to discuss about your child’s learning and development or view their learning journal. In addition, we have parents evening throughout your child’s time at nursery where you can discuss your child’s progress and a planning board where parents can see what activities were out during the day and the learning intention for each activity. The Sunflower room planning board also states the long term plan for the year and expectations for children to achieve during each individual term which parents can view when the drop off or collect their child from the setting. If outside professionals came in to visit your child we would make sure that we discussed what happened when you came to collect your child. In addition, if reports or letters were given to us by an outside professional then we would copy it and discuss it with you. Parental consent is always obtained first before outside agencies become involved.

Small World Nursery is very accessible to all individuals as we are based on one level with no stairs within the setting and a ramp access to gain entry to the building. There is parking outside the entrance of the setting. Our garden area is made up of different areas of flooring with it being grass, play surface and concrete. We have double doors leading out to all of our fire exits and have a disabled toilet that can be accessed. All toys are at child level and can be accessed during freeflow. In addition, Daffodil and Sunflower room have child sized toilets.

When a child first comes to the nursery, they will start with settling in visits. This is to make the child feel comfortable before their start date. This is also the time where we find out information about the child, such as any specific needs the child might have or medication requirements. When a child is transitioning from a younger age group room to an older age group room, the child comes for visits to the new room. At first, they are usually an hour and then increase to a full day. This transition period is based on how comfortable the child feels in the new environment and is never rushed. We also incorporate the child on the planning so there is toys and equipment out in the room that they have interest in. When a child is transitioning to a new school, we invite the teacher to come and see the child within our setting. This is to allow the teacher to see their learning journal before they go to school and allow the child to have a recognisable face when they go to the new school.

All equipment and toys used within all rooms can be moved between rooms and made accessible if required. Any specific equipment that we may need can be borrowed for a child with specific needs. As all rooms always have a high staff to child ratio, there will always be plenty of adult support for your child. We are an inclusive setting, with an inclusion policy, and will provide care and support via procedures in place to make sure your child is able to participate in all activities that we offer. We also have a number of sensory resources, such as sensory bottles, which can be used.

Joy Beattie, Small World Nursery, 01923 230300,
manager@smallworldnurserywatford.co.uk
For further information on the local authority’s Local Offer of service and provision for children with special educational needs and disability go to
www.hertsdirect.org/localoffer